Typical weather for a fete

Today I went to a fete which was put on to raise money for the local church and in which my brother and his wife were very involved.  After days of bright warm sun, on the day of the fete suddenly there was low cloud, wind and rain.  Did this deter anyone? It did not and everyone sat around feeling rather chilly but determined to enjoy themselves.

A very English experience.

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Where I come from

At the moment I am staying with my sister in Norfolk where I was born and brought up.  The weather is very good and brings out the beauty of a place that is often considered rather boring because it is flat and mostly agricultural with only small pockets of natural woodland.  As a child I lived near some connected water bodies known as 'the broads' which it was thought were originally dug out by the Romans.  Now the broads are used mainly by holiday makers and the picture is taken at a place where holiday makers stop on their leisurely trips around the rivers and lakes of the area.

It is true that the countryside is not very dramatic but I love the wide skies and the sometimes fierce winds which are characteristic of this area.  It breeds a very rugged sort of people which I think serves me well where I am now.

Practicing on my new tablet

Have had a very quiet day which I have spent mostly on my computer.  I did this drawing on the new tablet although I don't quite know why I have that grin on my face.  At times it was quite frustrating trying to make the software do what I wanted it to do.  The colour isn't quite right either as it seems to signify peace rather than the agitation that I was feeling.

Having said all that I am really pleased to have had the time to do this experimentation in the course of which I have found some fabulous new tools.  I also spent some time sorting out my computer downloads and have purchased some graphic software - the PC version of the app I have on my iPad so it should be reasonably easy for me to work with as the layout etc will be familiar.

It will be back to the iPad for creating pictures tomorrow as I am traveling up to Norfolk and don't want to take my heavy laptop.

Smudge tool sampler

Have finally found the time to sit down with my new graphics tablet and find out what it is capable of doing. I used the software that came with it to do the above 'sampler' using the smudge tool.  I had to explain to Rachael what a sampler is.  How, if she had lived in Victorian times, she would have done an embroidery sampler which showed off all the different stitches she could do. Possibly to show any prospective husbands that she had suitable domestic accomplishments.  She should thank her lucky stars that she is living in modern times and could do chemistry instead! This was something similar although I didn't use all possible tools on the smudger and traditional samplers have some lettering - usually something religious or improving rather than just the title as on this picture.

I think it is going to take a while to get used to this tablet and I need to practice and experiment with it.  I am glad that I have at last had time to work with it and its reminded me of just how demanding having a small baby to look after can be.  While I have been with Emma and baby Sam there just hasn't been any spare time to do anything this.

A memory

The meaning of this picture is in the memory that it invoked.

I came to London today to see my younger daughter and we went for a walk in Holland Park.  It is beautiful weather and the gardens, in particular the rose gardens, look lovely.  As I looked at this garden I remember coming here a day or two after Emma was born with her father.  I sat on one of the seats and we looked out on the garden and felt tremendous gratitude for having this new little person to come and share our lives.  

At that moment I felt very connected to Emma's father who died some years ago as well as Emma and of course Sam who I feel continues the tradition of bringing joy to his mother.

A garden in England

Much of today has been spent helping Emma in the house and doing the garden.  The above was a very messy place which I cleared up by digging out all the overgrown plants - mostly spinach.  I then replanted some wild strawberries where the roots had grown through the bottom of the pots as well as two butternut squash which were looking rather yellow around the edges.  I had also bought a capsicum plant which I didn't want to replant as it was already giving quite a lot of capsicum and a chillie plant.  I put the pot of capsicum in the soil of the raised bed and the pot of chillie in the green house where it will be a bit warmer if the weather turns cold.  Finally I covered all the soil with mulch.

I enjoyed myself very much today and I think that Emma was pleased with the results.  It is such a different technique from what I am used to though. Everything comes from a nearby shop including the mulch which comes in a big plastic bag and is supposed to deter cats and slugs.

Once again I am reminded that wherever I go on this earth there will be somewhere for me to take care of the land and grow food.

Lukki in Europe

I took a picture of these lukki at a Tesco supermarket where Emma and I had gone shopping.  These vegetables, also known as bottle gourd, are ones which we grow in Buddha Garden.  I imagine they are imported for the very large Pakistani population in Manchester.

What amazed me was how they were all more or less the same size.  This is common with supermarket vegetables in the UK that are grown to strict EU rules with regard to size, shape and colour.  I was amazed to see that they had managed to do it with lukki as well.  

How do they do it?  Our lukki in Buddha Garden are all different shapes and sizes and we have never managed to make them grow less individually.  Perhaps a lot have to be discarded to create a pile of them that all look the same as they did in the supermarket.

A lovely day with Sam

Had a lovely day with Sam and Emma today.  The picture is of when we went to a place where you can decorate various cups, plates etc.  I had just decorated a dish with prints of Sam's feet on it.  I don't think he was as impressed with it as myself!

I have had a lovely day but am unsure about coming back to live in the UK just because my grandchildren are here.

Last view of Eigg

This is the last view I have of Eigg from the ferry, in beautiful weather.  

I think it is rather ironic that while we were on Eigg the weather wasn't good enough to climb this peak, being either to windy or too rainy.  Or there was too much cloud so there would have been no view.

It is only as we left that the weather was good enough and then it was too late.  But I suppose I can always do it when I return.......

Chiming back to Manchester after my trip to Findhorn and Eigg I feel as if I have returned from another world.

Foul weather again

It has been another foul weather day today with winds and rain all day.  I think the picture expresses it really well although its based on my very short walk from the cabin to the pub which I have made just to get a decent wifi connection.  The rest if the day I have spent indoors as I didn't want to get soaking wet and then not able to dry my stuff before we leave tomorrow.

Bindu went out for a walk in the rain and managed to get several lifts with people she knew.  Amazing how we have met most of the community in the week we have spent here.  She came back very happy and wet and with the gloves that she lost yesterday.  Someone had picked them up and put them on the gate near where she had sat yesterday.

A very early Christian

This is a picture of St Dunstan who was one of the first Christians in the Western Isles and who started a monastery on Eigg.  Today Bindu went to the site of the old monastery while I went to the nearby beach where I saw the above picture, almost an icon, in the nearby RC church.  

The church is dedicated to St Dunstan although a priest only comes once a month and on the other weeks there is a lay service.  The church also had some very interesting old carvings which were originally probably grave stones and standing stones which were very old indeed - eighth century.  They consisted of a Celtic cross and a carving of dogs, although the latter was very faint.

It then struck me that although Eigg has wonderful credentials when it comes to community involvement and renewable energy, it doesn't have a spiritual focus of any kind.  As far as I can see there is no mediation or other spiritual practice apart from the RC church which doesn't see to be very active.  Yet obviously at one point many years ago it was a thriving spiritual centre.

Maybe that spiritual focus needs to be re-ignited somehow.  

Renewable energy

Today Bindu and I were shown around the  Eigg renewable energy system.  It was fantastic and showed how we CAN use renewable energy if we are willing to work with the rhythms of water, wind and sun and to be conscious about our energy use.

The picture above is of the old control panel of the last small water turbine that we saw.  There being three water turbines altogether, one large and two small.  As  Eddie (who showed us around) said, it would be great for Frankenstein, because there was almost certainly a lot of sparks involved! The turbine used to provide electricity for the 'big house' and after the island buy out provided electricity for the shop and the ferry terminal.  Now it provides electricity for the central system.  This is a picture of the modern control panel at the other end of the turbine house.

Learning to see

I have had a wonderful day today going out with someone called John from the Scottish Wildlife Trust who took a group of us on a nature walk.  He helped us to see so many things, especially things that weren't obvious like small flowers and many different sorts of birds.  He had a wealth of knowledge about the things around us and with him common place things that we take for granted became quite exquisite in the way that they took their place within the wholeness of creation.

I took a lot of pictures and it was very difficult to decide which one to choose for today.  I decided on this one of a little animal that I thought was a harvest mouse but which we later found out was a little shrew.  It was in the middle of the road as we walked to the meeting point this morning where we met the other participants and John.  Bindu's finger shows how small it was. 

It's smallness and beauty exemplified much of what we saw today.

No view from our window

The weather has been absolutely foul today with low clouds rolling in from the sea bringing rain, rain and more rain.  The clouds are so low that they obscure everything.  We can't see the nearby island of Rum or the beach.

We went out for a walk this afternoon but there were no views anywhere.

Sun on the water

Our first day on Eigg has been lovely and made much better by the appearance of the sun.  This afternoon we tried to find the singing sands but were unsuccessful.  

We walked in beautiful scenery and as it was towards the end of the day the sun going down just beyond Rum was beautiful on the water.  I don't think the picture really does it justice, but the sun shining on the water is just visible and it was the best I could do. 

The finger of God

After traveling across Scotland to Mallaig and spending the night there we have come over on the  ferry to Eigg.  We are now staying in a place is called something in Gaelic which means 'the place of the fairies'.  The picture is of a rock formation just behind where we are staying called 'the finger of God' which I think is very appropriate.

The weather has been absolutely horrible with clouds sweeping in from the west bringing wind and rain.  On the boat over I didn't like to go outside because I felt that I would be blown into the sea.  Apparently the weather has been so bad that the ferry could not go to Muck, the next island to 

Eigg, but that is partly because of the harbour which is affected by heavy swells so in bad weather the  ferry can't get near it.

We are now staying in a lovely wood cabin from which we can just about see Rum, another island.  Apparently this is the first time that Rum has been seen at all for a few days because the weather has been so bad.  The sun did come out just as I moved our stuff to the cabin, which I think is a very good omen.