Thursday/Friday This, that and the other

Hi Everybody!

I am posting a bit later than usual, as I was just feeling totally crappy yesterday, and don't feel much better today - It has to get better!

Today is Elizabeth's second on the second, where we re-show some pieces made previously. This is a mixed media one made in 2012, and I chose it for today as it also fits the 'maps' theme we have just now at Art Journey Journey. Once again I am back in London:

I then took part of it and gave it a freshen up to make it suitable for the challenge today, giving it a new frame, and adding some digital details

And as it is Paint Party Friday tomorrow, I am showing another London piece made this week - London in my head. The map is, of course, a map of the London Underground, the 'Tube'. The background was painted with acrylics, and I added some bits and pieces digitally. And once again Mr UM is there, watching what is going on.

There were no blue skies here, and once again it rained all day. Welles and raincoats are the order of the day. There are huge puddles everywhere, and some motorists seem to take delight in driving through them at speed to soak unwary pedestrians.

The horses didn't seem to mind the rain:

The water in the little stream is getting higher and higher:

It has almost reached the top of the bridge:

The grill and chilling place is almost in the water:

But I do like watching the ships loom up out of the haze:

This is the path I usually take down to the shore, but I did not try it today:

The flowers seem to be enjoying the rain:

And the robin and the jay spent most of the day on my balcony, where it was dry:

Have a good day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Double First

Hi Everybody!

Today we are celebrating the start of not one, but TWO new challenges - at 

Art Journal Journey and at Moo Mania and More.

We have a new hostess at Art Journal Journey, Mary Nasser, and the new theme 

that she chose is 'maps'. We are happy to have Mary with us, as she is an established and accomplished mixed media artist who specializes in maps, and also designs stencils and stamps. She also has a home page which you can visit to learn more about her. She made us a wonderful piece to start the month, and you can see it on the AJJ blog.

I hope to see many of you joining in again, and projects of all formats are welcome! 

For my start up piece I made a hybrid creation, using an 18th century map of London (courtesy of Wikipedia) as my background. I chose the part of East London by the Thames and docks where I was born and grew up, as I still feel very much attached to this corner of the world. The Beefeater is standing guard over the tower of London, which was a couple of hundred yards away from where we lived. If you look under Mr UM's umbrella you can see 'Well Close', which at my time was called Wellclose Square. The area belonged to the 'Freedom' or jurisdiction of the Tower for hundreds of years. Many of the old building there have  sadly been pulled down in the meantime. The place where my great Grandparents settled when they immigrated to England was in a little court off the square, it is even possible to see the house they lived in on the enlarged map. 

I think the little girl with the camera is a symbol for me, as I loved having a camera in my hands, even when I was small, but the camera had no film in it!

I love the place where I live now, but That corner of London will always be my home.

At Moo Mania and More our new challenge is 'Masculine'. Once again, 

projects of all formats are allowed, not just Moos, so hope to see lots of you there in the next two weeks.  I made a mixed media piece on a painted and stenciled background. The postcard has a torn-paper background, and the image has been made with a mod-podge transfer and then clear varnished.

Yesterday evening the temps started rising after the stormy day,

and you could see the water steaming off the fields:

Later on, when the steam had more or less cleared, everything had a bluish glow:

The sun managed to get up this morning, but I was up an hour earlier!

Some photos taken before the big rainfall:

And these were afterwards.

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

T-Day Mix

Hi Everybody!

Today is the very last day of Erika's lovely theme, journeys, at Art Journal Journey. Many thanks to Erika for being an extra super hostess this month.

Don't forget to come by tomorrow to learn about the new theme and meet the new hostess! I made my by now traditional collage of all my pages to end the month:

Today is also Elizabeth's T stands for Tuesday, so a big welcome to all of the T Gang. I have decided to give you a glimpse into my photo album to show my fave photos. Can you guess what I'm drinking?

We had a loud night with scary thunderclaps, lightning and torrents of rain. And then in the morning the wind started blowing again and then we had a real downpour. Other places were worse hit, and had bad floods and lots of damage. The storm should move to the East tomorrow, but will probably come back by the end of the week, so I'm keeping my wellies ready!

And you still have  week to join in our challenge at TIOT, I can hear music!

Today it rained.....

and rained.

The little stream was almost full, although normally it is just a trickle:

There were lots of big puddles and I wore my wellies to get to my physiotherapy:

The flowers looked pretty with their raindrops:

And my feathered friends were all soaked and hungry, so they got an extra feed today:

Have a great day, happy T-Day, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!