Painting, artwork and weather

Well it looks like summer may have arrived. Note I say may have, you never know, 2 weeks ago we had hailstones!

I have had the last week off work so I have been painting, cleaning and even managed to visit our local beach.  I have continued to watch the Olympics, the local area played host to the mountain biking section at Hadleigh Farm.  It was quite strange watching a familiar landscape on the TV.

I have included some pictures I took of Hadleigh when M and I visited it a few months ago.  I have also included some of my favourite artwork.
Briar 
Briar artwork is mythological and fantasy based.  The artwork is often associated with Pagan religions and it features on many Pagan online suppliers.  The 2 examples I have chosen are entitled Diana and The Triple Goddess.

Diana

 I have this image as a greetings card, which I keep in my display cabinet.













                       The Triple Goddess

This is said to represent, Maiden, Mother and Crone. I really love how this depicts the different aspects to a woman's life, each stage being both important and beautiful.

I shall include some more examples of Briar in future posts.

We are now approaching mid August, traditionally another month and half of summer left, however with this unusual weather summer could continue long into October.  On the other hand I have already seen some fallen brown leaves so maybe Autumn is now on the way.  The next 6 weeks will be a very busy time work-wise, I hope to keep posting on a regular basis.  The plan is that blogging will help me de-stress!

Well I leave you with some pictures of Hadleigh.
Until next time.

Flowers, pools and other things

At the moment I'm at home watching the swimming (Olympics), my favourite sport.  I first discovered swimming while watching the Athens's 2004 Olympics and have loved it ever since.  At the moment Ian Thorpe is in the presenting box, he was competing in the games in 2004.  Also know as the Thorpedo and the guy the seals won't race against, he is definitely one of swimming greats. 


The weather today has been interesting, we have had; thunder and lightening, heavy rain and then hailstones!  


I have also included some photos from our trip to the park last week, mostly flowers. 

Metal munchies

As the sun decided to come out today, M and I visited Chalkwal Park. We are only about 2 minutes from the park but have only been there once in over a year. Of course we walked passed the playground, where I spent numerous Friday nights during the summer with Guides.

Then we came across the cafe. The cafe has had a transformation in the last few years, it is now the headquarters of a group called ‘Metal’. Metal is a cultural artist group, here is their website.

http://www.metalculture.com/

Culture is not really some thing I associate with Southend but there seems to be almost another world inhabiting the streets I walk down.
While at the cafe I picked up some leaflets about local societies and groups, including a writers group, photography competition (which I’m considering entering), What’s On for Metal and information on the Southend Pier Festival.

Lunch consisted of a very good courgette and green pepper soup for me and a smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich for M. The soup was so good, I’m going to try and make it as part of my new cooking routine. The routine is not necessary about changing what I cook, just better planning and making use of time. Ideas including pre-chopping veggies and possibly marinating them in oil and herbs or spices and putting them in the fridge, so I can throw them straight into the pan when I get in from work. This will hopefully not only improve the taste but also mean that it will save me time when I get in.






Well I will be going now, but before I do I nearly forgot to mention that our table has finally arrived, only 6 months after I ordered it! We haven’t had any guests over for dinner yet, as we have been doing a lot around the flat including repainting the bedroom (bye bye hideous black, blue and gray flowery wallpaper). However we have lots of dinner part plans for the future.

Its been a while....

Well I've been away so long, blogger has changed completely.  The sun is starting to shine, I've been on holiday, we've got an exercise bike and our table is going to be delivered (hopefully).  We have plans to redecorate and we are finding new recipes for spinach!

The never ending quest

I have to say I have never got hair styling quite right, or make up or choosing an outfit or many of the feminine daily tasks that seem to come so easily to most of the female sex.

I do feel as though I am some what of a social pariah for this, a feeling backed up by attempts to find helpful tutorial videos on you tube.  It would seem that the target audience for these videos are 16 year old girls, with titles like, great hairstyles for school and up-dos for homecoming, making me feel that I should have mastered doing my hair quite some time ago.

Can I use the excuse that you tube wasn't around when I was 16? Or I don't have time to learn?  No is the short answer to that one.

I did make huge improvements in the hair styling field about 4 years ago when I purchased an all in one styler, which is a straightener and curling iron all rolled into one. I have to say my hair really seems to come alive when I use the curling iron. It is now my weapon of chose when going out (some thing that doesn't happen that often), it is just a shame that it takes so long to use, a fact that means I can't use it when going to work, so I look my usual boring plain un-noticeable self when doing the 9-5. 

So searching you tube for videos for quick tips to getting great hair has meant that I am confronted by my insecurities, that everybody even annoying 16 year olds knows how to do their hair.  Everybody but me.

Well from now on I will make the time to find out this elusive secret.

That was the month that was.......

February 2012
2 days left of the month.
Well I'm now 28, shocking I know. Birthday was a quiet one, M cooked a lovely stew and we spent the day in town.  Our table still hasn't arrived ggrrrr, I have written a letter of complaint (writing this made me feel like a responsible adult, so I will have to do something to counter that shortly).  As soon as the table is delivered we will be having lots of people over for cool dinner parties.
My Nan celebrated her 90th birthday!
My aunt and uncle got a new puppy, he is lovely, made M and I even more determined to get a dog when we have the space. 
We had a brief snow fall and now we enjoying some warmer weather. 


So all in all a mixed month.  Until next time. 

.................

Today is my birthday, I'm 28.


Haven't conquered the world yet, but it's early days.