In The Pink

Mr Dancin and I are on the first day of a weeks staycation and we have lots planned for the week ahead including trips to the mountains, the coast, two castles, the garden centre to buy a tree and several local walks. Day 1 has started really well but slightly unusually.  My little one has been sleeping for short naps in the day for a while now typically between 30-40 minutes however has this morning decided on a two hour plus snooze and I am slightly at a loss. I have showered, had breakfast, re-erected the greenhouse following the gales and repotted the disturbed plants, had a coffee, discussed the weeks weather relevant to our proposed destinations with my husband and am now missing my little girl and feeling redundant, something I am not used to at this time of day! But it is obviously needed so we will leave her to sleep on and I am making the most of the time by blogging! Happy weekend all, I look forward to sharing snaps of the week ahead in due course.

This morning I have returned to the radio, BBC Radio 2 to be specific, for some company. I have always been a big radio fan but have listened to it seldomly in recent months favouring our own music selections. We have all of our music on the PC so its so easy to come in and set a playlist off or play all music and see what comes up but there is no sub substitute for me for the companionship you get from listening to the radio. My all time favourite DJ Terry Wogan passed away just over a year ago but his predecessor and colleagues at the good old BBC keep me in good company. I have played around with internet radio as you can access hundreds of stations around the world but I have never settled into regular listening. If anyone has a station they can recommend I would be happy to hear about it so I can check it out. For now its me and Ken Bruce, whiling away the morning.  Image Credit: The Telegraph

It has become clear to me over the last 9 weeks that I will now have little time for anything other than looking after my wonderful brand new baby daughter Scarlett, and in all honesty I wouldn't have it any other way; motherhood is an absolute joy. However I would be loathed to see my blog fall by the wayside and as such I will endeavour to keep it going and dare I say even get back to previous commitments such as Creative Tuesdays and Sky Watch Friday. At the very least I can still grab the odd snap while out walking with Scarlett, as I have done here on a recent trip to the aqueduct. So for now I leave you with these two shots, a lovely part of the canal and a rare moment when I had the aqueduct all to myself.

To see other Sky Watch Friday shots or join in click HERE . Sent from my Windows Phone

My sister sent me this great picture yesterday and it completely sums up our dog Roxy Pup. As a younger dog nothing got passed her but now as an elderly lady her priorities have shifted some what.

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For my darling girl Scarlett, born 11th November 2016.

English Folk Verse (c.1870) - The Fifth of November     Remember, remember!       The fifth of November,      The Gunpowder treason and plot;      I know of no reason      Why the Gunpowder treason      Should ever be forgot!  That's the only portion of this poem I have known up until now, however this year I came across the rest which I have to say I am not in complete agreeance with.      Guy Fawkes and his companions          Did the scheme contrive,      To blow the King and Parliament      All up alive.      Threescore barrels, laid below,      To prove old England's overthrow.      But, by God's providence, him they catch,      With a dark lantern, lighting a match!      A stick and a stake...

I use Picasa, Google's free photo editor, to edit my photos and love its simplicity, ease of use and handy tools. I like to play with my photos or scanned images and was delighted to see what pressing 'invert colours' has done to a recent drawing. I love it! I wish I could have drawn it like this...maybe I will have a go.

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I have had a go with my soft pastels and oil pastels added after for texture and am quite happy with this but it is very hard to get those amazing dense white bits in you get on storm clouds, I am not sure how to get that definition. Also I am struggling to get the perspective using colour which is something I have been practising recently on other pieces. So I am off to research the colour wheel and see if I can figure it out. Lots of fun though!

I have a fancy to get better at drawing skies and clouds, in particular storm clouds, and thought I would start with a clip-art type approach. They are, not surprisingly, not as easy as I thought but this was a lot of fun to do and quite simple once I had figured out how to do the face. There are masses of examples on the internet that you can use for ideas and then find the way that works for you. 

The current theme for Creative Tuesdays is 'Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore' with the brief being to create a scene conveying that you are no longer in quiet and comfortable surroundings. I decided after much deliberation to utilise the film the theme title is taken from and have produced this. Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My. The Wizard of Oz was a very significant film in my childhood and my sister and I watched it every year, often from behind a pillow. I don't know if anyone remembers but a few years ago they used the Wicked Witch of the West in a series of adverts and she still scares me! So I decided to let myself get lost in remembering the film and all of the images and feelings that came to mind. The line 'lions and tigers and bears oh my' kept popping into my head and as such this piece was born. I imagine anyone would feel they were no longer in quiet and comfortable surroundings if they walked into a wooded glade and...