Saturday 19 February 2011

◧◨ down my street or yours

there's something unchanged about garages:
unnoticed:
memories of kicking a football
against the locked shutters:
wondering what's inside?
as kids, the garages on our council 
estate were a meeting place:
strewn crisp bags and dandelion flowers:
the first time I visited Tate Modern
I saw a small painting on wood:
not oil or watercolour, but Humbrol:
the artist ~ George Shaw:
scenes from the passion by George Shaw 2002:
this intricately rendered image resonated 
with me:
six years later I visited a gallery in Bethnal Green
to see more of his work:
where first & last things sound the same:
time standing still:
the broken drain:
 hauntingly familiar:
no returns:
easily missed when of neutral mind:
spaces we would have played in as kids:
where adults didn't go:
simple times:

on Sunday I was delighted to find a two page
interview with the artist:
finally an article telling more about him:
all I have to do now, is plan a trip to 
Baltic to see the exhibition:

Thursday 17 February 2011

⏏ and the shutter clicks

this beautiful image was taken by my
friend Suzie:
she is giving away a free place on her
fabulous online film photography course
about time someone gave us a chance 
to learn the intricacies of 35mm film:
and on a well thought out and interesting
course too:
I know I'll be signing up:
what are you waiting for?
go see HERE for your chance to win:
good luck!
{look she's even got a shop so you can
buy her gorgeous images as well}

Wednesday 16 February 2011

⸉⸊ everyone loves a treat

what a lucky girl I am:
after a conversation with Mr Mondo and 
his lady on Monday ....
Mrs Mondo knocked on my door 
strumming this ☟
a beautiful yellow ukelele gift for me:
seems Mr Mondo had three ukes
and I had none:
now I have one:
then an s-o-s for hangers just like this ☝
brought donations from Mrs Mondo & Lois:
they're hard to come by you know:
to be turned into these ☝
the latest editions for an upcoming fair:
and as if I haven't been spoiled enough
today, Anna has given me these ☝ 
yummy treats from her recent 
trip visiting family in Finland:
thank you all my gorgeous friends:
feeling ❤

Wednesday 9 February 2011

𐌎 turn the page

when I was a child, we visited a
library in Westcliff-on-Sea:
single storey, yellow brick & steel framed:
glass fronted and designed by
P F Burridge in 1968:
skipping across the floor to the 
children's section:
choosing books from the shelves:
thumbing through the heavy reference books:
not for borrowing, only for looking:
that smell of books:
zigzagging coloured spines:
sitting in the courtyard in the Summer:
despite owning a few books 
some given
some gifts
we still used a library:

now I have something else:
my next novel will be read on it:
is this the new library?
it won't be for me:
reading books is not about owning books:
and I do own many:
those first visits to the library introduced me to
the wider world of literature:
picture books, atlases, poetry:
books we could never afford to buy:
they are all still there:
and more ....
have you got a ticket?
when was the last time you went to the library?
use it or lose it:

Friday 4 February 2011

ਿੀ colourful gifts to brighten our wintery day

a hand sewn package:
from far away:
we carefully unwrapped:
excited and puzzled:
what can it be?
sunshine yellow:
amber incense:
cosmic orange:
pale green:
hand sewn delicacy for savasana:
fine cotton scarf in my favourite shade:
and delicious wool in skeins
for us to ravel into balls:
a little piece of India at home:
threads from under the same sky:
namaste:

Thursday 3 February 2011

≍≃∼ drifting in uncertain seas

this houseboat broke free from it's 
mooring in the Thames:
once the star of a tv show:
it had been floating in the Estuary for a few years:
empty and abandoned:
I got used to seeing it out there
moving along with the tides:
it's distinctive shape staying the same
through sunshine, rain and haze:
 still broken but now set free:
 after time of wondering what it
looked like:
it felt strange seeing it close up:
I wonder what the next part of it's
journey will be?
I shall miss looking for it
out there in the sea:

Tuesday 1 February 2011

☯ passing by

 yesterday, the sun came out:
just for the day 
as we said goodbye to a friend:
she was beautiful and brave:
but the things that made me connect 
and admire her for 
were her impulsive side and no-nonsense
approach to life:
I shall really miss going over to her allotment:
picking runner beans and laughing at
 misshapen potatoes & cues:
dirt under our nails
in the sunshine:

I have some dried beans, left over
from last harvest:
they will be grown in my own garden:
a green legacy to one very special lady: