I recently began a course to learn about woodblock printing. It only lasted for a couple of days but it was amazing in that I have rediscovered my passion for working in the Arts. In my early years I had always loved the work of the artist Piet Mondrian and I decided that I would like to produce a woodblock print along the lines of one of his paintings.
Black borders or grey borders? I’m still not sure and although my technical abilities are at this stage still those of the amateur the joy of learning is still there. On top of that I really must buy myself a decent camera and learn how to use it properly.
Since the beginning of the New Year I have been reading about the steps I should be taking to increase my fitness after hurting my back. Part of my plan is to start walking regularly, something I used to do everyday when I was in full time employment; I walked in my morning break, at lunch time and regularly walked to and from work when the weather was reasonable. However since retirement over a year ago my routines have changed. For sometime now I have only been walking occasionally; this had to change and so for a few days now I have been building up my fitness with morning exercises AND going out for a walk everyday. It hasn’t been easy but not because I’m not motivated but because the weather here has been so very poor.
However I have set myself a goal and even though the wind has been blowing since early morning and it has been raining AGAIN I did leave home to stride along some of the local lanes.
Muddy puddles and hay
On these islands of Britain and Ireland there are many ways to describe a walk. Today’s walk wasn’t a bimble or a dander or a doddle or even a soodle; I have heard that if I were a Scot I might say that I was spangin’, walking vigorously. Way to go!
I decided to go out after all; I can’t stay indoors for too long! I’m glad I did for although it was raining hard when I left home it had eased off by the time I had reached my first destination. I wanted to take a look at Campbell’s Lock and see how our new lock gates were bearing up under the strain of all the water that should now be flowing from the summit of the Newry Canal. I am part of an organisation involved with the re-establishment of that canal and earlier in the year with the help of our volunteers we had installed two new locks enabling the re-watering of a four mile section of the canal. I wasn’t disappointed! The lock gates however had been opened to allow the heavy flood of water to pass through quickly and so help to reduce the risk of the canal overflowing.
one of the lock gatesthe lock chamber at Campbell’s Lock
I jumped back in the car and drove back towards home but stopped off at Knock Bridge to take my walk to Moneypenny’s Lock. It’s only a short walk so if the rain had come on again I wouldn’t get too wet.
By the time I returned to the car the sun was just appearing in the western sky, very low of course, but very welcome. Isn’t it good to know that we have passed the Winter Solstice!
Yes! That’s my shadow on the far bank rising from the water. My spirits are lifted again!
Today, 22nd December, at 4.49 GMT, it will be the shortest day & the longest night of the year, and so at that precise time in the northern hemisphere, the sun will appear to stand still. Our ancient ancestors celebrated this time with bonfires and stories, and probably many a glass of sweet ale because from this day onwards the days would be lengthening and the natural world in which they lived would begin to grow and flourish again.
So, in a similar fashion, today I will raise one or more celebratory glasses to the sun, and just like our ancestors, I will welcome the return of the light into our lives. It would be good if you also joined in this celebration…………..good Yule to you all!
If you walk alongside the Newry Canal to Moneypenny’s Lock you will find a garden designed specifically for bumblebees and other pollinating insects. This is how it looked the other day when I dandered along the towpath.
It is great to know that this once derelict scrap of land is now a magnet for bumblebees! All done by volunteers! All done with love!
The yellow centres of these first flowers remind me of boiled eggs! Good enough to eat and if in a day or two the flowers droop I’ll know that a bumblebee has passed this way.
This snowdrop has probably been in flower for a couple of days but because of the weather over the past few days, snow, rain & now gale force winds, I haven’t really been paying much attention to what’s happening in our garden.
This year seems to have been a really special one for sunsets at the woods. Following on from the unreal skies I posted a short while ago, we had another stunning and unexpected sunset just before Christmas.
Not a promising start
I had actually just gone to the woods to feed the birds, and only took my little camera with me. As I hung up the last of the feeders, I thought that the light was looking quite good, so I decided to go for a little walk. The sunset was not that promising, and a bank of cloud was coming over, but I decided to wait a few minutes longer. And then the sky started to turn pink and orange.
Starting to go pink
More and more colour
The colour started to develop until the whole sky was scarlet. I headed down to the ponds to try…
A Different View 