T sTands for Tag Tuesday's New Challenge and more

Hi Everybody!

I just woke up from a night where I actually slept, and I have a sneaky  feeling that I'm not quite awake yet. We had a cool and pleasant night here, and It looks like the hot weather has gone for the time being, glory be! We still haven't had any rain, it stayed extremely hot and muggy over the weekend, but today is gray and cool - lovely!

This evening we will be starting a new challenge at Tag Tuesday, and this time I am hosting, and have chosen the theme of 'Put a sentiment on it'. That doesn't mean it has to be a long one - one word can also be a sentiment.

I have several tags made up already, as I made some of them from a painted masterboard made some time back. I chopped it into three pieces and mounted the tags onto  recycled card from old calendars.

This is the first one. The hello and the leaf were cut from some card painted with alcohol inks, the other bits were in my stash: Your tags can be any size and all formats are welcome, digital and hybrid ones, too, so give it a try! The challenge goes live this evening at 9 p,m: on out blog

I hope to see some of you joining in this time. One dear lady always promises to join in, but she never does.....Perhaps this time?

Tuesday, or better said Monday evening, is also time to join in with Elizabeth's challenge T  sTands for Tuesday, so here I would like to welcome all of  the nice girls from TSFT who visit here:

I went out for a coffee twice this week. Once at the self-service shop, where you get a double cup of coffee for half of the price of a normal one elsewhere:

You help yourselves to coffee after disinfecting your hands, pay for it at the counter, where you have to write down your name  and telephone number, and then choose a table. The tables all have a number on them, and the people at the cash desk write down the number of the one where you sit down. This way they can track possible infections. I also have a Corona app for my smartphone, which should warn me if I'm in bad company....

The second coffee was here at my fave shop, it's nice to sit and do some people watching occasionally.

Here in town they are getting ready for the Town festival, I will not be going anywhere near it, as I know how quickly people forget keeping distance and wearing masks when they are in a crowd. The bunting has been hung:

Refreshments for hot days;

The 'party place' has been set up in the old moat  - there's more space and it's easier to control how many people are allowed in:

My walk back home:

Have a great day, take care,
and thanks a lot for coming by!

Weekend Post

Hi Everybody!

It's weekend - enjoy!

I'm hoping very much that the weekend will bring us some rain and a cool down before I dry out completely and turn to dust!

Today I have a digital piece to share, using elements from me, Serif and Mischief Circus. I was talking to some neighbours who recently lost their son, and they are, of course, devastated. So I made this piece with the title 'sorrow' to sort my feelings. The poem is the first verse of the 'sad shepherd' by William Butler Yates. My auntie Betty  used to read poetry to me when I was a kid, and this was one of my faves, and I asked to hear it again and again....I think she gave me a lifelong love of poetry, and that is a great gift:

The Sad Shepherd

BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

There was a man whom Sorrow named his friend,

And he, of his high comrade Sorrow dreaming,

Went walking with slow steps along the gleaming

And humming sands, where windy surges wend:

And he called loudly to the stars to bend

From their pale thrones and comfort him, but they

Among themselves laugh on and sing alway:

And then the man whom Sorrow named his friend

Cried out, Dim sea, hear my most piteous story!

The sea swept on and cried her old cry still,

Rolling along in dreams from hill to hill.

He fled the persecution of her glory

And, in a far-off, gentle valley stopping,

Cried all his story to the dewdrops glistening.

But naught they heard, for they are always listening,

The dewdrops, for the sound of their own dropping.

And then the man whom Sorrow named his friend

Sought once again the shore, and found a shell,

And thought, I will my heavy story tell

Till my own words, re-echoing, shall send

Their sadness through a hollow, pearly heart;

And my own tale again for me shall sing,

And my own whispering words be comforting,

And lo! my ancient burden may depart.

Then he sang softly nigh the pearly rim;

But the sad dweller by the sea-ways lone

Changed all he sang to inarticulate moan

Among her wildering whirls, forgetting him.

I still have several poetry books that she gave me, and although they are old and tatty I treasure them.

Some photos from my walks. I haven't been far, it's been too hot!

The green man is  dressed well for this hot weather!

The horses are sensible, they stand in the shade:

St Swidbert keeping watch over the town:

Have a great weekend, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Friday Post

Hi Everybody!

Another week has gone by too quickly, and it was a hot and humid one, too.

And we are still waiting for rain! It's a pity we can't order weather as we like it / need it!

Last week I did a big clean-out in my arty kitchen, threw away lots of scraps, and then decided to tidy my paints. After sorting them back into the right boxes and baskets I tested some which looked as dried up as I feel just now. I gave them a squeeze, and if paint came out, they were allowed back into their basket, if not, they went into the garbage bag. I didn't want to waste the paint I had squeezed out, so I took a large brush and and spread the colours onto an A3 sheet of paper, which I had already used to test my sprays. Then I printed out 3 of 'my' men which I drew a long time back, fussy cut them and stuck them onto the coloured background. I gave them some outlining and accents with red pastel chalk, added a sentiment and sewed around the edges using red yarn. I added a few red diamonds just for fun. I am linking to Art Journal Journey, a stitch in time and to Paint Party Friday:

Lavender close-up:

Another balcony flower:

The meadow behind the house:

I went for a shady walk under the trees by the lakes:

A neighbour's lavender:

I had an appointment in town, so walked part of the way through the old cemetery:

Help - it looks like somebody's trying to escape -or perhaps to get in?

Some of the stones are beautiful:

It's like being in a different world walking through here instead of along the busy road which runs parallel to the cemetery.

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!