Questions needing an answer please...!

When I started my blog

 my daughter gave me this book

I read it from cover to cover

  found many of you within it's pages

 but there was one important point she made

Ask permission to use photos.

WELL..

now isn't that a story

as instructed

I dutifully composed a basic email

then I personalized it for each

photographer,

 magazine,

designer etc.

 I had found over the years

 and liked

129

emails

 sent

1

reply

this lady 

Polly Eltes

you can find her

 here

Not only is she a beautiful photographer

Who imbues all her photographs with a special warmth

as a person,

 she is one class act!

Within a day,

 I received the loveliest email in return

 giving me full permission to use her images here

I had sent her a link to this site

 so she knew I had 7 followers 

had written maybe 15 posts 

(Let's be honest I was not going to set the world on fire!)

but still she bothered

Bless her.

Subsequent to  this 

I heard an interview with several editors of home magazines 

who all said how they disliked bloggers using their images

 but they wouldn't mind if we asked permission

Wouldn't it be nice if they replied when we did?

Now I would like to know

If they did not reply

did that mean

I could

or

I couldn't?

I have to be honest and say

that I have used some of their images anyway

but I always feel unbelievable guilty and I don't like that

Really I'm a good girl, I am!

I also want to thank all you lovely blogging friends

who have said 

' yes, go ahead,' 

or, 

'that's OK,' 

after I have admitted to you that

I pinched an image off your site

Bless you all.

But the quandary is

what can I use

 that is currently sitting in my lovely files

what can't I use

and how do you find who to ask when it comes to

sites like Flickr

CAN ANYONE HELP ME?

Goodnight

          

Oh dear.....!!!!!!!

I think I have

 Blogger's Block!!!!!!

Every night this week

 I have sat down with the perfect post.

Knew exactly what I was going to say.

Opened up the new post page and......

Absolutely NOTHING!!!

Do I have to many thoughts to put down

or

not enough thoughts to put down?

Do I know what I want

or

am I just totally confused?

Like these two images from here

You see I really want a house that looks like this

BUT...

I keep going back to this!

Whether I like it or not this is me

not smart, not sophisticated

Just a warm, elegant, beautiful

 and comfortable room surrounded by

things I love.

Books, flowers, paintings, warm polished timber, mirrors, precious things,

 pink, white open fire, soft cushions.

Then sit the people I love in those chairs and on the floor

and I would be really happy  

BUT...

I still want this too!!!!

Tonight was going to be about last weekend

Tonight was going to be about a dog show

Tonight was going to be about our Art Exhibition!!!!

(Mandy beware!)

Tonight was going to be about Kate's new blog

Tonight was going to be about the new book I've found!

!!!!!!!

Totally confused

which leads to 

absolutely 

nothing 

at

all

Goodnight

            

The hidden talents of a friend....!

I have a friend,

 one of those lovely friends

 with whom you can talk about everything and nothing

One of those friends 

that you don't need to see all the time

 for them to still be a friend.

 We are not old friends,

 fairly new in fact, 

and are still getting to know things about each other.

Recently she and her husband called in

 and he mentioned that Mandy painted!

We hadn't talked about this and I was fascinated

 so this weekend I was at her home and asked to see her paintings.

"I paint faces" she said

I don't quite know what I expected

 but this is what she does 

and I am in absolute awe of her amazing talent!

I want this one!

(Mandy the line has gone!!!)

what character 

Oh Frieda!

And this one!

 reminds me of Mandy!

I am sorry my photography does not do these justice!

At the end I found a few more and Mandy said

"I tried water colours here"

TRIED!!!!!!

Top is the Chairman of our regional Arts Board

my Mother was a painter and I dally in the field 

without a huge degree of success!

so it is rather exciting to find such a talent

 and to be able to share this find.

 I hope you agree with me

Mandy you are a star.

Goodnight

          

measure twice...cut once!

When Top was a small boy

 he was given a box, 

very like this,

 for his toys

The main difference being

 that the lid was rounded at the corners in the front

                                                                                                                                                                                         here

  

Over the years 

it became rather battered

 and eventually 

it passed to our children, 

as their toy box.

But, as all children do,

 they grew up 

and didn't want, or need a toy box anymore.

So now we had a well worn but well loved box

What to do with it?

We stripped it....

we painted it white....

we painted it black...

It just didn't fit with the rest of the house.

  So

I painted it citrus yellow 

 and then aged it with burnt sienna

I removed the lid

and painted it with a scene from

the tapestry

the Lady and the Unicorn

This scene in fact.

I was absolutely thrilled with it

 it had taken me two weeks of painstaking work

note the detail in the background    

When we were sure it was dry Top very carefully screwed the 

lid back onto the box

 remember those rounded corners at the front!!!!!!!

I HAD PAINTED 

THE WHOLE THING

 UPSIDE DOWN 

Two days later,  it was sanded back, 

repainted yellow

 aged again with the burnt sienna

Two days later I had finished the top again

remember it took two weeks the first time!!

 and now it looks like this

  

Not quite as good as it had

and I realise now

 that when I started painting the first time 

I should have remembered that there is a reason that carpenters 

always measure twice and cut once!

  it saves a lot of costly mistakes

There's a little change here Kerry from
 http://tranquiltownhouse.blogspot.com    
suggested I  send this link to                                                                                                                  

Between naps on the porch  

for metamorphosis Monday 

don't know if it will work but I am going to give it a try.                                                                                            

I was waiting at the PO

 when it opened today

 and there it was

The brown cardboard box

from Borders Bookstore

I ripped it open

only broke three nails!

inside

569 pages

of

'The Girl Who

Played with Fire'

 and

602 pages

of 

The Girl  Who Kicked

The Hornets' Nest

I know the house needs dusting

the mulch needs laying

the ironing needs doing

BUT

it will all have to wait now

 whilst I read !!!

Will keep visiting briefly

 but may have a bit of difficulty

 getting my head out of these books 

before they are finished

Has anyone else read them?

Did you enjoy?

now 

Lisbeth Salander 

is calling me back 

 Goodnight

           

say a little prayer....

I have a small problem

with stress 

which is why 

I am currently doing

 the mindfulness course

which requires

living in the now!

I don't much like

 a lot of the now

 just disaster after disaster

day after day

 has a way of getting to me

but at least

 a lot of these disasters are

over there!

so I drown myself in

painting and polishing

 blogs and books

and then I read

acanthus and acorn

and Afghanistan is no longer just a place on the news 

not just a place we have troops too.

It is somewhere, that someone I admire, had a loved one.

then I read

renee fineberg

and this beach from her blog is no longer just a beach

it is a beach

 threatened by a very real disaster

and it is affecting someone

 I like to think I have come to know a little

and to like a lot

and then I read

karina gentinetta

and Karina has volunteered to help in the clean up here

on these beaches

because it is her home

then I read

savvy southern style

and this flood is affecting her son 

and the rain is heading her way

Blogs are more than pretty pictures and people making nice comments

they are a personal link to the world

Suddenly those disasters 

that happen across the world

 and give you a moment of thinking 

'oh how awful'

are right here

 affecting people I exchange information with

people I am coming to know through their writings and chats 

people who are coming to mean a lot to me

suddenly

all of these awful happenings affect me

and I am glued to the TV waiting for the relief of dry weather

the relief of the oil being stopped

the relief of the troops being recalled

Blogging connects us all

and maybe if we all pull together

 we can in a small way

 make things better 

what do you think?

Acanthus and acorn, Renee, Karina and Kim

I borrowed your images I hope you don't mind

and my prayers are with you all, your families and your friends

Goodnight