Happy Halloween

I made this Halloween banner for my Directory of Illustration portfolio!

Autumn gardening 10

The window box looks far better after a spot of painterly gardening! In my mind, it now has a neatly pruned  pink geranium (strictly a pelargonium I believe), which will most probably continue to flower for a while, and some bulbs all neatly tucked up in the potting compost ready for spring. Those of you with good memories will recognise the floral hand trowel from my spring gardening project: )

Autumn gardening 9

The window box is looking very tatty now, so time to tidy it, and maybe plant a few spring bulbs to grow alongside the geranium.

autumn gardening 7 and 8

This was the sight that greeted me when I opened the curtains this morning: snow! Unheard of in October in London. What was great was seeing the snow against the lovely yellow and orange autumn leaves for the first time.

I hate being cold, so after a brisk walk to enjoy the snow crisp air, dreaming about spring flowers in my warm living room seemed a good plan!  Pink tulips are a favourite : )

Illustration Friday - "Repair"

Rather late because I was away for the weekend! The illustration is based on repairing a fluffy bright pink beanbag for my niece in September - she was so pleased : )

Autumn gardening 6

The telephone comes in handy, too: my garden backs onto a railway line, and there is a serious problem with "invasion of the triffids", as a friend so eloquently put it! It is telling that Network Rail's automated call directing system has "vegetation" as an option. Anyway, they have now chopped back the mixture of sycamore tree, brambles, russian vine, and bindweed, etc which was overwhelming my garden.

Autumn gardening 5

A frequent visitor to my garden: a sleek, plump squirrel, who busies herself digging up the spring bulbs, and burying instead peanuts that I guess she has pinched from a bird feeder nearby!

Autumn gardening 4

Here is my third gardening prunings/sweepings bag. My virtual garden is far tidier than the real life version now!

Autumn gardening 3

There is such a lot of clearing to do in autumn that I use all of my garden waste collection receptacles! This one is a pretty, round and floral, and it  folds neatly into it's own cover for storage.

autumn gardening 2

There are heaps of clippings, prunings, cuttings, etc to do at this time of year. I am so pleased the local council collects the plant matter for turning into compost1

Autumn gardening 1 and the rest of autumn wardrobe

September flowers, or as they used to be known, michaelmas daisies, which very unfairly, I dislike intensely. They are a pretty flower, but to me symbolise the end of summer, which I hate!  I decided that I'd paint the counterpart to "spring gardening" that I did earlier this year  as my October blog project : )

This is the final image in "new autumn wardrobe", and is not so much "new" as newly renovated! It's my fabulous long black wool coat - very Victorian style - and I have had it re-lined this year. The woollen outer part was in fine condition, but the lining had disintegrated to the point that every time I moved, I heard a ripping sound. Luckily, my Dad knows someone who does that type of repair at a most reasonable price : )

Pink cord trousers are an essential staple in my autumn/winter wardrobe, and unfortunately my current pair is wearing threadbare now! I'll have to keep an eye on Per Una, since that is where they came from. Being quite long-legged, I often find difficulty getting trousers that fit.

Autumn wardrobe day 8

I've been a bit slack posting here, although I have done some more paintings. The truth is that living space is undergoing some improvements which mean that the scanner is temporarily quite difficult to get to! Hopefully, this state of affairs will be put right at the weekend. In the meantime, here is the lovely soft woollen beret I'd like to have. Unfortunately, the dreaded moth got my last one.

Autumn wardrobe day - the real thing

Here is the first of the lovely marine blue angora gloves that I am knitting! The painted vision appeared here as Day 3 of "new autumn wardrobe"