Walking into the view again

I have had a very busy - but creative week - and I am afraid my commitment to A River of Stones now seems rash. It will have to be sporadic:

A River of Stones

As I walked, a chirruping stream sang a cascade of watery notes.


The landscape looked like winter had laid her petticoats out to dry.




The new wind farm above Brechfa. I'm afraid the words "wind farm" are not good ones in this area. I wish I could support this alternative energy technology but it is not cost-effective, not practical, is a placebo given by the Government to their totally impractical commitment to the Kyoto agreement, and a total rape of the countryside.


Looking towards the coast. On a clear day, you can see the hill topped by Llansteffan Castle. But not this day . . .

Through the trees, the top of the hills above Llanfynydd.


This sort of moss takes full advantage of our high rainfall and will colonize virtually any tree or branch or stump. I am being fanciful, but to the top rightt of the tree it looks rather like a human face and the broken stumps of branches could almost be arms!

Close to the start of my walk, the sun came out properly.

Above and below - evidence of practices from the past. These trees were once cut and laid, but then left to grow probably for the past 30 or 40 years. I'm glad to say that this particular skill is now being encouraged once again and there are new practitioners in the countryside.


The sun was breaking through and lifting my spirits as I strode downhill.



The photos above and below are typical of the landscape hereabouts. Fields of a few acres which formerly were much smaller but mechanisation and grants have encouraged farmers to grub out old hedgerows and banks to make the fields more easily managed. The tree of choice for boundaries in the past was either Hawthorn or Blackthorn to garner respect from livestock! When allowed to grow on, they make respectable trees.




Looking South-Eastwards down and across the valley of the Cothi. Right in the valley bottom are a couple of our neighbours' properties.


With such a diffuse light, the grass on the hedge banks was the only splash of colour.


Where it continues mild, amazingly I found this Blackberry still in flower, sheltered from the prevailing (West) wind by a thicket of Blackthorn.

My shop is almost open . . . you can browse anyway!

HERE is the link for the C&C shop, made necessary by a big vet's bill for Tippy's treatment (I've another bill to come too.)

A while ago I mentioned having an embroidered vintage tablecloth etc stash which I needed to downsize before we move and several people on blogs and forums expressed interest. I have listed some things in my shop blog, and there will be links to other bits on e-bay (later today hopefully) and I will add more items, including books etc in due course.

Now, if anyone can tell me how I can open a 2nd hotmail account, and then link the blog to it so people can get in touch with me directly, I'll be delighted! Brain currently in Frazzled mode!

Drawing . . . Rackham would have got first prize!

This took me hours - but it has been a good exercise in seeing what is really on a page, and interpreting it. I bet it didn't take Arthur Rackham anything like as long to execute, but he drew and painted all day long. Still, after pretty well a break since school days, with a few forays inbetween - mere arty hiccups - I am reasonably pleased with this. Mind you, I just could not get the hoof right (the foreleg with the darker shoe) - such an odd angle, and I rubbed out and drew it SO many times. Likewise I am not happy with the near hind leg, because whatever I did I couldn't get it to give the horse the movement and power that Rackham did. I think I have the length and angle of the second thigh wrong. I am surprised there is a rider AT ALL as I'm not good at people and stupidly, did the horse first and then had to fill in the rider!!!

Anyway, this - in its entirety - is Beaumains defeating the Green Knight.

Click on it twice for all its imperfections!

A little bit of rain . . .

The floodplain of the Towy at Llandeilo.

A River of Stones:

Contorted Hawthorns queue to dip their toes
In the Towy's murky waters
As islands of green float by.




I was aware of gale in the night, but this house was built in the lee of a hill, and protected by tall trees, so spared the worst. I didn't hear the rain at all, but it must have deluged down as this morning the river was still very high and there were all the signs that it had been higher still. For starters, the lane was still under water when we drove down the hill and we had to reverse all the way back up again and go out over the top.



I ventured out later with my camera, and took some more photos. Above shows the river quadrupal its usual width, though it has been even worse in other years.

The stream took the short cut here, and went straight across the lane.

This one shows how the stream bank was trashed so the water level must have been a good couple of feet higher.

The river had been through this gap, but it also comes up through the drains.


This is fairly normal, the river rising and dropping several feet in a few hours.


Below is the leafage left behind by the river being on the road.


I also took photos when we were in Llandeilo, where the Towy had burst its banks just below the town. I'll post those tomorrow.

Artistic inspiration

Yesterday I was so inspired by Ann Somerset Miles' blog Journaling the Journal, and wanting to do something similar, I decided I would blow the dust off my sketch pad and have a go. It's only copying, rather than drawing freehand, but hey-ho . . . For inspiration I used a lovely book I found at the car boot sale recently, "Hedgerow" by Anne Angus, a local artist (Carreg Cennen way) and naturalist.

Birds don't come naturally to me. I did these first. I am at home with horses and flowers, as I know how they "work". I was secretly rather pleased with the birds . . .

And then I went blog-hopping and really blew my mind: Look HERE for starters, and HERE for starters!

So, a new year and a new start . . .

Landscape through Trees

A River of Stones:

Bee-banded ferns caught my eye,
And lifted it to see
The sun on green fields,
Mossy roots and Green Trees . . .

Words

I had time to think today . . . mostly when I was baking, trying to keep a flow of baked goods going into the oven and coming out ready to feed us for the week. In the name of frugality, I never put the oven on for just ONE thing any more.

Anyway, first of all I was thinking of a New Year's Resolution that I read in today's paper, where someone (whose name is already forgotten) resolved to learn a new word each day, to broaden his vocabulary and keep words alive. I loved that idea, and my word for today is dossil. That is probably extinct in usage now as it was "a plug, a spigot, a roll of cloth used for wiping down an engraved plate in printing; a pledget of lint for cleaning out a wound." Note to self, now look up pledget . . .

Do you remember A River of Stones from last January? I thought I would revisit it and join in again for this January. Whilst I was washing up, I looked across the yard and noticed:

As dusk falls in the yard, drowned cherry logs glow amber.

As I fed the outside cats their teatime meal:

A robin challenges the dusk with his song and,
Head cocked, awaits the reply.