Snowed in & story writing workshops

Hello from our snow surrounded cottage up here on the hill.

What an adventure we had last weekend, so much snow,

we woke to such a wonderland and were snowed in well & truly!

 We had to dig our way out & were snowbound for a few days.

Above you can glimpse the snow to the top of the hedgerows

Mr O is 6ft and it was taller than him, see the digger in the lane!

But oh it was a sight to behold, I spent an age wandering in the woods

and felt such deep peace & awe at the beauty of it all.

It bought a flurry of winged visitors to the garden too

and unveiled tracks of visiting creatures, normally unseen.

Of course i had to play for a while, pleasing my inner child!

My wee unicorn stood tall & proud most of the week.

This wintry weather has been perfect reference for my work

and the Nip Nebs book illustrations are coming along nicely.

A new venture for me this month was the "Daydream Believers" picture book creation workshops, set up with storyteller Susi Woodmass, where we work with children to help them develop words & pictures to create their very own wee books.  (Above~ some of the prompt cards i illustrated to inspire their storytelling)

Earlier this month i had the pleasure of working with Susi on our very first joint workshop at the local school. The imaginations of the children as they created their stories was inspiring indeed and watching them illustrate their work & bring it to life was a pure joy. I can't wait until next time.
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So if you  know a group who would love to do one of our workshops do get in touch, you can find more information over here at "The Wee Folk Storytellers" website.
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ps: you can click on each image to view it larger.

A splash of yellow & inspiration . . .

 The newest touches of Spring are creeping into the air, popping with colour.

snowy drops & glowing gorse or whin bushes as they are called locally.

 

I recently realised my sketching skills are far too rusty, 

I haven't "just" doodled or sketched for the fun of it for ~ ever.

 An inspiring conversation with the lovely Margaret Milligan, 

about the 30 day painting challenge she set herself, set me a thinking.

(You can see here  the wonderful results of Margarets challenge.)

and so with all that in mind, 

I have set myself the task of doing a hal hour sketch a day for 30 days!

and by putting it out here, hopefully I am more prompted to keep to it!
I cant give up if its going badly, (something i am far to guilty of doing normally)
but have to stick at it for the half hour (i nearly gave up this morning to begin with!)
* * * 

So here is sketch number 1 a tiny splash of yellow sunshine on my windowsill.

Oh i did enjoy doing this, roll on day two!

Treasures at Glasgow Cathedral . . .

At last we managed our overdue visit to the medieval Glasgow cathedral

St Mungo's, watched over by the Necropolis with its towering monuments

It was an overly dark day, all gloomy and rain grey,

 and little did we suspect the treasures tucked away inside!

Treasures like the crypt,  built mid-13th century
to house the tomb of the patron saint of Glasgow,
 Saint Mungo, who originally built his church on this site.

Wonderful Gothic features & carvings, green men & details galore,
Fragments of brightly painted stone found beneath the floor,
that once graced a door archway

 This perfect copy of the biography of St Kentigern,
by Jocelyn a monk from Furness Abbey, made in 1180.
I love the corrections in the margins of each page.
(original can be found in the Marsh library, Dublin)

The Blacadder crypt or aisle built 1483 -1508

quite awe inspiring to walk down into this beauty

 a sumptuous display, some of the finest carved bosses in Scotland.
Perfect examples of the work of medieval craftsmen.

 The Millennium window painted by Mr. John K. Clark
once a student & lecturer at Glasgow School of Art.

and of course I'm always drawn to colours and patterns

such as these wonderful tiles in the 15th C Sacristy

and the preserved old stained glass

A wee bit of a long post, but worth a share, it is after all

the only remaining medieval cathedral on mainland Scotland.

More information can be found here & here

and I have uploaded more images here.

A taste O' Burns . . .

With Burns Night upon us I thought I would give a  "Wee taste o' Burns"

Born in Alloway 25th Jan 1759, he lived not so far away in the town of Dumfries
He wrote many well known songs such as ‘Auld Lang Syne‘and ‘To a Mouse‘

 In the town there lies still  "The Globe Inn" Robbie's howff (haunt)
His favourite seat survives & poetry he scratched on his bedroom window!
There is still a Burns "Howff" club held in the town

There is a great wee video summing up his life & works here.
and here "The beginners guide to Burns" a good introduction
here to Burns Birthplace site for a collection of all things Burns related.
(Globe Inn image courtesy of Visit Scotland, the etched window from BBC News)

All around the world tonight folk will be raising their glasses,

making toasts and tucking into haggis, neeps & tatties. 

The Selkirk Grace

Some hae meat and canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it

But we hae meat, and we can eat,

And sae let the Lord be thankit

Here's my offering "A taste O'Burns" treasury
from folk all around the world

Wintery squirrels & cosy ponies . . .

Such a lovely treat this week the snow bought into our garden

 two new wee visitors to our Narnian wonderland.

Such antics they get up to, & keep burying nuts on the snowy lawn

for the wily blackbirds to then go and pinch !

Also just had to share these cuties.

Two of Shetlands most famous things

Shetland ponies & Fair Isle knitwear.

This to promote the "Year of Natural Scotland"

Shetland pony image by Rob McDougall.