While Trump sells all his lies and his hate USA remains in a sad state Hope elections today Take some power away Slow him down, shut him up, I can’t wait…
I do realise he still has another two years of his presidential term to serve, but he really needs his wings severely clipped and I hope the American people vote to take out some of his servile lackeys and sycophants and so reduce him to looking no more than the blustering bullying oaf he really is… Wishful thinking I know, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
The bus stop where I catch my bus home from work is on a busy city road that is always packed with cars and vans and trucks and also a bus or two, especially in the late afternoons, but not usually a tractor pulling a full trailer-load of round bales! 🙂
Watching boats large and small go through the locks in the canal system is always a family-friendly activity for adults and kids alike (if you like that sort of thing). We’ve lived there for seven years and I always find it fascinating, I never tire of the simplicity of the engineering that allows boats to be raised or lowered to different levels, like a watery staircase.
Boats enter the first chamber, and the gates are closed behind them. The sluices under the gates in front are opened, and soon the water naturally levels out to match the chamber beyond, raising (or lowering) the boat accordingly. At this point, the front gates are opened and the boat passes through to the next chamber. This process can be repeated several times, depending on the number of chambers in each flight of locks.
This particular lock is a sea lock, where boats first enter the Caledonian Canal from the sea – in this case from the Beauly Firth at Clachnaharry, Inverness on the East Coast of Scotland.
This vessel is one of the largest to be able to go through these particular canal locks, it’s a really tight fit but the pilot doesn’t seem to bat an eyelid as he carefully steers into the chamber without ever touching the sides.
Sharing some images from our leisurely walk along the canal this afternoon, nice to see and feel some sunshine and stillness after last weekend’s howling gales and stormy skies.
Spending time out in the fresh air always seems to help lift my spirits, and as the canal is only 5 mins from our house it’s always been a favourite place to go to de-stress and unwind.
Mind you I can’t help wondering how it can possibly be November already… where has the year gone? 🙂
I was experimenting with free motion quilting in one continuous line across a plain 12×12″ square (unbleached calico and a fleece backing) just to practice my machine stitching, then decided to see what happened if I hand coloured the fabric afterwards?
I used Brusho crystals, which are pure pigment powder and give a beautiful strong colour once dry. However, as Brusho is not at all colourfast, but does stain fabrics when applied accidentally, I wondered what would happen if I deliberately rinsed the colour out in water?
The deep colour did wash out as expected, but surprisingly unevenly, leaving an almost three dimensional colour pattern around the stitched areas, which I found really interesting – definitely a happy accident!
So I tried again with another similar square to see if I could repeat the result, but it seems not. The colour next time faded out evenly across the whole square – what a disappointment! But at least I still have this one… 🙂
My Last on the Card for last month – taken late on Friday afternoon with my phone on way home from work.
Just as I reached the river everything was bathed in an orange glow, which only lasted for a couple of minutes before it started to fade away, so I was really happy to be in the right place at the right time.
I snapped a few images to be sure to get something I was pleased with, and my favourite pic is probably the one before this last one, so I’m sharing that, too – it has more sky, and less river 🙂
Inks draw my sadness Bright colours break through and blend Soft edges soothe me
To my surprise this weekend has seen a revival of my abstract grunge art, in the shape of this reused A2 (42x59cm) linen box canvas. I didn’t love the original mixed media painting on it and decided ages ago to gesso over it and start again, so it’s been sitting waiting patiently with a temporary white coat for some new inspiration to strike.
After I posted yesterday that I’ve been feeling down so haven’t been very creative lately, I realised I might start to feel better if I just put on my big girl pants and gave it a go anyway, so I chose to use acrylic inks and take an intuitive abstract approach, simply layering colours over and over to build depth through many layers.
I started out yesterday with what turned out to be quite muted, muddy colours underneath (suiting my low mood) and finished this afternoon with much brighter, stronger colours on top – and yes, it has made me feel a bit better to have made something creative again! 🙂
Things that frustrate me often persist Far too many to write in a list Seems the older I grow More annoyances flow Wish these bugbears would cease to exist
So much frustrates me about the world today – that online AI bots have replaced real people on so-called ‘helplines’; the length of time spent on hold waiting to speak to someone whenever there is a real person at the end of a helpline; the difficulty in booking an NHS doctors appointment here in the UK; sound-bites replacing substance in so much current media reporting; the apparent dumbing down of everything instead of raising levels of education; not to mention Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu behaving like power-mad bully-boys and seemingly getting away with it while the rest of the world watches on and does nothing to stop them… honestly, my list goes on and on…
While ‘depressed-ish’ is not a real word – A description that sounds quite absurd – I feel much more than sad Although not quite as bad As when full-blown depression’s occurred
I’ve been feeling pretty down lately, so much so I’m not even being particularly creative at the moment. I’m doing my best not to descend into depression, but it’s not easy.
It’s never pleasant feeling this way, I’m not a particularly outgoing person at the best of times but right now I’m finding life quite exhausting.
I’m still doing the basics – going to work, keeping fed and clothed and functioning like every other adult has to do day in, day out, but I’m not managing much else.
So I’m just sitting tight, tired and withdrawn and hollowed out until this current negative spell passes (as it always does given time) and I feel like I’m ready to be part of the world again.
