Two Little Birdies

I have been very remiss recently and not blogged.  Could be because I am quite busy at the moment.  Anyway I found some photographs of the birds on the pocket of the apron I made for sewing and bookbinding.

Thread Keeper

The early Wren catches the Bookworm

A Tug of Worm

Another Grand Day Out!!

Would you believe that a second trip to IKEA Birmingham could turn out to be a Grand Day Out, particularly with DH in tow, as I needed him to take his car to accommodate my new table for my Workroom-cum-Studio, which is progressing very nicely now that the laminate floor is down.  It was thick fog when we set off, but by the time we got to IKEA the sun was shining.

On the way back we called here ....

So that we could enjoy the view and tea and cake ... any idea where it was?

Another clue .... these little fellows have had a part of the building especially created for them to safely nest whilst the work was going on.  There were still plenty of them flying around in the afternoon sunshine.

Another clue and a bit of a giveaway really.

It was the 'Sky Cafe' at Croome.  This is looking toward Broadway Tower.

Looking towards the Malvern Hills

A little further round and we see the Temple

It was the last weekend to be able to experience this temporary feature which has been erected using scaffolding during the work on the exterior of the building.  When we arrived there was still a lot of fog, but as if by magic the fog lifted and the sun came out.  We had a lovely walk around the grounds before climbing the scaffold stairs to the viewing platform.  Absolutely Fabulous!!

Carrots and Apples Welcome

On Tuesday Bets and I went off to the garden centre after we did our Waitrose shop and these cheeky donkeys were out of their house in the field for a change.  We went and had a chat with them and a nice little sign advised us that they were allowed to have carrots and apples, but not sweets.  It also told us what their names were, but I cannot remember for the life of me.

We managed to make a few purchases whilst we were there, of course, a few bulbs and some plants for the winter borders.

Yorkshire Travelling Journals

I have been too busy out in the garden this week to have done anything much creative - apart from stitching what seems like hundreds of French Knots (the piece is still not finished!!) - so once again I have delved into some past pictures of pages from the Yorkshire Travelling Journals I participate in with my buddies 'Up North'.  I cannot tell you what a delight it is to receive a package through the post at the end of the six weeks and to know that inside is a YTJ full of treasures you have not yet seen .... such joy.

I found this one of a 'She Shed' by a lovely friend who lives in Harrogate ...

This is the accompanying text that went with it

Then, as some of the leaves are already showing signs of Autumn, I thought the next pages were appropriate.  This person says she is not very artistic, well I don't believe her!! I am sure she will add some comment to my blog once she sees this.  Perhaps she will tell us how she printed the leaves on the reverse of the mini quilt?

This was the inspiration

A mini quilt was the resolved piece

This was the reverse side

And, as there was a spare page of paper at the end, this piece of artwork was also produced.

Daily Drawing

Yet again I have not done the prescribed drawing for the day!  I have been out in the garden all day and managed to avoid most of the showers until around 4 pm.  I got a lot done but had to come in and sit in the bath, as my back was really stiff and I could not stand up straight.

Decided to sketch an ornament for something to do and used some new pencils I have got in a tin.  Drawing every day certainly makes you realise how much you need to observe things and practice, practice, practice.  I do usually get much better the more I draw.

Daily Drawing Not No 7

I seem to be getting behind with the exercises from the book.  I have been out most of the day plus we had very heavy rain at one point this morning and a thunderstorm this afternoon so I still  have not been able to get outside to do Drawing No 6.  This is my option for today.  It is a rubbing of a brass in Coughton Church of England Church which I actually did on Saturday using a piece of typing paper that just happened to be in my bag and the side of a wax crayon. It is, however, a form of creating an image of something, at least that is my reasoning.

Daily Drawing not No 6

I could not do the task for No 6 Daily Drawing yesterday as it involved being outside and it poured down here.  I did do this in preparation for something else though and have used some of the techniques already visited - ie watered down ink wash and pen.

And here is the latest version of my apron-cum-pinafore ...

Detail of the pocket to show what the lining is like.