Yesterday evening was so beautiful, I tried to  capture the subtle, misty colours and the flight of the birds across the landscape with my Christmas camera. The longer lense creates more potential for blur in low light, but I like the effect. As I watch them, crows, seagulls, the very occasional sparrowhawk, I wonder about their perception of the space they occupy. To me, because I have human perception and understanding, they appear to be winging their way across a great bowl of green, with a ribbon of road running through it. I wonder what they see and feel as the wind ruffles their feathers. Sometimes great shoals of them flow across the landscape, crows or starlings, raucous in flight.

The  longer zoom also allows me to bring closer to view, those things which draw my eyes as I look out of the upstairs windows. These pylons, about 2 1/2 miles away with, below them, the wonderful delta shapes of the unclad trees, seem ripe for expression in some form of cloth and stitch, if only I could work out how!

Meanwhile, I am still stitching for my City and Guilds, though I have been judged to have passed with merit, which brings great pleasure.

My final two bits of stitch have been part of the counted threadwork bit of the syllabus. The blackwork design was part of this too. When I presented my work, I included the planning for these two bits, one cross stitch, one needlepoint as well. They are both inspired by this lovely quilt I saw in York when I last visited Jen. When viewed for real, the repetition of stripes and strips, with quite restrained colours, creates a sense of almost shimmering movement.

I did some sketches on the spot,

worked up the design by focusing on a select part of the quilt, and drawing out a rough design on graph paper.

The first bit of stitching, which is cross stitch, evolved into this teeny piece. paring all down to simple colour and concept.

Then, on the same piece of canvas, I have broadened out again, allowing myself space to try out a variety of needlepoint stitches. So far I've done this much

and am loving the opportunity to try out differing scales, patterns, textures and types of thread, whilst remaining true to the original quilt in terms of colour and movement.

Now to bring in the red!

January light

The little Goddess is evolving, as is the space her servant works in. My study has been transformed by the addition of curtains and by dropping the nets (horrible things) down to half the window height. Result?




The sunlight now streams through, warming the atmosphere and illuminating where it lands.

there is a view through. I need some privacy screen at the bottom of the window, as we are quite visible from the road, but hadn't realised how confining the nets felt until I moved them - they previously covered the top half as well. I don't like the ones that are there now, they're synthetic and unappealing, but they shield me from view. I'd like to create something like this, I admire Jude's work hugely, but know I have the neither the skill nor verve.

The glimpse of the sky above, netted in the branches of the tree outside, can be seen opening out as one walks through the hallway from the rear of the house.

It is also thrown through the prisms of the glass in the door,




bounces down the hallway



and is netted briefly in the walnut at the bottom of the garden

 before winging it's way through the gulls feathers and into the landscape beyond.

autumn

Autumn is being lovely in the garden, colours and shapes so rich yet delicate

hydrangea, mum's favourites, here in a variety of guises

the walnut tree, ghost at the bottom of the dell

pansies out front glowing in the low sun

shadows

and light

garden spirits

glowing colour

and stitching!

which somehow seems to reflect the autumn mood