My poor back ...

I can't believe how much work it takes to write a poem. I have been grafting away at two poems for my next writing assignment, and have done 9 drafts for each so far. It is so absorbing that I've been sitting over them for hours. Which is why my back now aches. Time to go and do something completely different - like draw my toes.

Ink Tin

You can tell I've been catching up! Actually, I did these challenges about a week at a time but didn't find time to upload them here.

Challenge 80 was to draw something that makes me happy and to write about it. Here it is, with notes on the sketch.

Draw an ear

Challenge 79 was to draw an ear or ears. Coincidentally, this was something I had already done. As I wear two hearing aids due to a recent hearing impairment, I have developed something of a curiosity about ears. You could say they have been brought to my attention. I took some photos of my own ear, and did this painting from one of the more out of focus shots. Yes, I know it looks a bit wierd but it is an ear, honest.

Souvenir

Everyday Matters challenge number 78 was to draw a souvenir of a place I've been, and journal about it.

Last March we went to visit my parents at their place in Spain. On our first day there, they took us for lunch to a great Chinese restaurant (I'm afraid I've forgotten the name) where you could eat as much as you could possibly fit in for about the price of a sandwich and bag of crisps here. This included sangria on arrival and liqueurs to finish. They even gave the ladies a gift at the end. This was my gift.

Kids

Came across these little chaps on a walk yesterday. Aren't they gorgeous? They were about the size of a cat.

Hardware hitches

I've had a frustrating afternoon trying to get Holly to recognise an external hard drive. She's not having any of it. There's no driver to install as Windows XP is supposed to have its own driver for USB ports (or something). So why does she not recognise it? Grrrrrrrrrr. What we really, really want is a techno-wizard that we can employ to look after Holly for us.

On a more positive note, I have just registered domains for my business name (more later) and submitted my tax return. They owe me - yay!

Tomorrow, I want to do some drawing before I forget how.

In the post

A parcel arrived today from Claire Mackaness I won a prize for being cheeky - and what a lovely prize it is. I shall look forward to my next soak in a hot tub after a long walk.



I'm starting to find my way around Paintshop Pro - but I think it will take months to work out all the things that it can do.

And I'm on the final section of my creative writing course - Going Public. This is where it gets scary. I have to research a suitable magazine and write something appropriate for submission. And I've only got four weeks for this one. Gulp.

Catching up

This is Hebden Bridge. We spent three days there last week, and returned home with a bag full of timetables, property guides, tourist information and even a recycling leaflet. We also met some very dear friends there. Strange, given that they live in Norfolk and neither of us knew that the other was going to be there. Coincidence?


I've just bought and downloaded Paintshop Pro which is currently on 50% off special offer. My plan is to do my own graphics for a website design. It is time I got my career coaching business online.

I found an excellent book to help me work out how to use my DSLR - The Digital Photography Handbook. It manages to tread a fine line between being too technical or too simplified. I'm very pleased with it.

I've also bought the 2007 Writers and Artists Yearbook in readiness for the final section of my writing course - Going Public.

I haven't drawn anything in ages :(

There. I think that's me up-to-date.

Fete

We've just been to the local summer fete. I'm not sure which the best bit was - perhaps the dog competition for the dog with the waggiest tail. Or maybe the young dog handler competition where the large black labrador dragged the three-year old out of the ring - three times! Or the bird of prey display with two owls. One flapped her wings. The other sat on child volunteers and had her wings placed over their heads.

I did like the three alpaca though - such sweet faces, and quite capable of making a bulldog cower behind its owner.

Howard Hodgkin

I ventured to London yesterday to visit the Tate Britain's Howard Hodgkin exhibition. These paintings look totally different in the flesh. They have substance and texture, and are totally different sizes than you might imagine from the reproductions. The colours are different too. I loved it, and didn't want to leave the gallery. The website is quite good too - there's loads of information if you follow the little orange links below the banner heading.

New toy

echinacea single bloom
Originally uploaded by krikelorac.

I've been playing with my new toy, and finally got around to uploading some pictures to Flickr. I can see that I'm going to have to get organised on image storage.