Wednesday, 4 April 2018

All change

Hello,

So pleased you've found your way here, and hope you find something of interest in my old posts, but I've decided to combine this blog with my old writing related blog and move the new Linda's Jottings to a different address.

The blog description is: Mostly on the art and business of writing although I'm easily distracted ... and I'm sure I'll be including posts on all sorts of topics. I'd love it if you could call in sometime.


PLEASE CLICK HERE

Tea, coffee and cakes now being served! And if you have a blog don't forget to leave your address so I can return the visit.

Wednesday, 22 June 2016

Babysitting



When I am Rich I will install a bird nursery in my lovely garden – a safe enclosure where parent birds can leave their little fledglings, and I won’t have to worry about them.

Baby house sparrow



 
Over the last few days I’ve had baby blackbirds, starlings, house sparrows, hedge sparrows, robins and goldfinches in my tiny garden.



Baby robin

I know their mums and dads won’t be too far away, but I can’t help watching them just in case a cat or magpie comes along, or they go out on to the road, or they fall off the fence and can’t fly up again …






  And I thought my babyminding days were finished!

Time for Dad to take over!


Monday, 30 May 2016

I love you, but …



I’m constantly delighted by the number and variety of birds that manage to find their way into my small backyard, and I’m usually happy to encourage them by supplying them with food and water. But sometimes I wonder if I’m being a bit too kind.
   
Picture the scene …

It was a fine, sunny day so, after doing the usual weekly wash, I decided to wash some curtains as well. I couldn’t fit everything on the two washing lines strung across the yard but I solved that problem by taking a clothes horse outside and draping some items over that. Then I left it all to dry while I went out for the afternoon.

Glancing through the window when I came back, I noticed some dark streaks down a white towel. I might not have minded too much if it had only been one towel but, on closer inspection, I found that almost all my washing was streaked, spotted and splashed with bird poo!

From the size and quantity I’m pretty sure I know who the culprit was.

Who, me?

It wasn't me!


I’m working on finding a way to make the yard a no-fly area on washing days.
In the meantime, here’s a story about scarecrows
 

Thursday, 7 April 2016

In sync


At last, the weather and nature are agreeing with the calendar.
 


Sunshine, showers, and a woodpigeon cooing outside my bedroom window.

It must be April!
 

Wednesday, 9 March 2016

Blink and you’ll miss it!


Even on cold, grey days you can catch a glimpse of gold

a view of a sunrise with streak of light showing through dark clouds

– if you get up early enough!




Thursday, 11 February 2016

The best colour for spring


 
Little gleams of gold all over my garden.



I must be Rich!




(I do like the blues and purples too, but gold holds the promise of some much needed sunshine.)


Monday, 4 January 2016

A frugal start

How much did I have to spend to ensure my New Year was happy?

Well, I didn’t need a spectacular firework display, crates of champagne or a lavish party.

But I did treat myself to a lovely new diary (£2.50) and a pack of coloured pens (£1.00).


I’m going to be so organized this year.

I might even get Rich ...

A belated Happy New Year to you all!

Sunday, 20 December 2015

Merry Christmas!


Wishing you a Happy Christmas,
 Jolly Holidays 
 and a Wonderful New Year!


 My next post will be in 2016.
 (Is it just me, or does that sound impossibly far in the future?)


Monday, 30 November 2015

Who needs inflatable reindeer?


Now that the Halloween decorations have disappeared (thank you to the person who finally took in the coffin that was propped up next to their front door for over a week!), and I’m hoping we might have heard the last of the fireworks until the New Year, I suppose it won’t be long now before the first flashing lights, plastic snowmen, rooftop sleighs and other symbols of Christmas appear on the houses around us. After all, they’ve been in the shops for weeks.

I’m not a Scrooge, I do enjoy Christmas, but I think my Grandad had the right idea when he’d say sternly, ‘There are only twelve days of Christmas,’ if anyone in the family started the celebrations too soon.

But, with the days becoming shorter and drearier in these few weeks before Christmas, I would like to brighten up my outside space without spending a fortune on tacky decorations. Will this do?


Our special car needs special cleaning cloths (or so I’m told), but they also make colourful flags for the back garden.


And I’m glad I had the foresight to plant these sunny chrysanths in the front garden. They’ve survived our first frost, torrential rain and gale force winds.

Do you decorate the outside of your home at this time of year? A simple holly wreath? Or an all singing, all dancing winter wonderland? 


Monday, 26 October 2015

Cheap, cheerful and eco-friendly

One of the joys of visiting new places is that you get the chance to see other people’s gardens.

Yes, I’m that nosy woman who looks over hedges and through gateways exclaiming, ‘Oh, look at that!’

I want a veg patch like this ...
... and I must have a purple and silver flower bed





 

Perhaps, when I am Rich, passers-by will want to peep into my lovely garden. If so, they’ll be very welcome.

But I wouldn’t need much money to copy this idea that I found during our holiday in Scotland. A greenhouse made from plastic bottles. Simply brilliant!


It was in a garden attached to a primary school. I do hope it inspires all the children there to become passionate and knowledgeable gardeners.

Have you seen any good gardening ideas lately? 
 

Monday, 7 September 2015

Disorganized

When I am Rich I’ll be able to employ someone to organize my holidays for me. I’ll tell them where I want to go and leave it up to them to book the accommodation, make the travel arrangements, research the area and draw up a detailed plan of where to go and what to do each day.
 

On second thoughts … I’d rather make my own adventure.

 See you when I get back!

Saturday, 1 August 2015

Mystery solved

I couldn’t understand why the path outside my front door was littered with cherry stones. How had they got there? The nearest cherry trees are two streets away.


Then I noticed this young starling on the roof.



When I am Rich I’ll have lots of cherry trees in my garden – some for me, some for the birds – but I’ll have to find a way of teaching them to eat their food where they find it.

Do messy eaters annoy you?


Friday, 19 June 2015

Watching the workers



When I am Rich I’ll have plenty of beehives dotted around my garden, and dozens of Californian lilacs (Ceanothus).




The one Californian lilac I’ve got is a bit of a problem. If I let it grow to the size it wants to be I wouldn’t be able to see out of my front window. Even with annual pruning it takes up a large part of my tiny front garden.



 

But I’m pleased it’s there because as soon as the first clusters of blue flowers appear it attracts all sorts of bees.




 I don’t know where they all come from, but I could happily watch them all day. It's so relaxing, watching other people work, isn't it?
 

Friday, 15 May 2015

What am I bid?


When I am Rich, I’d love to have beautiful, original artworks in every room of my house. And perhaps a few sculptures for the garden …

But even if I had £115 million to spare, I wouldn’t be tempted to buy a painting by Picasso, da Vinci, Turner or even my favourite, Van Gogh. I’d rather use my money to support living artists than give it away to secretive collectors, dealers and auction houses.




But, at the risk of being hypocritical, I can’t help wondering how much Christie’s would be able to get for this masterpiece:


Do I hear 50p?



Sunday, 12 April 2015

Up in the clouds

When I am Rich I want to live in a house with panoramic mountain views.

Until then, I’ll have to improvise with clouds ... and my imagination.


I live in the Cambridgeshire fens. It’s certainly not the worst place on earth, but it is very F L A T!

What would you like to see from your window?

Thursday, 12 February 2015

Hunting hares


When I am Rich, I’ll invest in a really good telephoto lens for my camera in the hope of getting a photo of a running hare that shows more than a brown blur.


 Until then, I’ll just have to try snapping them when they’re still.


 Trouble is, they’re very good at playing hide-and-seek.


  

Saturday, 17 January 2015

You win some, you lose some …

Not a good start to 2015.

At least, that’s what I thought when I saw my entry to MagicOxygen’s short story competition hadn’t made the shortlist.

Trying to be optimistic, I decided to look on this not as a failure, but as an opportunity to find another home for that particular story. It might do better in a different competition. Perhaps a paying magazine will accept it. Who knows, one day it could even catch the eye of a top agent or publisher!

And then I noticed an even brighter silver lining.


One of the things that persuaded me to pay the £5 entry fee to the competition was that Magic Oxygen pledged to plant a tree in a Word Forest in Kenya for every entrant.  

Look, they’ve sent me the GPS coordinates so I can see where my tree will grow.


View Larger Map
So now I still have a completed story ready for submission – and a tree in Africa!
I plan to go and visit it When I am Rich. 
   

Monday, 29 December 2014

Christmas birds


I did enjoy my Christmas pheasant.



I watched him through the window as he strolled about in the winter sun and then joined his friends to feast on the sugar beet left behind after the field was harvested a couple of weeks ago.




The sparrows helped themselves to their usual snack of peanuts.












This little chap visits the garden most days, but seeing him on Christmas Day is always a bit special.













And my Christmas dinner? A very tasty cashew and mushroom roast with all the trimmings.

Monday, 8 December 2014

A present to give


It’s that time of year again, when you’re desperately trying to think what to buy for those ‘difficult’ friends and relatives. You know, the ones who’ve already got drawers full of socks they never wear, those who still haven’t used the perfume you sent three years ago, the people who say you really shouldn’t waste your money on them but who will take umbrage if you don’t …

Here’s an idea for a gift that will make the recipient feel good about themselves, won’t cost you a fortune in postage, and can be given again – and again.


Monday, 24 November 2014

Some rainbows are too big


So there I was, exploring Aladdin’s cave (otherwise known as my favourite art shop) and thinking that When I am Rich I’ll be able to buy the best quality paints, pastels, inks and pencils in every available colour and shade.

All those purples, violets, mauves and magentas!
    
         Yellows!
              Reds!
                  Browns!
                        Blues!

But if I had all those colours what would I do with them?
I’d probably spend the whole day admiring them while I tried to decide which one to use first.

I think I’ll stick with my little paintbox for now.


It’s got all the colours I need for teasels and trees.