Hello from...what day is it anyway?
Hello everyone. So it might be Monday morning here in Raincity, but the last few days are such a blur I've almost completely lost touch with the calendar.One reason for this is that I booked our return flights for two different days!Yeah! No idea what I was thinking!When we got an email from British Airways inviting us to check in 24 hours before the flight on the 28th, I thought, "Huh? We're leaving OXON on the 30th!"Not quite. I managed to book R back on the 29th and me back on the 30th. I'm such a butterfly brain!So, a hurried phone call to BA, an additional charge to switch, a drop everything and prepare the house for leaving Thursday, a pack everything up evening, and off to Heathrow the next morning.Of course, this gave us the best fun and the greatest chance to surprise Chloe a day early. :DThere's the silliest vintage porcelain cat here. The kids thought it would be funny to add this blue yarn kitten to my growing collection of ridiculous white porcelain cats. It's great because I love knitting, I also bought a yarn winder when we were at the vintage store. I think that now there may be six or seven of them here. I might have to put a moratorium on the purchase of any more of these silly cats guys! LOLThe flight was relatively uneventful, (I got a woman who could only be described as the village idiot siting beside me on one side, which provided us with endless entertainment), except for the landing. We flew into Van at the height of a strong windstorm; the strongest since 2006. This caused some spectacular turbulence for about the last hour, and major fun for the taxi trying to dodge bits of trees and power outages at intersections. But then we were at home and walking up to the front door, and Chloe open mouthed at having us appear a day earlier. It was so worth it. :DSpeaking of Chloe, she's fractured her ankle trying to run an obstacle marathon a couple weeks ago, and looks a bit like Long John Silver in an air boot. We seriously thought about stopping at a costume shop and renting some pirate gear before we came home.It's a monsoon out there! The rain has set in and is supposed to last all week. It's actually really great news after the summer drought and all the wild fires around the province. It's hard to find the break between the clouds, but when it came yesterday, I went out for some groceries, a little walk and a stop at a local art gallery.So here we are at home, missing home. The cats are being weird, and Milo won't even come in at the moment, and it'll take a bit of time till they find their balance with us back. The garden is waiting and I want to go dig up the potatoes and harvest the rest of the grapes, but don't really feel like doing that in the rain.Maybe we'll just take it easy for another day or two and hunker down in the warmth of the family room and watch movies on Netflix. :D
Plum cake and an open fire for rainy days
There has been some manky weather round here these past couple of days and Robbie and I are trying to get as much done as possible before we have to lock down the house and garden and head to Vancouver. The weather has turned autumnal and with it, great swaths of red berries are hanging out of every hedgerow. I can't resist cutting some branches and bringing them into the house. In the meantime, the grass is beautifully green but the cooking apples and Victoria plums are all ripening at the same time. Yikes! R climbed the apple tree and shook it as much as he could to knock down some of the apples so we can compost them before we leave. Of course, we hardly made a dent in the harvest by filling an entire green waste bin with yesterday's haul.We've never had a mole in the garden before, and now there seems to be evidence of the little creature in my flower and strawberry beds. Oh well, everyone has to make a living. I don't really know much about moles, except that my grandfather used to try to dissuade them from visiting his veggie garden. I'm not too bothered though.And that leaves our plum tree. This tree thinks it's a grapevine! I picked a bowl full of plums and decided that a nice plum cake would be lovely. There's something magical about baking sweets on rainy days, isn't there? It's the autumn thing to do. My Czech grandmother used to make a type of cake, not too sweet, interchangeable fruits, called Bublanina. Roughly translated as Bubble cake. My most favourite one was with cherries, but any juicy, tart fruit will do really. It's not too sweet, so perfect with a cup of tea. It's pretty simple and delicious.PS. driving the Landi over the meadow to collect the eggs from the chickens might not have been such a brilliant idea. Ever try shifting gears while holding three eggs? Yeah, instant omelette is definitely a possibility. :D
Drawing challenge: Tiny
Tiny! What a lovely concept Tammie thought of for this week's drawing challenge. Thank you so much Tammie.I'm a big fan and a big collector of tiny things.I love to stage found tiny things around the studio as inspiration while I paint.
But I'm trying to concentrate on a project right now, and that's that series of 8 maps I wrote about yesterday, so came up with this idea for our DC: The Little Owl.
A bit of a variation on "tiny", but hey, artistic license. :DThe work has taken me three days, (here is the map at the end of day two), but I was concerned that I get them the actual size on the map, because they are only about 6 inches tall.
I chose this map for them to stand on because of the repetition of the word little on it, it felt right, and also, their range goes up into this area of Lancashire, so all good.
I'm very happy with this painting, and also with the way this first map took the paint because I was a bit worried about the war substitute paper it's printed on.Now to clean up the studio, get rid of the logs R brought in for me as reference, and chose a new map for the jay.
Thanks again Tammie, that was loads of fun, and now I'm off to check out everyone else's interpretations. Won't you pop over to Tammie's and have a visit too? Better yet, come join us. :D
Today was a good day
Robert just looked at me, smiled and said, "Has it been your kind of day today?"I must admit it that it was!I got to paint all day today. That was a treat. I bought 8 beautiful old maps from ebay. They range from 1928 to 1938 and are printed on something called war substitute paper. I'm not sure what that is because I can't find a great deal of info about it...except that perhaps it's not as thick as it would have been ordinarily, but it's beautiful to paint on. Smooth and linen like.
I've been doing a garden clean up of sorts lately. Trimming and pruning because I won't be able to do that till December, and so the garden has to keep some sort of order in the meantime, and plants like this glory vine could easily swamp the fence in the next three months.
Speaking of fence! This is what we think is a stray cat round here. Robert has named him Raymond, (even if it turns out to be a her), but Chloe and I can't live with Raymond, and so that's morphed into Raymondo and lately just Mondo. So anyway, we found Mondo sitting on the fence when we came back from a meadow walk, but he won't come to us or let us get close. This is about as good a photo as I could get of him lately. We're not sure if he's a stray or feral. He usually is out in the late afternoon/evenings, we don't see him for days at a time, he looks us in the eyes, but doesn't allow us any closer that about 15 ft. Anyone know anything about befriending timid wild cats? We left food out for him, but we're not sure if he gets it or the other four neighbour cats...or the fat pigeons round here. When we find him we usually sit by and talk to him for a while so he gets used to us. We'd love him to move in like our darling Theo did.
Here is another elusive thing. It is a British jay. We almost never see these guys because they keep to the woodlands and very rarely venture into civilisation. Lucky us. I think he was after some garden plums because the acorns aren't ready yet. Think I'll paint him on the next map.
The plums are just coming ripe now and so I have to think of a way to preserve a ton of Victoria plums in the next ten days!
So are the apples. I want to make some crumbles and freeze them. They freeze beautifully, and these cooking apples are so sour. Perfect for a nice, tart crumble with a lovely sugary topping.
Robert took some time to map the TVR engine today, (this involves computers and a test drive), and I took some photos from my studio. I think it look beautiful, but R thought the colour looked too pink. (that was probably the reflection of the blueish sky.
Now these are pink! My hydrangeas in England flower so vividly pink. I love them. My hydrangeas in Vancouver flower bright blue and R loves those.
And, after a full day's painting, (and not worrying about supper because I started a stew in the slow cooker in the am), I had a drive in my Land Rover over the construction site and then into the meadow.
I gathered some vintage badges I was saving in Vancouver and brought them for my landi and mini. Do you think the British Columbia Automobile Association would come rescue me here in Oxfordshire? Yeah, me neither. :D Thank goodness I have a Robbie to rescue me if something should break. So far so good though. Early days yet in this restoration.
So there you go. A perfect day for me and looking forward to tomorrow.
Sharing with the wordpress bunch for the weekly photo challenge Today was a good day!
Evenings round here
It's beginning to look a lot like high summer round here. Our English summer is the typical on the cool side summer, but at least the blackberries are ripening. I'm worried though that I might miss the majority of our garden plums because they will come ripe just as it's time to leave for Van.Still, at the end of the day, after work, after supper, I love to go for a walk in the meadow. It's become an evening ritual.
I'll tell you why. Not only is the meadow beautiful right now, with pale flowers and downy seed heads which shine in the twilight, but at the end of the meadow is this summer house, which the owner has visited for only about three days in these past two months, and only got permission to build it in the first place if he built in this owl and bat house into the rafters.
AND THIS IS WHY I LOVE IT HERE!Do you see the deer in the tall grass? Do you see the barn owl at the entrance to her house?
I love these guys. I see them almost every evening. There is usually a Roe doe and two fawns, one or two muntjacs trying to eat the blackberries, a few bunnies here and there, and the snowy barn owl. I try to sneak closer and closer each evening for a better photo. They're on to me!
I stay till the last light, and then walk back home. :D
Sunday rest...HA!
Sundays might be meant for rest and a lie-in, HA, not us!We jumped up first thing and hooned X country to Northhamptonshire and the Santa Pod raceway to be part of the Mini in the Park.So many pretty cars! (you have to read the "pretty car" part with a Thick Italian Mafia Accent (T.I.M.A.) like the baddie in the Italian Job)
This began as quite an emotional morning for me, because this is the first mini gathering I've been able to go to since the loss of my precious mini. I decided to put on my Dunkirk spirit and look at the beautiful minis and chose the sorts of details I want for my new mini.Now, reflecting back, I'm so very glad I went.Oh pretty car! (T.I.M.A.) Really like the leather bonnet straps, the over-riders and the moustache. Not too crazy about the same as the body paint grill.
Definitely no Spiderman detailing...lol...but love the moustache and the grill.
Robert got me two beautiful vintage yellow fog lights, so I looked at the placement of extra lights on the various minis.
This is my most favourite engine, and very close to my engine to be. This is everything a classic engine should be, including the green paint, square radiator, and yellow fan. The only thing is this beautiful engine had a dynamo instead of an alternator. I used to have a dynamo in the old mini, but my mini now will have an alternator.
A lot of the pretty cars (T.I.M.A.) were grouped in mini clubs and proudly showcased under banners and flags. We're part of a mini club as well, the Turbo minis, because R and most of our friends try to out race each other with turbo modified engines. This is great fun because one year R has the fastest turbo mini in the world, (maybe only because the other three fast cars were not on the road...but still (he's making me say this bit because he says it's suitable humility)), another year one of our friends takes the title. So anyway, where was the illustrious, fastest minis in the world Turbo mini club stand?
Lol, over there along the side lines, no banners, no flags, just attempting to explode a watermelon with a modified petrol powered apple peeler...as you do!
While overhead, an old plane did loops and upside down aerobatics.
Mind you, mini owners, as a group, tend not to take themselves too seriously. I edited a little for this pc blog of mine, but must agree about the modern BMW Minis, (sorry my wonderful neighbours in both countries who love their BMW Minis).
So we had a wonderful time joining in with our gang, we had a little picnic lunch,
Caught up with our friend Simon...who ran .0458 of a second faster than R and took the crown this year at 13.09 seconds to the quarter mile,
watched him race, watched the races in general, the sluggish modern Minis, the funny cars, the nitrous oxide muscle car, the 4.6 second jet car and all the pretty cars (T.I.M.A.)...we watched till late afternoon.
Then we said our goodbyes and hooned home.
Drawing challenge: Image
I'm so glad the drawing challenge is back after a summer break, and am so grateful to our woolfie girl Nadine for calling this weekend's DC: Image.The word image is so loaded with possibilities, isn't it? Some days I feel I'm so bombarded with so many images, especially when I'm in the city, such a sensory overload, that I've all learned how to block the noise out and retain selective bits and pieces. I think most people are in the same boat here. The downside is that we have very short attention spans and tend to digest information in small bits, and the result is that some of us find it nearly impossible to do things which require long stretches of concentration, like to read a book from cover to cover. (Oh dear, my CMNS is starting to take over this post)What I'm trying to say actually, is that long and deep concentration is something I practice.These days I've been concentrating on the image, or rather the lack of image, of Isabelle, the wife of the 13C Knight Templar in our village church.
What do we really know about her?Not much as it turns out.We may suspect that she wore a wimple and tunic...as her sarcophagus suggests, she probably was very pious, and she probably had a pet dog. And that's it. The Medieval effigy is worn down thru the years, and the frescoes showing her portrait are too.
So what did she look like? How many children did she have? Where and how did she live? Actually, what was her name?I have a story to tell you. My good friend, Julie, lives in the village and is a brilliant historian. She wrote the book, The Water Gypsy, a true story about a fisherman's daughter in the early 18C, Betty Ridge, who lived right here in our village, married a viscount, and this marriage ended with grandchildren living at Blenheim palace. Now Betty, by the time she was about 40 yrs old, was a viscountess and had her portrait painted, and so we know what she looked like. Isabelle's, if it ever existed, is lost to history.
So is her name actually. I was speaking to Julie several years ago, and she said that we may never know her name. I said that we have to give her back a name and I chose Isabelle, because she looked like an Isabelle. A couple years later, Isabelle showed up in the book of the church history, and so it stands.But Isabelle is lost to history, as are almost all the women prior to the Renaissance and prior to the popularity of portraiture.
Last week I started a little cross stitch of Isabelle.
I stitched her wimple and gave her a golden veil.
I stitched her little dog at her feet.
And when I thought I got to know her a little more, I looked thru my stash of paper for the right page...
And I drew her portrait.
And her reason for living.
She is on a page of Grieg with the note "adante tranquille", to walk slowly. The page starts with No 12, reflecting the century in which she lived, and the letter B is between her eyes, signifying she was not necessarily the A, the important, notable person in this pair, but do you see the notations "p cresc" and "piu cresc"? This translates as: "more, louder" and, "rinf" is rinforzando, reinforcing.I know that many of the images are completely made up, but perhaps in some small way, the ancient music of Isabelle Moore is a little louder.
Now pop over to visit Nadine and take in some more lovely images.
The Great Coxwell Barn
Last week, my friend Elaine said she would kidnap me for a couple hours to take me somewhere special.That somewhere special turned out to be this amazing place...and, right within my ten mile radius of West Cottage, so happily fit into my Ten Mile Project!This is the Great Coxwell Barn. It's the only surviving Medieval, Gothic carpentry, monastic tithe grange in England!In English, this translates as: a c 1300 barn, owned by the Cistercian monks of Beaulieu Abbey, who used it to collect grain from their tenant farmers.
Sometimes you get real estate agents write "a wealth of old oak" in house descriptions, but there really isn't anything else one can say. I mean, look at these amazing beams! The beams hold up a massive and heavy stone (slate) roof.Can you imagine, there are no nails or screws or anything metal brace-like holding these beams together. The beams are held together by mortise and tenon joists and the pressure they force on each other. Modern technologies used by Houston barn builder are reliable, of course, but I believe this is amazing how our ancestors used to build such timeless constructions.
The walls are about two feet thick, and I bet that helps to support the massive roof, and there are stone piers which support tall aisle posts, which are double braced three ways at the roof.
Here is a photo of Elaine walking thru the barn, so you can get some sort of idea of the scale of this building. To me, it's just as spectacular as any cathedral I've ever seen.
Although not a classic interpretation, the barn does have that cruciform architecture so common to medieval buildings. This is the east end and one of the original doors. This part had a second floor with a little office where ledgers were kept.
The west end door has a dove cote above it.
The north and south giant barn doors were a Victorian addition. (those darn Victorians modernising the hell out of everything)
Some tallies were kept right on the stones themselves. Imagine touching marks made by hands hundreds of years ago.
The grain was brought in and stored at one end in sheaves, thrashed at the other end, and tallied and counted.One original set of fully audited accounts for 1269-1270 remains in the abbey records. In that year, the total account for the grain produced was 582 quarters, mostly wheat and oats, but also rye, barley and corn. I looked up the weight of a "quarter" in medieval times, did some math, and it seems that this totalled to 124 tons of grain!
But this barn was just a small part of a major farm. In the accounts was the total economy of the surrounding farms, which included: 5-6000 sheep, 13 horses, 45 oxen, 1 bull, 11 cows, 18 young calves, 134 swine, which produced: four tons of cheese and six tons of butter, and the bees produced four and a half gallons of honey. There was also some fish from the fish pond, but the amount isn't qualified in the accounts.
What an amazing farm this must have been. I'm so glad that the barn is now under the protection of the National Trust.
Elaine and I walked down to the fish pond, where we sat and chatted for some time, while I wove a clover crown.
And then, like some Lady of Shalott, I let it float on the fish pond, and we drove to Faringdon for tea.
Car boot sale treasure
What a treat it is to find unexpected treasures at a thrift store, flea market, or here in Oxfordshire, car boot sales.Come see what I found on Sunday.
I bought a peaceable kingdom of sorts.
Actually, I bought 19 lead farm animal toys from a company called Britains. Wow, I never knew about these fantastic little things and now I want to find more!
There are sheep, and cows, and pigs, and dogs with a dog house, and a farmer, and the farmer's wife, a goat with half of a horn missing, some horses; I love these little guys. Imagine children used to play with them.
Peaceable kingdom because, for some reason, my set includes a lion, (and a giant rooster). I'd like a farm like that. :D
I bought a set for four silver fish knives and forks. Now I need more fish knives and forks like a hole in the head, but then, I couldn't leave them there for .50 pence, could I? Especially when the lady threw in the wooden handled pickle fork for free.
I actually set out to get a milk/cream jug for tea, and found this beautiful green depression era glass one, and then found more green glass...which I obviously had to buy to keep the creamer company. (Also bought a little vase but at photo time it was unavailable because it's doing its duty in the pantry holding a bunch of wildflowers)
There was this intriguing little tin at a table where everything was .50 pence, and it was full of these beautiful vintage buttons. Elsewhere, I found these lovely scissors.
For the doll's house in Vancouver, there was this beautiful little chair and coffee table, with a Turkish wine decanter plus four goblets. Won't the dolls be thrilled?
And the last two things I bought are one more ceramic ink bottle, which now makes three this summer, (and seven together between the two houses/countries), and this little oil painting. I thought it was incredibly charming.
So there you go. Total spent was about £5, amount of pleasure from the £5: unbelievable! :D I love me a good treasure hunt! Anyone unearth any treasures lately?
Friends for a Sunday lunch
Hello from Sunday night everyone.We had the most marvellous weekend round here.Our friends Nick and Sarah drove down from The Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, to have Sunday lunch with us. I haven't seen them for a full year and so was very excited. When R invited them, I asked if Sarah would like to come to the Sunday boot sale with me and, surprise, Nick said he wanted to come too. Poor Robbie. For him, car boot sales rank right up there with...say...pulling teeth, but he was the best sport in the world and he came with us.After lunch we decided to walk down to the village church to visit our Knight Templar, Thomas Moore, and his lady Isabelle. As you can see, we got stuck in the rush hour traffic...both ways...lol, but managed to make it to the church. :D Where we had to get past the gate guard, and we found Thomas and Isabelle right where we left them last time we visited. I love this little church and these effigies and the remains of the Medieval frescoes showing Thomas and Isabelle being escorted to heaven. I'm stitching a cross stitch of Isabelle so did a bit of a study of her likeness for my project.Then a nice walk home, and cups of tea, and too soon Nick and Sarah had to leave to drive the hour back to Gloucestershire.I hope you all had a wonderful weekend in your parts of the globe. What did you all get up to? :D