What Katie Did

Open Heart Surgery ... for my house!

We have been without electricity for nearly a week and today our friendly electrician came to diagnose the problem.

the arteries and vessels of our little house were exposed

all of them laid bare and tested several times

the fault found in the very last bit of wire, between the last two sockets in the whole house

I made an unhelpful comment. If we had started going round the other way, would we have found it straight away? 

well .... of course we would, but would we have had so much fun?

Compact Camera Course

Two day course to fathom the mysteries of the Canon Ixus which is my constant companion and yet mysterious friend. So many settings, so little knowledge. Well, not now, I have the words..... white balance.....ISO.....stitch assist.....pixels.....oooh so much more. I am experimenting with the settings

night time

macro

still life

Portrait - taken before the course, but fits the Bill (ha ha - the chap on the left is Bill, the clown is Jonah)

and I'll have to cheat again for the action shot and show this one I took before the course - Red the puppy with needle sharp teeth and a bark like a machine gun.

what other homework did we have?

Landscape - these days I am more interested in clouds though - so my landscapes are more likely to be cloudscapes

and I am grateful - as ever to Annie for finding this course and for her company and Pat's too - the second and last day is on Saturday. I like the photos I take and have been mostly happy to have the auto setting on all the time, but no longer! More photos? oh dear - external hard drive here I come! (or maybe just be more disciplined about hitting the delete button?)

The Tiger Who Came to Tea, or ... if Carlsberg Made Grannies

Do you know the kids picture book the Tiger Who Came to Tea? It was a firm favourite when our kids were little. Geoff's workshop made the yellow Formica kitchen for the new exhibition at Seven Stories Children's Book Centre and the official opening was yesterday. The Independent wrote this article about Judith Kerr and it was a delight to meet her and listen to stories about her life. 

and eat the cake!

we are so lucky to have the Centre for Children's Books in Newcastle. Of course the images from the book are wonderful, but nothing beats seeing the original art work, so I urge you to try and see the exhibition for yourself.

There is even a huge tiger! and wooden food!

 

 The whole exhibition will be touring the country in a few months time, so if you can't get to Newcastle, you might catch it somewhere else.

Apart from Tiger, there is Mog and Pink Rabbit too. Just look at this fabulous bedroom!

delightful. A wonderful afternoon.

Useful or Beautiful did a Tiger inspired post yesterday, so more pictures to see from the book there. See if they match up to the kitchen Geoff and Seven Stories created if you get to go!

Langley Furniture Works

Langley Furniture does indeed Work, and now it has its own web site to show you how. I am very proud of my computer illiterate husband for staying with this project.

from this to this

Visiting Foreign Parts

Just back from a weekend over the Border into Scotland and I feel like I have had a proper holiday.

First stop Godfrey Smith the shoe maker to order another pair of boots for my weird sized feet. They are only weird in one direction - quite a normal size seven from heel to toe, but nearly as wide in the other direction, so a pair of handmade shoes are in order.  The last pair according to Godfrey's records were 17 years ago, so I can't be accused of being extravagant in the footwear department. 

We stayed on a farm with this sheepdog to keep Poppy company

They didn't get on - territory issues.

Too much breakfast - we want to introduce the idea of Breakfast and Bed, rather than Bed and Breakfast, this would work very simply - give us the Full English (Scottish in this case) in the evening and just a small bowl of porridge next day - I always need a sleep after so much food, or at least a lie down! 

Lovely September weather, blue skies and fluffy white clouds. A game of O's and X's anyone?

 

Whenever we are in the Borders, which isn't that often, we go and visit Samye Ling, the Tibetan Monastery at Eskdalemuir. This family of House Martins have taken up residence there.

three little ones being fed tirelessly by two parents, we watched for over half an hour, every two minutes or so one or other parent flies back for a second and then back for more insects. Lovely.

We found our very own motel for the night - a great place to stay if you are ever visiting Samye Ling. 

Next to see Lindsay who was doing the Crossing Borders event - a bit like the Art Tour we do in the summer. It is always lovely watching someone working.

blending, carding, making a rolag - why is it called that? 

spinning using a lovely wheel with two foot pedals

Nice shoes - normal feet you see - Lindsay can buy shoes from a shop lucky girl! The wheel is Canadian - a Lendrum interesting design.

Lindsay had some lovely things for sale, and if you wait till the end of the week, the ones that were left after Crossing Borders was over will be listed on her Folksy site - a treat for all of us to share! Lucky us! Except for the wool I bought, that is waiting to be turned into fingerless mitts for winter!

Back home now to a full on week of this and that including the auction for this exhibition that both Geoff and I have pieces in (the reserve price is the same number, but the decimal point is two place to the left in my case!)

And this afternoon, for no reason I can fathom, I am taking the official photographs for a wedding!!!!! Check back here for pictures of bridesmaids paddling in the sea and the best man flying a kite - so - Tynemouth here I come!

Happy week all of you!

Rising Sun

September sometimes has the most beautiful weather and we are blessed in this corner of the planet with a fantastic morning.

here is the sun rising on my little shed at about 6 o'clock this morning.

'Porridge is ready!'

so come back Poppy, breakfast!

Lavender thief

I pinched a little bit of lavender from a bush hanging over a garden wall while I was leaning over it to take this picture. I have felt a little bit bad ever since - but I do love lavender so much. I am sure people do much worse things and don't feel this bad? What have you done?

 

That Autumn Feeling

This morning, for breakfast, Geoff and I shared the last of the peaches, a good crop this year, never very sweet and quick to go mouldy, but tasty stewed and added to porridge.

it feels really autumnal here as August gives way to September, it was dark so early last night. But now I am going to enjoy September, which can be a really surprising month, full of mellow light, fruits and vegetables a-plenty. Another good crop of courgettes. These chocolate and courgette muffins appear and disappear regularly hereabouts!

Sunny start to September here after thunderstorms for the last of August.

Owen has a new kitten - Puma. Named after the cat not the sports wear.