Being ill, I slept in ’till one and then sat here still undressed as the clock closed on four. Getting up I looked out the window and admired the fading October sunlight falling through the leaves behind our house. The property behind us has a rusty corrugated iron shed piled on one side with abandoned junk, but the back which faces the setting sun is clear. I threw on some clothes, grabbed the camera and went to take pictures of the light through the leaves, but by the time I got outside the sun had already set too low ruining my initial shots. I stood there feeling slightly irritated and then I noticed my shadow against the back of the corrigated shed. I took a few shots then stepped back and noticed how my shadow legs elongated…with the light and green and brown leaves it made me think how our shadows lead alternative lives. They’re like us, only different. What does my shadow get up to when I’m not looking? [Read more…] about Shadowland…
My bag…my day…
My great accomplishment today: I got out of bed…and took some photos of my bag that looks like it secretly wanted to become a mushroom. It would have been cute if I hadn’t messed up the bottom by cornering it…you’ll see what I mean in the next photo.
If I’d left it alone as a square bag it would have visually made more sense, but perhaps the bag had dreams of becoming a mushroom in which case its dream nearly came true as I was tempted to throw it in the trash having sewed the strap to the wrong place for the second time and finished it off with the button. [Read more…] about My bag…my day…
A Stop in Buckden…
The Goblin had the day off so today we went out for a late drive and impulsively stopped in Buckden, off the A1 (otherwise known as The Great North Road). We ended up visiting the church and of course I had to take some pictures… [Read more…] about A Stop in Buckden…
A walk into town…
This afternoon, the Autumn sun was shining and I felt compelled to walk into town with the camera. I didn’t know what I would find, but I hoped to see some beautiful things. I live in Stamford, an old coach stop on the Great North Road. It’s a lovely little town with lots of Georgian stone buildings. Having decided I was looking for pictures, I turned down a narrow lane I rarely use and met the most adorable tortoiseshell cat. It was in the mood for company so it deigned to pose. I couldn’t believe it when it walked over to the brick wall and sat down. Did he know he matched the brick wall? I think so! [Read more…] about A walk into town…
Want to learn something?
I just discovered the most wonderful resource…if you have an i-pod or access to the online apple store. You can learn all sorts of things under Itunes-U. I just spent the last half hour or so listening to pod casts on Medieval English by Dr S.D. Lee of Oxford University. He reads various Anglo Saxon texts, but there’s also four hour long lectures on various aspects of Anglo Saxon literature, history and society that he gave to students studying at Oxford. Can’t go to Oxford? Listen to a podcast and learn something without paying a penny! It’s all free! You can even down load it to listen to as you exercise or drive or bake cakes.
I’ll be listening…later…I have to go to bed now, but I’m so excited I’ll probably have a hard time falling asleep. There’s tons of stuff one can listen to in lots of different subjects. All sorts of great institutions of higher education are taking part. This is democracy in action…the sharing of knowledge! Look it up! Learn something new…widen your horizon…widen your perspective on who you are…you never know where the journey will take you!
Bon Voyage!
Everything comes back to the Regency…even whelks…
After finishing the newspaper I tried to watch a movie, but I couldn’t concentrate. I turned off the movie and picked up the book off the top my pile of newly acquired second hand paperbacks and decided to try to read ‘A History of the English Church and People’ by Bede. Note the word try. The book was completed in 731. That’s not a typo…it was written centuries before William the Conqueror arived to savage England. It may not be boring, but it’s not sold as a page turner! I made it to the end of the first page. Bede, begins by telling the reader about Britain. Where it is, how large it is and what sort of animals can be found here etc. I was starting to fall asleep until I read, “There are also many varieties of shell-fish, such as mussels, in which are often found excellent pearls of several colours, red, purple, violet, and green, but mainly white.” (Have you ever heard of green or violet pearls? I haven’t. I made a mental note to look it up and continued…) “Whelks are abundant, and a beautiful scarlet dye is extracted from them which remains unfaded by sunshine or rain; indeed, the older the cloth, the more beautiful the colour.” Wondering what a whelk was, I looked it up in my encyclopaedia… [Read more…] about Everything comes back to the Regency…even whelks…