A Tomato Sandwich on the Periphery of Life.

Do you ever get that feeling, the one where you're not quite engaged with the rest of your surroundings? No, well I have. It's almost like walking into the cake baking classroom when you should be in woodwork. It can be both interesting and disconcerting. Probably both of those at the same time! Changes in life, lifestyle, health, can all contribute and as those things are transient in the overall scheme of things the feeling will adjust to meet the new circumstances and you, hopefully me too, will reengage. It's good to hang onto a "constant" and as always I'm hanging on to my camera.
I'll stop rambling now, well it's more musing than rambling really and if you've made it this far then well done!
Here are some of the results from my camera rambling - there, I've thought up a new topic, genre, whatever - Camera Rambling commence!

                                                                                                                                                                          

             
Oh, the tomato sandwich... just my favourite meal/snack at the moment :)

Gone missing but back now

So, where have I been these last days with no blog entries to be seen? Busy with the garden and visiting Garden Centres with Olivia, taking photos as usual oh, and been into hospital. Not a planned visit and not a pleasant experience at all.
The good old NHS is just that, old and running hard to keep up with the demands made upon it. Talk about chaos reigns! I was in for two days and was moved to 3 different wards, my ultrasound scan results were lost, my medication was changed and I came out with a list of things it wasn't (which is good) but little idea of what it was which caused the pain - enough pain to get me to go to a Doctor at 7pm.
Hey ho, I'm feeling better now thank goodness, might even manage to drive the car today. Strange but I've missed that most of all, not being able to get out and about when the fancy takes me. The down side of being confined to the house for a while is that I've hit eBay rather hard - might just need a new wardrobe!  There - another excuse to hit eBay ;)

When I did get to take some photos the results were, well see for yourself.

 



You can find my photos, if you haven't already, here: www.anncourtney.zenfolio.com & www.pbase.com/abrazo & http://500px.com/shopaholicann2  Yes, I know there's a lot but then variety IS the spice of life!

I still have problems getting the photos to stay where I put them but hopefully they'll look ok this time.

The hedge has got to go.

The large privet hedge which started life on top of part of a garden wall and has subsequently migrated onto the drive, has become a giant of an eyesore. It is full of brambles, a wild rose or two, nettles and ivy, lots of ivy. A complete mess. Every year it was cut but every year it grew and the ivy roots began to push the stones out of the wall. Something had to be done. Discussions were had with the next door neighbours who would be affected by any changes and the decision was made - it had to go. That was months ago...

Last Saturday morning I looked at this giant of a job and decided that unless a start was made, however small, it would never be done. Right. Armed with 2 wheelbarrows, a pair of secateurs and some sturdy gloves I began. Rather than handle everything twice I carefully cut branches and put them straight into the barrow. It was going to be a lonnnng job!  My neighbour came out and offered to cut some down with his chain saw - brilliant. So I spent Saturday clearing up and trundling the cuttings up to the bonfire which is at the top of the garden - no mean feat in itself as the garden is about an acre and much longer than it is wide... well I want to get fit, lose some weight - who needs a gym?! Jimi came out and helped with the clearing up and moving of the heavy stones for which I was very grateful.

Sunday was my day off, Dowland Country Fair to visit followed by dinner with a friend. A chance for me to recoup some energy.  Monday brought root and stone removal as by this time I'd got down to the ivy roots and the stones were getting very loose. I had one close call, as I pulled roots out from the garden side bits of wall fell into the lane. Fortunately it's not a busy lane! Peter did yet more chain sawing for me and great progress is being made.

There are days and days work ahead of me. When it's all cut down the wall has to be rebuilt - Anyone know of a Drystone Wall person? Perhaps I'd better go on a course ;)

 

 
A few shots of the work in progress.

Pots & Flowers & Stuff.

 So, what have I been doing lately... hmmm. Garden Centres have featured quite a lot. Olivia is on a quest to own every type/colour/size of pot available. Then of course they have to be planted up with herbs. Great idea if only there was someone among us to use these herbs as they are intended - you know - cooking n stuff! Don't look at me. The plus side is that they look very attractive. She has also been planting vegetables of all sorts. Again it is highly unlikely that they will ever get eaten apart from by the chickens but hey, it helps to stop the veggie plots looking bare and forgotten.

Photography hasn't been neglected of course. It's daisy time and I love taking photos of them. Also scattered around the garden are several types of Aquilegia which are lovely to get real close up to with a macro lens. As well as taking photos of flowers I spent a morning in Okehampton's J Street Diner. It's a lovely retro Diner, 50's through and through and therefore the perfect setting for photos of Honeysuckle Moon Guitar Pickups. Martin Dowding my Photographer, Guitar Maker and Perfume Maker friend asked me to take some shots of his handmade pickups. It worked well and I think that he is happy with the results and here are a couple... and some flowers :)

                                                                                                           

Martins guitars and pickups can be found here:  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/sasibel/about?

 

Honeysuckle Moon Guitars and Pickups.

I read a lot about people who go out to take photos with a specific image in mind - perhaps a certain scene or subject - and are content to go home with nothing if they don't find it, searching again another day. While I have no problem with that at all, it isn't for me. I'm a bit like a child in a sweet shop when I get out with a camera, there is just SO MUCH to photograph. Everywhere you look there is something. So when my friend Martin asked me to take some photos for him I was, to start with, at a bit of a loss. Martin is a Professional Photographer - a hard act to follow. He teaches - photography - eecck! But not being one to resist a challenge I said I'd give it a go. The subject, his handmade guitar pickups. I had the vaguest idea of what they were. As they are part of a guitar I knew that they couldn't be too big. See, I didn't really know at all...

These pickups are for sale, the photos needed to be... well lots of things really. When you buy something you expect the photograph to show how it's made, the detail etc etc. Nothing to be done but get them in front of a camera and what fun I have had. I'm still slightly hazy about what they actually do - sorry Martin -  but I've enjoyed the challenge. The pickups and the guitars, which he also makes, go by the name of Honeysuckle Moon. Here are some of my results. I can hear one or two of you saying "is that some form of lingerie I see in one of them?" Well yes, of course, who took the photos?  ;)

 Here's a link to Martin's Etsy shop where the pickups are for sale and there is information about his guitar making.  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/sasibel/about?

The never ending battle

Title says it all really, the battle is with my weight, you're ahead of me aren't you? This battle is familiar to some I guess and those of you who haven't a clue what I mean, well, very lucky you!  Yo-yoing is probably the best description of my weight and my wardrobe, groaning with clothes of many sizes stands as testament. I have no such excuse for the number of pairs of shoes I have, not that I need one. No, I must stay focused and not wander into the realms of shoes although the delivery man will be bringing a box today from Sarenza... sigh.

In an effort to reduce my weight and keep the idea in mind I have bought a handy little gadget called a Fitbit One. It logs how far I walk in a day, how many calories I burn, steps I climb... you get the idea. It is all displayed in a handy desktop dashboard in case I forget what I'm aiming for. In truth all I really need to do is to walk past any of the mirrors in the house and take a good look but hey, a bit of technology to play with can't be bad and if it serves to prick my conscience then even better. I don't expect I'll be sylph like in a couple of weeks, or a couple of months but I'll make the required effort to walk straight past the biscuits isle in the supermarket from now on and the wine isle, the chocolate isle, the cakes isle... If only the supermarkets would bunch all the fattening stuff together in one place it'd be easier to ignore wouldn't it?

Anyway it's Friday and I have a self portrait to plan so I'm off to the camera...

The empty plate

I opened the fridge yesterday to find an empty plate balanced somewhat precariously on top of some food or other. It's not the first time I've found this and I continue to be baffled by it. Of course nobody will own up so I can't find out the reason for it. Is it laziness or are "they" hoping that if they leave the plate there it will miraculously fill up with food again. Maybe they can't face the trauma of putting it in the dishwasher, who knows. This anomaly goes alongside the "empty packet syndrome" which we seem to have in this house. Food is removed from a packet or box which then, being empty, would normally be thrown into the bin or recycling box but no, the empty packet stays exactly where it was, the pantry, the fridge...  Again Mr Nobody is responsible. Short of a surveillance camera I doubt that I'll get to the bottom of this and will continue to open the fridge and think "oh good I can have...oh :( no I can't" Grrrrr.

Socks

Which came first

Shoes