Little Altars at Home

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while will know how much I loathe housework, but these are strange times! Today found me actually wanting to give the bathroom a thorough going over!

As I was putting things back on the windowsill, I realised that every item has a special memory or significance to me.

Left to right:

There is an Umbrella plant, that I grew from a root cutting given to me by a dear friend who I see only rarely nowadays. She is currently staying somewhere in deepest India, unable to return home due to the transport system in that country being under lockdown. The glass bowl it sits in, has been with me since I got married in 1972, nothing special, not beautiful, but it has become an old familiar friend.

In a little pot next to it are some honeysuckle cuttings, waiting to see if they grow roots, so that I can give some little plants to my daughter as requested.

The fish shaped little dish holds a bumble bee that sadly died in my bathroom, I know Little Miss M (7) would love to see it, so I am keeping it for when she is able to come into my house again.

The clay dolphin was made by Miss E when she was about 8. I took her to some wonderful sculpture and stone-carving worshops when she was being homeschooled.

I bought the brass incense burner with the Ohm symbol when I was travelling in 1994 and visiting Buddhist communities all round the world – such powerful memories. It reminds me of chanting in the echoing valleys of the Himalaya Mountains.

The scallop shell was given to me by my neighbour, who is a diver, and brings me yummy scallops in the summer. The shells it holds all come from the beaches of my beloved Pembrokeshire, collected on my month in a treehouse by the sea.

Sea glass, collected on my local beaches, in times gone by.

A collection of tiny white pebbles – there is something so beautiful about them.

The twisted piece of wire with beads: this was a spiral Christmas decoration I had been making with my grandchildren

One of them sat in the bathroom, and after the twins came to stay – I found this one had been just too tempting to resist – I rather like the resulting tiny wire sculpture.

The jam jar has more honeysuckle cuttings,

and the shell on the right was given to me by my Mum when I was a teenager.

A whole lot of family, friends and memories on that tiny windowsill.

Do you have similar little collections about the house?

Sunshine Sunday

Let’s go and find more Mermaids Purses

We found lots!

Thursday Walk

Same beach different sky.

I went back this morning to see if there were more purses to be found

Here is my morning’s haul

Only 8 purses today.

I was so pleased I found a Cat Shark purse, as this is Little Miss M’s (aged 7) favourite.

And this is what happens when your granddaughter tells her Mum that she would ‘fill it with pearls if she found one’

 

 

Wednesday Walk

Just look at those colours!

Walking along the Sea Wall this morning,

my intention was to power walk along for about a mile and back again, but when the spring tide has thrown up these beauties

of course it turned into the usual beachcombing walk

Drama in the skies –  just before I got very wet walking back to the car

Worth it though!

Silly Saturday

I don’t know

You tell me

I’m all of a fluster

Where can they be

 

Silly Saturday – Ribbit

 

Joining in with the Daily Post (for the first time) Unusual.

Silent Sunday

 

Sunshine Sunday

Race you to the Beach!

Mudlarking by the Thames

On Sunday I went mudlarking by the Thames in London – oh happy me!

It was a glorious sunny day spent with 30 other lovely larkers – I can highly recommend it.

See more photos and a link to Thames Explorer Walks on my Beach Clean Art blog – here.

This is what I managed to collect and bring home on the train in a full backpack that weighed 16lbs.

What is it about beach-combing –  I am supremely happy and relaxed whilst collecting, and the next best bit is washing and arranging all the pieces. I’d happily spend all day arranging, sorting and rearranging all these little artefacts all connected to human activity  over hundreds of years.

Paint Party

Joining in with Paint Party Friday.

I’m still playing with this one, so nothing is fixed yet.

Acrylic on triangular canvas with pieces picked up on the beach whilst dong a Beach Clean.

See the picture’s development so far here.

Beach Clean Vase on Monday

Still a little obsessed with my latest project – Beach Clean Art, I have set this oh-so-cute square vase filled with monbretia in front of one of my in-progress paintings and surrounded it with bits and pieces I have collected from the beach whilst doing my bit for the 2 Minute Beach Clean.

and

using these beach clean pieces for a backdrop again, this time complete with beach clean ‘Cleopatra’

and Tate Modern brooch

Tate Modern is selling these as a fund raiser to celebrate the new extension – exciting times, I hope to visit soon.

I have been developing the background canvases I showed you in this post, with a bit of stamping

A very roughly drawn ammonite (with a pencil) on the back of a polystryrene pizza packing disc has created some pretty good stamps I think.

I’ve been playing with bits of beach-clean to see which will make the finished piece.

These pieces are just laid on with no fixings whilst I decide – fixing everything securely is what takes the time – that is the work – all else is play.

 

I like the idea of fixing the smaller canvas to the larger, creating a little shelf – ooo i am having fun!

What do you think – does it work?

Joining in with Cathy’s inspired international garden flowers meme

and

Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Monbretia with morning dew.

Repeat

no dazzling summer

dull skies give an even light

best for photographs

~

The rusting sea defences at Charmouth Beach, Dorset, on England’s south coast. Their shapes, colours and textures fascinate me, sculpted by the sea.

Did you watch the BBC’s ‘Springwatch’ or ‘Springwatch Unsprung’? On the latter programme there was a guest called Martin Dorey who founded the 2 Minute Beach Clean

“We are a growing family of beach lovers rolling up our sleeves to help rid the world’s beaches of marine litter and plastic pollution, two minutes at a time.

We believe that every piece of litter removed from the beach matters. So it doesn’t matter if you do 2 minutes or 30. Each and every piece of marine
plastic removed from the beach is a piece that will no longer go on to kill.

Our movement has grown enormously since its inception in 2014. Since then thousands of people all over the globe have used our hashtag for their
beach cleaning activities.”

Inspired by this I went to Charmouth to do my 2 minutes, and then posted my finds onto the 2 minute Beach Clean Facebook Page. 2Min Beach Clean is on Instagram as well.

I came across a huge tangle of detritus too heavy to lift

but including a fascinating array of waste, all with an unknown human story attached

I set about cutting bits out that fascinated me and put them with the rest of my haul of beach rubbish. 2 minutes turned into a wonderfully relaxing hour of  beach-combing finding more REPEATs

Amongst the rubbish it was this rope that intrigued me the most

which I have since discovered, from a diving friend, is a float line for a fishing net, probably a net for catching prawns.

I soaked the best bits in rainwater and just had to have a play around with the shapes

Next time you visit a beach spare just a couple of minutes to pick up the plastics, it thrills me to feel part of this wonderfully international inspiring idea.

Joining in with our 52 Week Photo Challenge: REPEAT

and

Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge: prompt words DAZZLE and SKY

Next week our Photo Challenge Prompt

is

ROUND

~

Update: I have just started a new blog to house my Beach Clean Art.

 

Vase on Monday: Ivy and Driftwood

Look at those luscious green-black berries, I felt a bit mean bringing them inside as I am sure they will be a feast for a blackbird if the weather gets colder.

Last weekend I took Big Bro and Little Bro to Charmouth Beach to collect driftwood after the storms

The driftwood is the small bits lying in the foreground, plus some jetsam I could not resist. The large pieces of wood behind the vase are glorious tree stumps, from my son-in-law’s farm, yet to be shown off to their best advantage in my garden. They wait next to my high-rise bug-hotel, whilst I try to decide where to put them.

There is always an horrendous amount of plastic detritus washed up on the beaches, but I find it a fascinating mix of colour and texture with mysterious human backstories

Turquoise, yellow, black, rusty burnt orange, hints of cobalt blue and all the soft browns and greys of the pebbles – now just imagine a Fair Isle design knitted in those colours it makes me want to rush out and source the wool and get knitting.

And then a different palette

The main colour a soft turquoise, with deeper turquoise and sky blue, a hint of pink and orange and red, with caramel, stone, white and siamese beige – mmm delicious! Now, I can see that colour mix as a cosy crocheted throw, or maybe a poncho like Lucy’s, with more pale turquoise in it, or like this free patten on Ravelry. And if you prefer to knit, this one looks snuggly.

There were quite a lot of people heading for the rock slide to hunt for fossils, (a bit too dangerous for my liking) whilst I was delving into the piles of rubbish washed up on the beach, but it seems I was not the only one interested ….

….the man on the left is taking photos of rubbish too.

As I was picking through my haul to find some long sticks for the ‘Vase’ today, I just could not help having a play around

I spent rather too long dong this…….. so there are more such scenes to show you another day.

I popped the vase amongst the house plants, next to my houseplant of the week:

Meet little Myfanwy, a rather beautiful Streptocarpus.

Grown from a leaf cutting, this is her first flower. I’m very fond of her as Myfanwy is what my Mum wanted to call me, and it is also the title a delightfully haunting Welsh song

Linking in with Cee’s flower of the Day

Cathy’s Vase on Monday

Today’s flowers

Macro Monday

A Wednesday Walk-Along with Linda

Please take off your shoes and join us on our Ynylas walk, (just before we created the labyrinth)………..

….. ooooh I am still savouring that magical stroll along the wide expanse of Ynylas Beach…… as we go …. imagine a spring breeze making your hair dance around and feeling fresh on your cheeks …. making them glow…….

……. cool salt water swirling round your ankles ……

………    is there anything better in the world than walking along a beach with a dear friend, on a sunny day ……

….. looking for shells …….. watching the shifts of light as the clouds scud across the sky

noticing patterns  and inspiration for doodles

with the lull of the sound of the waves

……..  and then it is time to turn around

and return, still gathering shells

…. and marking a thank you before leaving the beach.

Dust off the sand between your toes, shoes on, deep breath and maybe just a little sigh as we say goodbye to Ynylas (for now anyway)…….

Would you like to see the shells I collected?

So satisfying to see them all laid out, some gathered for Linda’s Mum who makes the most amazing shell sculptures, some for me to play with in making pictures, patterns and mandalas as I did in January 2014 in Abu Dhabi,  and some as collage material for my grandchildren ………. what would you do?

*******

I tried to find  out what ‘Ynyslas’ means in translation. Ynys is ‘isle’, but if I put in ‘ynys las’ – I get ‘greenland’ – however ‘las’ does not translate as ‘green’.

Welsh is not an easy language!

And now, after the beach, how about a wander through:

an Italian Garden;

or join Amanda, The Welsh Wanderer on her journey walking the coast paths;

and then a real treat if you like reflections on water – A Canal Walk in Yorkshire

I do hope you enjoyed walking along with us, it’s fun having you along.

Please leave a link to one of your favourite walks, we’d love to join you.

Beachcombing

“Hello!”

this is my favourite photo from last Saturday morning – I will print it BIG

a fellow early-morning beachcomber

there is something about this I love too, but not sure I would want it on my wall – do you have a favourite?

 

Delightful hours of meandering along – no thoughts other than jetsam

(the last time I did this was about a year ago in Abu Dhabi – it’s been far too long!)

Beachcombing slowly                                                                                                        On an icy morning                                                                                               Delighting in sunshine                                                                                                 Ideas forming

A fishbone, a pebble,                                                                                                            A net and some shell,                                                                                                         To me, these are treasures…                                                                                              And you, as well?