Rainbow Child...

Don't miss all the beautiful colours of the rainbow looking for that pot of gold - Unknown.



This afternoon I went to see 'Jane Eyre', and this is what was waiting for me when I got home!

A beautiful rainbow that was so big I had to take two photos to capture the whole thing!

Feeling fruity...

It is such a lovely feeling to gather homegrown apples and plums in the September sunshine, and then turn them into something tasty... In fact this turned out to be so tasty that Iona, who can be quite fussy when it comes to food, actually declared that it was the nicest pudding she's ever had. Quite an accomplishment! So, without further ado, here's the recipe, below (the quantities are quite approximate, as I made it up as I went along, so feel free to adjust it as you see fit)...

Apple and Plum Crumble

3-4 large cooking apples

approx half a pound of plums

lemon juice

brown sugar

cinnamon

1oz porridge oats or muesli

8oz SR wholemeal flour, or a mix of wholemeal and white

4-5oz vegan margarine

5oz brown sugar

1oz chopped nuts

1. Preheat oven to 200c / gas mark 6.
2. Grease a baking dish.
3. Peel, core and chop up apples. Place them in the dish and sprinkle 1 dessert spoon of lemon juice and 1 dessert spoon of sugar over the apple. Grate some cinnamon over the top, or use some ground cinnamon.
4. Stone and slice the plums and add to the apple mixture, along with another dessert spoon of brown sugar. Mix well.
5. Put muesli/oats and flour in a bowl and mix well.
6.  Rub in the margarine.
7. Mix in the sugar.
8. Add the chopped nuts and mix well.
9. Spoon the crumble mix over the fruit.
10. Bake for 30-40 minutes.
11. Eat and enjoy! Try it with Swedish glace vegan ice-cream!

 



introducing... more shadows...

just another photo from this morning - I didn't want to mix landscape ones with portrait...

(I was trying to be clever with the title there... entroducing, by dj shadow.. hmm...!)



In the shadows...

I took these photos this morning - mainly of shadows the sun was making around the room while I was enjoying my mug of coffee...

Echo Beach...

Flotsam & Jetsam HD from Flotsam and Jetsam on Vimeo.

I came across this lovely little film about beachcombers on Paul Smith's website and wanted to share it because it's such a little gem ♥ Hope you like it as much as I did...

Keep on keeping on...

Walk the spiritual path;
Say little
love much
give all
judge no man
aspire to all that is pure and good
and keep on keeping on.

(by unknown)

haiku...

It's in these moments

Watching sun connect with sea

I'm never alone...

Rapture...

A little boy's hysterical giggles fill Fenwick's toy department.

We follow the laughter and discover him standing rooted to the spot,

enraptured;

as a grinning woman hula-hoops wildly.
We smile as we wander past...

Staring at the sea....

A man sits in the shelter staring out at the concrete grey sea.
Sitting behind him, watching from a concrete wall, is a spray-painted man...

The next day, both men are  still there.

Only this time they sit face to face, animatedly confiding in each other, swapping their stories; 

passing time...

♥



strolling upon the prom, prom, prom...

A couple of photos I took on my way to work this morning - I loved the pools of silver sunlight that seemed to have fallen from the sky and onto the surface of the sea... 



This morning...

I watched a hearse go past, complete with coffin and flowers, followed by a car containing the mourning party.

Half an hour later they went past again.

This time the hearse was empty, apart from a few stray petals, which perfectly matched the colour of the mourners' ties...

Goodbye 'seamstress of summer'...

The sun was aching to break through the steely clouds, but it couldn't quite muster up enough strength to push the stubborn blanket of cloud away completely.

Here and there a few sunny rays were reaching out towards the swallows, whose feathers were shimmering in the weak silvery light.

Feathery arrows darted in and out, up and down, between rays of sun and clumps of cloud.

The swallows all seem to have gathered here this morning; maybe in preparation for flying south.

Suddenly, the sky darkened and big fat raindrops pummelled down; framed momentarily by a glowing rainbow shining out of the black sky like a neon light, as the swallows dispersed and the sunshine gave up for today...

Putting the Good back in Goodbye - or trying to...

Well, here I am at the allotment, preparing myself for another loss, saying 'goodbye' again; but at least this time it's on my terms. It's still hard though; still sad; still another loss.

The leaves rustle 'goodbye' and it feels like all my little friends are making sure to pop by, or fly over, so that I can see them for one  last time... Frogs, bunnies, geese, ladybirds... It's all very poignant.

Ironically, I've had my most bountiful crops ever this year, and the plum tree flowered and fruited for the first time too.

I've raised my first brood of frogs and I rescued a baby blackbird and countless bees.

Maybe my work here is done...

Poetry please...

Tonight of Yesterday

The evening slips you into it, has kept a place for you
as those wildwood limbs that have already settled on
the morning. The words you have for it are flyblown now
as the dandelion you'll whistle tomorrow into a lighter air.
But tonight, your sleep will be as round as your mouth,
berried with the story of sunlight finally run to ground.
You are all about tomorrow. The moon has your name
memorized: the curl of your back, your face, an open book.


Thought I'd share this lovely poem since it's September and rainy; the perfect time of year for snuggling up with a book of poems - and maybe a mug of hot chocolate ♥

by Vona Groarke

'The sun rose a ribbon at a time'...

I love waking up at this time of year and watching the sun gradually wake up too...

Here are some photos from this morning and a couple of days ago, with some quotes thrown in for good measure...

I'll tell you how the sun rose a ribbon at a time  ~ Emily Dickinson

 

There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky...

Percy Bysshe Shelley

I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. 

The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets. 

It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. 

It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. 

Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy. 

Hamlin Garland, McClure's, February 1899

Dancing through life...

Your nature is to keep quiet. 

You came from silence and you have to return to silence… 

you are dancing only for a little while you see… 

a little while you are dancing (laughs softly)

- Papaji

 

I came across the above quote today, and thought I'd share it because I like it ...

 

It also got me thinking - what kind of dancer do I want to be?...

 I think that, like most people, I dance through life in different ways, at different times...

Sometimes the dance through life is like a slow waltz, whereas at other times it's more like a whirling dervish...

I'll finish with a picture of a flamenco dancer that I found on google... which reminds me... me and Iona are thinking of doing Salsa dancing... watch this space for details...

 

my town... my city ...

Last month I went on a little outing around Newcastle with some other members of the lo-fi photography group. Here are some pics I took with my holga...

What I like about cities is that everything is king size, the beauty and the ugliness ~ Joseph Brodsky

 

There is no solitude in the world like that of the big city ~ Kathleen Norris

The life of our city is rich in poetic and marvelous subjects. 

We are enveloped and steeped as though in an atmosphere of the marvelous; but we do not notice it ~ Charles Baudelaire

Sing me the legends of the river.
Tell me a story of the sky.

~ unknown

Tabitha ♥

If I called her she would pretend not to hear, but would come a few moments later when it could appear that she had thought of doing so first.  ~Arthur Weigall

snoozing on a sunny sunday...

 

If there were to be a universal sound depicting peace, I would surely vote for the purr. ~Barbara L. Diamond

 

If there is one spot of sun spilling onto the floor, a cat will find it and soak it up. ~J.A. McIntosh

You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats. ~Proverb

 

Some rules for life...

 

 

 

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

Mother Teresa

Apologies if I've already posted this previously , but it's the sort of thing that's good to reread from time to time ...