DJANG

Grindstugan Sinkan

2011-07-23T16:05:00.000Z

This is Sinkan, a grindstuga, aka gatehouse. This beautiful photo was taken by Bengt Brown the previous tenant. The light is so autumnal and warm. I fell in love with Sinkan instantly.

I am back after a long long absence. For many reasons, some worth mentioning and others not. Most importantly however is that I feel I can come back and share again!

This hexagonal little yellow Mumin house will be visited in August and I shall finally get to see what it is really like and feel the presence of it. I am very excited about this new adventure.

I hope to welcome you to Sinkan, at least here on DJANG!

1925-1985 Women of the Avant Garde

2011-01-03T20:10:00.000Z

Eileen Agar. Claude Cahun. Leonora Carrington. Suzanne Césaire. LiseDeharme. Marcelle Ferry. Léonor Fini. Valentine Hugo. Frida Kahlo. Nelly Kaplan. Mariam van Hirtum. Jacqueline Lamba. Mary Low. Dora Maar. Lee Miller. Nora Mitrani. Joyce Mansour. Meret Oppenheim, Mimi Parent. Valentine Penrose. Kay Sage. Toyen. Remedios Varo. Unica Zürn. Bonna. Emmy Bridgwater. Hannah Höch. Annie Lebrun. Gisèle Prassinos. Alice Rahon. Edith Rimmington. Dorothea Tanning.

This list interests me for several reasons. One, it contains many names of artists I do not know... not surprising, but also it has omitted several important ones that should be included.

I shall explore the ones I do not know first on these pages e.g. Edith Rimmington, Nora Mitrani, Marcelle Ferry... Kati Horna is an omission as is Ilse Weber.

I found it through a book on this period and women's art.

1.1.11

2011-01-01T16:18:00.001Z

Happy New Year!

ICICLES

2010-12-08T10:25:00.000Z

Been thinking about this image for a Solstice card this year. Need some sunlight I think!

LUNA

2010-12-08T10:23:00.000Z

This is Luna my beloved feline companion. We are so very close it is absolutely amazing to me. The connection is so strong and goes over and beyond what I ever imagined between two beings of separate species. Look at her eyes! This is a bit close-up this photo. Her face is actually quite dainty.
I am so in love with her and her special being. To Luna with love.

View from kitchen window today!

2010-12-01T12:35:00.000Z

It is so magical with these bars of stalactites or icicles to look through onto trees and snow.

Snowfall continues

2010-11-29T14:21:00.006Z

This magical winter wonderland all white and quiet.

I am so happy to be back on DJANG writing and sharing again.
I took a hiatus for under a year due to some uncomfortable feedback.
It dried me up completely. Felt somehow too censored, and that is not what this was ever about.
DJANG was always about sharing and if you as a reader want to, you can read it and if you don't, don't.

I am posting some more pictures of Tarset and Sheep Cottage since the more recent snowfall.

Snovember 2010

2010-11-28T15:08:00.002Z

Earlier than usual we have our First Snow in Northumberland, well in large parts of the British isles actually.
Here is Sheep Cottage in the First Snow of the winter looking all Christmassy!
We are warm and cosy indoors with the cats, while the cars are snowed in, but we have plenty of provisions and a vegetable curry I made for supper.

Iconography

2010-01-22T10:40:00.002Z

Australian Aboriginal symbols and their meanings.
I have always been interested in alphabets, symbols, and icons.
There are similarities and differences when you scan the pictograms from all over the world. It is so fascinating to me. A link to understanding how we might think and experience while we translate what we see 3 dimensionally into a sign.

Bunny and sheep feed

2010-01-21T10:24:00.003Z

Went out for a first look around the garden since the snow and ice melted after the Big Thaw which followed the Big Freeze three or four weeks earlier.
LONG WINTER FOR THE UK!
I was heartbroken to find that not only had the sheep neighbours munched on my recently planted scots pine, holly, rhododendron (which I thought was poisonous), but the bunny had cleaned off everything else that was green! Parsley, roses, shoots, digging up bulbs etc.
I totally understand that in the shock of the all white world with no food what else to do than eat then Pamelas greenery situation, the bunny and sheep were in survival mode.
All I can do is to start over, planting more and protecting them better.
It is a huge learning curve this gardening in fell country. Wish me luck and perseverance with a lot of patience too.

The Water Table

2010-01-20T10:53:00.003Z

The Water Table the latest poetry collection from Philip Gross won the TS Eliot Prize 2009. Congratulations Philip! Well done.
The TS Eliot Prize is one of the big poetry prizes in Britain. Valerie Eliot herself hands over the cheque on prizegiving night and has supported the prize since 1993.
I am so very happy for Philip Gross, a wonderful poet and lovely man. He has a combination of humour, warmth and a sharp intelligence in his demeanour which I very much appreciate.
If you have not read the book I can of course recommend it!

Eva Hesse

2010-01-15T11:06:00.004Z

EH has an exhibition at CAC in London at present and I am eager to go and see it. I have always found her to be an inspiration in many ways. An artist although very much of her time she has had a long lasting influence. Eva Hesse and Ana Mendieta were two artists that I was very interested in when I was a younger artist living in NYC in the 70's. Although in actual fact I can say that I was interested in a great deal of work going on then. I went to everything I could go to. It was my art education. Performances, dance, music , art, clubs...all of it. I was so hungry and insatiable it was an amazing time for me and to be in NYC then.
I lived around the corner from where Hesse would have lived.
I want to share some of her work here.

New Moon

2010-01-14T22:20:00.004Z

Despite very wintery weather, more snow falling on ice, and quite chilly temperatures I find it all still very beautiful. I cannot get over all this whiteness everywhere. It takes time to adjust to the different kind of light and sense of space, without all the added extra detail. I need it to be winter. Seasons are so important in the appreciation of where I live in this remote valley in the north.
The white outside makes for good window watching. The birds are grateful at the feeders, so lively and many kinds with all colours.
I have been working on a couple of short stories. Winter is such a good time for writing, and reflection. Reading too of course. Taking stock of this here life.
If anyone I know and trust would have told me 5 years ago that I would be living in this remote valley in Northumberland in a small bothy/shepherds cottage I would not have believed them. Firstly I would not even have known where Northumberland was.
I wonder where I will be 5 years from now? Come on tell me trusted one!

I am about to travel to London for the weekend. The main reason being the TS Eliot prize readings and giving which take place annually in London. The TSE is a big deal in the poetry world here. The prize is given by Valerie Eliot, his widow, and the main prize amount is £15.000! Each poet who has been shortlisted also receives £1000, which is very nice too.
This year it is a varied group including Hugo Williams, Sharon Olds, Christopher Reid, Philip Gross, and George Szirtes.
I am looking forward to the readings primarily, which take place at Queen Elizabeth Hall and seats 900 I believe!
Also I have planned to go and see the Eva Hesse exhibition @ CAC on my art day and Tate Modern. We shall see how much I manage to take in when I go and what my energy level will allow. My fibromyalgia is nowadays very painful, perhaps it is the winter climate...
Most of all I am looking forward to seeing my bestest friend Paul and having Holy Cow!

Wrist

2010-01-12T17:39:00.002Z

Dearest Noah shattered his wrist during a bad fall on the ice. His body weight fell onto it as he must have had a twisted fall because it was a very complicated operation today. The surgeon Dr Ronald Pratt took hours in the theatre of North Tyne GH.
It had been very swollen and painful before the op and now it is still very painful. I wish him a speedy recovery very good healing progress.

Some beautiful friends

2010-01-12T11:17:00.002Z

Garden Inspiration

2010-01-10T11:03:00.005Z

We are expecting another 20 cm of snow this evening and I decided to look at some garden inspiration today!
It is such a slow process my garden journey. Every year there are changes made, but ever so slight.
First when I moved here I had to get to know the garden as it was and find out more about its history.
Then I started planting stuff because I was so impatient. Everything grows so fast here and it becomes wild very quickly.
I planted some fruit trees thinking ahead. Ferns and grasses because they look natural and play so well with the elements and the seasons. Roses went in Tuscany superb, Rosa rubia, Paul's Himalayan climber, and many many bulbs. They are essential in a county with such a long spring as we have!
Then seating areas became important despite very iffy weather conditions. I do so like being outside, taking my tea, being with the cats, thinking,...
I also love mystery and discovery so a few places like that would be good to create or to let be.
There is a view especially from the bottom of the garden over the Seat which is a fell on the other side of the Tarset valley.
A few garden "features" like a cairn perhaps, a firepit, a tea house...
I am planting herbs and learning which survive here with every year. Two rosemaries are doing surprisingly well! Wild garlic too.
There are places where the birds are happy feeding away, the rodents too, and rabbits unfortunately they are also fun for the cats!
A composting bin from freecycle. A water butt or two.
I have made a drawing of the garden as it is now and then Ben and I will do some clearing of overgrown areas this coming spring. Once I can see what it really is in terms of marshyness, slope, soil, I can really begin to plan better.
I want more soft fruit bushes, roses and peonies, herbs, fruit trees, a mountain laurel which I saw in New England but nowhere here, and dogwood the same. I also have trees to plant up the lane, chestnuts and oaks mainly. Plus a ginkgo which I want to find the perfect place for! Lots of plans! I take it slow season by season with Ben as a guide.

Wren Boys

2010-01-08T16:49:00.004Z

Today I decided to do some picture research on Wren Boys. You can see what I found above. They still seem to be most active in Ireland these days. Wren Boys and Mummers have been around for hundreds of years. There are many different theories and ideas. I am still looking into them and will get back to you on it. Wren Day is Dec 26th.
I should very much like to make some of the straw suits they wear! They look amazing!

Once upon a time 2

2010-01-07T18:13:00.004Z

Solägget by Elsa Beskow. The wee girl finds an orange lying in the moss in the forest. She believes it to be the sun egg. She then goes around to all her forest friends to ask them what she should do about this discovery. In this image she is returning a birds egg which has fallen out of the nest.

John Bauer again, what an amazing sky!

The intricacy of JB was very fulfilling, and as a child you could look at his art work for hours on end.

Tuvstarr sitting all alone and looking into the deep tarn in the forest.

Selma Lagerlöf wrote Nils Holgersson and she was also the very first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature. This story captured my imagination and many other children too and inspired us to see the world. Flying became a frequent dream topic for me and I still fly in my dreams. It feels fantastic.

Epiphany

2010-01-06T16:54:00.004Z

Twelfth night.
Normally I would take down the Yule tide decorations today but considering the deep white snow all around us and the still early darkness I will keep them up for a while longer.
We got a package from China and inside was Pu-er tea! Very special tea cakes, see above. Ours is just like the one here.
I cannot wait to try it, but first I want to get hold of a few implements in Chinatown either here or in London just to make the experience of Chinese tea more serene and pleasant. The tea will taste even better too.
A tea pot made of red clay, small bowls, perhaps a tray too...and a tea caddy to keep the tea in after it has been opened.

Once upon a time

2010-01-05T11:10:00.004Z

Kiki Smith

Elsa Beskow Solägget

John Bauer Tuvstarr

John Bauer Alvida

Elsa Beskow and John Bauer were very important storytellers and illustrators in my childhood.
Kiki Smith more so in my so called adulthood.
These images carry many day dreams in them.

Hair and paint

2010-01-03T14:28:00.002Z

Meret Oppenheim Fur gloves with wooden fingernails

Mimi Parent

Mimi Parent Maetresse

These are some of the art works intriguing me right now. Mimi Parent is an especially interesting artist and at present I am researching her work and life to learn more.
Meret Oppenheim is of course much more known but this particular piece I just saw at Angels of Anarchy in Manchester which also showcases works by Mimi Parent. If you cannot go in person the catalogue is very conclusive and informative.
The other two works are by a young Swedish artist from Gothenburg.

Hogmanay celebrated on the hill

2010-01-02T13:48:00.002Z

New Years Eve came in with a great snowfall then settled into a cold starry night with a big full moon, a blue moon, that is when there are two in a month or 13 in a year!
We drove on the white on white roads and there was no other traffic, no traces in the snow whatsoever. The valley folk are wise.
Arriving at Shield Law, the hill overlooking Bellingham, was quite the challenge. We did not want to crash into a stone walls or slip and slide off the road altogether. I was holding the tray with the cooked salmon filets and in the back was the potato dauphinois a la Suede and a bag of goodies slipping and sliding about.
The trip itself was such an exciting adventure! Thanks to the bright full moon light we could see for miles and that really helped. It was so beautiful
Hogmanay was spent in the company of Ben, Ruth and Fred plus their three cats Patricia, Hemlock and Bramble and Molly the black lab.
It was a relaxed cosy evening and I am particularly fond of that family. It was so kind of them to have us over.
Around midnight Ruth opened the window to let the old year out and the new year in. We toasted with some delicious port.
The food was not necessarily traditional but very festive. Bubblies, starters of tomatoes baked with chevre, salmon, apple pie and mince pies made by Ruth and were delectable. I think it is a marvellous idea to share the cooking, like a potluck! It worked out very well indeed.
Hogmanay comes but once a year. Last year we were at home in Sheep Cottage with friends from Germany having cheese fondue.
Next year?

Brother Blue

2009-12-30T12:22:00.002Z

Brother Blue passed this year and I will miss him. He was an amazing man. During all the years I lived in Cambridge Mass he and his wife tirelessly shared of themselves and their vision. They both wore all blue and the butterfly was his symbolic animal.
A storyteller among many things, he performed in streets, prisons and schools.

Full Moon New Year

2009-12-29T12:42:00.006Z

Preparing for the New Year by hanging more prayer flags in the tree outside the window in front of the cottage. The first thing you see when you arrive. Welcoming I hope.

This year we shall also hang wishes a la Yoko Ono on the tree in white. She made a beautiful tree in Bergen Norway once with the towns folk. A tree filled with white wishes, or wishes in white tied to the branches.

It is a willow. A goat willow from what I could tell from the tree book I have.
The cats have first row baskets on the sill and can watch the prayer flags and wishes from inside.
It is snowing and it is beautiful. All the fells are white, the sheep are whitish and luckily are given hay to eat.
I am going to put out bird seed for our many neighbours.
On the actual New Years eve we shall be seeing it in with some friends in Bellingham. Ben, the gardener and his parents live on a hill with a view of the North Tyne Valley and they have lovely cats and a dog too. It should be really nice and cosy.
Not so far to drive back home from either!

My booty

2009-12-27T14:28:00.002Z

I was given some perfect and lovely presents this year!
The catalogue for the huge photography exhibition at the Pompidou in Paris called La Subversion des Images, a book of interviews by Hans Ulrich Obrist, The History of Curating, which is incredibly interesting and stimulating, a Russian film on DVD called Mother and Son by Alexander Sokurov,director of the Russian Ark and The Sun, and Volume One of the Agnes Varda Collection which includes The Gleaners and I-hurrah!
I am reading the Obrist book like a vulture, it is a really good read. he interviews different curators like Harald Szeemann, Lucy Lippard, Pontus Hulten...
Toblerone in a tube and a big one as well to satisfy my sweet tooth, what more could a person ask for?!
We ate salmon cooked in a Swedish way, and Noah made a delicious brunch with smoked salmon the next day, and the cats got turkey!
It is snowing outside and it is warm indoors. Absolutely perfect.

Conserve the green

2009-12-24T10:35:00.003Z

While I am dreaming I may as well mention the conservatory!
I love plants and have reasonably green fingers. My windowsills are full and often they spill over all over the cottage, mainly because I get shoots to root, and thus keep expanding my collection.
I saw once at Emily Dickinson's house in Amherst, Mass. her conservatory which faced her garden and I loved it! Full of light and the right temp and loads of space for all the plants. I started dreaming that one day I too would have one for my greenery.
So along with the library, the country kitchen and the lounging bathroom I dream of a conservatory. The rest of the rooms I do not need! I can sleep on a chaise longue, the piano is in the kitchen with comfy chairs too!
So I have posted some pics above which I have found and they give me ideas!
Keep dreaming!

To Bathe

2009-12-23T21:00:00.005Z

I washed my ever longer hair and self today before going out. It is not something I do when it is as cold as it is now, esp with long wet hair and open pores. It feels very vulnerable to the elements. I have been a bit chilly since. My hair takes so long to dry since I do not use a hair dryer.
But I wanted to be clean before X mess eve and going to Hexham to begin the celebration with Noah. We are cooking together tomorrow a leg of lamb and veges, gravy, chestnuts, brussels, minty peas, wow the works! On Christmas Day we celebrate at Sheep Cottage with salmon cooked in a Swedish way and X mas pud, giving gifts and staying warm and cosy.
This year per usual we do not overdo the holiday thang. We eat together, share a few gifts, a fire, serve the cats chicken in front of the fire, a walk, a read, chatting and maybe a game...Very relaxed and that is the way I like it.
It is so beautiful outside with all the white snow, it really adds to the mood and makes it much lighter out.
Only the cats spend too much time indoors because of the cold and they get cottage fever.
Well the X mas wash made me think of bath rooms and it is something I dream of. Apart from the library, and the country kitchen I dream of a bathroom where I could soak in a bath tub for hours!
So I decided to post some inspirational pics.
Light candles and count your blessings.

Lighter and brighter

2009-12-22T10:56:00.003Z

Every time I pass Stanley I just stop and gaze. What a magnificent flower. Orchids are quite amazing. I never lived with one before and this is such a treat for me. Esp as I cared for it for 4 years not knowing which kind it was and trying to give it the right TLC.
Stanley is in the kitchen with the window that faces north. It overlooks an orchard of trees and the Cooper's farm house.
As we prepare for the holidays, bringing in holly, stacking some logs, enjoying the white snow outside, I am waiting to listen to a radio programme on Li Yuan-chia in the next hour.
I wish you all dear readers a very good holiday break, and do not forget each day from now on will be lighter and brighter.

East Wind

2009-12-19T16:13:00.002Z

The East wind from Siberia brings snow and cold temperatures too.
Happy Holidays to all creatures large and small.
Mr Bunny is eating green parsley in the garden while the cats are all warm in their baskets on the windowsill.
I shall make hot tea soon and eat a mince pie or two...

Stanley

2009-12-18T09:44:00.002Z

A few years back when visiting Stanley Kunitz in his NYC apartment I was given a small orchid to take home with me. It was not in flower and needed TLC. Stanley had an extraordinary number of indoor plants, his window was filled with greenery climbing high.
I carried the orchid back carefully to the UK in my hand luggage.
When we got home I found a north facing window in the kitchen and took care of it. Since I did not quite know which kind it was I had to guess about the care. I called the orchid Stanley and I waited. Waited and cared and cared and waited. Now in time for the solstice 4 years later it has a flower! First it was a bud for weeks then each petal opened so slowly I could savour it totally. One amazing flower. Thank you Stanley for teaching me patience.

First Snow

2009-12-17T16:10:00.000Z

Snow for breakfast, then for elevenses, lunch, tea and supper! I love snow.

Too much to laugh last night

2009-12-13T10:51:00.004Z

Apparently so. Upon my return from London I had massive chest pains and had to be rushed to the doctors for an ECG!
Apparently I had laughed too much while in London! Go figure.
It was a good trip it really was. I love seeing my bestest friend Paul Martin. I have known him for so long I cannot count the time.
My chest still hurts and so I have very tangible memories from my trip south.

This time of year all I can think is COSY!

2009-12-07T11:10:00.002Z

Cosy time in cutey-land. Seriously it is true that being cosy is a priority in these dark, chilly wet days of the Northeast.
I think library, warm red, music, computer nearby for work, hot tea or cocoa, purring cats, later in the evening a fire and candles.
I am library obsessed and I have always felt at home in them. I remember as a child sitting on the floor and looking at some of my fathers amazing books. History books mainly, but also art, and archeology and my favourite a tartan book of Robbie Burns!
Noah has that too, he always seeks out the library where he lives and spends time there and utilises it well. Reading all the books in it! Heby,Sweden, L.A., Cambridge, Ma., Hexham, London, NYC,...
We need to support their existence wherever we live.
I have found some pictures of delicious libraries above.

Rainbows and more rainbows

2009-11-27T10:58:00.002Z

Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the USA. Here where I live in Narnia with its very own climate we had rainbow after rainbow after rainbow. It was one of those days with rain showers and the sun shining through them.
We counted well over ten!
Tarset is the valley of rainbows and it cheers me up greatly whenever they work their magic.

A pale sun tries to make itself known today and I think of the season coming up. We plan to take it easy. A good meal all together over the solstice holiday, candles and a fire in the wood burning stove. I shall decorate with holly from the country lanes. Time to read and talk and be together with all the cats who will get roast chicken!

I like it to be quiet over this time because the rest of the year is quite busy and can get hectic so the contrast is very welcome.
It is a good time for conversation and reflection. Reading the new books, thinking about new projects for the new year.
Turning point when the light increases and so does energy levels...
The plants enjoy the increase of light and warmth through the windows facing south. The bougainvillea may choose to bloom, the cactii, and the nerium/oleander. The Byre is the perfect room for large plants, there is plenty of room and light.

Continued deluge of rain and wind

2009-11-25T09:53:00.002Z

Never ending it seems, and so I dream away. Dream of summer, dream of the garden, dream of projects, dream of Moomin Valley.
Above is the bathing/boat house where Tooticky hung out in the winter.
In the States they will be celebrating Thanksgiving. There is much to be giving thanks for. I have a notebook for gratitude nearby.

I am thankful that I am still alive. I would not have known all that I know now if I were not. Not known rural life, living with cats, making books, knowing poets up close and personal, missing my friends in the US because I care, meeting new members of my family I never knew existed, praying for my son each and every day, true appreciation from loved ones,...

I do believe we are agents in our own destiny as well as by manifesting we can accomplish direction and opportunity but there is also a great element of chance. Surprise is what I am grateful for because sometimes we cannot even imagine what we need or want.

There are always choices we make , consciously or not. Daily decisions, and it is important to recognise that. I call it my "mouse epiphany". When I was going through upheaval in my life a decade or so ago it was also a time of a great many epiphanies! The "post office queue", the "wedding" one...
Plus someone whom I loved dearly guided me with Rilke's words "You must change your life".
It is true I have made decisions to move away from and to move towards...Often to escape a toxic situation and go towards the unknown...These have been vital. Vital to my survival and still being alive today. For this I give thanks.

Moomin house

2009-11-24T17:26:00.006Z

Moomin House in Moomin Valley

This is what i am talking about! The famous homestead of the Moomin Troll Family. My hexagonal chicken coop will fit well in I think. Shall have to paint it when the weather gets drier, IF it ever will! The shed is still only half-painted, because of the weather.

Mountain and valley track, the woodie, a roller coaster

2009-11-24T11:12:00.002Z

You know what I am talking about, and it is often used as a metaphor for states of mind, states of the world etc.
My mood swings can be like that. Worse than a grandfather clock pendulum! At least faster.

The weather is ferocious. Cumbria has been rained upon for so many days now that the bridges are collapsing, towns are getting cut off, high streets flooded including homes and shops, people are homeless, and there have been casualties...

In our neck of the woods, or fells as it may be, has had its fair share of rain and wind, the fields are soggy, the burns are flooded and still it rains.
The three cats sit in their window baskets looking out forlornly. It is tough going.
But of course nothing like what others around the world have suffered.
I count my blessings. One by one. I fill my note book of gratitude.

Twas a stormy day...

2009-11-22T19:09:00.003Z

...and twas a stormy night and twas another stormy day and I just went Moomin!
I found a hexagonal hen house/chicken coop and just ordered it just like that! It will be here tomorrow!
That is the internet for you, a bit of a challenge for spontaneity buyers like myself!
Still it is a beautiful Moomin paviion of a hen house!

More images from the South West

2009-11-21T21:53:00.002Z

Totleigh Barton, Devon where the Arvon Foundation run courses, a truly lovely old farmhouse near the river Torridge.

Ammonite pavement in Lyme Regis

Durdle Door in a different light

Sheepwash, where we stayed, was Wickerman village if ever there was one!

Gold Hill with view in Shaftesbury.

From the South West

2009-11-21T21:38:00.004Z

Lulworth Cove, Dorset

The Cerne Abbas Giant

The Cobb, Lyme Regis, Dorset

Durdle Door, Dorset

Chesil Beach, Dorset

Just returned from a trip to the South West of England where there is much to see and experience. Just like any part of the UK!
I was getting to know new places and becoming re-aquainted with others. The country side is lovely for motoring although the narrow lanes and hedges make it a bit hairy scary at times.
Most of the trip was for filming work but I also managed to visit my Grandmothers' grave in Shaftesbury, Dorset. The view from the little church where she is buried is magnificent. It overlooks hills for miles around.
The counties visited were Somerset, Dorset and Devon.
The photos show some of the highlights.

RIP Jeanne-Claude Christo

2009-11-20T22:24:00.002Z

Born 13th June 1935 , the same day and date as her husband Christo, Jeanne Claude died on Wednesday 18th November 2009.
She was 74. Cyril Christo their son and Christo her family are in my thoughts and in my heart. Condolences.
A vibrant extraordinary woman, she loved chocolate and jokes, she was a great hostess, tenacious, optimistic, chic, strong, funny, a trooper and a visionary.
She will be sorely missed.
I enjoyed meeting her very much during the times I did over the years and will always remember her fondly with love, admiration and respect.

Back in Tarset, Northunderland

2009-11-20T18:31:00.002Z

This is what I have in mind for just now! Somewhere warm, sunny, relaxed and healing! It looks perfect.

The truth will set you free.

2009-11-11T21:41:00.002Z

AXIS MUNDI

Today the 11th day of the 11th month I have had such an extraordinary revelatory experience.
Light is shining in dark corners, doors are opening, perceptions changing, identities revealed and opened...
It is mind-altering and personal history is being re-written as I write this. I will divulge more at a later time when I have more clarity.

But the ripple in still water is there where no pebble tossed nor wind to blow.

I have always believed that the truth will out, and it will, eventually, even if it take a lifetime. Or two.
All this is thanks to my grandmother, Damaris Aubrey, bless you beautiful woman.

Thank you to Mandyleigh and to my sister and brother who joined me in this discovery and to Neil who held my hand.

Becoming a Tree Spirit

2009-11-09T20:18:00.002Z

The light of mortality

2009-11-08T12:38:00.004Z

A pale autumn sun, a stillness, a chill in the air, the kind of light that shows up the dust particles in the air and makes me think of mortality. All those dead skin cells. Oxygen is both life and death.
I feel uncomfortable in my own skin and want to take a shower and wash my hair NOW.
Fergus and Luna are sleeping together in one oval shaped basket on the windowsill. They are so still, so beautiful together, mother and son.

This particular unfiltered light is what makes autumn what it is here. No foliage to filter through and play with. Dappled is the word. In spring the light is so bright, not pale like this.
Something peaceful, the faint smell of wood burning, birds feeding, cats sleeping...it is very quiet here.
I open the front door to let in the sun and fresh air. The house robin is almost always there making himself heard and seen. This is his territory. I am flattered that he has chosen Sheep Cottage.

I may well continue to paint the shed today. It seems like a good day for that. The picture above shows the colour of the paint Falu Rødfaerg. It is from Dalarna in Sweden, and it has been used for hundreds of ears to preserve the wood. I like the colour, it is Sweden to me, that and the green and white, houses sitting amongst birches and fir trees.

Later tonight I shall write letters to be posted tomorrow. What a relief the postal strike is over for now.

Noises from the attic

2009-11-07T21:28:00.002Z

Raining outside tonight, the cats sleeping tight, and suddenly I hear noise from the attic just above me in the sitting room.
Myles looked up startled out of sleep staring at the beamed ceiling.
We listened as we heard little scratchy sounds. There has not been life in the attic since the cats moved in! It must be this spell of chilly wet weather that is bringing life indoors to hibernate.
Let's see how this evolves.

Still contemplating the garden plans. Perhaps it is better to clear it up more first in order to get to see more of the actual structure, the skeleton of it.

This is a good time of year, despite the wet waterlogged ground, for clearing up. The leaves being down show the trees and views better, and the shrubs become more accessible as the tall surrounding growth dies down. Thank goodness I have Ben to help me!

It is also a productive time for me in terms of my work. Next years covers are practically all done and I am writing, translating and reading a lot. Researching a new film project as well! This is how I like to work, several irons in the fire as the expression goes.
Some films are moving at a slower pace, others close to completion and already this year I finished three! It can feel strange having several projects ongoing simultaneously...a split mind...but I rather that than one at the time. It can be so constipating.

Started the plan

2009-11-06T09:47:00.003Z

Well I found a piece of paper that looked like the garden in shape. Perfect.
Then I drew the fixtures in, e.g. the Byre entrance/exit, the borders, the existing large trees, the directions,...and then I stopped to think. That is where I am still...thinking, dreaming, planning...

This morning we awoke to severe ground frost. It had been a clear moonlit night and Fergus loves those kind. He was out for hours, even missed breakfast! Highly unusual for him.

Heard from my sister that there is snow in Sweden and heard from Francis snow in Berlin and from Karol snow in Poland.

The writing is going really well on Vital Signs. It is bringing up some good issues for me to think through and deal with. This type of writing works for this subject, subjective, in the first person narrative with an analytical descriptive element. I like it , it works for me.

Somehow autumn, and the re-evaluating, reflecting and rememberingt hat takes place is ideal. This is the time for this piece of work. Thank you.

Autumn clearing

2009-11-05T09:27:00.002Z

Spent some time in the garden clearing up after the big Samhain bonfire. It left a large area cleared and well prepared for next spring. The view over the fells is stupendous from the garden and the Byre, aka as the new room. It will be so good when there is a terrace there in front of the window/door, the view faces west and the sunset.
There is a lot of clearing up to do. Cutting branches that have been damaged by the storms of late, cutting back overgrowth/undergrowth that has run wild.
Decisions regarding where to plant some trees I have waiting to go in. Those have to be made carefully, esp since I am really planting for the future, for many years forward. 40, 50 and more...
The Ash is growing beautifully reaching into the sky next to the three fruit trees in the orchard. Birches, ash, beech, those are the trees in this garden. I am going to plant a ginkgo and a sweet chestnut.
I also need to decide where to put in more soft fruit bushes. These are very challenging decisions and it takes me ages...
Marigolds are still blooming and keep producing more buds- extraordinary flowers. No wonder they were my Mormors favourite.
I think if I draw a plan of the garden it might be easier to decide locations.

Melancholia and nostalgia

2009-11-04T15:00:00.002Z

Every autumn it is similar in that I become covered in feelings of melancholia and nostalgia like a duvet to shut out the cold.
Duvet day is a good expression. I also have robe days.
It is already getting dark and it is only 3pm, the sun set colours are warm and I look forward to the imminent moonrise.
It is mild for the season but also very rainy. This time last year we had had serious frost by now and snow in October.
Melancholia is not as transparent as nostalgia for me. I think of kicking leaves in different locales where my life took place.
Warsaw, Stockholm, Cambridge, Basel,...a stage set in a sense for the drama of this particular life to play out. A comedy or a tragedy or...

Melancholia is expressed in the desire to hibernate to check out from the dark time. Energy levels are lower. Slowing down, and more indoor activities take over. Writing and reading and thinking.

I also imagine an orangery where I can put all my plants and place a tub for lounging/soaking in under the sun. In my dream it will be added to the back of the cottage and very private. I will have my lemon trees, oleander, geraniums, succulents, jasmine in there and it will be like a piece of heaven during the cold, dark winter months.

Full Moon and mammogram

2009-11-03T18:54:00.003Z

Days and nights of rain, flood warnings in Wales, and the South West. The moon rising during the sunset-magical.

Mammogram made me think of colours. I was in a trailer in a parking lot outside Waitrose in Hexham. An NHS wandering clinic...6 mins per woman a true conveyor belt. In and then out. Done.

I thought about colours. Colours for the bathroom and kitchen to cheer me up during these dark times. 6 months of darkness as I say. Two seasons here: winter and not winter.

Some ideas above that inspire me in these photos. In each pic is an element I would draw from. I like the terracotta pots for lamps! The colourful aestethic mess. The welcoming and calming aspect of the colours chosen. My kitchen is very small, a true cottage kitchen. it has a sloping ceiling, a boiler takes up space, an icebox, a small powerful stove/cooker, not enough shelving or storage or prep area...A pantry would be nice. Nesting dreams on a dark autumn night after a day of some stress.

Beautiful photos

2009-11-01T10:14:00.001Z

Pagan rituals thanks to Willow Gray.

Our Samhain Bonfire

2009-10-31T19:35:00.003Z

Sometimes the photos come out really tiny. I don't know why. But the fire was hot and huge and lasted all day into the night.

Autumnal feelings

2009-10-30T16:35:00.003Z

Sternen. The Star. This is the Inn where we would go on special occasions to eat røsti and spiegeleier and drink apfelwein.

A view of Worb with the church in the foreground and the castle behind Schloss Worb.

This is an old archival photo of Worb.

A panorama of Worb we could see when we went for walks.

Melancholy and nostalgia are feelings which take over me in autumn time.
I used to walk in Stockholm in some of my favourite parks kicking leaves and daydreaming. Counting the days, till I could be free.
Birches are plentiful in Sweden. They touch me with their long pale limbs.
Once in Warsaw in the autumn I was in a park with a statue of Chopin, this is a vivid memory. Hearing Polish and listening in. Drinking in a Dairy bar a glass of cream! Imagine.
Living i Switzerland and going for long walks in the countryside. Worb was a place I loved living, it was on a traditional farm that had a cottage/støckli. It was adorable, cosy and heated with a kakelofen. The view was over a cherry orchard and hens pecking about the grass.
Hazelnut bush next to the veranda, a pig and cows with bells. Just below us in the garden were goats. It was wonderful. It is one of my favourite places of all time.

Joik and Kula

2009-10-30T11:28:00.002Z

This whole exploration started when I began to listen to Joik singing and Kula calling. I love the sounds of the voices and am looking for good recordings.
The Axis Mundi research and the Shaman drums has come at a perfect time of year. The thin time.

More Axis Mundi

2009-10-29T11:54:00.002Z

Both these Sami drums show Axis Mundi interestingly. I have also studied Native American drum symbols and Siberian ones and Axis Mundi is represented as well in them on occasion.
This is the THIN time of year when we are exceptionally close to the spirit world. Samhain or Halloween, Day of the Dead in Mexico, is a time when portals open and we can learn from the experience of openness and shedding fear. Our dead our living are close.
Shamans have access to this state Axis Mundi through ritual and drum beating, chanting and their very own power to be so.
We are making fires at this time of year and those are great sources of energy, light and warmth and attract souls of animals and humans alike to gather together. Thin. The thin time.

AXIS MUNDI

2009-10-28T16:19:00.002Z

The research brings me to this destination AXIS MUNDI.

Siberian Shaman Drum designs

2009-10-28T16:15:00.003Z

Reminiscent of the Sami drums w. different symbols/runes.

Siberian Shamans

2009-10-28T16:11:00.002Z

Runes

2009-10-27T16:15:00.002Z

This is a larger image of the one below and shows more clearly the drum. of the Sami Shaman.

Further drums with Sami runes.

A German Sami rune key.

Sami Shaman drum with runic symbols

2009-10-27T10:35:00.001Z

Joik

2009-10-27T10:22:00.005Z

Image of Sami Shaman with his drum.

Sami woman playing a horn.

Sami mother and child.

On a map of Scandinavia you can see Sami country coloured in.

Sami Flag

Yesterday in the evening I started to listening to Joik again. It is a Sami way of singing in a gutteral way. Growing up I of course heard a great deal of Scandinavian folk music and some Joik too.
It is very gripping and I kept on listening and also looking for some examples of Sami instrumental music.
I include here in this post some images I found.

Sloe Gin

2009-10-26T20:26:00.002Z

Today was sunny and warm after a weekend of stormy weather.

Josephine and Deborah came to tea travelling up here from south of Hexham.
It was lovely to see them. After tea they went for a long walk up to the Childhood View site. Then they returned for a salmon open-faced sandwich Swedish style and drop scones with more tea.

Deborah mentioned that they had seen many sloe bushes along the lanes, another name is blackthorn, and that one can make sloe gin from the berries after the first frost. Well we have had our first frost a week or so ago so I shall go out and pick some berries next sunny day and make sloe gin to give away as gifts for Xmas. Great idea. I like to make things to give away. One year it was raspberry vinegar, another green tomato chutney, garlic infused olive oil etc.

It was so nice to have company and we enjoyed chatting about this and that, and I gave them a couple of poetry anthologies. Soul Food for Deborah and Earth Shattering for Josephine.

We decided to make it a more regular occurrence meeting up together the girls from the fells.

The Pineapple

2009-10-25T18:57:00.003Z

Is a neighbourhood pub on Leverton St in Kentish Town. We went to see a friend there and we were a wee bit early so we dropped into the Pineapple for a drink.
Low-key, nice place, not too noisy, even has a garden and a restaurant area. If you find yourself in KT why not check it out?

To surreal or not

2009-10-25T12:18:00.002Z

Poster image for Angels of Anarchy an exhibition of Women Surrealists at Manchester Art Gallery. It is a Francesca Woodman photo. I will see this show in Nov.

Fur gloves designed by Meret Oppenheim.

This is the poster image for the exhibition in Paris at Centre Pompidou of Surrealism and Photography which is open until Jan 11th 2010 I believe. I am planning to see it in Dec.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane

2009-10-24T14:56:00.002Z

A play by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh from 1996. We saw it last night at Queens Hall Hexham in a very good production.

One night only and to a half-full auditorium the cast gave us its all and it was superb. Although a dark play it has some very good humour to make it more palatable. It had so many different levels; one the plight of Ireland, history, mental illness, relationships, and a struggle between mother and daughter...Tightly written, good sense of vernacular language however poetic and good comic relief made the play a real treat. Thank you!

I love going to the theatre! When I lived in Cambridge, Mass I went very often. Firstly there were several interesting theatres and programs in the Cambridge/Boston area and secondly being university cities there were lively and interested audiences too.
I was a graduate student at Emerson College in Theatre which also meant I was a jour with what was going on and I frequently ushered for free tix. I love theatre. The presence of the energy exchange between actors and audience, the intensity of being a part of something, I really miss that now in living such a rural existence. However last night was such a pleasure and a rare occasion so I treasure it greatly.

Martin McDonagh also wrote and directed "In Bruges" a film from a couple of years ago with Ralph Fiennes as a ruthless mobster set in the beautiful magical town of Bruges, which I now must visit!

New image

2009-10-24T12:26:00.002Z

Although the Moomins are my Scandinavian ancestors and forebears of a kind kind/sort! I changed the image to this one . Red and bright with Love and Happiness sums up last summer and I want to carry that into Autumn.
The Moomins are always there and here and everywhere and nowhere when you look for them.
I do not need a wallet pic of the family but they will return here again be sure.
It has been very autumnal for this whole week. Rain, wind and fog, leaves falling and the cats curled up sleeoing indoors.
I dream of next summer already!

Birth by Pablo Neruda

2009-10-23T09:00:00.001Z

Please read the poem by Neruda posted as a comment on my previous post. It is absolutely right on, touching and so true.
Thank you James for that.

On the other hand...

2009-10-22T20:55:00.003Z

Celebrity and fame is not the same thing at all.

In a doctors or dentists waiting room you may pick up a copy of People, Hello or some other such magazine and open pages with full colour spreads and wild headlines about people you may never have heard of or even seen before.
They are referred to as celebrities. Celebrity meaning in this case, what exactly? Not sure. They may be models, sport stars, actors, reality TV personalities etc. They are also famous. They may even be rich.

Yet you can be well-known and even famous and not be a celebrity. That is pretty clear.

You can be a famous celebrity with lots of money and you can be the same but without. Is money a compensation? E.g. for the hassle of being in the centre of attention? Or is it simply an added bonus?

You can be a hard-working citizen and quite invisible but very influential. Indeed.

You have Warhol fame, and you have fame and then you have celebrity.
Jade Goody and Jack Tweed are house-hold names in Britain and not because they are Dickens characters as their names might suggest but because they fulfilled a need that we have. A need to empathise and feel human like in Greek tragedies and comedies where the audiences could go through a catharsis. A release and outlet for a great many emotions some of them complex and over-whelming.

Our film stars are like our Greek gods, they serve up endless stories for our narrative-hungry beings and the drama is only so real." Two chewy beefsteaks of gossip please", but then we can go home to our cuppa and our sofa. Not 24/7 like our own lives.

For myself I would not like to be recognised where I go by complete strangers who think they "know" me! On the other hand I would like to know I was not a waste of space and could make a difference somehow in some way while around.

Life.

So simple - birth until death.

Yet it is that time in between. That time. That life we share .

Fame

2009-10-21T19:42:00.003Z

Fame is odd, it is unusually common, and relative. At least in this society that I know.
Warhol is quoted as saying; "In the future everyone will be famous for 15 mins".
He was quite right.

When I was an artist in residence a few years back a friend, a painter, used to ask: "What do you want more fame or money?"
I could not answer the question, too hypothetical for me. He wanted staying power, he wanted his work to last after he was dead.
I suppose I agreed over time over our dinners of constant discussion.

Yet as I am here at home and at work all I really want is to be able to do my work, and make a living, a modest living, i.e. being able to pay my bills and help causes and others if I wish to.
To do the work that makes me happy and to live from it. Is it too much to ask?

In any case back to the subject fame.
I went to Frieze the London Art Fair last week and saw no sign of the "recession"! Money and art were changing hands before the fair had even opened, some stands/stalls in the market were already sold out. Barnaby Furnas for example who had made a series of works on paper on the subject of John Brown. Really nice work as well.
I saw some art I liked but mostly it was a crazy quilt of stuff which did not grab me or speak to me in any way. Unfortunately.
An art fair is not always an indication of what is going on in art, only what dealers believe they can sell.
I enjoyed a film by Stephen Sutcliffe and an installation by...Dang!

Famous folks were out in droves for the champagne reception e.g. Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin, Isaac Julien, Nicholas Serota, John Baldessari, Peter Kennard,...of art world fame, and then the popular fame was represented by Lily Allen and Lily Cole! I am certain there were many many more fames there but I would not have known, since I don't even know what they look like.
My ignorance is either bliss or boring!

The Pommery champagne flowed and so did some Kentucky smoothe bourbon in the form of mint juleps or bourbon champagne with apple sparkle. That was good and treacherous! The people watching was phenomenal and especially because many had made such an effort in their dress. Delicious. I sat and indulged my senses in the haze of slight tipsy-ness.

The great thing for me about Frieze is going on the hunt, the big safari of finding work I like. It is a marvellous challenge and the grid of the fair site is much like Manhattan cross streets and then all the Avenues, and neighbourhoods like the Village etc.
Going to Frieze has become a tradition that my friend Paul and I do every year and we enjoy it as long as we do not get depressed about the art world! I think the endless champagne is the best thing about it though.

Cats sleeping on the window sill

2009-10-20T08:47:00.003Z

How peaceful it is so see the cats sleeping nearby on the sill as I look away from the computer screen and see the autumn leaves outside.
Leaves are leaving the trees and the birches shed yellow petals and they are much like borders on the lane.
It is very warm in the cottage, outside is cool, the radio is on and I will play my CD from London again very soon.
"Here comes the sun", a cover by Charlie Dore, is so good it sticks. Alright alright alright...not like the leaves at all.
Tibetan prayer flags in the tree blowing in the wind will be like colourful buntings throughout the winter with its bare branches.
Wait a minute does winter have bare branches?
My memory is like snow.
It is good to be home but I do miss my bestest friend and all the fun we had in London! We had a wonderful time!
One night we went to an interesting Brazilian exhibition with contemporary young artists juxtaposed to already dead artsists e.g. Lygia Clark who also made contemporary art. The result was very good. We saw Guy Brett and David Medalla and talked to them. They are two very different people but equally alive and open to art and they make good things happen.
Also I had a lovely talk with Hugo Williams about Samuel Menashe, a poet living in NYC, whom I made a film about last year. I met Hugo's wife Hermione who lives in France and it was another moment of "six degrees of separation" when it turned out she knew a friend of ours.
Afterwards we went back to the Brazilian Ambassadors residence for a drinks party. It was sublime! An opulent Mayfair mansion all gilded and marbled with a grand staircase and a courtyard garden to boot! His art collection was most eclectic and I was particularly fascinated by these Brazilian wood carvings all out of one piece of wood. I enjoyed meeting the ambassador and his wife very much. Such gracious people. All in all the evening was marvellous and we met new friends and old.
Technically I suppose we were in Brazil for the night!

Leaving the capital

2009-10-19T10:15:00.002Z

Departing for the far north today, sad to go and leave my bestest friend. We have had such a great time this past week. Thank you London!
Will be sharing some of the highlights when I get home.
Here are a few words to digest:
Brazil
Tricycle
Tower of Love
The Pineapple

Covers

2009-10-09T12:08:00.002Z

Just finished designing several book covers for Bloodaxe Books. I really do enjoy the work, it is creative and researching is fun and I get to use a great many of my skills and knowledge. Plus I can do it from home.
I will be going away to Seahouses first and then London for more than a week so I will not have any opportunities to add to the blog. Sure you will be okay though!
I don't know what I would do living here without Bloodaxe Books and the work I do for them. Making films and videos is my metier however I am not always engaged in that work full-time, only mostly to deadline.
The sun is shining and will for the weekend by the sea. Hurrah!
The cats will have a good time too.
Until soon, ciao.

First Frost

2009-10-08T10:43:00.002Z

Since the October full moon the weather changed and we have had two mornings of ground frost already.
Fergus who normally is a languid cat who likes to nap all day long has changed his behaviour instantaneously. He is up before breakfast and comes in from outside which is unheard of for most of the year. He then dashes about for more than a mad half hour. Out and about, in and out, chasing his brother and mother...It is an extraordinary lively Fergus I had yet to meet!
It is lovely to see and his enjoyment is obvious.
The others are quite surprised I think as are we.
The garden itself took the frost well and Ben and I are slowly by slowly putting the garden to bed for winter. I brought the house plants indoors and we have planted many bulbs more than a hundred.
It is so exciting to plan and plant ahead.
Like preparing for the work to be done this winter, although I am jumping ahead, after all it is still autumn!

The wee red squirrel

2009-09-24T12:06:00.002Z

It crossed the road in a scurry where I change gear to prepare for the mighty hill at Houxty Bank. Luckily I had slowed down a bit. The squirrel was so very red and so very small.
It is the second one I have seen crossing the road in a hurry of late. A good sign for sure. They are not dying out as fast as we fear around here.
This area in the National Park and esp at Kielder is one of their last safe habitats.

What I love about living here: the wildlife, the landscape of fells, the rivers and burns, the wide open spaces and huge skies, the many rainbows, Northumbrian pipes, the farm eggs, it is a cat's paradise, and the odd gannin's on.

Autumnal Equinox

2009-09-22T09:29:00.003Z

Glad to be back home for this time of transition and change.
Watching the garden and the landscape around us I see how summer turns to autumn and I would not miss that. The changing of seasons is a time of observing, noting and paying great attention. I love it.
The once lush green foliage is now coloured and bright red berries shine in the sun, rosehips of many kinds, cotoneaster, rowan, hawthorn...
The apple trees in the orchard are laden with fruit. This is a bumpercrop year. Although not one single plum!
Going for walks just to notice what is going on in nature right now. Invigorating and also melancholic as winter does seem closer than just before the equinox.
It is very windy and the tree brushes against the tiled roof, at night it is spooky. I may have to cut it back before winter.
Right now I am contemplating what to do with my huge apple harvest. Looking through my Swedish cookbook last night I found recipes for drying them, stewing them, making chutney...
I still have jetlagg and find it hard to fall asleep at night and I sleep late in the morning. Must try to shift that slowly.
A busy autumn lies ahead and I welcome that.
Winter will be for quiet work time, reading, writing,...

Hemma igen!

2009-09-20T12:03:00.003Z

A halcyon day with warm weather and sunshine.
So happy to be back home with the darlings Luna, Fergus and Myles! Sleeping all together in the bed.

Unpacking, doing laundry, opening mail, hoovering up feathers,...It is so good to be home again.
I love travels and adventures and yet coming home is bliss.

The neighbours filled me in on the "gannins on" in the valley while I was away:
Peggy is in Chevy Chase and yet another house is up for sale due to a tennant farmer retiring, Robert is parcelling out allotments in his sheep field, R Cocker is winding up the village with his building plans, the weather has been mild in Sept, a lot of mowing apparently, and the choir starts on Monday!
Peggy turned 100 this past spring and could have stayed at home I think, but now she is in a care home in nearby Otterburn called Chevy Chase after the ancient road going through. I will go over and visit and read to her.

Laundry drying on the washing line in the sun. Cats napping and I am looking closely at the garden seeing how plants fared and grew in my absence. The houseplants did amazingly well. No premature deaths.

I hope to have time to write more about the trip soon.

Jetzt bin Ich Zuhause

2009-09-19T20:55:00.003Z

From Revere to West Hampstead to Tarset.
Three very different neighbourhoods.
Back in Inglaterra and I see Iggy Pop selling CAR insurance and Johnny Rotten British butter! Talk about surreal.
Just like the travelling I have been doing lately.

From London to Helsinki, Finland. Then back to London.
London to Boston to Provincetown, Cape Cod.
Then to Amherst, Mass. Next to Vermont, deep into bear country in the Green Mountains, back to Amherst after that.
From Amherst to Cold Spring in the the Hudson River Valley, NY. Train to NYC and Manhattan and Brooklyn too for the Brooklyn Book Festival. Back to Cold Spring and next stop the Keene, the Adirondacks!
What an exraordinary adventure!

I will write more when I settle in a bit. Right now I am still spinning on the carousel.
It was a fantastic trip in all ways.

An echo from the tip of the Cape

2009-09-04T13:21:00.002Z

A short message to say that I am home again!
Swimming, walking, reading, seeing dragonflies hovering over ponds, families of wild turkeys crossing the back roads, the electric sound of cicadas, lotsa art, seafood, ideas sprouting for new work, meeting new friends, having delectable suppers with good friends, re-connecting with this place that is a home to me and myself and I.
I feel so infinitely grateful that I can come here.
Thank you. Merci. Danke.
The walks in the dunes in silence, and swimming in the peace and quiet is balsam to the soul and spirit and body and mind!
Wish you were here!

From here to Helsinki

2009-08-16T10:15:00.002Z

Helsinki or Helsingfors as it is called in Finland-Swedish is on the agenda for next week.
It is a booktrip in the sense that it is mainly to meet with publishers in Helsinki and explore possible exchanges and translation projects.
I hope to have time to go to the largest bookstore in Scandinavia?! And to visit Kiasma the contemporary art museum which looks like an extraordinary building.

Travelling via London and the Richard Long retrospective at Tate Britain.
Got to get the priorities straight!

Supper ordered in from Holy Cow! The best to be had delivered to your door in NW6! I know the menu by heart.
We, me and my bestest friend, are going to work on our proposal for a project in Japan next year - very exciting! It is fun brainstorming and sharing ideas, a privilege when you work in a team.

So I shall probably not be visiting DJANG for a while.
Ciao for now!

After Samuel Menashe

2009-08-15T22:54:00.001Z

These round flat stones
Warm from touch and sun
Tell time

Dragonfly and Tarset burn

2009-08-15T18:56:00.003Z

The burn is swollen with rainwater and capturing the sunlight making it look like a silver snake in the valley.
A large dragonfly, no not large it was huge, flew by me in the garden at Sheep Cottage. The first one I have ever seen here in the valley where I now live.
It means a great deal to me. Dragonflies are my insect, my totem if you like. They are souls of the recent dead.
Trollslaenda in Swedish and Oeyenstikker in Norwegian, libellula and libelle...
That day when it flew by sounding like it had a wee motor was the very same day Bill visited with his two sons Tom and Joe.
They were on their way to Bamburgh on the Northumberland coast for a weeks holiday. The coast is a hidden treasure in the UK. Long golden yellow sandy beaches for miles and miles, castles, ruins, puffins on the Farne islands, Lindisfarne, etc. It is well worth a visit.

The silver snake reminds me that change is inevitable and to welcome it.

Bill I knew in the early 80's at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. He is a poet and followed the trail of John Clare. He now lives in the Lake District with his family. Then he worked for an MIT professor and I also worked at MIT. A very kind and humourful man.
The boys were wonderful and ate with hearty appetites. I hope to see them soon again, before they grow up in any case!
We discovered later that we had a very strong bond to the Cape in common. He had spent many years there a few decades ago.
The silver snake of poetry and life.

The Glorious Twelfth!

2009-08-13T10:26:00.002Z

Was yesterday.
It refers to Grouse Season shooting beginning around here. That is the day/date when they can begin shooting the pheasants and grouse that have happily lived on these fields and hills since last year. They are such colourful birds and we enjoy seeing them as they come into the garden to eat the goodies left out for them all through winter and spring. They breed on the fells and some of the big landowners around here employ Gamekeepers to make sure the birds of prey and animals of prey are "controlled" so that the more survive for shooting season. Makes sense does it not?!
The pubs start serving pheasant on their menus shortly perhaps even today!
Most of the birds are sent straight to London and to the fancy restaurants there.
I did not want to write about it yesterday, needed a bit of distance to the whole thing.
It has been a tradition in these parts for ages. This is a land of hunts, big estates with suitable open landscape, horses can charge across the fells and fast and furious hounds can bound.
Big parties go out with hunters on foot and the thrashers that scare the birds out of their hiding places!
People pay big money to come to these shoots, mainly from other areas and countries however.
We looked at the stars last night and feared for our beloved birds of beauty.
Gamekeepers have been known to shoot cats and dogs to protect the "wild" birds that they own!
Yesterday becomes yesteryear in one fell swoop.

List references

2009-08-12T21:13:00.003Z

The last posts have been catch-up ones refering back to The List I made July 28th 2009 on here.
As I look at it now I can not imagine trying to catch up anymore so much is happening every day as it is!

Tonight is the night of the shooting stars - meteor showers galore. Outside is clear and we shall look to the skies.

Planting in the garden today big time! A lovely day with sun and breeze, cats running about the garden, Milo in his birdhouse, the Jacobs grazing next door...
A fragrant double white peony found its home at the cottage corner just under a rambling rose I think called Ballerina. A Mexican daisy along the path to the door where it can self-seed and fall over the path. I like the path huggers that cascade onto the stones.
New grasses, one a zebra grass with striking foliage, another a green clump which turns golden and Ben found places for the lady's mantles and euphorbias along the wild lane and in the shade by the cottage as well.
We checked on Pauls Himalayan Musk a climbing rose we just planted about a month ago and it is thriving! Lovely! Next year I may even see some roses.
The Dark night/knight buddleia is just opening its arching dark purple blooms and monkshood stand erect about to open also.
So all the pots have been planted-great! I set Ben this task called "Spot the Pot" and he smiles...
Coffee, tea and short bread at the garden table/potting surface with a red checked table cloth on-very posh indeed.
I do enjoy the garden mornings on Wednesdays I really do and so did Myles today because he made friends with Ben big time!
The preparations are now almost complete before going away. I just have to re-pot a couple of indoor thrivers and water everything and place it strategically so that they are sheltered yet receive rain water too.

Paul's Birthday

2009-08-11T21:48:00.003Z

During my last trip to London for the Kenneth Martin mobile hanging at London Zoo it was also Pauls birthday the very same day, so the champagne bubbly reception was absolutely spot on! Beautiful big bunches of flowers, lilies and roses, were also handed out.
Afterwards we went to a gastro pub called the Engineer nearby for a celebratory meal with Paul. Absolutely gorgeous! Delicious food and wonderful company. It was just the right amount of people around the table so that you could get to converse with everyone and there could be two discussions going on at once as well. Paul looked radiant. It had really been a pretty good day.
I enjoyed meeting Renee his assistant and her husband Jack, as well as seeing Pauls dear old friends again.
Thank you Paul for inviting me!

FYI The Engineer is a really nice place, good food, and a colourful ambience, great staff,...we even had a small room in wild carmine coloured wall paper more or less to our selves. It was around in the old days of the Filmmakers Co-Op. Well actually it has been around for ages and ages and was used by railway folk I should think.

Purple rain purple rain...

2009-08-10T11:20:00.002Z

Twice I crossed the border to Scotland today, once in the fog/mist and once in the rain. You could still see the outlines of the volcanic hills dotted over the landscape in Scotland but in England there was the purple of the heather over the fells like a purple rain all around. Gorgeous.
Will go out filming!

Life is Immense visiting Samuel Menashe at Ledbury

2009-08-07T09:03:00.002Z

The film showing went well, and it was the first time I saw it on the big screen!
There were about 30 people there. I wished for more mainly for Samuel's sake really, but it was a Tuesday so it was a week night.
The people who were there had either met and /or seen Samuel last year at the festival and loved him or they had missed him and wanted to see him! A second chance as it were.
It was excruciating to see the footage in the beginning of the film because of the poor light and sound due to the bad weather and traffic in NYC. However Samuel himself is so engaging that you quickly just go with him on the journey.
All in all I enjoyed the showing and many otehrs did too. They felt they were in the presence yet again and loved it.
I felt such gratitude for having been able to film him and visit him in the first place. Thank you Samuel.
The film is 66 mins long and it was a struggle to decide what to cut out from the hours of footage. He is so wonderful and intense and magical all the time!
The film is part and parcel of his book of poems with Bloodaxe Books and is glued in as a DVD in the back cover. As I can recall the price seemed reasonable to me so if you are interested look it up on Amazon.uk or Bloodaxe or whatever works for you.
It was such a special treat tosee a film on the big screen. It happens rarely now with my work since the dvd's are often screened in smaller spaces to ever smaller audiences.
Thank you Chloe Garner at Ledbury Poetry Festival!

Family visit from Sweden

2009-08-04T09:03:00.002Z

A week or so ago I had a family visit from Sweden or Sverige. My sister Penny came with my nephew Gabriel who is six.
Ryan Air had cheap air fares from Nykoeping to Edinburgh so she took advantage of that and came for 4-5 days. It was not a long visit but longer than a weekend which would have been far too short. In the end it was a good length because of its intensity.

I had not seen my sister for 13-14 years, since the winter of 1995-96, and I had never met my nephew. Last time was when I visited Sweden for Christmas and New Year and to see my son who was staying with my sister at the time.

So many years had passed and I was really looking forward to this visit, also I was to meet her son and to see her as a mother!
It was a wonderful time together! We talked so much and in Swedish and had endless pots of tea. For me it was wondrous to be "Swedish" again. It is my mother tongue and English is my father tongue. I love to speak it and apparently I dream in it and talk in my sleep in Swedish. It is fun and very elastic as a language, the sounds are gorgeous in the mouth and to the ear. You can quite freely change the words like plasticine and it is still easy to understand. Especially perhaps when you are sisters with a similar feeling for the language, a playfulness that we share also with my brother.
We had halcyon days together visiting Noah and playing games like Connect Four, lego, and roulette! Gabriel bought a game at a boot fair in Hexham that we went to on the Sunday, none of us knew the rules, but Neil actually did and so we all played together on the floor. I was the bank!

On another day we went to Kielder and to the Birds of Prey centre there. I brought a picnic in a basket so that we could have it by the lake side. It was amazing, we all got to hold birds on a glove as they had their flying/feeding time. The Owls made the biggest impression on us. There was a beauty called Whisper a barn owl. They fly silently. We also got to stroke a baby owl of six weeks and other small owls. Gabriel loved it and bought a tiny little cuddly one to take home whom he called Ugglis. Uggla means owl in Swedish. It started to rain so we drove home and had the picnic on a blanket on the floor in the living room!

Gabriel learned how to be gentle with the cats and they let him stroke them. He gave Myles/Milo little tiny saucers of milk.
When we visited Noah he also got to meet Sofie the sister of Myles and Fergus. She was far less interested in a little person!
Noah cooked us a gorgeous meal of a leg of lamb in a Schlemmertopf with vegetables. Mmm...yummy!
Penny was a also a very good mother. To see my sister with her son and that she was not only grown-up and responsible but she was still the fun younger sister I knew. That was what was so cool. She almost talked us into visiting Sweden again!

I really hope they come and visit again! Gabriel can even come on his own when he gets older and he could use some holiday time away and to practise English which he will be learning at school in the next few years. He does not know English yet.
I would love it if my brother visited too!

In summer, the song sings itself. - William Carlos Williams

2009-08-01T20:54:00.002Z

In July this year a new bright spot was discovered on Venus. That is a beautiful metaphor.
It's summer time and the livin' is easier.
I feel like a hummingbird who has been living on Greenland until now...I wish to drink the nectar of summer and swim in ponds and smell the scents all around me of water, grass, flowers, sea breeze, sand, wet moss, pine...fireflies on my path at night.
Alegria!

Happy Birthday Noah!

2009-07-30T09:09:00.003Z

Today is the birthday of my son Noah.
We are having lunch together at his fave Hexham restaurant Bouchon. Then with tea time at his I shall give the gifts I will bring and other things of interest: a newspaper article I cut out on Jasper Joffe an artist "auctioning his life away", a jar of grass seed to patch his lawn-a game of croquet anyone?, my gardening book so that we can identify what disease one of his tomato plants has, a Betjeman LP he gave on loan and I want the reggae cd set back!
These are the minutiae, the details of exchange and yet the larger issue is how do you actually celebrate a birthday. And why?
Pretty much everyone I know has a different relationship to their birthday and how they wish to deal with it.
For me when I turned 50 I made it an opportunity to spend some time with the people I love. Friends who were spread out all over the world and bringing them together to pamper them and enable them to meet and enjoy eachothers company too. It was a massive weekend party/event with outings and dinners, parties, live music, fantastic food, and fun.
I felt good about it and since none of us really know how long we are around for it seemed like a perfect time to do it.
And I found the right place nearby to where I live, a large house with grounds, an outdoor jacuzzi, views and walks, plenty of space...
Would I do it again? I will think of something different if I celebrate again.
Today is Noah's birthday and I am looking forward to spending the day with him.

Ledbury Poetry Festival Rocks

2009-07-29T09:28:00.002Z

Every July the Ledbury Poetry Festival takes place in this charming ancient market town in the Malvern Hills.
This year I would say it was the best ever! Congratulations to Chloe Garner and her excellent team!

Highlights for me were the tennis finals between the Williams Sisters and Roger Federer and the other one. Just kidding.
But just barely, that weekend was riveting and I saw some of the best tennis since last years final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. It seems that during the festival Wimbledon is wrapping up and I must take time out for that!

Alice Oswald, Brian Catling, Ian Sinclair, Chase Twichell, Paul Farley, Ben Okri, Benjamin Zephaniah, Fred D'Aguiar, August Kleinzahler and John Hartley Williams were some of the poets I saw whilst there this year. Great variety and span.
Chase Twichell was a highlight for me. She is a commanding reader of insightful and intense poetry. She is very real and I was transfixed. August Kleinzahler is unique as a performer of his poetry. He is riveting.
I like this festival very much not only for its diverse programme but also for its friendly spirit and warm welcome.
There is a large room made availbale to those at the festival to sit down, read papers, relax with a hot beverage, talk to other attendees, and to meet. There are always snacks and drinks available and very friendly and helpful volunteers at all times!
I love that aspect and makes it very special in the world of festivals.
We have made good friends over the past couple of years that we have been going.

A visit to Great Malvern and its many second-hand bookshops yielded some finds. The Malvern Hills are lovely and it does not matter if it rains which it did! Had hot tea at Elgars tea room the Blue Bird! How about that?

If you are ever in that part of the country in the beginning to middle of July do consider visiting this poetry festival I highly recommend it.
I should also add the county is Herefordshire and the nearest large town is in fact Hereford.

The List

2009-07-28T10:55:00.002Z

Having been away literally and not from DJANG for so long, much has happened, and if I do not list them they will escape me...

Ledbury Poetry Festival
Presenting Life is IMMENSE visiting Samuel Menashe

The Wimbledon Tennis finals

Full Moon

Malvern Hills and Great Malvern

Visit to Philip Gross in South Glamorgan, Wales

Banksy at Bristol City Art Gallery and Museum

Compton Verney Surrealist exhibition Subversive Spaces

A family visit from Sweden

London and to the Zoo for Kenneth Martins mobile

Pauls Birthday at the Engineer

Mole on a wire

2009-06-28T16:30:00.003Z

AKA Borderline was shown for the first time at UNN for the Northernness conference last week.
There was a small but committed audience for the session which included Anne Vibeke Moe and Tim Brennan both talking about their more recent work, and myself presenting Borderline. Malcolm Gee was the moderator.
I was very pleased with the feedback I felt that some had really got what I was trying to convey with the film without using text or language to nevertheless drive a narrative.
A friend came and she was very supportive which I much appreciated. It is always so good to sit down with someone sympatico afterwards for a reality check.
I met a few new people from Brighton and Hongkong and Chester which I enjoyed too. They found it poetic and memorable.
I shall look forward to sharing it on facebook and on vimeo and youtube as well.
The conference was very interesting and there were many papers and presentations plus an exhibition which I went to see before returning to the valley.
For me the main thing was perhaps after all showing work that is very much mine and not only the work I do with Bloodaxe Books, which is also mine of course but in a different way.
Thanks and kudos to Ysanne Holt and Paul Usherwood.

Skyspace

2009-06-24T09:15:00.003Z

Another very special Midsummer Solstice tradition is going to James Turrells' Skyspace up at Kielder. An extraordinary place to look at changing light and feel that one with the cosmos feeling.
Skyspace is always open but especially effective at either dawn or dusk. The new observatory is also a must visit when in this part of the world, where the nights are dark and there is no light pollution.

New Moon post Midsummer Solstice

2009-06-23T09:13:00.002Z

The solstice passed in a quiet and calm way. I took a late night walk as the light was fading and listened to the sounds of the valley.
Still busy with the Borderline film, I have so much great footage from this area and at diffferent times, it is hard to choose.
Today is a perfect summer day, warm and sunny the cats are happily strolling about the garden and going up the lane in search of snacks.
It is really peaceful around here it is almost weird. It can be so very silent with only faint sounds like birdsong and lambs.
Then all hell brakes loose and timberwagons thunder by, motorbikes at full speed and no mufflers, explosions at the Otterburn range can be heard all the way here and the jet fighters scaring the living light out of the cats especially as they zoom through the sky far too low for comfort.
Now I am listening to a fly in the room and about to post this image of a cage.

Ord Word

2009-06-17T09:53:00.002Z

Ord Words

In the time I have been involved in making Borderline several words have emerged in my thoughts especially in the evening when I am trying to fall asleep. Trying too hard I fear.
These words float up, keep making themselves known to me.
Swedish is my Mother tongue and English my Father tongue.

Mullvad Mole
Ekorre Squirrel
Duva Dove
Katt Cat
Kanin Bunny
Hund Dog
Skata Magpie

Mur Wall
Stuga Cottage
Vatten Water
Luft Air
Motorcykel Motorbike
Mygga Midge
Blommor Flowers

Tyst Quiet
Stor Large
Himmel Sky
Buller Thunder
Oljud Noise
Sommar Summer
Regn Rain

Northernness

2009-06-15T09:20:00.002Z

In ten days time this symposium starts and I for one am looking forward to it! I think there will be some very interesting presentations thanks to Ysanne Holt the organiser. Also I think I will get a chance to re-connect with my Scandinavian roots as it were. That will be very good since I do feel cut off from many of the people and places that mean a great deal to me.
I am presenting a film Borderline on the Friday before lunch. This is a film in process. Since I moved to this part of the world, Northumberland, I have been responding to it through my metier. Film. I hope to continue working on Borderline throughout my living here. That is what I mean by process. As I learn more about this environment and more about my relation to it or response the film will grow and evolve and become sometimes more and sometimes less e.g. from one screen to several, an installation to a simple video etc. It will reflect the very place itself in that way.
I hope that if you can make it to Northernness you will say hallo to me!

Wolf-less

2009-06-14T09:26:00.002Z

This is Wolf on the fells in Tarset. He is so lovely, so beautiful, lean and fit and has the kindest brown eyes. We love him.
We had some gorgeous walks with him. Sadly we had to part. He and the cats did not find harmony together. Au contraire.

Back from Dublin Writers Festival

2009-06-12T11:19:00.002Z

It has been a lively time since the return from Dublin so I have not had time to write about it as yet. Here goes...
The first evening I was there Anne Michaels read from her new book The Winter Vault. You may know her previous book Fugitive Pieces: a Novel, which is now a film due out any day.
I was stunned. Anne M had just arrived from the airport in Dublin from Canada, she lives in Toronto, nevertheless she was sharp and an excellent reader. Focussed, thoughtful, wise and humane. The kind of person I would love to be and to have as a friend!
It was such a special treat to be abe to go to here reading first thing.
The next day it was work time...I filmed a poet in Dalkey who lived in a wonderfully quirky house up a lane which looked like it could have been in the country in France. She had some lovely cats, a huge feline family; grandmother, uncles, mother and kittens all together...She also prepared an amazingly delicious lunch complete with strawberries and cream. The filming went very well at the top of the house with views from the windows of Dublin Bay.
Taking the DART to Booterstown afterwards we spent the afternoon visiting friends there. They live in a light filled house which looks like an ordinary suburban domecile from the outside but once you step inside it is transformed. A Japanese feeling pervades with an inner courtyard of rocks and green plantings which is somehow also internal. Windows to see through to the green garden from rooms through rooms. It is a house where inside and outside interface and the light fills it up and plants can be seen from every point. There is also a wonderful art collection to enjoy. They are lovely people and it was such a pleasure to be able to spend some real time with them.
The following day it rained cats and dogs all day long and it was really quite cold.
On the Sunday Brendan Kennelly was going to launch his latest book Reservoir Voices and give a reading chaired by Micheal O'Siadhiall at the Abbey Theatre. It was the highlight of the festival at least for me. He got a standing ovation!
I was filming it and it came out well and I am very glad for that.
Friends from England were also there and Brendans' family and close friends too. All in all it was a splendid event and I feel very grateful that I could be there. He is marvellous!

Wolf

2009-06-09T16:45:00.002Z

Wolf has arrived at Sheep Cottage!
He is coming to live here because his humans had too many dogs for where they are living now. They train gundogs (hunting still goes on here) and could not give Wolf enough attention, he is a GSD aka an Alsatian. He will be seven in September on the Equinox.
Wolf is so full of joie de vivre. He is lovely! With brown velvety eyes and a sparkle for life. We are in love with him.
I sat on the lawn chair sipping my morning tea while he lay in the grass next to me and we were waking up together. He licked my free hand and lay on his back exposing his belly and rubbing his back, paws folded. I scratched his chest and under his chin.
Morning love.
One day and one night and he seems to be settling in very smoothely indeed.
The cats are cautious but with time they will get used to him and his zest for life!
As soon as I have a good pic I shall post it.
That was what was missing here; a wolf, surrounded by sheep and lambs and Red Riding Hood living in Sheep Cottage...

Penny flying!

2009-06-08T10:00:00.004Z

My sister sent this out to family and friends recently.
I realise how little I know of her dreams. She had wished to do something like this and got her wish granted this summer.
Several years ago she went rafting on the Zambesi river and being a horse woman I expect she is often performing amazing jumps. Penny is an adventurer. I miss her very much, have not see her in ages,