my weekend = the mist

the mist is always disturbing
the knowledge of the unknown
things lurking
waiting
on this day the light was so bright that it gave an even more strange and unnatural a glow

it unsettled me and my far too vivid imagination

my weekend = winter clouds

i know i live in a beautiful place
see

i rarely look at it with jaded eyes
but sometimes it can even take my breath away
everything about this view is wonderful:
the sea, the clay and sandy cliffs nearest, the chalk cliffs further off
but the clouds...
it was a bitterly cold walk with a biting north wind but it was worth each numb finger

this photo is taken with my samsung mobile

my weekend = wet wool

this is nature's own decoration

beads of water glisten and bring life to something disgarded
it is so pure
who would need gaudy trinkets with this nearby?

my weekend = the cold sea

the sea is so dark in winter

it is forbidding and mysterious and yet has an imperious beauty

it looks as cold as it must feel

not that i tried

my weekend = newtown

i was back at newtown, again
it doesn't have the bittersweet feeling of a few months ago, luckily
where i needed it as a relief 
now it is pure pleasure even when it's drab and damp with a biting wind

my weekend = wild woods

this photo would have been made perfect by a tiny red riding hood skipping at the end of the path
even without her this photo conveys the dangerous beauty of the woods
the brothers grimm would have approved, i'm sure
mill copse, yarmouth

my weekend = spun silver

i always need to get outside and breath more deeply

look at things growing and changing

freshly ploughed and rolled soil of the fields lends a brown monotony to the countryside
but looking closer, you can still find small signs of beauty
tiny reminders of the manifestation of life
often reestablishing the balance after man's manipulation of nature

my weekend = geese in flight

this autumn isn't quite Keats' 'season of mists and mellow fruitfulness' on the island
the mists are here but so is a very bitter north wind
there is an upside: the geese are starting to arrive from their tundren wastes
making the the melancholy skies lift and beat with life

my weekend = autumn berries

this weekend i picked some luscious haws, rosehips and elderberries
i popped most into a litre of port to make a winter tonic
i used some of the rose hips to infuse oil (i use it on my body)
last year I made elderberry cordial to stave off colds but i have plenty left to see me through this winter


the berries are so gorgeous
they have such a ripe voluptuousness, don't you think?
 

autumn has to be one of my favourite times of year

appreciate = sea and sky studies

living on an island i suppose i am naturally draw to the sea
browsing my posts it's a recurring theme or image
i feel very draw to these two images
mostly because these famous artists both capture the beautiful wilderness that is the sea
i had no idea turner painted images of the island but tate britain proves otherwise 
turner: 'study of sea and sky, isle of wight'

 this one is constable. It broods so magnificently, 'the sea near brighton':

my weekend = fire

my weekend was gorgeous, actually

i rowed my little boat in glass-like water and had a garden fire in the evening

there's nothing better than fire

it makes me think of all the people who've sat around fire for millenia 

were they all as mesmerised by it

as i am?  

 what's your vital force?

my week = a week at sea

I know I was moaning about the rain last weekend but this week has erased all that -

wow, we seriously had some sun

I got out on my rowing boat, AT LAST

in fact, I got out on it every day this week and I'm the colour of a coconut

I sketched, relaxed, let my mind wander and photographed

stag rock, freshwater bay

just floating.  my little boat

green water and white rock

mermaid rock

watcombe bay and my little pride and joy

utter bliss

I hope your week was as good

tinkety tonk

my weekend = english wild flowers

Crickey, you know what?  There's nothing like a long walk to clear your head.

 We've got some sun at last and, bugger me, I had forgotten how fandabbydosy it is.
So combine, walking, sun and wild flowers and what more could you want?

Here's some blooming lovelies I saw this morning:

English Wild Flowers

Top left: Agrimony, Top Centre:  Meadowsweet  Top Right: Ash Tree

Bottom Left:  Hogweed, Bottom Centre: Great Willowherb? Bottom Right: Camomile

Utterly Glorious,

Tinkety Tonk

my weekend = summer rain

Could someone please sort out the weather.

I know Britain isn't known for it's sun but we generally get some in summer.

Which is what it is supposed to BE.

Anyway, it was an open arts studio this weekend, organised by Isle of Wight Arts, so I splashed around the studios in my local area and really enjoyed myself, despite the pouring rain.

I naturally couldn't take photos of other peoples' art (they might have thought I was going to plagiarise) so I took one of me and the boyfriend 'enjoying' the gorgeous weather and some coastal plants that I saw while walking around.

Hope your weekend was less damp.

Tinkety Tonk

my weekend = english wild flowers in june

Oh, what a lovely day.

It's been absolutely RUBBISH weather here for so long I've almost forgotten it's summer.

However, joy can still be had.

I'm a lover of all things beautiful and natural.

The natural world has unending wonders, doesn't it?

My lovely Newtown is awash with gorgeous wild flowers.

Here are some of the ones I saw this evening:

Make's the prospect of work on the morrow easier to bear. 

Tinkety Tonk

wolverton manor sketch

Here's a close up of the sketch I did of the gorgeous Wolverton Manor, in Shalfleet on the Isle of Wight.

I promised a close up on this post, and I do TRY to keep my promises, like a good girl.

Here's the original sketch.

 Now with a little picmonkey editing. NICE:

Here's the real thing:

See, I told you it's gorgeous.

Tnikety Tonk

I've had sh*t to deal with

Haven't we all?
That's why  haven't posted in a few weeks.

I'm always moaning about my job  - at worst I'm jibbering and weeping.

I though: stop moaning and DO something!

So I jacked it in.

Just handed in my resignation.

In a few months time I will join the realm of the unemployed.

I already feel better (if a little nervous that I'll have to resort to begging on the streets).

AND we've had fantastic weather which makes everything seem brilliant.

Me and the old man went to a blues and folk festival at Wolverton Manor in Shalfleet a few weeks back.

It was really laid back and, of course, in gorgeous surroundings.

I took these photos using a retro camera app on my mobile phone:

The first is of the stage, second is the old battle axe looking moody and lastly...

 ... is a sketch I did of the manor house (and some Goddards beer I was imbibing). 
I'll upload a closer image of the sketch in the near future.

Anyway,

Tinkety Tonk

my weekend = newtown collage

Another Sunday goes by...

I have to say my weekend has been a bit meh.

I have been, once again, to my now rather ritualistic pilgrimage to Newtown; to calm my jangled nerves before return to the hell-hole that is my work.

("Only 12 weeks to go 'till freedom- stay positive," is my mantra.)

I also found another free photo editing site -ipiccy 

I can thoroughly recommend its collage facility.

I haven't got photo shop and this was really easy.

Easy is all I can manage on a Sunday night.

I know I'm really lucky to live near such a beautiful place as Newtown and its nature reserve.

 Sadly, most of the beauty is wasted on the 'inhabitants' of this town,

(it's actually the size of a hamlet-long story)

as most of the houses are second homes to the wealthy.

Us locals call them D.F.Ls (down from London).

There are only a few elderly 'natives' and after they go...I fear then the place will well and truly be a ghost town.  So sad that the divide between rich and poor could ruin what must have been and could be a warm and supportive rural community.

Still, us peasants can visit and bask in the beauty that our betters have on tap.

You won't be able to see that the post box has V.R (Victoria Regina) - it was not exactly the heyday of this place but it must have been still quite lively back then.  

Newtown's steeped in a very long history stretching back thousands of years.  

It was briefly the capitol of the Isle of Wight.  Now there are only about 15 houses. But the beautiful surrounding countryside is protected by the National Trust which is lucky.

Anyhoo, 

Tinkety Tonk