Countdown to A to Z Blogging challenge…

A to Z Blogging challenge… coming here in T-3 days..

‘the A to Z Challenges to post the letter of the alphabet every day during the month of April, with Sundays off for good behavior’ bar April 1st which is day one and A.

How did that happen?  My April challenge was weeks away only yesterday.. Time is playing it’s tricks with me again..

I want to put a marker down to all those that are subscribed to this blog.  All 9 of you.  Many thanks for the support!  It was a shock to find that I had so many.  Really!  I thought I had 3 and assumed I knew who they were.  I only just noticed I have 9, wow!  It may seem strange to you but that means a lot to me.

I’m looking forward to A to Z challenge as I’ve been working hard on them and am a bit nervous at the same time.  I hope you’ll stay with me while your emails get filled up with me blogging daily.  It’ll go back to ‘normal’, whatever that is, come May, I assume.

There’s 1341 signed up to do A to Z blogging challenge as I write this and I’m number 615.  As I’m technically challenged here’s the link to the sign up list (hopefully) where you can find all the blogs participating and sign up if you’re interested.  When(if) I work out how, I’ll add the wonderful logo they’ve got.

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

Follow it on Twitter at @AprilA2Z or #AtoZchallenge

I doubt I’ll have all A to Z posts ready by sunday as I’d hoped.  Just checked and have a-m all sorted bar the photos so will concentrate on that next.  N needs changing.. sorry but it’s way too personal.  R is too at the moment I think.

If you survive with me to D you’ll find out much more about my theme for the posts though suffice to say I’m sticking with my random, eclectic mix and have picked words that are 10 letters or more.

I’m not sure if I should post my A to Z schedule or not.  What do you think?

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I do like to be beside the seaside.

In these days of writing and spending more time on the computer at work I have been more sedentary in my late 40’s and early 50’s than at any other time in my life.  Some of this I also attribute to having moved away from the coast within the last 10 years.

When I lived within 15 minutes walk of the sea I spent many happy hours walking on the sand.  I could go walking here but there’s not many places, that close, that really inspire me more than my garden so I’m happy spending more time at home creating and writing which is great for my mind, just not so great for my body shape.

If you asked me to pick a place that inspires, makes my heart sing and where I could walk for miles take me to a sandy beach with some dunes.  That would be nice.  Some beach huts and few people would be even better.  I’ve been recently and would happily return.

I do like to be beside the seaside.

will my shadow flower paintings ever see the light?

A chance chatter on-line with “the shed with the chandelier” (Hi Tracy) this morning led me to rush upstairs, take a couple of my paintings off the walls in my bedrooms, add them to the ones scattered in the art room (ok, junk room..soon to be sorted into art room) snap this pic. and hey presto: a new post.

Here are my paintings.  This is my shadow art.  It’s my current preferred style and I can’t wait for the flowers in my patio pots to grow so I can start on the 2012 images that I’ll paint over the winter.  That’s the theory.  Capturing the images is more productive than finishing them.. lots of unfinished canvasses scatter my home..

Looking at the pic. I realise it’s of my blue phase… There’s the orange/terracotta, blue (shown here), pink and deep russet red brown phases.

I’ve not sold any, have given a couple away and was asked by a friend to add two to the one they asked for as a housewarming.  When my family first saw them they commented that they think they’re better than a particular painting of a can of soup…  I was gobsmacked and  extremely flattered.  I love that can of soup!

I’ll be participating in Peterborough Open Artists Studios this year and have been asked to make some of my hand-painted silk scarves too.  I can’t imagine getting round to making many of those.  The drafted shadow flower paintings want me to finish them before I get going on any other project.

Given that I already have lots hanging in my house, what will I do with a houseful of shadow flower art when there’s no space left on my walls?

Will they ever see the light?

You know, I don’t really care, I just need to do it.  I have to keep doing it.  You know what I mean don’t you?

Prioritise

There I was heading over to carry on drafting my April blogging from A to Z challenge when I noticed I hadn’t posted anything since Saturday.  Hadn’t I had any ideas?  No that wasn’t it.  I always have lots (some might say too many) of ideas.  Did I want to stop posting?  Not yet.  I’d just been busy writing other things so I started writing a post to tell you that then I realised that’s not what I like writing about on here.  I don’t really tell about my day.  It’s more that I use things that happen to comment on the wider aspect of that in life.  (No worries if I’m losing you I’m losing me just now..)

I’ve got 10 out of 24 blog posts written that will go up in April and I decided I want to participate in script frenzy which is also in April.  I’m convincing myself all this is helping me write my novels… Hmm… The last time I did anything on my latest novel was a couple of weeks ago.

I’m still convinced..

Last week I was told that if I write a script I’ll have a better chance of getting my novel published.  I’m still not sure how that works if I haven’t got an edited novel to get published but hey ho I’ll try writing a script during April.

So long as I keep writing daily I reckon the writing bit of my brain is developing and that’s what I want to do just now and that’s fine.  I feel glad that I’m prioritising ‘blogging from AtoZ challenge’ before my novel or any planning for ‘script frenzy’.  I’ve made a choice of what I do when and that feels good and achievable.

I do like a bit of prioritisation.  Do you?

Can I apologise for my blog posts during April.  They will be daily apart from a couple of Sundays.  I’ve finally selected a theme – any word 10 letters or more from a dictionary that’s been in my family since it was published in 1948.

My favourite gargoyle

Although my knowledge of history’s pretty useless I’m learning lots whilst reading historical fiction.  I love wandering around historic buildings, particularly cathedrals, minsters, churches and the like.  I could spend hours observing the structures and marvel at the intricate designs and skills of the craftsmen that built them.  There are certain emblems and sculptures that I just adore.

The clue’s in the title….

There’s one particular gargoyle that I’ve been drawn to over the past few years since I’ve had to go to York a bit more.  My route takes me past him and usually I take the opportunity to say hello and ponder.  I know nothing about him but admire his majestic quality and the way he holds himself whenever I visit.

There are others in other towns that I may mention in the future and, if you don’t mind, as I learn more about them, I may mention them again (I gather a turn off for blogger readers is the repetitive blogs).

What do you like about historic buildings?  Anything?

Here’s my favourite gargoyle.  He lives at York Minster.  I’m sure he’d love to meet you.

p.s. if you ever want to take me to Paris please make sure Notre Dame is on the itinerary as some lovely gargoyle friends of mine live there (Just saying).

So glad I met you

When I got home last night there was a package waiting for me.  A lovely package from across the pond.  I knew it was on it’s way and I had almost expected it to arrive by snailmail as in truck; train and boat rather than air mail.

I commented on the grand opening of V’s place and found myself in receipt of a book.  It had arrived and inside the cover was written ‘Thank you for being such a supportive friend from the other side of the pond.  Write Hard!’ A lovely note from one of the authors then further inside the book a lovely gold envelope with a lovely little card and inside that one of the sentences said ‘I’m so glad I met you’.  My heart’s been singing ever since.  How lovely was that to receive and from a wonderful writer friend.  All this given we live ‘across the pond’ and have never actually set live eyes on each other.  We ‘met’ over t’internet.

Internet friends remind me of my penpals I had as a kid when that was the main way for a child to learn about far flung places.  This book has arrived from a lovely friend and if we never meet I’ll treasure our friendship as one which has helped me write and whom I have ‘met’ in the past 1.5 years since I started writing novels.

So glad I met you too.

ps.. I just love the idea of a something I’ve written being more travelled by boat than me.  I must start writing to people and sending it by road.  Let me know if you want to be someone who receives a ‘proper’ letter!

Now that’s foggy.

Whatever I was going to write about when I woke has just completely disappeared from my mind.  I hope it comes back so I can post another day.  What broke my train of thought was looking out of the kitchen window as I put the kettle on.  My mind went foggy.  “Now that’s fog” is all I could think of.  Like a rush, of my life to date, the memories came flooding back.  All those times when I’ve driven in fog.

The strongest memory was of trying to get home, driving across the vale of York, when I couldn’t see the other side of the road let alone anything in front of me, terrified that some stupid driver would be going too fast.  Thinking back, why was I even driving in it at all?  Maybe I was the stupid one.  I should have found the first b&b and stopped there.  Given that I couldn’t see the other side of the road or, come to think of it, the verge on my side, I doubt I could have found a b&b out there in the thick fog even if there was one.

How things change when fog hits…. Those who were convinced they’ll be running in shorts from now on.. hmm maybe not today.  In case it’s like this tomorrow morning, the journey I was planning to make then will probably be made later today.

When the fog hits we have to take care, slow down, be vigilant and deal with what comes our way.  If things are foggy around you, till the fog lifts.. take it easy…