Na'zza and the Fruit

Here's a short video slideshow made from some of the rapid sketches I'd done during 2016. The location is Birkenhead Park, and all but one of the sketches were done with an ordinary fine-line ink pen. I used a small pad which could easily be tucked inside a jacket pocket for convenience. When I describe the sketches as rapid, I mean it. Many of them were completed within a few seconds. I hope you all enjoy the video. You can find my other videos by using the menu above, or at my YouTube site.

As I type this, rain is pattering loudly against the window beside me. It's a sound I've always enjoyed; I find it strangely comforting and restful. Rain has its own musicality.

The rain will also help to water-in the loganberry and thornless blackcurrant canes I planted in large tubs yesterday. I also potted up two wall baskets with three tiny strawberry plants in each. As they grow, these will happily dangle down and provide a splash of greenery on a garden wall as well as offer a supply of home-grown fruit. Strawberries will grow well even on the smallest patio or veranda, and require very little care. I grew them in our old garden and the hardest part was harvesting the ripe fruit before our Westie ate the lot.

Richard invented a new dinner. He'd prepared the topping for pizzas before discovering we were out of pizza bases. I'm not fond of them anyway as the bases make my tongue feel like it's been licking carpet. What was he going to do? Make elaborate cheese on toast? Then his eye fell on a packet of na'an bread... A purist might cringe but actually it tasted delicious. I recommend it, despite the bread being floppy so you have to roll it like a pancake to eat it. We name this dish piz'an, or na'zza - take your pick.

Comments

A Cure for Aging?

"All that we profess to do is but this, - to find out the secrets of the human frame; to know why the parts ossify and the blood stagnates, and to apply continual preventatives to the effort of time. This is not magic; it is the art of medicine rightly understood. In our order we hold most noble -, first, that knowledge which elevates the intellect; secondly, that which preserves the body. But the mere art (extracted from the juices and simples) which recruits the animal vigour and arrests the progress of decay, or that more noble secret which I will only hint to thee at present, by which heat or calorific, as ye call it, being, as Heraclitus wisely taught, the primordial principle of life, can be made its perpectual renovator...." Zanoni, book IV, chapter II, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, first published in 1842. Oroboros keyring - Spooky Cute Designs The idea of being able to achieve an immortal life is probably as old as human life itself. Folklore and mythology ab

Feature & Follow Friday

The Feature & Follow is hosted by Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog. How does this work? First, leave your name on this post, (using the Linky tool at the end of this post). Next, create a post on your own blog and add the Linky code. Thirdly, visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments, (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you! What sets this Hop apart from others, is the Feature. Each week Parajunkee and Alison will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is their Feature today? Find out below, using the links to their sites. There is also a set project which people can participate with. This week's asks: If you could choose any character from a book, who would it be? What do you think that character looks like and what do you have in

Ancient Rock Carving in Stapledon Woods, Wirral.

Richard on top of the rock, to give an idea of its size. This strange carving can be found on the Caldy side of Stapledon Woods, facing farm fields which are separated from the wood by a low sandstone wall with a castellated top. In summer, the rock face is hidden from casual view by trees covering the slope which leads up to it from the path running alongside the sandstone wall. Has anyone got any information about this carving - what it is, its age and purpose? I've been given several theories; one that it was made for shelter, (which seems dubious as it wouldn't work very well); or that it was somekind of ancient relinquary relating to pre-Xtian religious beliefs. Any further ideas or documented evidence would be most welcome.

Search This Blog