The sun shone down on England today…at least the part where I live. It felt so good sitting outside, even with a slight cool breeze. We’re expecting a return to rain or something dreary in the near future, but today was glorious. After lunch the Goblin suggested we drive over to the Garden center and have a look at the fish (I’ve been wanting to see the fish in the little aquatic center – I think fish are cute). I warned the Goblin in advance that I was planning to take photos of the fish, so he barely grimaced (before disappearing down another aisle) when I took out my phone. I enjoyed seeing the fish, though I have to admit the way they were staring at me it made me wonder what they were thinking. I suspect something along the line of ‘What is that creature? It’s ugly!’ I had to share my favorite photos from my little adventures. [Read more…] about Spring Cometh…
I've been taking photographs
Romancing the Stones…
After helping me edit Once Upon a Wager, the Goblin announced he needed a few days of fun in the Lake District. It’s a part of England where, unsurprisingly, there are a lot of lakes in between stony hillsides – it’s utterly magical. So last week we packed up the car and drove up North. The goblin’s idea of fun involves walking up steep hills and taking photos. My idea of fun involves visiting historic houses or monuments and taking photos. We managed to mostly meet in the middle. While he did his two hour steep hill walk I had a lovely nap in the car. He took photos of the valley from above – I took photos of the valley standing in the valley next to the car. I did get some walking in – more than I was hoping to – but I did enjoy it and I got some lovely photos. These were my favorite. [Read more…] about Romancing the Stones…
The Sleeper Has Awaken…
I spent most of December and the first two weeks of January mentally deep diving. I received emotional whip lash when one of my oldest friends died unexpectedly. I’ve known her since I was twelve. Her death followed a week or so after another friend’s husband died after a year long battle with liver cancer. He was a good man; a true hero! It was very sad. I bought some songs that reminded me of my friend and listened to them on repeat while I sewed frogs. I’ve no idea where the obsession came from, but late November I decided I had to have frogs on my Christmas tree. Using old sweaters and old bedpillow stuffing I covered the tree with frogs and most other flat surfaces in the living room. It felt soothing.
All the mental deep diving has had a strange positive side effect on my creative side. It’s as if all these different sides of my artist are waking up all at the same time. Whether it’s feeling mortality’s chill breath or the fact my brain is starting to heal; I’ve had numerous projects and stories churning in my brain at all hours. [Read more…] about The Sleeper Has Awaken…
Icy shadows…
Last week the sun came out so even though a Siberian wind was chilling England I bundled up and went for a walk. I think I overdid it, but it was lovely to escape the house. I found some interesting photographs in the shadows on the frozen ditch water. The light shimmered through the hedgerow and glinted off the rough skin of ice. I haven’t retouched the colour in the photos. The hazy pink and green…up close it was like a nebula exploding. Here are my favorite shots… (Click on the photos to see a larger image) [Read more…] about Icy shadows…
5 chapters to go…
This evening I finished editing chapters 44 and 45! I would have been done editing, but the Goblin (who had eleven days off his day job over Christmas) decided he needed a complete break. So I’ve been waiting for him to edit so I could do my final edit. It was probably a good thing. I had a forced holiday which I enjoyed. I got lots of books for Christmas and managed to read several when I wasn’t watching two series of Burn Notice (a Christmas present to self). My favorite read was the Journals of Dorothy Wordsworth. She was the sister of William Wordsworth the poet. The journals cover 1798 and then 1800 to 1803. I was a bit sceptical [Read more…] about 5 chapters to go…
Progress report…
I’m making progress on Dancing the Maypole. This evening I finished the second edit of chapter 33. A picture is worth about 100,000 words…
The first edit was me going through the whole book with the new editing software (as well as re-writing). Then the Goblin goes through each chapter with red, blue and green pens. The second edit for the first few chapters took days (weeks?). It’s all a hellish blur! For the first month of editing I was working six days a week, but the Goblin (seeing I was starting to lose the plot) counseled me to take the whole weekend off. It helps to have a rest! This gives me time to day dream about other stories, draw, take pictures or watch a movie. The last seventeen chapters shouldn’t take so long.
Some of my favorite shots from my last couple of walks… [Read more…] about Progress report…