Planet Ruby Starrs

Hotel Ash Cottage is closing for refurbishment or at the very least some autumn cleaning ( ha ha ha )... we have had a lovely run of friends and family to stay -  lots of good food, too much drink and an awful lot of laughing and general hilarity. I love having people to stay - its not the biggest house but everyone mucks in and it all works out in the long run-  we get to show off Northumberland and take them to special places we have found - we get out and about boost the local economy in various local cafes and pubs, We get to eat lots of scones and cake without feeling guilty - after all some ones on holiday here! We've been fortunate with the weather, summer has finally arrived and we are making the most of it - when my daughter and her family were here it was glorious and we took the opportunity to go to Alnwick Castle, a treasure hunt in Warkworth, sandcastle building on the beach, kayaking, sun flower party... with our visiting friends there were more beach walks, le...

Sunflower party time of year again but in between the recent balmy sunny days for one day only... it rained torrentially - which was the day that we choose to have our sunflower party... however Leslie came to the rescue and very kindly cleaned out a stable which we then gave the festival van make over - decked it out with bunting and fairy lights and flowers and lanterns and it looked very jolly and cheerful ..  Four o'clock arrived and the measuring stick came out and off we went round the hamlet measuring all the sunflowers.   It was a good effort this year, they were quite a few to measure but it was still a close run really with two (experienced) households in stiff competition,  a large selection sunflowers all towering around the seven/eight foot mark.. the tallest coming in at eight foot one inch.  despite a (declared) relationship with the chief measurer I only came third with a six footer but in the end it was a previous winner who took...

Once my family went back to Leeds, the house seemed, for about an hour - much bigger, and for a few days much too quiet.... the summer days waned into a rainy northumberland August and then suddenly revived for what I hoped was an Indian summer by the 'grim up norths' standards... at this point I had forgotten there was a Bank holiday looming ha ha ... anyway before it rained again I spent a couple of pleasant days gardening and reading a really interesting book called 'Song For My Father' by Ian Clayton.  Ian Clayton is a writer / journalist / tv presenter and I feel sure I have unwittingly come across him, probably on Yorkshire television but I have never seen his books before.  I happened on this one as I ran through the library to return books which were almost overdue - not intending to borrow as I had the family staying and I didn't have time to browse but this just caught my eye and I picked it up.  (its hard to leave the library without something!) I...

This week I've been drawing with the sewing machine... I use a darning / embroidery foot and this gives me quite a bit of freedom to move the fabric where I want it to go.  Sometimes if i'm sewing material I use an embroidery hoop but often I find these get in the way and can be restrictive. Last week I tried my hand at making paper from scraps... as pictured on a previous posting my first attempt ended up with a kinda grey slab... but as it dried - which took about a week!! it slowly lightened and then  left it in the sun where it bleached further... it was rather thick - actually I've seen thinner cardboard but it has a very rustic feel and more importantly its the first paper I have made so I had to find a use for it... After quite a bit of consideration I decided its lovely uneven texture and rough edges really lent itself to stone walls - I'm very drawn to stone walls, often beautifully constructed using no cement just clever placement of available stone they c...

I'm fortunate to live in a wonderful place for friends and family to visit for a pleasant bit of down time.  This week which just happens to coincide with summer I'm spending a lovely week with my daughter, her partner, and my two gorgeous grandchildren.... Its a reminder that I am the matriarch and while defo the oldest it seems I can still build fab sandcastles queen of the castle and make great dens in the garden and thats what counts.. we also managed a good experiment on the beach - a sandcastle every two metres to see how quickly the sea came in - experimental sandcastles work in progress A great idea for keeping a lively 7 yr old entertained on a sunny day after 4 hours on the beach and a walk round the fields - we got an old double sheet from the charity shop - I wanted white but settled for pale pink and we put it over the garden table and tied knots at each corner to make it nice and tight right over to the floor - then we cut a door in it and some wind...

I need to start focusing on my summer brief for college.. It is quite simply to use own images taken of inspirational objects to produce some visible studies to work with later in the year.  These studies need to reflect line, detail, texture, tones, colour and need to be executed in as many different mediums as I am able.   Some of the pieces I have been working on through the summer will contribute but I would like to concentrate on working with more texture and detail.  I didn't do enough drawing and prep work on my last module and the finished samples reflected this so I want to try and draw as much as possible - not just with or on conventional materials  but with the sewing machine, print, natural objects and whatever comes to mind.   We visited some friends in Wales who have a wonderful collection of interesting objects collected over many years from all over the world.   I started by drawing a collection of masks - some carved in simple wo...

Its either heat haze or sea fret over pembroke coast... dramatic and atmospheric.. we are staying with some good friends and timed it well as yesterday was just a constant deluge and there was no denying it was good to get out of a damp van - the previous two days had been glorious sunshine and even my stinking sandals dried out...but this is welsh weather and can change in an hour... on Sunday we did a great wander over Dinas Head and enjoyed the panoramic views down the coast with wonderful clear blue skies and now its payback time on the cliffs at Solva - damp, misty, eerie and rather beautiful...

Beryl the yellow peril passed the 200,000 miles this week... looking forward to the next 200,000........

Tucked away in a quiet location down a shady tree lined lane is a very impressive burial chamber dating back to 3500 bc... its famous as it is the tallest of its kind in wales and has an amazing massive capstone - over 16 feet long weighing probably 16 tons supported by only three standing stones... the burial ground itself is very large is is thought to have been a communal burial site for many years.  I think it is amazing that this small but significant pile of stones has managed to withstand any assaults by weather, sheep, maurading Romans, any persons and still be standing looking so delicate over 5000 years on!  They just dont build em like that nowadays!!! Really nice spot to sit and sketch in the sun ... first picture is ink and graphite pencil and the second is ink, graphite and watercolour.