This is how it goes...

You all know Theo, my sweet, older British cat by now. This is how things work in his little cat brain:In the evening he snuggles up at the foot of my bed and looks away as if to say, "I'm not bothering anyone here...am I?"Then thru the night he twists and turns and slowly creeps up the bed till, in the morning, he's practically on my pillow!Then he gives me his innocent look which means, "you know you want to feed me!" and has a stretch.He's such a ham!Not nearly as much of a ham as my friend Gerry's cat Oliver. Have a read of this lovely, silly story and tell me about your cat. :)

Near and far...the Cotswold countryside and the Weekly Photo Challenge from Wordpress

There’s something magical about the English countryside. One sees it in old master’s paintings in museums, on the covers of chocolate boxes and fancy vacation brochures, but I can tell you that it really is that bucolic in places. Out of the cities and towns, between the villages, the only things which have changed from centuries ago are the farm vehicles and the power lines. (Both of which can be judiciously avoided or Photoshopped out) When I get back to Vancouver, I have it in mind to paint a few large canvases of this Englishness.Photographed for Wordpress Weekly Photoshop Challenge.

September and a whole new world

Gone are the bright mornings of summer. Here are the foggy, rosy, mythical mornings of King Arthur and Robin Hood.Walk down the lane with me this morning. Can’t you just picture the dragon stirring in the mist?The cow parsnip has gone to seed and the sturdy stems snag dawdling spiders in their travels.Walking quietly thru the copse means sighting bunnies, a pheasant and a deer, who don’t see me till I’m really close.The sun is trying to burn off the fog but it doesn’t have enough energy yet. This is good. I want this quiet daydream to last.Jewels everywhere. Do you also look for perfect orb webs with dew?Breakfast...cool morning bramble berries.Look at this beauty!I love these mornings.

A day out of the ten miles...lunch at Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire.

You know how on a day out you sometimes say to yourself, “I’d like to go visit a castle...no...wait...maybe some historic ruins. Oh, but then I’d also like a nice place for lunch, some shopping and a museum would be great.” You know...like you do.Well, I found the best place for you to visit. Sudeley Castle in the beautiful Cotswolds.This place was home to Queen Katherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry the VIII. She actually walked the grounds, the halls, prayed in the church, and she’s buried there too. You know who else stayed there? Lady Jane Gray, Queen Elisabeth I, Kings Richard III, Charles I, George III...oh, what am I doing...this isn’t a history lesson. But now it’s the private home of Lord and Lady Ashcombe and family, who will let you tour their private apartments on three days/week.About 3/4 of the castle is habitable and serves as the private rooms, museum and cafe.The remaining 1/4 is so romantic. Beautiful, majestic ruins.The cafe is in a part of the old stables. There's a copy of the warrant of execution for King Charles I hanging on the walls. Apparently it was signed there.I recommend the roast beef baguette. The chips are out of this world.The view to the formal gardens from the museum part.Wouldn't you love a water feature like this in your garden?Here is a small knot garden.And a walled secret garden.Between the formal garden and the secret garden is the church.Inside is a marble tomb in which rests Queen Katherine Parr.The most amazing place. Many more photos on my FB. Come see.

Come see one of my most favorite places. The Burford Garden Centre

It’s a garden centre, a cafe with the yummiest lunches, a gourmet foods shop, a home decorating centre, a children’s fantasy shop, a speciality book store and an antiques shop all in one.If you’re an avid plants woman/man, want a lovely place for lunch with friends, need that truffle oil from France for tonight’s risotto, want to buy a three tiered tutu in bright fuchsia for your little princess this is the greatest place to spend some time.All the displays are so lovely to look at and dream about.Look at this one.These cast iron twine spools...I mean...you have to have twine in the garden, right?This is a fruit store for all the apples from your orchard.The roses are actually grown so you can see their habit before you decide on the perfect one.How about this! A Gypsy caravan as a play house/place to nap/have tea.Wow, locally grown and hand spun linen goods. Who does that these days? I want to spin and weave linens.Loads of vintage plates/cups/jugs...anything you like, for a song. I love to mix and match, don’t you?Can you believe the patina of this table and benches? This would be so wonderful in a breakfast room.And, of course, a fair amount of that beautiful English Laura Ashley type layering. Very Shabby Chic.Can’t wait to go back.

To define is to limit...Free spirit, Weekly Wordpress Photo Challenge

Believe me when I say: To define is to limit.From the Latin verb "definire"...to limitGo on...live a life without definition...without limits.Thought about and written for the Weekly Wordpress Photo Challenge...Free spirit

Can you do it...yes you can!

The Astra sputtered and misfired on a cylinder driving up to the village hall the other day. It could have been one of about three problems, but, after going thru the easy fixes, the problem was narrowed down to a broken head gasket.So R and I bought a new head gasket and spent four hours replacing it.How much does it cost to have a broken head gasket replaced at a mechanic’s? Don’t even ask!Bet you could do it yourself.Car engines, I’ve figured out, are like a sort of paint by number puzzle. Part A fits into part B. There’s really no mystery. (It just hurts a little to learn, but with a good Haynes manual it’s relatively easy.)And the dirt is “clean dirt”. It washes right off with some dish soap.But then you have a new car with digital this and automatic that and you need to have the garage bloke read the on-board computer...you say.No you don’t. You can save yourself the diagnostic charge by reading or even resetting the on-board computer yourself. I bought a diagnostics tool for my modern sporty Solara for about $100. It plugs into a little slot in the passenger foot well and into my laptop. Voila! $60 saved each time.You can do it. Yes you can.

Hello again Sunday Whirl...missed you

I've missed a couple of weeks of whirls for one reason or another. You know what I'm like...sometimes I really need a good kick to write poetry.So thank you Brenda for these great words. It's a huge pleasure to have a reason to write.dusk, link, trace, empty, essential, rose, pencil, fence, chain, recipe, forgiven, operatorThat’s the way dusk usually is she saidI think she said it because she thought she saw a trace of empathy in my eyesOr because she was looking at my sketchbook thru her decaf latteShe dyed her hair blue and cut it short, except for the fringe in her eyesShe thought it was essential for her new look and sequined shoesI thought she looked like a lost mermaid in the cityI thought I’d tell her my grandmother’s recipe for gingerbreadThat she can make on evenings when she reaches level groundOr when she needs to break the chain of her decaf lattesOr when the city feels too small or when she needs absolutionForgiven? She said she is the sole operator of her destinyI wondered how it must be to see the world in rose thru a blue fringeShe left half her latte which had gone too cold by thenShe walked out the door into the rain-filled alley throwing ice like a blue cometAnd passed thru the hole in a broken-down fenceI want to leave too because this room is four walls of concreteThat will not allow me to breathe properlyAnd I know she will skip classes and cartwheel on her fingertips and run free without reinsShe is my link away from the nights when I cling to my sketchbookMy mind feels empty like air between wings or a sign in the darkAnd only the pencil in my writing hand seems realCheck out these fun whirls from Carol, Walt, Hannah, and Veronica and then maybe write something off the top of your head. I'd love to read it!art: a tiny little oil painting of an Oxfordshire sunset on a front cover of an old book of carols...What? It's like a stretched canvas.  :) 

And the results are in! The Northmoor Village flower and veg show.

So, having given myself the permission to freak out most of Sunday evening, I got my act together by 9am Monday and took my seven entries to the village hall.What a palaver!The whole adventure began with an email out to the village folk about a month ago; I immediately signed on.I’ve been watching and waiting and planning for about three weeks prior. I had hoped for a mixed flower arrangement from the garden, and a bowl of roses for show, but there the English weather didn’t cooperate. Two weeks ago there were still about 10 beautiful roses and I’ve been watching them with hope, but last week a gale whipped up and they all either got blown to smithereens or bloomed out. This week a few new buds started...wouldn’t you know it?The English weather did it’s best to cooperate with the wildflowers though and some were still blooming at the end of August.You would have laughed to see this crazy, welly-wearing girl running thru the meadow inspecting and dead-heading the weeds. Yup, that was me.And that was me talking the seed geraniums into blooming and moving them from sunspot to sunspot all day long.And that was me gathering blackberries, a few handfuls at a time as they ripened, and freezing them till I had enough for a batch of jam.And that was me balancing on top of the ladder trying to get the best looking cooking apples from the top of the tree, failing to reach them, and dropping them to the ground where they would bruise and go brown in seconds. I just needed three perfect ones to show! That was me shaking that tree muttering, “Come-on-tree-give-em-up!”And that was me trying to stand on a rickety old chair to get six ripe Victoria plums.And that was me baking the apple/pineapple/ginger pie and the leek/bacon/three cheese flan last minute.So Monday morning all that was left was to run thru the field collecting all the wildflowers and arrange them skillfully and gather the rest of my entries and drive to the village.Got to the village at 9:15 am for the 9:30 judging and the children helping out gave me the #7 stickers to stick on my seven entries.The hall looked amazing with loads of people contributing to the show and soon the tables were laden with baked/preserved/grown/arranged and displayed goods.And we were all ushered out for the judging....And then we all came back.First things first, I had a strong cup of tea and went to look at the results.Well, stuff me!This was so way better than I expected.You know what though? You’ll think this is funny.My friend Julie from the great Moments of Perfect Clarity lovingly said: well done! You’re practically English now.” on my Facebook, and it’s true, I’ve always thought that. Had a British dad, grew up at times in London and been part of this community for 10 odd years. But some people still treat me as...you know...the opposite of English. As in either you are or you’re not one of us. I had an older woman, who I probably shouldn’t identify, ask, “are you one of the Germans moved into the village?” Huh? And another woman I know well, and have met in other social situations over the years, dismiss me as not worth talking to.I read my friend Celi brilliant post about being a foreigner in her own town because of her accent and I think...yeah, I get that.Yesterday I was walking thru the fields with R discussing this situation and I remembered a little girl I knew when I was 8 or 9 yrs old. I kept asking her to come play and she finally said to me, “I don’t have to like everyone you know.”It’s true.But thank goodness I have so many lovely old friends in this village, many of whom I’m so proud to know and with whom I celebrated this country show. And also many new friends who I already adore and hope to get to know better.And so life goes on in twists and turns. Yesterday I did well in some of the classes and won a beautiful bronze Phalaenopsis orchid, today I changed the broken head gasket in the Astra. (But that’s a post for tomorrow.)Tonight I’m in bed looking at the almost full moon silvering moonlight thru my window and I’m thinking I’m a lucky girl.

Sunday rest? Oh...you know the drill :)The turbo mini and the Caterham 7 at the Blenheim Palace classic car show.

This is something I look forward to ever year.Usually I take my beautiful rebuilt Austin 7 mini to this show but this summer my mini is off its MOT and so the turbo mini got a chance to go out again.Blenheim palace, which is actually within my ten mile project, has huge green lawns, perfect for a car show.Parked up the turbo mini next to Jason's Caterham 7 and another Caterham 7...and had a wander around.Look at this beautiful MG Police car. Doesn't it look like something out of Wind in the Willows? Can't you just see it chasing Mr Toad?Wow! Just Wow! Look at those rear lights. Can you imagine trying to park up a land barge like this one in a parking stall?What is this? An Alvis? Apparently it was a private British company from 1919. Never heard of it...also never heard of Facel; a French type of car.Now this...this I have heard of. Love Cobras. And the Ferrari isn't too bad either ;)This is just such a sexy piece of kit, isn't it? I love Etype jags. In my next life I'll get one.Walked back to the cars and there was a third Caterham 7 parked up...boy, they sure multiply, don't they?Suddenly there was a lot of interest in the cars...and no wonder, such pretty cars.All good.