Difficulty

dull, 21°C; light NW winds

Cycled 62.4 miles

With some difficulty. there is a pulled muscle in my neck which bears the load of my head. I felt it over every bump and couldn’t turn my head more than 60°. That was the difficulty.
Rode along-side a gold coloured dragonfly.
I did think about my next picture, I can see it now ( etc etc..). I did want for a sketchbook when I was at a cafe, but drew it out at home anyway. No painting today.
Thinking of distant friends.

What’s it all for

What are blogs for? (again)

In a conversation I was asked
It seems that most people use it socially. If you use messenger & contacts say "hi what have you been up to?", you tell them, then the next person comes on line & asks the same question. You could write in here the day’s story, you can save yourself the trouble of repeating yourself, AND they are more likely to ask a more interesting question to do with your entry. You know.. they might therefore ask – "how exactly did you get the dog off the roof & is he scared of you now?" So use your blog to fill people in.
 

And:

London bombings and bicycles – read more
 
Webstuff:
Colour combinations page for web page designers- useful for setting page colour schemes from swatches.

Stepping on snails

RAIN

 
I try not to do it, but the snails just get everywhere in this rain. Wheeling in the bins is tricky [It is wednesday after all ;-)]  they look so eager and optimistic, not to mention – simple.
 
Framed 2 more paintings today…
Fixed a leaking pipe in the bathroom…
Cycled 35 miles, erm … what else?
the Graphics tablet is still not working with everything. Photoshop doesn’t recognise it’s pressure sensitivity, photoshop 6 did tho’. It works well in Illustrator as well as Coral Painter. Maybe Adobe need to release a patch for PS 9. there is nothing on the Adobe site today. Below is a little picture made in illustrator, possibly the worst picture I have uploaded to this blog to date.
 
My my haven’t I had a lot of comments lately.

Take one Tablet

Thin clouds- cycle before it rains!

New graphics tablet has arrived. Same as the last one, but not broken by leaving a cup of tea standing on it- who-ever that was- OWN UP!
I will post a picture when it’s installed.
 
off for a bike ride now before the bad weather arrives.

Framed

More weather. Warmer than yesterday.

 
Only drawn up that new painting onto the canvas. Then got distracted when I noticed some wrapped picture frames in the corner bought ages ago. It looks very nice but the frame is glazed, that means it can’t face anything that will give a strong reflection- otherwise you can’t see the picture. Done two frmaes today, they do look a bit odd with dark pictures in them. Perhaps I should get some wood stain. There are about six more here that are worth putting up.
 
Blimey! -sixty page views today, but half are RSS feeds & I dunno how to track those; who is it I ask??
 
Anyway, at last I’m getting a new graphics tablet, could arrive tomorrow or soon. Not to mention some CDs to fill up the parcel a bit.
 
 

feels like Sunday

17°C, thick clouds all over the sky.

Sixty-one miles

 
as Morrissey said " Every day is like Sunday" . Relevant because I went cycling today ( instead of yesterday), it didn’t rain today. Not much to say for collecting anecdotes, I do have that feeling that it doesn’t matter how much I eat- I’m still hungry. As I write, I eat a bowl of cerial, that’s to top up after dinner and pudding.
The cycling was easy, made a decent pace, and felt little sign of tiredness even in the last tens of miles ( of sixty).
 
Unbroken clouds today, whichis quite a change from the summer’s weather, the air is milky but distant landscapes are dark. Curious because they have been light recently, nearly as light as the low sky. No point worrying about it now. Actually, I am thinking about that next painting, it had beter be good after all that time considering before I even begin! Every so often, he gets the Peter Howson book, this may be a break from Burnt umber.
 
Today is remarkable: no coincidences, no anecdotes and nothing ironic happened. In fact (who is the guy) who said that nothing is ironic in Alanis Morrissette’s song "Ironic", the only ironic thing about it is that it contains no irony, just co-incidences. he may be right.
 

Derflinger

21°C; sun & wind.

 

Paying for yesterday now, sore legs, tiredness and needing of sleep. Willdo.

Yet it’s another goreous day in paradise. Bought new brushes, those Dalon D77s seem a bit fragile- unless there is something wrong with my husbandry.

 

On 3D news- read here Max Underground

Skeletal Elms

29°C, lots of- , windless. SPF 20.
 

83.4 miles in the saddle.

 
A short log today, but a long ride filled it up.
Usual stops, but different routes, including getting lost in Coalville.
Many roads were lined with the dead skeletons of Elm trees. That disease has swept right through this area.
 

On painting:

Finally it’s decided- the pavement picture is finished, it can dry in peace now.
 

On Games

Part 3; new game under development. PT Boats. From a similar stable to Il-2 Sturmovic, which is a good pedigree.

Lichfield Cathederal

Very hot, sticky and rather soporific. Weather to fall out in.
The concert was stunning, lots of spine-tingling momernts. This is what live music is for, some was amplified but that didn’t spoil it too much. Such a contrast to The Kings Of leon. The main piece of the night was Miserére by Arvo Part. I have this on record, so had some familiraity with it, but nothing prepared me for this. There is a stunning keychange where the anticipation was built up by the conductor then we al know something was to happen when the choir stood up. One baritone stood with his arms outstretched holding the score, singing very expressively as if his posture helped open his lungs. That image has stuck more than any other in my mind, so we didn’t loose out too much having cheaper North Aisle seats, the centre seats would have been £60.
The location was perfect, a cathederal is THE place to hear sacred music.