Wherever I Hang My Hat.....

A Pumpkin and Monsters

Meg & Jason went trick or treating half an hour ago. Tim has just rushed off to find them !!!

Eventually Tim found them, and came back - so I could get a photo of him.

They all had a great time - and are sure to feel sick tomorrow !!!

Little Paintings

I have been doing some little paintings - one a day, and I'm going to try and keep it up. Great practice. They are all Oils on canvas, and they are all 7 x 5ins. I'm on number 4 already.

Ethnic Beads

Unpeeled

Wooden Bangle

Eggs

A Weekend in Preston

We had a lovely weekend. We went to Preston on Friday afternoon to fetch Mum. They got back from Canada on Wednesday - they had a wonderful time !! So...we had a quiet weekend with James. We didn't do much at all - never do when we are there. It's a time to relax !! We got back home today, and the kids came round this afternoon after Tim's football match. Guess what - he got Man of the Match - again !!! Is he a great kid or what ???

Everyone is fine here. The kids go back to school tomorrow after a week's break. I think they are as glad as the parents ! Jason is working very hard at his paper round - so he'll be up bright and early. We put the clocks back last night - not nice. It's going to be dark by 5.00pm - ugh !

I took this photo of Meg on Friday - holding her portrait. Too cute !!

After Church this afternoon, Nat Mienie & Karen came to visit. It was really great to see them. Thanks for coming you two !!

Cold & Wet

It's rained on and off all day. Painted this last night. 12 x 12inches in oils.

 

New Design

I just changed the design of the blog - time for a change.

We had a lovely weekend. Lazy - which is good. The kids all came for lunch yesterday - very nice. Sean & Shell were taking Meg to the circus late yesterday afternoon. I haven't heard how it went, but I'll hear tomorrow. I told them to take photos ! Shell has a midwife check up tomorrow, so I'll have more news on "our" pregnancy !

The weather has changed - I spoke too soon. It has been really wet all weekend, and the temperatures are dropping.  But the lawn is still growing, and the trees still have all their leaves.

Mum & James should be back on British soil this week. We'll go up to Preston at the weekend to fetch her. It'll be good to get back to normal. It won't be long before we're planning the Christmas dinner !!!

Update on Pots

Not finished yet !!!

A Happy Day !

Friday Again !!!

Where do the weeks go ????

Nothing much to report tonight. I've finished Meg's portrait, just waiting for it to dry. I bought a great frame for it. I'll show you when its framed. I cleaned the house from top to bottom today - hurry up and come home Mother !!!! I'm exhausted. I never saw Meg today. The problem with Sean being at home means I don't get to see her every day. Mind you, I'm sure Sean's bored to death.

We had rain all last night, and parts of Oxfordshire were flooded again. One village had 20 houses flooded. Some of them were flooded only 2 weeks ago. They'd just got cleaned up and down came the rain again. What a shame.

Timmy has just left. He went to Youth Club at the church across the road, and Ben has just picked him up (9pm). Basil is watching Rugby, and I am browsing the Internet and painting at the same time. I started a Still-Life last night, and I'm just finishing it up. Here's the photo I took last night. It looks much better at the moment, but the light is no good for a photo.

That's it for tonight. G'night !!!!

Update on Meg's Portrait

A Cold Tuesday

Just waking up !

The weather has changed, and it felt quite cold this morning. After the beautiful weather we've had lately, it was quite a shock. So - the jackets came out !

I met Sean in town this morning, we fetched Meg from Nursery school and went for a sausage roll at the Bakers Oven. Lovely. Then we had a while looking at the Charity shops. I found a great frame which will fit Meg's portrait perfectly. It has a nice painting in it already, so it seems a shame to dismantle it. I'll think about it. I've got time. Meg's portrait won't be finished for a while and then it'll need time to dry. I worked on it again this afternoon. I'll try and get a photo in daylight tomorrow. We are going to Oxford tomorrow, on the bus, to meet Shell for lunch. Tim came home, had a flying bite and ran out to play ! He won't be playing out for this long when the clocks go back at the end of the month !

Basil went to the consultant this morning about his knee. The cruciate ligament has gone, and there is also cartilage damage. He has to see the physiotherapist to get a brace fitted, and they are leaving it alone for a while until all the swelling has gone down. Then they'll decide what to do with it. So, he's not very happy. He thought they would give him a decision today. It's not too sore as long as he doesn't twist it.

Uncle Terry - if you're reading this, I'm thinking of you. Love you.

A Portrait of Meg

All is well here. Not much happening. I'm painting a portrait of Meg. Slow going, and each layer is taking a while to dry. Progress pics below. Still a way to go.

I had to make changes to her lips - they weren't right. I've altered this just to bring up the colour a bit more (now it's a bit too bright !!). I'll show a photo when it's finished in a few days.

Pregnancy Progress

I got this from a pregnancy website. Just checking our progress !!

Your baby has a face! Your baby's features are becoming more predominant as his lips, tongue and nostrils, as well as the buds for 20 baby teeth are already present. The back muscles are growing along the spinal column, and his or her reproductive organs have started to form and soon will become either testes or ovaries. The arms and legs are growing while elbows and knees appear as well. The fingers and toes are starting to show but are still webbed. Your baby is about 8 - 11 mm or 0.31 - 0.43 inches in length.

The process of ossification (hardening of the bones) begins as the bones of the fingers and toes have already reached the first joint. Your baby is already getting smarter as his brain continues to develop and grow. Your baby starts to show signs of reflex activity - an automatic response to certain types of stimuli Connecting you and your baby, the umbilical cord with all its blood vessels, are starting to function. In fact, what will be your baby's intestine is forming in the umbilical cord as well. An ultrasound done this week would show your baby's fluttering heart and reflex movements.

Friday Tomorrow ???

Where does time go ?? We had torrential rain yesterday - unbelievable. Floods all over the place. Oxford was flooded, and many villages around here. Not us luckily. The temps are very mild tough, for this time of year - about 18/19C. It feels quite mild.

Basil's knee is still bad, but better than it was. He went for a scan on it today, and will see the consultant when the results are in. It may be the cruciate ligament, or torn muscles. He's getting around a lot better, but it is still very swollen. He went to London today to one of the film studios. They want him to be a guest on a reality show -  as a panel member who will give comments on the show. They will let him know soon. Exciting !!! Ben took the day off to drive him there, and also drive him to the hospial for the scan.

Everyone else is fine. Sean is still not able to do much. He and meg came on the bus yesterday for lunch. She had her sleep here, and then I took them home later.

The rest are great, except Shell who is suffering from morning sickness - shame. Terry & Jo are on their holiday. I'm sure they are enjoying themselves. I don't expect to hear from them. Hope they are taking loads of photos ! Haven't seen Jason, but Tim is fine. Not very good at timekeeping though. A watch from me is on the Christmas list.

I've been painting - surprise ! The first colour layer on the nun - a very light layer to begin with. The colour will deepen with each layer.

I also started this one of men out of work - Irish workmen. I'm busy with the clothing - then I'll do the hands and faces.

So that's it. Boring !

Chinese stir-fry on your knee !

Basil was taking part in a charity football event today. So after church he went off, with Tim & Jason to Oxford. It was being held in Oxford.

In the meantime, Sean, Shell, Fi, Meg & I went to the Lamb in Wantage and had lunch - lovely.

Then I got a phone call to come to the football club to pick Basil up as he has injured his knee. The physiotherapist for the club thinks he has torn the cruciate ligament. It's swollen, and his leg won't support his weight at all ! Fi will organise a brace tomorrow - and she'll get him to one of the consultants at the Nuffield as soon as poss.

So here he is with a frozen bag of chinese stir-fry on his knee. It hurts. But he's OK - sing with me now.......

He's got the remote control, in his hands,
He's got the remote control, in his hands,
He's got the remote control, in his hands,
Control is in his hands.

Painting all day !

I managed to paint all day - lovely. It was a lovely day, beautiful sunshine with a nip in the air. Not cold though.

Tim came round for 10 minutes this morning - a flying visit. He was going with his friend to the leisure centre to swim, so came for his costume (which, of course, he had left here).

Basil has watched rugby all afternoon - natch ! We'll be watching X factor in about 10 minutes. It's getting exciting.

Here are the progress pics of the painting. She's a stern looking nun !

When this dries, the colour goes on. Wish me luck.

A Quiet Day and Painting

I had a quiet day. It rained all day - yuck. Sean is at home, so he sorted Meg out today. I missed her. Tim came this afternoon for an hour before Ben picked him up.

So...I spent most of the day painting. I finished the Cezanne copy (not a good photo).

And I started a copy of one of the old Masters, Velasquez. It's s full figure of a nun, but I'm only doing the head - in oils on canvas.

Progress shots (also not good photos). It's hard to take a decent photo of a painting at night. It needs to be done outside, in daylight.

The last photo is really bad - there is no yellow in the painting ! Must be the light I was under. More progress when I paint again - hopefully tomorrow.

Wednesday over and out !

It was a bright, clear day today - but cool.

Sean went to the specialist this morning, and they have set his hand in a permanent cast - not to be removed for ay least 5 weeks. So he won't be fighting fires in the next month at least. It's not hurting him too much, but it's awkward with only one hand, and he can't drive.

Meg was so sweet today. We went to school on the bus, and she posed for me before we left (with some of the babies, of course).

Too cute !

Tim came late afternoon. He's fine. I haven't seen Jason since Sunday though.

I also managed another hour on the painting - still not finished. I'll try again tomorrow. It's not a good photo of the painting. I'll try to take a better one when it's finished.

Can't believe Wednesday is over. Where do the days go ? Lottery draw tonight - keep your fingers crossed.

Rain, Rain - and poor Sean !

It's been raining all day - wet, wet, wet ! And it's getting colder. The temp tonight should be about 5C - c..o..o..o..o..l !

Sean and Shell are still on leave, so I haven't had Meg for the last 2 days. It's really quiet without her. But she is back tomorrow. Shell goes back to work in the morning. I'm sure she doesn't feel like it - and she has to tell them she is pregnant. Sean was supposed to go back to work tomorrow night - but plans have changed.

A couple of weeks ago he had a game of golf, and really hurt his hand. He thought he had pulled muscles. It has been aching ever since, and the pain was getting worse so he went to the Doctor today, who sent him to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for x-rays. He went for the xrays this morning at 10 am. Well - it took all day to get sorted out, and he phoned at 3 asking us to fetch him as he's not allowed to drive. His hand is broken and in a temporary cast. Tomorrow he has to see a specialist, and they will decide what to do with it. So Basil dropped me at the JR, and I drove Sean back in his car. He had a really long day and was very tired. Looks like he won't be at work for a while. We'll know more after tomorrow.

Just had supper - fish, and Baz is enjoying Judge Judy on TV. I started a new painting today. It's not finished yet. It's a copy of one of Cezanne's paintings. I'll try to get it finished tomorrow.

Great News !!

Wonderful news. Shell is pregnant !!! The baby will be due at the beginning of June next year. She will get exact dates after she has seen the midwife or had a scan. Very exciting - we have a new baby coming.

Sean, Shell & Meg got back from Greece this morning. They were exhausted. They left Rhodes at 3am, and got to us by 10. They left Meggie here with us and went home to have a good sleep. She was fine, but had a really long nap this afternoon.

We had a great weekend. Tim slept over on Saturday, and they all came for lunch today. Terry & Jo came from Bristol too !

October

Two events of significance today.

It's Granny M's Birthday. Happy Birthday Gran - we all love you very much.

And....the inter-galactic duo.....no, not Batman & Robin....are off again - to Canada. Yes, Jungle Jim and Bren left from Manchester this morning, and will be arriving in Toronto as I type. Have fun !!