ICICLES

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

LUNA

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!

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

Snowfall continues

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Garden Inspiration

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?