01 Feb 2011

Day 32:

From underneath the screen has crept this baby praying mantis, approx one and a half inches in size. I have probably blinded him by taking the picture as the flash went off and I was a couple of inches from him.  He has run off behind the table so hopefully is okay.  Thankfully he stood quite still as they can do a rocking movement which with my camera would have been difficult to get a clear shot with.

31 Jan 2011

Day 31:

Jan Smuts Avenue, Winston Park, Greater Durban.  It must be the longest tree-lined road in KZN. Always a treat to drive thru.

30 Jan 2011

Day 30:

A typical picture postcard snap today.  Spent the afternoon at Durban Ski Boat Club which is just to the north of the northern breakwater of Durban Harbour. Windy, sea very choppy and blue bottles around so not a good day to swim other than that a great day. The size of the people on the beach gives you some idea of the size of the fully laden container ship leaving the harbour.

29 Jan 2011

Day 29:

This ia a delightful embroidered block (approx 2 inch x 2 inch) done by one of the ladies from Hillcrest Aids Centre, an organisation that has a setup very near to me which includes a shop that sells the most wonderful pieces of art. What will I do with it?  Not too sure.  I have a collection of approx 5 of varying sizes and will probably put them altogether in a wall hanging.

28 Jan 2011

Day 28:

Unfortunately I disturbed him while trying to get into position .  This is a friends cat who had made himself quite comfortable in a basket full of fabric while we were making a helluva racket having a meeting.

27 Jan 2011

Day 27:

Yah! we have sun and blue skies.  I was house bound for the morning waiting for a delivery so took a walk outside and discovered one of my day lilies was making the most of the sunny day.  The colour is perfect and I am pleased with this snap.

I must add I snapped away at a number of things, even the dirty,leafy bird bath which gave me some wonderful pics with great contrast and shadows but decided this was the one for the day.

26 Jan 2011

Day 26:

I was getting into the car at our local library and the little light that was shining thru all the rain clouds (yes, still raining!) picked out the moss that was growing down from the fork in the tree in front of me and I could not resist.

25 Jan 2011

Day 25:

Battled for a pic today as I was teaching the whole day (free motion quilting!) so no exciting new works to snap and it has been raining all day as well.  Slouching on the sofa while hubby prepared supper my eye caught this small pottery bowl amongst my collection of Andrew Walford bits and a big question mark appeared,  It does look like it could be one of his but his famous mark is no where to be found.  I did not actually purchase this piece but inherited it from mum so I will have to check with 'big sis' to shead some light on its origin. 

24 Jan 2011

Day 24:

How 'english/country' looking is this shot!  This was taken from within the sewing room of a fellow quilter while visiting today.  Her roses were heavy with rain and battling to hold their heads up high.  The bird looked like it had just flown in.  Oh how ones imagination can run away with us.

23 Jan 2011

  Day 23:

An early afternoon visitor to the garden. Nothing spectacular other than I actually managed to get a picture before he fluttered off.  I think he is the Common Bush Brown Butterfly (Bicyclus Safitza Safitza) and I say he because the males are dark brown.

22 Jan 2011

Day 22:

It's summer and it's mango season.  Came home with a packet which are not quite ripe but the wonderful colours of reds and greens. 

21 Jan 2011

Day 21:

This is a  ring which I purchased before Xmas which was not very expensive but very delicate and pretty.  I have no idea what the 'resin' is but it is taking some hammering with wear and slowly cracking so I thought I had  better capture it before it totally disintegrates. It always draws attention when worn.  

20 Jan 2011

Day 20:

Not the best shot, but this was my wow factor today. Tried a technique I have not used before printing a picture onto water 'wash-away paper' , applying a medium to both the picture and the fabric, placing the picture onto the fabric , print side down, and running a brayer over the area. Lifted a corner of the paper and checked and it was okay so removed the paper.  My trial was the little picture and that is the result. Very happy!

I need to give credit to my son, Murray, whose picture it is of his lovely wife and my daughter-in-law, Jess on their wedding day.

19 Jan 2011

Day 19:

I was at another guild meeting this morning and these flowers made up the back of a fellow quilters jacket - absolutely delightful!

18 Jan 2011

Day 18: 

Wow, I am now up to date. Hilary you will be proud of me plus a lot of friends will be laughing themselves silly as I swore blind I was not going to get caught up in blogging!!!

An unusal picture but one of my next group challenges is 'recycle' and although I have  managed to link all the themes with the previous challenges I  have decided to do something I have always intended to do and that is create a textile wedding momento of the bits I have collected from my eldest son's wedding, hence the tie, dried ivy from the flowers, invites etc etc....   This was the inveiling this morning!

17 Jan 2011

Day 17:

Took the dog for a walk down to my local stream.  During the recent heavy rainfalls the stream has flooded with the water way up over the vegetation on both sides.  This is still more water than normal and poor Monty could not understand where all the rocks had gone.

16 Jan 2011

Day 16:

A day at the beach and I could of posted some typically wonderful shots of large ships leaving the harbour or people swimming but I have opted for texture.  This is what is left of a path down to the beach after years of wind and wear.

15 Jan 2011

Day 15 :

Ran a fabric dyeing class for a local shop today.  This was one of my samples!

14 Jan 2011

Day 14:   

......more rain.  We remembered to treat out wooden bench prior to the rains hence when it does the water sits on top, previously in wonderful patterns .   This will have to do.

13 Jan 2011

Day 13:

As a result of all the rain my back steps are covered in moss and small unwanted growth.  It does make for a good picture but when wet these steps are now dangerously. 

12 Jan 2011

Day 12:

Yes we have been having more rain. I just loved the drops of rain on this Iris in the garden.

11 Jan 2011

Day 11:

A piece of my work! Yesterday I picked up an artists canvas block to frame my entry in the Bernina Fantasy Fabric Challenge. I attached it to the block today and having yesterdays events still in mind I followed the thread theme and this is a section of the whole piece which I am delighted with.

10 Jan 2011

Day 10:

A visit to my local quilt shop gave me this pic. Threads are always an attraction for me. I don't need to say more!

09 Jan 011

Day 9:

Again I am attracted to the lines and texture of this tree stump in the garden as it slowly dries out and decomposes. Although this was 'removed' a number of years ago it is amazing how woody and hard it still is.

08 Jan 2011

Day 8:

Back home. This was another Xmas prezzi,e this time from my sister-in-law..... a cushion, but a cushion with an attitude. These two 'ladies' move around and change their pose each time somebody sits in the chair. They are opposite to where I normally sit so I have great fun watching their antics.

07 Jan 2011

Day 7: Day 5 in the park. Our aim was to take a slow drive thru the park and then head for home. Unfortunately we in SA have been having our fair share of flooding as well and so we had to cut short our stay as we found more and more weirs under water and impassable. I was lucky to catch these two Nyala bulls before they disappeared into the growth as they are very shy.

06 Jan 2011

Day Six. Day 4 in the camp. This was a junior Whitebacked Vulture trying to dry himself off after an extremely heavy number of rainfalls during the night and morning. There were a number of birds of prey out perched on the tops of the trees with their wings slightly open and making the most of sun which did not last.

05 Jan 2011

Day 5: Day 3 in the park. What on earth you may add! I am often drawn to design elements because of my interest in the Textile Arts, hence the lines and the texture in the bamboo branches that made up the walls of the ablution section of our tent in the camp. Hence the picture.

04 Jan 2011

Day Four: Day two in the park. A herd of Wildebeest had moved into the trees during the heat of the midday sun. They were a little unsure of us particularly as a lot of them had young ones. Spring 2010 appears to have been a good one for the animals as there were many additions to the families all round.

03 Jan 2011

Day Three: The next number of pics will be ones chosen from our stay at Impila Tented Camp, Umfolozi Game Reserve where we spent 5 days. This was taken on our way back to the camp at nightfall on the first day. It is quite common to find Zebras and various other animals quite close to the camp at night. I think they have a false sense of security. I quite liked the contrasts in the picture.

02 Jan 2011

Day Two:

This was a prezzie from Murray & Jess for Christmas .... a puzzle which I still have to make but I love the actual picture. The box remained propped up on the mantle piece for a number of days after the 25th so I could just enjoy before I eventually put it away. Hence the pic.

01 Jan 2011

This is day one of my 2011 challenge. It came from out the blue but hey it is something different and believe me quite challenging. I am not a photographer so the pics will be very average.

The Challenge! To take a photograph a day for 365 days of something that suddenly jumps out at me during the course of the day where ever I may be. Naturally when away from the normal run of the mill things I will be taking more than one picture but will choose one 'for the day'.


Day One. This is a glass paperweight bought back in the mid eighties in the Lake District, UK from a glassblower called Adrian Sankey(? - surname not very clear on base). After all these years I still find it very touchable and appealing.