All this divided York and Lancaster..." William Shakespeare, Richard III

What a grey day! Again! I know that we are all 'desperate' for rain and that we are under a hosepipe ban in parts of the country and I know, I know that the ground water is still low and all this rain is very necessary to raise the levels - but I-a-m-h-e-a-r-t-i-l-y-s-i-c-k of the ****** stuff - gah. When I grew up in Africa, rain was seen as a gift......

I have found that my crafting mojo is in a bit of a lull at the moment. Several have done projects languish on my desk. Each one has a fairly plausible excuse for its unfinished state but I feel quite uninspired to actually surmount these rather small blocks. Hmm - note to self - *get on with it!*

On the positive front, our feline family are handling each other's presence so so much better. My mom came up with a brilliant analogy. She calls their hissing and spitting 'The War of the Roses' Which appropriately enough has the red rose of Lancashire warring against the white rose of York for the English throne in the mid to late 1400s.

You may still be wondering at the connection here - so here goes, Lily (red) was born and bred in Lancashire and Pan (predominantly white) was found in a shed in Yorkshire. Brilliant!

But, unlike the war of the roses, our little furry dispute seems to be receding, with only the occasional spat.  I know that food and play is a great leveller and the tastiest treats and the most exciting games soon break down barriers.

Easter Break review in photos

Visiting......

...A vintage vehicle rally in Kirby Stephen.

Knitting.......

...my sky scarf and my first mitten on dpn needles

Walking................

....on high wild hills, over farm land, through isolated villages.

We celebrated Easter.....

.....with cheese rolling down a wet and windy hill...

                                   ....eating chocolate for breakfast!

I took inspiration from......

.....lichens on stone walls, carvings from ruined buildings, fungus on rotten trunks, flowers, stones and sky.

We had a lovely time, may be a little wet and a little cold at times, but these small discomforts were far outweighed by the beauty of the wilderness we camped in.

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Again I have to say thank you for all your wonderful thoughts and kind words. We are really touched by the response - thank you very much xx

Perfecting the art of procrastination aka - doing nothing when I should be doing something

Where I'd rather be........................................

.................................................but am not. 

It's cold and wet here today. 

The wind howls around the house like a demented soul, lifting road rubbish and leaves and hurling them about irritably . 

Hunched coated villagers push their way through the gusts, their hats flipping and flapping in the bad tempered breeze. 

Cold fingers open and close doors into cars and into houses. 

Here inside my home, the fire crackles away. 

Soothing the frenzied sounds of the wind and warming the air around me. 

Inside I am calmed by the solid surroundings of home while the bland sounds from the newsreader on the radio slowly fill up the room, seeping information into my head, I am not listening and not hearing but am aware of the words rolling around. 

I am in that self-induced state of limbo - I have things to do but I choose to nurse a mug of tea and and stare wordlessly at the wet windows. Not through them, but at them. My gaze and my thoughts are inward.

Despite my superficial static state, inward I am restless.

I need to be under that big sky. 

01.11.09

With a change of month, a change in the weather.

Autumn's benign mood changed to one more unkind.

She has been hell bent on tearing off all the leaves,

making the trees bare.

Their twig fingers rake the grey sky as clouds hurry by.

Bark is wet and glistening and boughs creak and groan as they are ripped clean.

Leaves flurry and whirl on the wet roads,

clumping up on corners as if trying to hide from the winds.

Through rain spattered windows

we have watched and marvelled at her fickle moods,

yesterday she was feeling benevolent.

Today Autumn is definitely feeling 'under the weather'