Planet Ruby Starrs

I miss the garden at this time of year -  winter is well on us -spring feels like a long way away - the trees look skeletal and bleak, the fog and frost makes everything look a bit ethereal but really I would prefer sunshine - ethereal doesn't cut it for me - its cold and dank and offers no opportunities for being outside.  It does however mean the odd ray of sunshine which lights up the few colours left in the garden and its a real joy and the odd sunset we get makes for interesting moody skies - nothing lasts long and now the nights are supposedly lengthening - not that its very noticeable yet.  Although I'm still enamoured by lighting the stove and cosying down - the novelty of cold comfy winter nights is definitely starting to wear thin - I usually manage it until about Christmas and then I yearn for warmer lighter days - this next year I will almost get my wish - I have managed most of January and now just got to see Feb through but then just as it all gets really bad, I c

I've been drawing again.  I haven't been very well and I needed to do something quiet but something that would occupy me - so to speak - and its been a long time since I got the sketch book out and then only odd moments when we have been on holiday but I want to document our up and coming trip with a journal and some drawings and paintings so I feel a bit of practice wouldn't go amiss - I treated myself to some inktense watercolour pans - a wee travel set and the colours - which are ink based rather than pigment based and are indeed lovely and rich and will add a vibrancy to my paintings which sometimes I feel is lacking with ordinary watercolours. It's quite hard to et back into the swing again and it reminds me of how important it is to keep practising even with doodles... I started with a sketch of the mess on my desk - a mixture of old watercolours and the new inktense ones.. worked in with fine liner pen- I'm not a patient person and all my drawings are usually

The decorating saga continues.... I suspect this house will be like the forth bridge - much to my delight and Dr Freds horror....  Estate agent picture... what we began with.... The month after we moved in we started to strip the hall stairs and landing... more nasty cream painted anaglypta wall paper - acres of it - every nook and cranny - the hall is a lovely feature of our house but was feeling fairly vast with high ceilings and sooooooo much wall space. Great for pictures eventually..... that was 3 years ago to the day as I type this!! We took a little bit of paper off every now and again - other rooms taking priority but as the anaglypta disappeared and as other rooms were lined out any left over lining paper or wallpaper paste was used to add a bit to the the hall process - as a result we have lived with the hall looking fairly dreadful - part started - part finished for years...  time passes and familiarity breeds lack of noticing and then suddenly one day, I felt like doing it,