Shadow Shot Sunday

I wasn't the only girl looking for shadows around here today.

My poor Angel doesn't know what to do with herself now that the sun has come out. Being white with short hair she tends to get sun burn and we have to put sun block on her nose to stop it peeling.

She does look good in the shadow under the the old garden table though.

She's a bit of a rubbish model though because as soon as she realised I had the camera out she got all camera shy and headed back indoors.

Would you like to see more shadow shots ?

Pop over to Hey Harriet by clicking HERE

Day 5 in the Winter wonderland

There's not much "going out" happening around here as we reach day 5 of the Great Perthshire Snow of 2010. So there has been plenty of time to crochet hats for the family. Rhona wanted one with ears and that's just what she got.

Night time photography isn't my best achievement but you hopefully get the idea here.

Despite heavy snow on Friday night there was still a great turn out on Saturday evening to see the switch on parade. Here comes the pipe band leading the parade.

Not really going that fast but somehow I got a nice effect as the band passed the shop.

And here comes Santa on the four wheel drive which all self respecting Santas will be travelling in this year.

Last year he travelled by tractor but this year the tractors were a bit busy digging cars out of snowdrifts further up the glen.

And then came Sunday. Such a lot of snow.

The drive was cleared on Saturday to get my car into the garage and now look at it.

Going to be a big job getting out of this. Thankfully we don't have to be anywhere for a couple of days.

I decided against hanging my washing out on the line. Good choice I think...

Besides which, the tumble drier is in the downstairs toilet and while it is tumbling away it makes the toilet really warm and cosy..

Nearly lost my wellies in the snow.. In some parts it came up over the top of my super Jelly Bean Wellies.

Ha.. in some parts it came up over the top of my wee dog.

No wonder she is so keen to get back in the house before it starts to snow again.

Time to get crocheting more hats for the shop I think, and maybe a couple of dog coats.

Neighbours....everybody needs good neighbours..

I thought I would shame my photographic skills and tell you about my neighbour at Abernethy craft fair last Saturday. Her name was Jo Cound and she is an amazing photographer. No digital cameras for Jo. She is a proper photographer with proper cameras, real film, negatives and her own dark room where she develops and prints all her own work. I have seen her work before at other fairs but we have never been neighbours and so this was the first time I got to chat with her and to hear more about her work. She is soo enthusiastic about her work and can tell the story of every photo she has taken. Her work mostly features landscapes and nature and every one is a work of art. If you fancy a look click HERE and visit Jo's website.

 I felt a wee bit inspired to try some nature photography myself and took my camera (digital of course) with me and Angel on our walk yesterday.

Like a proper artist ( ha ha) I thought I should name my shots.

Come back Angel, I want to take your picture.

COME BACK ANGEL.. oh never mind.

Forget Angel.

It's beginning to look a lot like autumn.

Mmm... nice wellies.

Rooting around. Is that a mini waterfall ?

I may as well admit that I will never be a photographer, but I did enjoy looking around a bit more than usual. It's so easy to take for granted that I live in a beautiful part of the country and sometimes it's good to remind myself how lucky I am.

Fiona

Angel smiles...

We are enjoying some lovely summer weather.

Poor Angel doesn't know what to do with herself. She sits the sun smiling till she can't take it anymore then comes in the house and collapses in front of me.

I've just been out to put sun block on her wee white snout. Poor girl got a bit of sunburn the last time it was this warm and her nose peeled. I don't think you get special dog sun block and mine obviously tastes gorgeous because no sooner had  I put it on than she had licked it off again.

At least her tongue won't get burned...

There should be some lovely meadow flowers where Angel is lying. I'm not a big gardener but I spent ages digging out a horrible prickly bush from this spot in the garden. Angel helped digging out the roots and chewed the branches to save having to compost everything. I then seeded a selection of meadow flowers, watered them and waited...... Then Angel decided that she wanted the area for sunbathing and flattened the lot. I really should be firmer with her but then she smiles and I haven't the heart to tell her off.

Not a lot of work being done around here today.

Too hot !!!

Angel's First Blog

My mum is a bit busy in her own Creative Space today knitting a snowman !!! I'm sure she will tell you all about it when she is ready. I'm kind of hoping that it might be for me since it's white and I'm white and I like white things, but I suspect I'm going to be disappointed.

So here I am in my Creative Space with my daddy (I'm the one with the brown ear) contemplating the work ahead. This is in The Den of Alyth which is probably the best place in the whole world if you like running up and down hills and foraging for smelly things to eat. One of my favourite things to do is chasing deer. Now don't panic no animals are harmed in this fun activity.

1. Because they are bigger than me.

2. Because they are faster than me.

3. Because they can jump really high fences at the top of the Den.

However this is great exercise and keeps me in tip-top shape.

Now, to the job at hand. What I really do best is rescue sticks and twigs and stones from drowning in the Alyth burn. Have you never wondered what happens to all the sticks that people throw for dogs to retrieve ? They don't always get retrieved and if it wasn't for me they would end their days all soggy and unloved at the bottom of the burn. So that's what I do. I save sticks.

Can you see the concentration required for this tricky task?

This one is practically a tree. I might need a bit of help.

A job well done and a biscuit from my daddy.

I can't promise any more doggy spaces but if you pop over to kootoyoo you will see lots more Creative Spaces today.

Bye for now.

Love from Angel x

Autumn Leaves.

Me and my wee dog went for a lovely walk in the woods yesterday. I haven't been there for a couple of weeks and was amazed at the speed of the autumnal changes. Seems tha we changed seasons last weekend and I missed it. There are still leaves on the trees but the ground is now coverered with copper and gold leaves. Just perfect for kicking aroung and pretending to be a child again. Only embarassing if someone sees you !!!

And back in the shop today, I found some lovely leaf shaped beads in my box and decided to develop an autumn theme. I have a lot of nice copper, brown and gold beads so I think that will be tomorrow's challenge.

Now, this little angel is the first of many who will grace my display this Christmas. I learned to make them a few years ago and still think they are lovely.The first few are always fun to make but you do tend to get a bit cross eyed after a while.
Time for tea now .

Fiona

The Den The Dog and the daffodils

It's been a lovely day here so me and my wee dog went for a walk in The Den of Alyth. Only five minutes walk from the house, The Den is a lovely natural woodland area and Angel (the dog) loves to run around looking for interesting smells and hopefully some woodland creatures. She never catches anything, and I don't think she would know what to do if she did, but she does enjoy a good run.


She is looking a bit grubby here but that's not surprising as she has just run up this banking chasing a wee bird which flew away as soon as Angel reached the top.

Just a little bit of work from today. Sorry if you were looking forward to seeing daffodils, but carnations didn't scan as well with the dog and the den.

So today I have been knitting flowers. I'm not too sure what I am going to do with them yet but I think they are quite nice.

The snowdrop is my favourite I think. They might make nice brooches but I still need to work out the details.

This one was a bit fiddly to do but since lavender is grown locally in Perthshire I imagine it could be quite popular.

Off now to try some more flowers.

Fiona