Some stitching and some book marks.

 I have been progressing the conversation with the stitching of the brick wall. In small increments!

I took the test piece of linen and transferred the marks back here. I then gathered the threads I had selected and started doing some small split back stitching as outlines of the stones in the wall.

It was interesting that after doing these 6 stones I felt I knew enough to stop testing and begin stitching the length of linen. I determined from the test that the two main colours were going to be the darker grey and lighter brown; with only occasional use of the lighter grey and the darker, rustier brown. 

I think that will make for a coherent look and a little bit of interest here and there. Also the lighter grey pretty much disappears, and the darker rustier brown just dominates too much (plus there aren't many stones in the wall that are that colour).

As ever I just like gathering all the bits together and looking at them!

Packing up is underway - here are all the prepped reels and the linen ready for taking back to Australia.

As I was tidying up my art table in preparation for leaving, I came across a heap of scrap white paper and thought it might be perfect for some book marks. So off I went and cut it into strips and did a few whimsical flower bookmarks.

You can never have too many bookmarks!

Tinkering and the light

 Once more I find my self tinkering - tentative steps this way; tiny tasks that way. 

It's OK, our life here is different and busy in many ways so I try to be kind to myself when I feel like I am not making enough time for making.

Tinkering-wise I have re-worked a pendant for a friend. She had lost one of the original pebbles, so I set about creating a renewed pendant. 

I sent her a couple of options and we both landed on this one that has four pebbles. As I worked with the three options, they felt incomplete. Her little family is four people and I liked to think the pendant could reflect that. We both separately felt that the larger pebble reflected her, surrounding them with her infinite love. Perfect.

I tinkered by buying a couple of coat hangers that might at some point belong to the work with the cotton reels! As well I inventoried my jewellery so I knew which sort of replacement pieces I need to make.

I tinkered and cut more linen strips. Clearly hopeful that may come across more cotton reels! I also tinkered and made a couple of cards and bookmarks along the lines of the white on black pieces in the background here.

I tinkered with buying some silk threads and some small books of writing. Both parcels arrived today. I unwrapped the threads and thought close, but not quite what I had in mind. And then I opened the books. And thought - I couldn't have done this if I tried...

And each day, whatever the weather, we walk and the light catches me every time the sun pops out. Sometimes it is brief, fleeting. Sometimes it hangs around all day, but most days are grey with a flash of sunshine scattered here and there.

Here are some of our moments..

Flowers in Inverness.

Rainbow against a cottage in the village

The Montbretias on our hillside, caught by the sun with the steely grey clouds behind them.

Some garden flowers on the front window sill, alongside one of B's comfort birds.

This morning's rain out to see, grey sky and fleeting sun on the hay...

Skittery and scattered

It is always of interest to me how the jet lag plays out. I am utterly functional and can do pretty much everything, but I get tired at odd hours, and occasionally wake at inopportune times, but one of the things I notice most is how hard it is for me to settle into making.

And so it has proven once again. My mind has been turning over lots of new ideas and plans, but the sitting down and starting takes time. I have happily researched and investigated, purchased some things like Letraset, been on the hunt for old wooden cotton reels and the like, but the actual doing? Not so much.

These cotton reels have got me thinking...and I would love to find some more of the taller ones so am having a happy time sticking my nose into every charity shop or collectable shops and sorting through the haberdashery. As an aside, before we left a friend told me about a friend of hers, who volunteers at a haberdashery op shop. An op shop/charity shop just for haberdashery and sewing notions! What a splendid idea. 

Out our bedroom window each night, the sky is always worth a look, especially this portion of the hill with the fence line.  I keep looking at it and wondering what it is trying to tell me. The best I have done so far is it feels like the fence is stitching the land to the sky. As if it is joining the celestial to the corporeal. There is something in there I want to explore... just not sure exactly what it might be.

I have been thinking about containing small amounts of text in 5cm x 5cm squares. I started out with just my handwriting in capitals, and then turned the square around and over wrote it. It makes an interesting texture. Very dense. Completely illegible. Looks a bit scary. Not sure it is saying what I want it to say just yet.

This is pretty typical of this time. Things are saying something, but I am not yet grasping them. Or I am not yet able to get them to say the right things! This too shall pass.

I have drawn some lines in the next square for my next thought...

And so, instead, I continue to look at the landscape, soak in the softness and the light and get inspired in so many different ways.

The cottage with the hillside of crocosmia/montbretia we have planted dazzling and bright.

Sunlight on the hay and the crofts. More fence lines...

Looking out along a headland.

The mist was in.

The late evening sun caught this line of cloud above the hill line. It was like a bright torn edge of some paper. Or worse - like a fire pouring over the hill.

And bringing some of the garden into the cottage.

Softly, softly. Gently, gently. The making will return.

Safe arrivals

We are back at the cottage safely, after a smooth travel experience - not something you can bank on these days. We had several fall back strategies should the air space over the Gulf be closed...

We spent our first night in Scotland at Pitlochry - a favourite spot to wander around. It is a sight to behold with its many baskets of hanging flowers; and this time we also got to visit the Book Shop at the Pitlochry Railway Station. What a brilliant idea this is - who hasn't sat at a train station wishing they could buy a book for the journey?

All books are donated and all sales go to the six charities they support. We got a couple of goodies and a cook book!

I think I need to find me a railway station with a vacancy....

And so to the cottage where the summer of rain has meant we have loads of growth - we have apples, potatoes, flowers and plenty of weeds!

We have since weeded the apple and hydrangea garden and it looks much better now! Before we left in May we planted out several containers with potatoes. They look utterly straggly, but we have harvested one pot and eaten them all!

Flowers are still going strong and I have brought some into the house just to keep the smiles going.

Out in the rockery.

Some of the wee heather remains on the hillsides.

And the cove looked majestic on our first morning here...

'Tis good to be back.

Flowers

 In the last little while, the winter blooms have blossomed a bit and I am making haste to gather some into the house.

I always feel happiest when here are fresh flowers inside with me. I always used to think that if I won the lottery, my big indulgence would be to have fresh flowers delivered every week.

I still try to have fresh flowers every week, despite no lottery wins.

Dad brought me along a stem of his orchids and suggested I could cut it down to make several vases. I love the angular nature of them here on the kitchen bench.

Our irises are just beginning to show their shy faces and I managed to gather a couple for inside

We helped a friend with some gardening and she gave me a couple of her early freesias - the scent! And so I collected a few of our remaining snow drops and some violets and made a posy.

Outside in the late afternoon sun - I love the low light - this lone camellia sat shining.

And gardening mid-morning, this frail and persistent hydrangea gave a smile.

And more late afternoon sun - picking up the first of the blossoms on the cherry tree so vibrantly.

And along the way, I began a rainbow doodle. 

Life is good.

Calligraphy and doodling

 There comes a time in every studio space where you need to go - Stop. Just stop. Clean up and tidy up before you do another thing. And I recently met that moment.

My desk space had pretty much NO space left on it as I had supplies for teaching out, samplers of Kilian Caps, some small pieces of calligraphy I was working on, my watercolour set and my watercolour doodles all fighting for dominance alongside my finished poetry books and my Conversations with Women Friends cards.

And so 'Time' was called, I cleaned up, cleared up and began again. I sent this photo to Barry showing him that I had done some calligraphy, chuffed that I had completed two small works that I thought I could use, only to discover as I sent it that I hadn't finished the pink one at all! It still needed the word Serenity added in.

So back I went. And you can see I gave up on the blue one as that S for Silence went way too wild (the lower bowl was too loosely curved, it needed a much sharper return) and was unretrievable in my book. 

I have now completed four I think including one blue pencil on black card which has proven almost impossible to successfully photograph.

Practising all those S s has been good for me I am sure!

I have continued with my daily doodle, most days, and am starting on my third one now.

And in amongst it all there have been flowers and local wildlife. 

A platypus in our creek.

There is a wallaby in this photograph, and a clue to where you can find it! Laugh.

There have been some lovely winter days, and we are grateful.