self-portrait

The day of The Great Self Portrait Exchange between printmakers dawned bright and clear… golden sun in a high, blue sky.

Quite different from the midnight deluge that had me scrabbling in the dark to clear rain pits again. Yes, I did have house lights on. And yes, I had grabbed a flashlight, but, as its **** battery died …you don’t dither with batteries in these circumstances.

Drains cleared as much as possible, windows adjusted, wet clothing and towels dumped in laundry, the bi-peds eventually got back to sleep. The cats? Well, what did they care?

So I was not at my brightest when I headed off to my meeting!

Did I mention it was the Annual General Meeting? God! I must stop going to these things. All we did was swap “hats” yesterday!

And portraits. Here’s mine, titled “Botox, anyone?”

And don’t forget, if anyone would like to attempt a self portrait lino print, go for it! Post the result and let me know when you do. There might even be a candy bar for the best effort! Me? Well, I think I’ll leave the lino well alone. At least for a while.

While there is NO WAY in the world I’d have this scary toxin injected, I must say its structure is very pretty! Girls (and guys!) if you want to give yourselves the shudders, Google “botox.”

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Something else occupied our time Chez Idle Thoughts this weekend…

Next time we see it it will look pretty. And, quite accidentally, I took a 14 seconds movie of the 25 minutes trip to the paint shop!

In a queue at a roundabout, I got the camera out of its bag without looking at it. Must have unwittingly set it and then, when traffic began moving, just aimed over the steering wheel and went “click.” Great shot of my left knee and the rear view mirror!

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Well, a wrinkled old visage and a rusty old car aren’t much to tempt you so have one of these…

…a Strelitzia, called Bird of Paradise. Although, I’ve never really known why, since they come from different places and are (of course!) different animals altogether. Maybe I’m just picky.

This is a young cuckoo. The poor “mother” bird is slightly smaller than this feathered lump! Not a very clear shot, but I was ankle-deep in muddy water and didn’t want to go closer and scare the little chap as it still can’t fly.

The (probable) surrogate parent.I didn’t see it, but could hear one nearby.

There’s a link in comments, below.

And now…I still have work to do…

I know we are constantly being warned of children in danger from internet predators and I’m sure there are some nasties lurking just a click away.

But there are lovely people out there, too.

If you read the comments on my previous post you’ll know that this humble lass has been elevated to the nobility. Scots nobility, at that! You can find out why here

While not of Scots blood, I did grow up with quite a few Scottish friends and my father lived there for several years. So I was used Harry Lauder impersonations and rolling back carpets for eightsome reels was pretty much de rigeur whenever the numbers were sufficient.

Thinking back, it’s over 40 years since I was whirled around by a kilted laddie.

I c’n rroll my rrs wi’ th’ best o’ them. Paraphrasing Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth at school (I was bored ) earned laughs from the class and a stern rebuke from the teacher. “Ahent! ye big jessie! Gie us the daggers; I’ll do it m’sen!”

So I’m well pleased wi’ ma bonny new title.

And my penchant for language and odd words was met by another blog From here, I clicked to Save The Words and guess what? I’ve adopted two words! Allow me to introduce succisive, an adjective pertaining to spare time. Now, I may have bitten off more than my dentition can handle since my adoption papers require me to use my words as often as possible, preferably working them into daily conversations, the idea being that other folk will think “gee! what a good word;I must remember it!” Hmmm…weren’t thinking clearly, were you, Dinah! Succisive time, indeed!

But I should have no trouble introducing homerkin, a noun for a measure of beer into my daily word-nerdiness! “Husband! A homerkin to slake this thirst, if you please!” Yes, I’m well pleased with this cyber-shopping.

If you would like to keep some wonderful old, un-used, out-of-date words alive, make your way over to the “adoption centre” and do your bit for language. (Even if you don’t adopt any, you’ll surely find some you’ve never before heard. And it’s free!)

Not quite so well pleased with my challenging self portrait. Now, I will show you the final print, I promise, but as this is an in-house project you’ll have to wait until all prints have been submitted. And that will be in less than 2 weeks. Eeeek!

But wait! You want more? How about this:

I challenge any reader, whether a printmaker or not, to cut a self-portrait in lino. Take a photo of your print and post it on your blog and let me know when you do.

You never know, you might have more fun than you think.

As I write this, more pewter clouds are gathering. The cyclone that threatened Cairns a couple of days ago weakened and merely caused widespread flooding. Now, still a rain depression, it’s coming our way. And I heard on radio news a while ago that a 4 metre croc has been sighted in the harbour. Yachties are warned not to clean their boats til the big fella’s been removed. Oh! The fun we have in the tropics!

But getting back to the links and connections and contacts of the blogosphere…

From the talented Jackie Morris (how does she find time for all she does?Oh, that’s right-her cats do most of the blogging!), I followed a link from Wales to Scotland and now I, too, am making paper boats!

Here’s a prototype. It sank.Very quickly!But my first efforts were of scrap copy paper that I fished out of the basket to wipe my brush on. I’m working on something heavier and, hopefully, more seaworthy for my submission. But I think the preservation of the cottage is a worthy idea.