France - part 8

Our first major outing from Eygalieres was via the abbey at Senanque to Roussillon. The abbey car park was absolutely packed, so we drove back up the hill and parked in a little lay-by overlooking it, and then walked down and took a few photos but didn't actually go in.
They practice crop rotation, so some of the fields were planted with phacelia as a green manure - but their primary harvest is lavender.

The next couple of photos were taken along the road to Roussillon, and at the approach to the town.

This next one was lovely - and yet all it was was the metal frame around a place to leave bins and rubbish.

And a glimpse of the ochre;

It's Those Snails Again...

It's been a long time since I made a waterfall card, so here's one using the Silly Snails from Art Neko again. Yes, I know technically a waterfall card should cascade downwards - but for some reason practically all the ones I have ever made run sideways like this one.

There is a little sparkle on the snails' shells, but it's hard to see. Also I wonder if maybe the Spectrum Noir glitter overlay pen doesn't work as well on a smooth surface such as the Polychromos pencils leave. I'm experimenting today to see if using one on watercoloured paper works better...

The coloured embossed background piece was in my scrap box, so apart from Liquid Pearls, I'm not sure what's on it. I was happy to find some ribbon that went well with it. I like stitching round the card to secure the strip that that waterfall is attached to, as a less bulky alternative to brads or eyelets.

I'd rather have my snails on a card than in the garden. I see that they have demolished one chilli plant entirely, and another one is rapidly disappearing.

Park History Part 2

I think the Mountjoy Cross sign is now quite out of date, since it's now a roundabout!

I have been thinking that some fine mornings I should get an early bus as far as the park gate and walk through the park to work - and Thursday's walk has given me an extra nudge in that direction.

Park History part 1

We are currently experiencing a partial bus-strike; no service last Thursday or Friday, most likely the same next week, and Friday and Saturday the following week. I use the bus to travel to work...the train runs behind our house, so on Thursday morning I took the train to work and walked out from the city centre.

The train service at commuting times is pretty OK - just crowded - but off peak it's not so good, and I knew that the earliest I could get home would be nearly 2.30. So, when we finished work a little early, and the day had improved from the morning drizzle into sunshine and a nice breeze, I decided to walk home. I know that I can get from work all the way through the park to the stop near Castleknock gate in less than an hour. And I normally walk home from the dentist in something like twenty minutes, so already the journey was broken down a bit in my mind, just leaving the bridge between the park gate and the dental surgery.

If Google Maps is to be believed it is a 9 km walk  - just over five miles, and they estimated 1 hour 53 minutes walking. I was aiming for one and a half hours, and in fact made the trip door to door in hour hour twenty-five - which is not bad considering that I took so many photos along the park section that I have to make this in two posts, and since I was only using my phone, I had to unlock the screen every time I stopped for a photo. And several information signs were missing - at least half a dozen.

Re-hearse

On the way to work...

This utility box is titled Mapped Out. Like the two below it, it's just in front of the Law Society, hence Justice.

Scooter City has a new next-door neighbour

August Favourites...

This month's blog header comes from our visit to the Botanic Gardens last September... I had originally picked a photo that was vivid autumn colours on some of the little Japanese trees in the rockery - this is also from the rockery area and a bit softer on the eye.

I was especially pleased with "Reach for the stars" as it used up two pieces from my spare/reject background box - the wrinkle-free distress base, and the watercoloured girl and cat who had a sentiment stamped upside down beside them on the original card. Mind you - if I know I'm going to be cutting out, I prefer to use a lighter weight of watercolour paper to make it easier for myself, and she was stamped on a particularly good heavy one.

Oh, and I have been meaning to give a book recommendation. One of the books we took on holidays with us was Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan. C read it over a few days and enjoyed it, although he felt it had a bit too much of Google the place. I read it in a day, and didn't feel that. I see that there is now a prequel, which I will have to check the library for.

Autumn....

...is nearly here. Well, if you go by the traditional Irish start to Spring on February 1st, St. Brigid's Day, we're already well into it. But I disagree; I don't think we have four three-month seasons here. Winter is pretty much November to March in my book, Spring is April and May, Summer is June and  July, and Autumn is September and October. 

Anyway, whether it's meterologically, my chronology or the traditional Irish count, there's a chill in the air and the leaves are falling, so it was time to change out my summer sampler and put some autumn into it;  this is what I came up with. I was disappointed to find that I only had one small scarecrow stamp which didn't really work, there were three squares that didn't make the final cut when it came to assembling the 9" panel - it's a 12"  frame.

And sticking with leaves, a card I made recently for the Art Neko blog...I did some stamping with leaves to create a setting for my stamped owl. The little nutshell one came from my grandmother's house, so he is not just wise but ancient. 

I'll be back in a couple of days with more cards as I pick my August favourites - and some more memories of France as I continue to chip away at culling and editing.