Buuuuuugsies...

Looks like i haven't posted in here  since the bug invasion... which thankfully seems to be over.. at least for now..

though it is a common problem over here

 At the age of  9 ( i think..) my kitty has discovered that she can eat off a saucer  ( depending on how keen she is to eat  whatever it is of course...) After a year of abstinence i have re introduced a little cat food back into her.. dare i say   diet... I hesitated for a moment..  as i'm afraid she has my habit of nibbling..  and has ways of forcing me to do her bidding... ( which anyone who has a self willed cat will be familiar with..)

Today was a good day in that at last i found  enough personal space  to lose myself in working on the portrait again.....  so deep does it take me..  that on  pausing for the day... there is a sense of awakening... and it takes me a moment or two to recall what day it is.... its very like awakening from a dream.

The positive side about the bug visitation... ( pause as i wonder if they might perhaps be alien beings... but were never perceived as such  due to our preconceived ideas.. of what one should look like.. well after all they're small  un green..  and the space ship evaporated on contact... many eons ago when the Trolls roamed the earth...singing tip toe through the tulips...

Ooops i digress... back to positive side.. well thanks to the bugsies..  the apartment is now much tidier.. and cleaner   than it previously was..  which has in a way saved me a job.. as we're looking forward to a visit from my nephew Robert.... so at least he wont have to wade through the debri to find the lads bedroom...  though the bedroom itself still reminds me of wandering through the jungle...  though am told this is a common feature of the rooms of young adult males..

Bed... before i  start sleep talking... if i haven't already.... xxx

More Chat

Sat here munching  french toasts  and getting crumbs in the key board as usual... what is it about sitting in front of a computer that makes food taste so goooooooooooood..

.
I suddenly realize I'm scratching my ankles  which can mean only one thing unless its a vamp with a foot fetish..

( pause for dramatic music.... ) the curse of the Mozzie beast strikes again...... wanders over to draw the curtains though i fear it is a little late for that....

An hour later semi stuffed with melon. ( again!!!..) this is getting to be a habit.. I've just cut it up and put it in the fridge  so couldn't resist having a nibble... ( you'd be amazed how easily it slips down my throat..)

Funny how those  words remind me of the troll under the bridge... waiting  to snack on the three Billy goats...

Guess it wasn't his day either   i've forgotten exactly what happened in the end.. through I remember the troll didn't have his wicked way...

The canvas is still at my side.. i work in the same room i sleep in.. that's where the computer is too.. convenient huh isn't it...   once my eyelids start to droop i fling myself on the bed behind uttering genteel snores... :0)...

Although i've progressed from sketching.. to using the oils.. it is still in black and white or should i say black/grey/white... hopefully  tomorrow i will get to experiment with skin tones..

Thats if the Mozzies dont suck me dry tonight...

Jo in a box.

And my offspring are in hiding.... 

Perhaps because there's a camera in my hand and they know I'm on the look out for a new blog picture.:0)

So i guess I'll have to go hunting for buried treasure in the depths of the computer..
( guess who I found... :0) )

Friday always seems busy somehow..possibly as its my last shop before the weekend..  so nothing  more done at my canvas..  though did do quite a lot the day before and maybe its not a bad idea to let the paint dry a bit... unless i want to get it all over me...  NOT that there's great dollops of anything on it yet...:0)  

The day started well by chasing a few roaches... have seen more in the past few days than i have all year must be the heat... have sprayed a few vulnerable area's ( dont like to overdo it lest i asphyxiate myself..  though the sprays are much better than they used to be...) so fingers crossed that will be enough...

4 am .. better go to bed before the birds start tweeting...

Sweet dreams all...xxx

Comfy Jo...

Here we see Jo having a well earned rest... ( it was hard work playing with that mouse...) they have a way of making themselves comfortable dont they.... :0)  by they i mean our furry feline friends..  that like to let us think we're boss...  ( wisely understanding that the human ego is a fragile thing...) :)

The Sun is just starting to creep around this side of  the apartment which means I'll soon have to close the curtains.... as the sun here is so strong it fades anything that it rests upon for too long.. i suppose it could be said to have a similar effect on humans.
Its not a problem in the winter months.. i suppose because it goes darker so much earlier..

Portrait 2.. is starting to look like i need to think about some background for it..  heres where i start to get paint all over me....

 Speckled paint reminds me of dad..( he used to do all the decorating when he was younger...).. and I can see so clearly how the paint would speckle  on his glasses.. and hair.. and whatever bit of him it could find...  Pretty much like what it did to me last time i did some here..  which is a few years ago so we're defiantly ready for another lick of paint....  though as i have a different kind of painting in mind.. I guess the apartment will have to wait...

Today's excitement was buying some paint brushes.... thought I'd better as I'd nothing suitable for doing background with... and no one in their right mind would attempt it with a teeny tiny brush  :0)

Hope the weather cools off soon. as i hate the shut in feeling.. that having the air conditioner working always leaves me with....

Fingers crossed within the next day or so....

July 18th Happy Birthday to Dad... XXX

Happy Birthday to Dad..  its now after midnight here  ( well more than a little...)  but it will still be the 18th for me till i get up tomorrow...

I am reminded of a couple of lines from a funeral poem

Do not stand at my grave and cry...

For I am not there... I did not die...

Not that i am living under any kind of illusion...   but when you carry someone in your heart they are always with you..  and so in that sense live on ......

Sat here with the air conditioner on.......... freezing to death.. there's no happy medium..... mind you I'm right in the line of fire...  despite my moans its a problem that's soon fixed i just put something on  ( hat.. scarf.. blanket  .. even a pair of gloves sounds  good..)  even the tip of my nose has gone cold...  like it does in the depths of winter...  

But the kitty says thank you .... the poor thing has been flat out with the heat for the past few days...  If it becomes too cold i switch it off for a while... feels to have been a busy day... running hither and thither...  so haven't really had the space to do anything Art wise...  should have more time tomorrow as i wont be going out anywhere..

I'm hoping for a nice lazy day.....

Des.......

Well.........  the last stroke was yesterday................ i've sent it to a couple of people so thought I'd post it here too...

Its special to me.....  but i didn't draw it to hide it away...  but because it was something i could still give him... 

Its just that I'm not sure where i feel happy about posting it yet..  how public i want it to become...
This perhaps more than the others which will follow is very personal to me.. i miss not doing it already....  so i will have to settle on something else soon... before I wear a hole in the carpet.... :0)

Hot n sticky here... its also a full moon....which probably explains the very vivid  and lovely dream i had this morning... dad was in it... being his usual dad self.. and I felt incredibly loved  when I awoke....

I'm not terribly good at recalling my dreams.. partly i think because the cat disturbs my sleep to feed her..

This morning i'd gone back to bed and slept heavily..  I only ever remember vivid dreams such as todays was..  so strong was the desire not to let it slip away....  that i grabbed a pencil and paper and quickly jotted down key points before any other thought could enter my head.... because it felt as though in many ways that I'd been given a gift...

XXX

We're having a heat wave ♫ ♫....

Here we see Mum  and Martin.. ( this was before eating.. I'm sure we looked much wider afterwards....)  Martin is the Eldest of my two brothers I'm lucky that way i have two... :0)

I've just tried posting the blog without my usual photo at the top but it looks much too drab.. with the back ground being dark it needs a flash of color somewhere...

Portrait talk...

Oh oh oh..............  just a little more... each day there is less and less to do.. I'm torn between wanting to keep it just for me.... and wanting to share him with you.. that feeling of closeness...

Dads Birthday is on the 18th of July... so it will be ready for his special day... I dont need  to ask if he likes it I know he does..for every stroke is done with love... :0)

Today I'm feeling the heat.... ( Oh for a slave with a loin cloth and a large palm leaf  to waft me with....:0) )
We had the  air conditioning on earlier.. but its always a relief to be able to open the doors again..

( Pause as the kitty walks past mewing  with a large white toy mouse in her mouth... its something she's started to do since being neutered... I wondered what it was at first but she's obviously very proud of it... Awwwwwww....) :0)

I've just found this on Youtube.. its so beautiful...

Fairy Ring.....

Feels hot here this evening.... but i think i keep the Balcony doors open...  and hope I'm woken by a lovely cool breeze...

Feeling sleepy.... zzz.....  so just a quicky today  xxx

•✫• ƸӜƷ (¸.´¯`•.✫ Sweet ⋱❤Dreams✫.•´¯`•.✫

Count Ari....

I've just been playing with a photo of Ari.. not wanting to play favorites and post one and not the other.....

I've cropped it and that's improved the look of it slightly  but he still bears a strong resemblance to Dracula... ( CastleVania Version..)
used to be more so when his hair was longer...

Whats suggesting it in the photo is the chandelier light fittings at the side of his head...  which reminds me of the Counts castle....:0) ( all he needs is the cloak...)

What else have i been up to....?

Well...last night i spent an hour or so  trying out different blog designs... and eventually settled..( ar least for now..)  for the plain old black.. as it gives a  good back ground for the photo's  though it meant i had to edit the  font colour of all the blogs I'd done so far.. which lucky for me wasn't many..

I dont know how often I'll write in here.... probably not everyday Lol as my life isn't that exciting...

Spent a couple of hours drawing this afternoon...  each day it gets nearer and nearer to what I'm trying to capture.. although I'm nearing the end of this one.. in many ways its only the beginning....
 I know this is a special case because its for Dad.,.,..  but while doing this i realize that memorial portraits...  is something I would probably be very suited to...

Oops almost 4 am...  so time i took myself to bed... and i need to set the table for Chris' breakfast...  before then   so i shall call it a night..

¸. ♥´ ¸.•*´¯) Sweet Dreams  xxx. ♥
(¸.•´ (¸ .•´¯`•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸¸.•´¯`♥

Smile.............

The lovely couple are ...( as some of you know..)  Helen and Richard  taken at the same time as the photo on me and mum..( or if i was feeling posh.. mum and I... :0).. ) we got some good photos that day...

I'm glad ...... as photos play such a big part in keeping our memories alive....
I'm over so rarely it seemed important to make the most of every moment....

Have spent most of the day thinking that its Saturday...
Pause as realize that it infact now really is...... Saturday... Just goes to show everything comes to she who waits....  ( so sayeth the mozzie  who sits and waits at the side of my pillow... licking its lips in anticipation  or would do if it had any..)

Today i got lucky  the Cherries were big and Black... so i got a couple of kilo's... which will keep Chris happy till  Monday  i also got half a melon though trying to find room for it somewhere.. when the fridge is already full was an 'interesting ' experience.... :0)

As i've been writing i notice the crickets  have at last fallen asleep...listening to the fountain one could almost imagine  it was was raining.,. but i know it isn't....( no such luck..)
I think the temperature is around 35 C.. and rising.... the poor cat has been flat out all day.. cant be much fun in this weather when you're wearing a furry coat....

What else have i been doing....?
Well.........the portrait of Dad  is now in what i think of as its final stages... the funny thing is that i've been staring... at the image i'm copying from for at least 3 weeks.. and only yesterday noticed that part of what i was looking at was actually a hand... 

:0)  I did mention didn't i ....that its not clearest of things to be copying from  but i'm hoping that will work to my advantage and give perhaps a softer look... than my work sometimes has...

So there's always a bright side..... the challenge is i suppose seeing it there's always always something positive..... if we look hard enough...

*♥(¯`♥´¯)♥*•*¨`*•♫
(¯`♥´¯) Happy  Weekend…
*`.¸(¯`♥´¯)♥*•*¨`*•♫
** ♥ ` .¸ .´

Teethies

Off to the Dentist again tomorrow..   (oh Joy! oh delight!  Ho! Ho!  i dont think so  :0) )  well in truth it wont be too bad as its not long since i've been and its only for an X ray.. to check that nothing is amiss...:0)

Though as always I'll probably be there a couple of hours.. I dont quite know how she does it but everyone waits a couple of hours..  the good thing is its within walkable distance.. she's very good and she's very nice... and................. i've been going there for years...( so have got wise and take a book to read..)

You can always tell who the newbies are as they're the ones cursing under their breath...:0)

Normally it should have been Alexanders appointment.. but his services  as`minder'  were required to take Chris to an appointment in the center...  He goes once a year to visit the heart specialist... Of course it would be on the same day... so Alexz has been postponed till September..

Today i think I will post a photo of Alexander flaunting his new beard..  which is a great improvement on what he usually does with it.. which is nothing.... normally its a case of me chasing after him with a pair of scissors saying ... 'come here and be groomed....'

Looks like my french toasts have been sat upon by a herd of elephants again... they looked perfectly okay in the shop  so maybe i bonked them on something carrying them back... doesn't seem to be affecting me eating them though....

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´
¸.•´¸.•*• ƸӜƷ
(¸.•´  Sweet Dreams........

XXX

No Cherries

Today was a case of shall I?... shan't I ?  Oh why not...  any excuse for a natter...

I hesitated I as wanted an image for the top...  not that i have to use one of course.. though I tend to feel that if the contents are dull  they do at least provide a distraction... for the reader....

Its been one of those muggy days... hot  and cloudy... i was fighting off a mozzie last night until the daylight came...  so took an antihistamine.. and slept till after noon with a break at 9.30  to feed Jo.. 
( she's not an easy cat to ignore.... but then none of them are..)

The other great excitement of the day was the usual excursion to the supermarket....( it being Monday...)  where i found someone had snaffled all the cherries of any decent size... so came back with only a handful..

We have quite a lot in the freezer.. enough to keep Chris happy through August.. ( when it will be so hot over here that they'll have disappeared from the shops..)

When summer comes i always wish we had a bigger freezer as by the time i get his cherries in there there's not much room for anything else...  but for a long time we didn't have one at all... so am just thank full that we have one...

I've had a slight back problem since my flying visit to England... you start to wonder if it will ever return to normal... but for some reason  it seems a bit better this evening... though i cant imagine  what i've done any different... so fingers crossed it may at last be on the mend...

Sweet Dreams All xxx

._________[]_
/__,-.____.-.__\
|░ [_] /o\ [_]░|¸.•.¸.•*¨ƸӜƷ
|_____|_|____| ̡̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡.̡̡̡ı̴̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡.
`”`´”`´/ \ `”`´”`´”``´
╬═╬╬ /...\ ╬╬═╬═╬╬

Happy Families

Heres another photo  taken at the same time as the one of me and mum.. I'm behind the camera.. but there's mum again.... my two brothers Martin and Richard and my lovely sisters in law...Margaret and Helen..

( who will probably get round to reading this sometime when i give them the link..)

Waves in their direction....:0)

We'd gone to the place where they'd celebrated my parents diamond wedding last year.
Circumstances  at home made it difficult for me to be there..   so it was nice to see where it was... and put a place to the photo's..

 This is probably the first family photo  that doesn't have dad in it.. at least visibly.. but he will always be with us in the ways that count....

I'd rather like this blog to be like a nest  .... just a comfy place to be..