FROM A TINY SPARK A BRAND NEW TOPIC IS WONDERED ABOUT

I often find that one of my blogging friends writes about something on their blog and it sort of takes on a life of his own, other people comment, including me, then I sometimes feel compelled to muse about it and then go off at a tangent and write about where the tangent led me and write about it on my site.

This time it was Gemma that started me musing. She posted Leonard Cohen's Joan of Arc on her site, saying how every so often you get a craving for some of good old Leonard. I posted agreeing that just sometimes no one else will do. I then posted that my all time favourite lines of Leonard's were ...and she brings you tea and oranges that come all the way for china... from Suzanne. When I checked that my posting was on the site I noticed that immediately above me was a posting from Lisa Oceandreamer, mentioning guess what? her favourite song was Suzanne too. This led to a lovely exchange of emails where we both discovered our images of Suzanne and her life were identical. This in turn got me looking out Songs of Leonard Cohen and indulge in repeat track playing of Suzanne. In turn this led to a discussion with husband who said Leonard Cohen had written it about a real woman called Suzanne whom he, [Cohen, not my husband lol!] had known. I said, yes, but that was nothing to do with my Suzanne, who I had imagined, my Suzanne was more of an archetype and inspired me, and that I hadn't taken the real one into consideration at all.

After satisfying my Leonard Cohen need, I then moved onto Google and found out all about the real Suzanne, I thought if you didn't know about her you might be interested in these links that explains all about her. I have also uploaded her photo and show it below. Of course, this does not make me budge one inch on the Suzanne in my head. She was created by me, and Lisa Oceandreamer it seems. http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/verdal.html and http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/verdal.html



We are still having wild winds with galeforce gusts, just the sort of day to stay indoors, so I made the most of it. I actually got into my artroom this afternoon,[Hello artroom,long time no see did you think I have forgotten about you? I'll be back lots when life resumes its even pace once more.] put some bits in pieces in order, sat down at my desk wrote a list of all the swaps etc that I am participating in, hoping I am not forgetting to write things down and pinned it to the wall. Then, oh what bliss. I actually sat on got on with one of my projects and did some hand sewing. I so enjoyed it, sitting in a pool of lamplight, wind gusting at the window, heating hissing and clanking away, incense burning. In fact, I was enjoying it so much I had to put Leonard Cohen's Songs From a Room on all over again.

I have just bought three Charles de Lint books really cheaply on Amazon Used Books, two were ones I read a long time ago but never owned copies of, plus I want to read them again, and the third was one I have not read yet Spirit in the Wires. I was just going to start reading a book called The Red Tent that quite a few people seem to have recommended, although it has been published for a few years now. Now I am thinking, should I leave that and go straight to the Charles de Lint I haven't read or ..., oh decisions, decisions. At the moment I am listening to Madeleine Peyroux, [yes still, I am besotted with it], Jamie Cullen's Twenty Something and as mentioned above Songs From a Room.

This illustration above is called The Two Gossips, isn't it adorable? I am sure it is me, in the mob cap and fingerless lace glove, busy creating while a friend visits me and we catch up in the garden on local gossip. I will admit to being a bit of a gossip, not of the mean kind, I just love to know all the news and while we are telling truths, I won't deny I am a really nosey parker at times, well, I call it interest in humanity, I like to see where people live and know what makes them tick. I have just found a fabulous project on Flikr. com called, wait for it, The Bookshelf Project. The idea is you photograph your bookshelves and upload them onto flickr. The only proviso is that you must be able to read the titles of the books. This site must have been made for me, if I ever see a photo of someone's room and there books on the shelves, I will do my best to zoom in or enlarge or whatever to try to read the book title. Please excuse me this, its just that I love books, and like to know what other people like! I do know one person that reads this blog, admitting to trying to read the titles in my bookcase when I posted photos of my cottage. YOU know who you are, and I don't blame you one bit. Well believe me, you can while away some pleasant time on this project and some people even mention which of the books they are reading now and if any are up for trading. Check it out!



Must go now Saturday evening in my cozy living room complete with glass of wine is awaiting me, oh tell the truth Daisy, well a bottle of wine and one wine glass, the other half is going to have some lager.

ORGANISING MYSELF FOR PIECES OF METIME

Finally managed to spend some time in my artroom actually working yesterday. The first time since before Christmas. I was just thinking when I was working in there, doesn't Christmas seem a long time ago? All that preparation and then suddenly its been and gone. It felt really good doing something creative again. I was bascially just catching up on one or two projects I wanted to finish before launching into my 2007 projects.

I was in my artroom on Saturday afternoon too, basically trying to sort out some sort of flexible schedule. [and I am certainly not a schedule type of person, I prefer to 'wing it', I love lists but time listing NO!] I realise that to keep on top of everything these next few weeks I do have to have a basic day to day rota, to include the serious things but to also give me some precious metime both to keep on top of projects and creating and to just totally relax, whether by reading or watching a dvd. I am trying to keep remembering if the weather stays as mild as it has been, I should be able to get out in the garden next month, to start tidying it, and that will be another addition to my schedule. Of course, it could be that winter will descend with a vengeance and I won't have to think about the garden for a while.



I had hoped to be checking the local animal shelter for another cat by now, as we are really both aching and ready for another cat, I mean Pixie is constantly in my dreams telling me this, but I may have to postpone this a few weeks, as I want to give it a lot of love and attention when it arrives. I want a cat to know us both well.

The way forward, at a busy time like this is lots of lists, write everything down, because I know if I don't I will think of something wonderful to do or create and if I don't jot it down, I will forget it. Basically my lists run along the lines of, must dos, don't forgets, yummy things to do, inspiration for future things. I am known as the Queen of Lists in my family, although, Sweetpea is fast coming up behind me in the list stakes. A true chip off the old block, where lists are concerned.

I want to thank you for all the wonderful, lovely comments you left on my last posting, comments such as these mean such a lot and certainly sprinkle some happiness over my day.

Do you like my dream house at the top of this posting. Imagine living in a beautiful Elizabethan house like that with wonderful flower and herb gardens surrounding it. What magic would happen there! I found this illustration on the net along with these two glorious vintage seed catalogues from the 19th century, what wonderful romantic illustrations for the front of a catalogue.



I went on an expedition on Saturday morning to a factory outlet a few miles away. I went to be there for it opening before it was too busy, as the annual sale was one. I managed to get stacks of both soft and hard storage bags, crates and boxes. Also found one or two wonderful bargains in the sale, amazing bedding, voile panels, and curtains at ridiculous prices, end of lines etc. I just commented the other day on Pretty Lady's site, how like her, I never feel the necessity to pay full price for much, I would much rather go out into a sale or wait for a reduction, it always seems to me that after items have been in a shop for a few weeks they get reduced. Most of my house has been furnished by buying at times where there are good discounts or reductions on, and I haven't had to compromise in my choice of goods at all, they all are exactly what I was wanting at the time
.

A completely different subject, what an amazing amount of birds there are around at the moment, especially of the tit family, such as blue tits. I was standing looking out of the bedroom window this morning watching them all fly about and clinging to the side of barn, they do such wonderful acrobatics. There are also flocks of small birds, such as sparrows in the scrub behind the garden. I have never seen so many birds about in January.
I wonder if the weather is so mild that they might be nest building early? I must look through my binoculars to see exactly what other kind of birds are flying around the scrub, there will be plenty food about for them this year. There was also a bluebottle buzzing at my bedroom window, I have never seen one in January before. These last two days I have also noticed that the evenings are just getting a tad lighter, though I have got to admit the mornings don't seem any lighter yet, perhaps, that's just because we have had some dull grey mornings.



I also found this photograph of Scarborough in Yorkshire C1895. When I was a child the whole family used to go to Scarborough for a week in the summer. My mum and dad, my unmarried aunt, and my grandparents. I used to save pennies all year to spend on my holidays. It was so exciting the train journey, arriving there going to our bed and breakfast boarding house, where we stayed every year, until the owners really became friends of the family.

The first trip of the holiday to the beach, the first paddle of toes in the sea, such simple pleasures, but what fun. I can always remember I also was bought some new pairs of bright cotton shorts just before we went on holiday. I can still remember one bright blue pair with white circles stamped on them. My first purchases were always a bucket and space and a pack of flags to fly in the sandcastles I made.

The best thing of all though, was the first donkey ride of the holiday. One year the donkey was skittish and it was spooked by something and it took off racing down the beach with me clinging to the saddle and grandfather chasing it as fast as it could. Luckily it stopped of it s own accord. I remember I decided to avoid the donkeys for the rest of that year but had forgotten about it by the next. I must tell some more Scarborough stories sometime.