Motoring Pageant 2011 (Part 2)

 It was difficult to choose a favourite car at the pageant but the lipstick red coloured ones drew my attention.

These field singers in their 1940's outfits also drew admiring glances as they sang 'Mr sandman.....bring me a dream...'

 The shiny jetstream and airstream caravans looked as though they has just landed from outer space.

 A duck egg blue Austin, I am sure would meet with approval from many of my blogging friends.

 A curvy two tone Dodge.

This car owner had a sense of humour.  The sign says ' only lean on me if you are in the nude as buttons and zips damage my bodywork'!

 A VW camper van.  Now I NEED one of those!

 A silver corvette.

 A bright turquoise Chevrolet.

 Back to the reds.

Red, curvy and chromed.  A winning combination!

Motoring Pageant 2011

 I attended a local motoring pageant yesterday.  As a non-driver, and not particularly fond of the look and design of today's modern cars, nevertheless, I absolutely adore British and American classic cars and if I was to own one I would definitely learn to drive it.

 Being a cat lover I was drawn to this Riley with a lovely little cat sitting on the radiator.

 The car owners put so much love and care into their upkeep and the chrome shone brilliantly in the sunshine.

 The finishing touches on the cars make all the difference.

 These ice cream coloured cars were among my favourites.

 I am not even a great lover of pink but I could easily fall for this car.

 If 'ice cream' is not your thing than why not opt for a Howes pure fruit lollie!

 This is a 'Singer' car and I thought they only made sewing machines!

 I just love these American signs.

 Beautiful bikes and American flags in the Route 66 Marquee.

A wonderful and inspiring day shared with motoring enthusiasts countrywide.

Alone Again ..............................Naturally

My insecurities have gotten hold of me again.  I can quite easily bumble along through life and then out of the blue self doubt sets in.   I like to think that I come across as an amiable person through my blog and in my 'real' life too.  Something is not quite right though.  I don't seem to be able to form 'friendships' as other bloggers seem to be able to. People that used to comment on here or email me no longer do so even when I still support them on their blogs, yet I know they are still around because I see the comments that they leave on other people's blogs.  I understand if they no longer find what I say interesting (maybe they never did) but it makes me wonder if I have said or done something to offend them.  I hope not.

I feel very much like the buttercup above on the left.  The one on the outside whilst everybody else is grouped together on the right.  Maybe I detach myself purposely?  In some aspects this is true.  When I am alone or feeling melancholy I tend to produce better art, better poetry, deeper thoughts.  Today I am feeling very isolated.  It may be a good time to dig out the paints and see what happens.

Nature Printing

Plant material + paper + ink.  A totally absorbing hobby.  The above photo shows the underside of sage leaves.  Just look at the intricate network of patterns.

Other suitable plant material for printing include rose leaves, ferns, strawberry leaves, mint and blackberry leaves, tree leaves, various herbs, dandelions etc.

Whilst looking in the garden for plants to print, I found this crushed rose on the ground.  Even in death her beauty shines through.  Her colours are vivid and her crumpled form displays interesting shapes.  I think I should like to paint her.  The marble table replicates the sky and the whole image has an ethereal quality.

Edited: I have put another two polls on the top right side of my blog.  It will be interesting to see the outcome of them.  I am asking these questions to guide me in my decision making processes!  The results of the previous two polls are at the bottom of my blog.  Thank you for taking part. x

A Garden of Delights

 The May garden is looking beautiful.  The strawberries are ripening.

 The Peony is in full bloom.  Look at the size of the flower head to my hand!

 Baby pears adorn the pear tree.

 The compassion rose climbs up to reach the cornflower blue sky.

The most beautiful rose of all.  She hides at the back of the garden in the shade, next to the raspberry canes.  The whitest and purest looking rose.  I love her for her simple beauty and delicate fragrance.

p.s I have put a couple of questions at the top of my blog on the right hand side.  It will be interesting to see the outcome!  Have a lovely weekend. x

Personalities and Self Discovery

As I continue my soul searching quest to find out who I am, what makes me tick and where I am going, I have been studying personality types based on the works of Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs Myers.

There are 16 distinct personality types in the currently most widely-accepted Personality Type model. After much consideration I seem to fit the INFP personality best of all.  The INFP personalities are the Idealists.  Looking further into this to see what careers are suggested for INFP personality types I see that 'Writer' is at the top of the list.  It seems quite far fetched to me that I could actually make a career out of being a writer as I didn't even reach GCSE standard for English at school!  It has given me a goal to work towards though.  I can see myself as a writer.  I will be sitting in my study looking through the window to the hills in the distance, I will have a steaming mug of coffee by my side and a plate of home made biscuits to feed the mind and the belly. With my cat purring contentedly on my lap as I write............  the situation is almost ideal.

Popping in and a Peony

Thank you for your kind words on my last post.  Unfortunately Blogger has lost some of the comments that were made on that day.

I have been feeling very unsettled these past few days.  A bit fidgety.  When I am like this I tend to find some comfort in pottering about in the garden.  I ignore the fact that everything seems to be crumbling down around me and I focus on the pretty things.

This peony plant has about 7 buds on it at the moment.  The flowers take ages to open and once they do they only seem to last a couple of days. 

It has such beautiful flowers which are so petal packed that the plant needs support to keep its lovely head from bowing,

Stitching and Thinking

Whenever I do some relaxing stitching my mind tends to wander.  Today I was wondering about my future.  I rarely look too far ahead, I generally live day to day but just recently I have felt very restless with the uncertainty of my future role.  I have been a stay at home Mum for almost 13 years.  I now feel that as my son becomes less dependent on me I need to plan ahead.  It is scary.  I can't imagine returning to work.  I can't imagine working for anyone else.

When I left the office more than a decade ago, I never envisaged that I wouldn't return.  The day I left I was rosy cheeked and full of optimism.  The years have taken their toll on me.  I don't have the energy for office politics anymore.  I don't have the energy to dance to someone else's tune.  I will have to work for myself.

The problem is I don't know what I WANT to do!  I don't know what I CAN do!  My confidence is low at the moment and I don't feel that I am capable of  doing anything.  I have been 'stuck' like this for a long time as regular readers of this blog will know.  I am unable to move forward.  Unable to reclaim my identity as me and not just 'Mum'.  Who knows where I am going to end up?  On the scrap heap no doubt if I don't start making decisions soon.

For now, it is back to the cross-stitch.  At least that is one area where I am making progress.

Praising Pea Shoots and Planting Progress

Last year I avidly followed Alys Fowler on The Edible Gardener series on the Television. I watched her plant up dried peas bought cheaply from a supermarket to grow on and harvest as pea shoots.  She made it look so easy.  I gave it a go and it is easy!!!   All you do is fill a container with compost, poke in as many dried peas as you can, water and leave to grow!  In the past I have bought all types of peas in fancy gardening packets and never had any success.  The peas I used for this experiment were bought from the dried goods aisle in the supermarket and meant to be used to soak and cook.  I think the packet was less than 40 pence and I still have loads more peas to use!  The proof of the pea shoots are shown in the photo above.

The plants are doing very well so far in the greenhouse.  The cherry tomato plants are getting greener and filling out nicely.  I have bought a bush variety so there will be no fiddly staking and pinching out for me this year.

In the above photo I am growing trailing petunias (in the baskets) and upright petunias (on shelf) and fuchsias all grown on from tiny plug plants.  The sunflowers have been grown from seed.

I have also grown the pot marigold from seed and the lucky shamrock which I bought from the 99 pence store!

 I can't wait for the shamrock to work its magic!

Out of the greenhouse and into the garden.  The strawberries are beginning to develop.  I can't wait until the berries turn red, ripe and juicy.  I just hope I manage to get to them before the birds do.  I am back up to the greenhouse now to do a bit of nurturing and give some words of encouragement!  Later I hope to make some scones to accompany the pot of clotted cream and jar of strawberry jam that I have ready to consume and then I will settle down with a bit of cross-stitch to round off the day.

Rediscovering Cross-Stitch

I have recently returned to an old love of mine - cross-stitch.  Bucking the trend, I ignore the influx of knitting and paper craft magazines that have taken over the stationers and notice that cross-stitch magazines are in decline.  I have many cross-stitch magazines collected over the years so I am not worried about running out of patterns any time soon!

My cross-stitching preferences are samplers.  I like to use muted colours and natural coloured fabric.  I had forgotten how much I love to sit cross-stitching by an open window with a gentle breeze flowing through, listening to the radio and watching my design grow, unhurriedly, little by little.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy seeing those perfectly formed little crosses turn into words and images.

I am happy to follow the crafts that I enjoy doing and am not swayed by current trends (saying that I do enjoy paper crafts but did so before it became fashionable!), although it may be that cross-stitch regains its popularity and I will be 'on trend' again.

May

And after April, when May follows,

And the white throat builds, and all

the swallows!

Hark, where my blossom'd pear tree

in the hedge

Leans to the field and scatters on the

clover

Blossoms and dewdrops -

Robert Browning