31::365

went to see the david hockney exhibition at the royal academy today

it completely blew me away:

so vibrant,

so alive,

so joyful ...

i want to paint his 'grand canyon' onto our bedroom wall.

then i went to the opening of david shrigley's exhibition at the hayward

which was dark and silly and fun

and made me want to come home and draw all over household objects with my marker pen.

31::365

I completed the last task for the tax man today ......... I provide this picture just to make the point that Personalia is a thoroughly up to date business of the 21st century .......

30::365

 

beneath every red balloon is a crying child ....

30::365

it's a sort of literary Where's Wally?

29::365

walked ...... or rather, slitherd down to the beach at Hampstead where these ghostly dead trees dripped with sea weed, old nets and rope ....... eeeeerie ........ then on for a nice lunch at the New Inn.

29::365

sarah, hillman, ryan, lois; steve in front with chance the dog.

visited wales for the weekend, between snow showers.

today: an exhilerating walk up the mountain,

and a delicious pub lunch afterwards.

the clouds were rolling in as we walked...

28::365

 

millennium centre, cardiff bay.

28::365

on way to meet Frances at Ryde Pier a supertanker heading for Southampton (Fawley in sunshine)

27::365

 

that friday feeling.

it was perfect friday weather today:

cold, clear, and a gorgeous blue sky.

maybe i'm being a bit premature in saying so,

but this winter hasn't been bad, no?

we seem to have been outside

a good deal more than usual

which has been absolutely great.

in other news,

i have a new obsession:

unsalted pistachio nuts.

just. can't. get enough of them.

27::365

dashed out when the sun appeared to find something in the garden to photograph - this early suggestion of spring was one of the few colourful subjects ......

26::365

 

waiting .....

26::365

even utilitarian things like heating plant grilles can look quite attractive ......

25::365

 

welcome, year of the dragon!

25::365

Wild Oryx spotted at Carisbrooke ........ a bit more exotic than donkeys ..........

24::365

ventured as far as the back garden today to see how Aphrodite was doing ..........

24::365

fairy light abstraction #1

(Judge Bait)

23::365

mechanism of a 200 year old clock which once graced East Cowes Castle ......

23::365

five thirty-nine: and as i left work

a giant orange orb was descending silently over trafalgar square

there was something eerie about it

and everyone stood watching it quietly.

22::365

 

planted some (rather late) garlic for the summer today.

it was so nice to be outside and digging in the garden.

this afternoon i started to learn how to crochet,

and i think i may be addicted already.

i love weekends.

22::365

a Japanese print of a stormy sea by Hokusai or Kuniyoshi ???? ....... no, a rusty boat hull ........

21::365

chocolate cakes with chocolate brandy butter ...

now that is what weekends are for.

spent the day at a norwegian folk singing workshop:

fantastic fun!

21::365

to the zoo this afternoon and all the big cats are out in the cold weather (unlike summer when they are snoozing in dark places) ....... this is Zena the white tiger.

20::365

Continuing the architectural theme, here is (for me) an unavoidable pattern picture, as dull as the day has been ........

20::365

colourful shops in covent garden ...

yes, i am really looking hard for ways to counter these grey days!

19::365

 

ever since i opened my amazing christmas present

i've been hoping for a power cut ...

19::365

If you stare into this you can imagine you are flying high above some ocean with islands ........ when all along you are staring into the patinated body of a Roman glass bottle .......

18::365

 

it hardly seemed to get light today.

i thought i'd woken up too early

and stumbled out between a grey pavement and the grey sky.

i took a photo of a really colourful flower stand in the station

and had intended to use that today

but look at how many different greys

are in these water droplets on a metal handrail on the southbank.

you just have to look.

18::365

What a foul day today! Far too miserable to take any photos outside so I visited some friends in the little house in the museum for tea and good conversation .........

17::365

made a split-second decision to go and hear klapa motovun sing today

and didn't know whether to laugh or cry:

they were amazing!

beginning to get rather tired of these dark evenings

and looking forward to spring.

at least a colourful dinner cheers the place up a bit....

17::365

Could possibly do with a touch of paint ...... not in my backyard I'm glad to say ......

16::365

monday.

such a long monday.

self-portrait, new dress.

16::365

Silhouette of castle walls at sunset ........ we are obviously getting into letterbox photos!!

15::365

went on a sunny walk through guildford and along the north downs way.

met a bunch of llovely llamas.

15::365

Ye olde crumbly rusticy thingy ...........

14::365

Chichester Cathedral ........... the choir happened to be practicing Bach's Christmas Oratorio!

14::365

spent a lovely afternoon browsing the antiques shops in dorking ...

the fields were covered in frost all day.

home for dinner and a glass of wine,

and some good music.

13::365

self-portrait; charing cross.

13::365

I bought a new mobile today with David's help, so here are David & Ali on the old and new phones :o)

12::365

i almost discarded this ... and then i thought,

actually, i quite like it:

the same sunset, over charing cross.

12::365

Sunset over Brading ........ a beauty!

11::365

 

lanterns in chinatown

my new year's resolution this year

was to say 'yes' more often.

using this simple mantra

today i bagged myself a stick of liquorice

had several very nice conversations

and found myself agreeing to perform a russian folk song in public

which, as anyone who knows me will attest,

is a Big Deal.

11::365

A fab sunny day at the Castle ...... knock knock ....

10::365

my latest knitting project!

my goodness, i must be getting old.

10::365

Had a meeting at the Riverside this afternoon so the Quay offered up as usual some nice viewpoints ....

9::365

 

well ... it took a while but i finally got there!

9::365

Ancient apples and pears ..........

8::365

st john's college, cambridge

8::365

Close up of boat laid up on Newport Quay......

7::365

the scott polar research institue, cambridge

7::365

In a corner of St Thomas's Newport ........ where better to you hang up your owl?....... (the clue is on the plaque).