DAMN I'VE JUST FOUND OUT THERE ARE COWS IN THE FIELD IN DEVON!

AND WHERE AM I?

BLOODY LONDON!

Blackheath At Dusk

Bus reflections

Same again

The towers without flash

The towers with flash

Blue light on Blackheath's Finest Houses (I want one of those!)

All Saints Church

? Just liked the composition

These pictures were taken the other evening (Friday to be precise). I've always loved taking night shots and now they are more possible with digital cameras!

This weekend has been interesting. Last night I got so so SO drunk on very little wine and managed to upset a lot of people, so I apologize to you all, very, very much. I went from being happy to angry to crying my heart out, I passed out at 1am still plugged in to my ipod which I found in my bed this morning (intact thank God!) and do you know what? I had no hangover! In fact I 'bounced' out of bed and had eggs and baked beans on toast for breakfast, something I never do as I don't eat anything in the mornings because the thought of it makes me sick! Ironic I know.

Plus it's Bank Holiday tomorrow, May Day and I'm intending to paint in my tiny little studio. I discovered today that I only have one canvas left and about 5 tubes of paint. It's going to be interesting!

There's nothing much planned in the week ahead, apart from sending off more job applications, it's really getting stupid now and especially when I see my Gran every week and she always comes close and asks 'You got a job yet?!' I think next week I won't go. That's all she says to me, that and giving me disapproving stares, I mean for godsake, am I 12 or something? Yes. And I want to stay 12 for as long as possible!

Though I don't feel 12. I definitely feel my age! Though I don't look it as I was (again) asked for my age when I was buying wine at Waitrose the other day. I should be flattered, I know, but I'm not! Plus I think I've inherited a family problem (Dad's side), arthritis in the knees and I keep meaning to get it checked out but I have a fear of doctors (and dentists, well, who doesn't?!). I've always had very bad circulation, freezing feet in the summer, cramp in the winter. Or it could be nothing. At this moment, I don't care, all I want is to go to Devon. The trees are budding and soon the Oilseed Rape will be blooming in the fields and I don't want to miss that! The cows will be in the fields and the butterflies in the hedgerows, even though we're going to have a dismal summer, I still want to be there!

Em x

P.S. Below I think I've created a modern day 'Monet' with a camera, what do you think?

Embarrassment For The Government (Whenever Is It Not?!)

Charles Clarke the home secretary for this country has seriously cocked it up! Click on the blue.

Over 1000 convicted foreign crimnals have disappeared from the register ahead of their deportation. They've basically disappeared off the map. Murderers, rapists, burglars, you name it and Mr Clarke almost took the blame just now on Channel 4 news, but he hastily turned 'I' to 'we'. Of course it's your bloody fault, what were you thinking? And also coming from one of the worst 'scandal' weeks for Labour as John Prescott (that odious loaf) admitting to having an affair with his secretary. There was a picture of him with her on his lap on the Daily Mails' front page the other day. . . I felt too ill after seeing that. Plus it's the local council elections tomorrow and I certainly aint going to vote Labour!!!!! Well, would you?! And are any of these idiots resigning? Not on your life!

Right, enough of that.

I want to tell you of a very sad loss I've just experienced only a few hours ago. I CAN'T PLAY THE PIANO ANYMORE!!!!!! My fingers just don't work, they used to know exactly where they were going, now they're like jelly. For years I've been playing the same 12 or more pieces. It all really started at school, the lovely grand piano in the hallway which I'd sit in my free periods playing. The whole school could hear it and I often passed pupils or teachers in the corridors saying how wonderful the piano sounded today and wondered who had been playing it. I never said anything. Maybe I should have, because they certainly wouldn't say the same today! Of course all my friends knew, I used to teach them or they would come into the hall and suggest a tune for me to play. They were great days! My playing included:

The Beatles (yes folks and I was pretty damn good at them) There was:

Let it Be
The Long and Winding Road
Hey Jude
Blackbird
In My Life

Then John Lennon:

Imagine
Oh My Love
How
Jealous Guy
Love
No 9 Dream
Mind Games
Woman

Then Paul McCartney:

My Love
Uncle Albert
Maybe I'm Amazed

Then the odd Bach, Chopin, Satie, Mozart etc

I was good, I used to sit there for ages on end going through them all.

Now? Totally and utterly awful. Today I also include Enya and Blur and a few other well known ones. But the fingers don't move like they used to! And I know, practice makes perfect, but do you realise that almost all I once knew by heart?! All gone (apart from Love and a few bits and bobs of others) That's definitely one thing I blame the alcohol and drug 'abuse' at Art College, it really fucked my memory up. Shit. Today I was playing Satie and the blackbird was singing outside, in perfect time, we were 'singing' to eachother! Until I played a bum note and he stopped!

Well, it's a lovely sunny evening. My Dad and I are going to go for a walk (we did the same last night) and then tomorrow My Mum and I will already be breaking our diets, as my Dad is going to cook, which means loads of food and wine. Basically. . .Naughty stuff! 'A second on your lips, a lifetime on your hips' Whoever made that up should be shot!

Em x

New diet. . .to loose 10 pounds in a week? That can't be right!

Today has been the new start of a new diet. And I'm a little worried, because I love the food, as in it's delicious!

Thats's right folks.

Delicious.

And what is it? Atkins? Oh God no, I tried that, that was disgusting!

Detox? Can't stand it, I've never felt so hungry in my life!

GI? No, but that's good, but it takes a long time to shift any weight, not for the impatient!

Cabbage Soup diet? It sounds stupid, but, YES THAT'S IT, the Cabbage Soup diet.

It took my Mum and I an hour to cut up all the ingredients. 2 hours for it to cook. So lunch at 3:30pm and I've never had such tasty soup!

It's not only about soup, it's about having fruit and a lot of it and unsweetened tea, cranberry juice and water. Only thing is. . .

IT'S MAD!!!!!!!!!!

Somewhere on the 4th or 5th day it recommends you to eat not one or two or three but EIGHT OR MORE BANANAS!!!!! The 6th day is steak, three steaks if you want. Well, I don't eat steak, so chicken or fish, but I can't seriously see myself eating all that meat in one day or eating all those bananas!!! Of course the soup lasts all week, it's like a never ending sauce pan of soup and you must have that at least once a day. Apparently the more soup you eat, the more weight you loose. Wow.

How do I feel after the first day? Well, I have a little bit of a stomach ache but then I have had three bowl fulls of soup, it's something I have to get used to. If any of you are interested and would like the recipe then click here for details


I have just found out that Springwatch will be taking place the time I'll be in Devon.

Springwatch? What is that? You make ask.

Well, I say, it's the best thing on tv. 2 weeks of live broadcast all centred on an Organic farm in Devon, presented by Bill Oddie, Kate Humble and Simon King all about the wildlife of the surrounding area in Devon and up and down the country of Britain. They have cameras in nest boxes and the stars are usually; Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens, Blue Tits, Swallows, Crows, Buzzards and Barn Owls and sometimes Spotted Flycatchers and Pied Wagtails. Cameras in and around a badger set. Stories told by people's wildlife fasicnation, foxes in your garden, deer in the fields, mice in the hedgerows, snakes in the grass, pine martens eating from your bird table, you name it, they have it!

And, you may have noticed the word Devon. Organic Farm. It's called the Fishleigh Estate, run by Ian and Sharon Sargent, and the Farm manager and gamekeeper Peter Walters. Why do I know that? Because I've been there!!! The cottage is 4 miles away. They are in our patch! On the road to Hatherleigh (local slaughterhouse town. . .eek) to Okehampton where Waitrose is. The main farm building is close to the road, so the whole field opposite will be full of caravans and cables and people. It's the first time we've ever been in Devon when it's been on telly. I've also met Peter Walters, when I was doing my Scots Pine project for my MA and I wanted to plant some trees in his land and do you know what, we're still going to! Whether or not it will be that 2 weeks the BBC are there, who can tell, no, probably not. I'd rather 'bump into' Bill Oddie in the local shop/pub(!) and tell him about it then it being offical. Plus they must have so many people calling up to be in the show, I'll just be added to a long list!

So there you go. Happiness. Glued to the telly for 2 weeks. Plus live video cams from the internet, I'll give you the link for that, when it happens. But click here, onto Springwatch now and read it all for yourself.

Happy Emily now. Ok, not so happy that I have to wait another 3 weeks until we go to Devon, but then life sucks that way.

Em x

Chartwell. . . At Last!!!!!

Sir Winston Churchill and Lady Clementine Churchill

The View of the Weald of Kent from Lady Churchill's Bedroom Window

Well, I got my wish today at long last. We went to Chartwell, the home of Winston Spencer Churchill, now owned by the National Trust for 40 years! Beautiful house, such a lovely, happy atmosphere inside and outside was beautiful and the view! My God, apparently he only bought it for the view. The Weald of Kent it is called, 'The Garden of England' and still looking as lovely as when he first saw it! Unfortunately the weather was dull and overcast, after having been promised a lovely sunny, warm day, but it didn't dampen our spirits! Luckily we're all members of the National Trust, so it's free and now I want to go back, but just to wander around the garden. They're re-creating the kitchen gardens, re-storing them to their former glory. There's a massive big lake, overlooked by a statue of Winston and Lady Churchwill (Clementine), where she's looking at him and he's looking out across the water, it's rather magical. At the back of the house are his painting studios, all set up as if he had only just got up and left the room! Cigar, hat, glass of whiskey, walking stick, oil paint with picture on easel. Fantastic.

Afterwards, as in after the National Trust shop and a pot of tea and scones we went for a drive across the Kentish countryside to a place called 'Titsey'. Everytime we go to Devon, we take the M25 going West and just half a mile from the motorway stop 'Clacket Lane' we pass an old mock tudor gatehouse and far off surrounded by huge trees is a great manor house and church. For years I've been wanting to know where that was and only by chance I found it a few weeks back, on a drive with my friend Alice and I vowed I'd go back there and find it properley. The house is only opened to the public on Wednesdays and Sundays from May to September and is owned by the 'Titsey Foundation'. So we drove up the small track and discovered 2 walks in and around the estate, so we parked and wandered up the lane and there was the house. I'd say 17th century and pretty modest and pretty beautiful. Sorry, the photograph isn't all that straight, but you get the picture, bit of a sloping lawn (that's my excuse anyway!). So we will be back, once again, probably in June when we're back from Devon.

In the paper yesterday it said that the month of May will be cold, followed by a lowsy Summer. Great. Fantastic. Bloody country! Nevermind. Thing is they never get it right anyway, so I'm not going to worry.

I feel pretty exhausted now (unlike a certain little mouse who has been asleep all day), so I'll leave it there, just enjoy the photographs (I took over 70! Too many to show here, so I was selective).

Chartwell from the orchard

Chartwell

The Kitchen Garden

Black Swan (same family of swans when he loved there)

A Chartwell Highland Cow

Wood Anenome

Winnie with his Mrs

Wonkey Titsey (Tipsey?!)

Beautiful Kent Valley

CAN ONLY HAPEN IN THE COUNTRYSIDE!!!!!

Em x

Greenwich in the Rain

The Park (wasn't like this on Saturday. . .It was packed!)

Afternoon PC Plod and horse x2

Greenwich 'Empty' Market

Lovely 'Green' Greenwich Park

What Are You Looking At?!

Comerant

Well what a gloomy day, we're still in that good old April month where it rains and rains!!

We went out for lunch, a real treat, walked the mile and a half to Greenwich, to a lovely old pub called the Trafalgar Tavern overlooking the Thames. A tad expensive I thought, not something you can do a lot, but very enjoyable. Sitting there, tucking into battered fish and chips, watching the boats sail by and the Comerants swim by, not to mention the odd bit of driftwood, while listening to nice, sweet jazz. Very relaxing. Then a stroll into Greenwich itself and then back up the hill, through the park, over the heath to home. Nice :)

'Our Local'. . .Though a tad expensive (Note Statue of Nelson)

I bet it's haunted by Lord Nelson!

Gola's fine, always alseep during the day, but I need to get her out tonight and try and tame her somewhat, as she's still a little wild and frightened of us. Actually I'm a little scarred of her, she has sharp little teeth, I saw them when she yawned! I tell you what, I was lying in bed last night with feelings of immense love for that little mouse. It was a very odd moment. I haven't had any animal companion for so long, I find it amazing! And I hope she will be ok now.

Emy x

A Very Lucky Mouse Called Gola

Well blogger has gone mad today and it seeme to me it takes them ages to fix it! The post just doesn't publish, it gets stuck on 0% and it stays there, indefinitely!!!! Fingers crossed this is going to publish now.

So the scaffholding came down today and woke me up at 8am. Real cockney lads! Singing, whistling, swearing and teasing eachother till lunchtime when it was down and the houses opposite 'up'. We told them to be careful because of the blackbird nest, and they were, but now the nest is exposed and the eggs abandoned. So it's a sad day.

On a happier note, Gola has a brand new cage, It's really rather posh. This morning her eye had opened and she was a little more active. The trick is is to pick them up and play with them every day, but unlike your average pet mouse, this, as I told you before, is a wood mouse and they only come alive at night. So she has been asleep all day in her jam jar and hasn't explored the cage yet. With the cage, came a starter pack, but unfortunately for Gerbils but the guy at 'Pets At Home' said they're the same thing. Ok, maybe for a pet mouse, not a wood mouse, but then she hasn't been awake to complain! I've bought her a grass nest and a mineral stone to bite on, strawberry flavoured!!!!

This really is history repeating itself for my folks, who in the 70s had a pet wild mouse, which had fallen from the sky and landed in front of my Mum's feet in Bond Street. The theory is, is that he was kicked off a roof by a builder. Anyone else would have run screaming, my Mum on the other hand picked him up. His back was damaged. So now they had this mouse and had no idea what to do with him. It was Easter and they were carring an empty, decorated egg shell, so they popped him in that. At first they took him to a church, with the romantic idea of letting him go there, but the church was cold and drafty so they changed their minds. So then they thought of putting him in the bushes in the church garden but there were some ugly, great, viscious looking pigeons! So they took him home. Bought a cage, called him 'Billy' and he lived for three years! He used to play with my mum, running across her fingers. His back never got better, but it didn't seem to cause him much pain. Even the cat didn't mind him. But then this was no oridinary cat, a Simease called Pepper after Sgt Pepper. Pepper never caught an animal in his life! Once a bird flew into his mouth and he was so shocked he ran upstairs and didn't come down for hours! That and being chased by a large chicken in Yorkshire (Pepper was taken everywhere by lead). Billy too slept in a jam jar and was also buried in a jam jar. There's something about jam jars!!!! Plus I do have a lot of them, being a painter!!!!

Anyway, 'Mozart' is singing in the tree outside, so maybe they've started again. I hope so. There's nothing better then hearing a Blackbird and watching them bathe themselves in the pond every day.

Emy x

Dragons, People and Mice

Happy St George's Day Everybody!!!!

Queen Anne's House, Greenwich Park

View of Docklands from Shirley's Garden

Shirley's Garden and Shirley

Shirley's Flat

Toilets for the Marathon, Greenwich Park

Hello all, on this very wet day! Though it was fantastic yesterday! Sun out, warm, while sitting in my friend Shirley's garden. I walked over to her, it takes 25 mins, across the heath and through the park. Past the 'hundred' loos for the Marathon (which was today), back to the old road where I used to live and even met the people who bought our house! I had once vowed never to go back, but I have been on numerous occassions! Shirley and I spent some time in the garden talking to her 'marathon runner' Penny who was staying there. Penny wanted to do the 26 miles in 4 hours, I hope she did, even though this was her 7th London Marathon, she was so nervous! Then Shirl and I went down to Greenwich market for an hour then back home to my folks for an Indian take away and champagne, while watching Dr Who. Great time, just totally exhausted from all that walking.

Right, Gola. Well, she seems to be fine. I'm not actually sure if she has broken her leg, but shes definietly only got one eye. We've decided to keep her as a pet, so no nasty vet tomorrow to put her to sleep. She's eating, drinking and washing herself which is a good sign. We tried to buy her a mouse cage today but they had none in stock and we're racking our brains for another pet shop nearby (a certain lack of pet shops. . .a gap in the market!). I've stroked her a little and she didn't bite me. My Mum did the same. She's at this moment tearing up the tissue in her shoe-box to make a nest, though we've given her a jam jar. She probably hasn't had a constant supply of food like this in her whole life! And I called her name and she looked up at me!!!! Apparently the more you handle them, the more tame they become, but I'm still going to put gloves on when I next pick her up, they may be tiny, but they do have razor sharp teeth!!!
So, she seems to be happy at the moment and as she's happy and alive, we'll keep her and nurse her back to health. Wow, I have a pet and for once it's not a gold fish!!!

One-eyed Mouse, Gola

No reply as yet from my hundreds of job applications, let us hope for good post tomorrow. Though I need to paint and I don't think I can wait to mid May when we go to Devon. Somehow I'll get into that little room upstairs and do something.

A few plans this week. Now all the schools have gone back, we'll visit some Art Galleries in London and go and see Winston Churchill's Chartwell, which is owned by the National Trust, so expect some lovely pictures this coming week.

Well, that's it folks and I'll post again soon and of course keep you up to date with Gola!

Emy xxx

Gemma and Gola

Gemma's new place (No.5, Flat 3) Front View

Gemma

Back View

Well, hello folks!

I went to see Gemma today to her new flat. It's a nice little 2 bedroom flat in a large Edwardian house, typical of the South East and what a magnificent home it would have made when it was once one whole house. A lovely communal garden at the back, though lacking in plants and flowers. They have a gardener, but he only cuts the grass. If I was there I would grow plants, I can't be in a garden without flowers! So we had a really nice lunch and then went for a wander and ended up in the nearest pub! It was even warm enough to sit outside in the beer garden!

Last night the two neighboring cats caught a tiny mouse. It was still alive, so I rescued it from teeth and claw (not that they knew what to do with it, I think they were baffled by it and only wanted to play. . . though no excuse! They got a bloody telling off!). So we put 'her' in a shoe-box with leaves, tissues, nuts and water and left her inside, taped up, for the night. I was really expecting her to be dead by morning, as she was in great shock. But the little thing was still alive and she had drunk all the water and eaten the nuts! So I've named her 'Gola' after the shoe-box brand!!!! She has one eye shut and one eye open and she's back in the box for tonight (she's getting better, because she bit my finger earlier when I was cleaning her out!) and my Dad is going to make her a small home in the garden, as in a cat proof home, so she can come and go as she pleases. We've always had mice in the garden (thank God they're not rats) and this is where I don't like cats. Ok, they can't help it, but least in the wild they catch to kill for food. These domestic lot, catch to play and I'm so glad I found Gola when I did, the poor little mite was traumatized and she wouldn't have lasted. So in a way, I'm her savior, even though she bit me! I don't know, I seem to have a habit of giving animals names as you can see from my animal-equals bog, but it's better then calling them 'it' or 'her' or 'thing'. They are all equal little beings, all mice, shrews, voles and I love them a lot and as they're so tiny I kind of feel responsible for them, especially when cats are concerned.

'Gola'

Gola, before she bit me

Gola, after she bit me. . .Ouch!

It was lovely and warm today, so much like Spring going into Summer, all the birds were singing, it really was like paradise! If it's lovely tomorrow, I might take a walk through Greenwich Park, but it won't be the same, there will be loads of people putting up tents and barriers for the Marathon. I hate this time of year, why can't they all piss off????!!!!!!

On that 'lovely' note, I shall wish all of you goodnight and goodnight to Gola!

Emy xxx

P.S. Gola is a Wood Mouse, click here to read all about her!
And Gemma is a human (well, you knew that already!)

The sun is shining (well, it was). . .

Damn, I still think I'm coming down with something!

All today I've been doing my new blog Animal-Equals and I've finally got it all sorted, even though my profile disappeared and I had to write it out all again. I'm still learning! I think it looks ok and I've already had some good, lovely comments. Thing is, I don't want this one to fall by the waste side, but I haven't been anywhere to take any pictures!

So. . .Here's a picture of my Dutch cousin Rinke and David Beckham. I did post it a few weeks back but I took it off, worried about the copywrite, but I checked with Rinke and it's ok!



Rinke is quite a successful journalist and came to the UK to play football with Mr Beckham. Apparently, Mr Beckham is 'drop through your boots gorgeous'! I don't know if I can agree to that, but then I haven't met him in the flesh!

So lunch with Gemma tomorrow, Indian take away hopefully on Saturday night and then, good grief, will be rudely awoken by scores of helicopters on Sunday because of that damn London Marathon - which starts off on Blackheath on the heath and all my 26 years of living here, I have never, ever gone to see it! Madness, aye?! Er, maybe for the sake of my blog I might, take pictures of thousands of people covering the heath? No, that's my worst nightmare! Some people love being in crowds, I certainly don't, that's why I love the countryside so much, so ever so much. S P A C E .

But we'll see. What I need to do is what Tucker does on his photo blog, just go outside with my camera, go for a little walk and take any picture that I fancy, anything that interests me there and then. But where to go? You see, if I go over the heath, it'll be grass and clouds and sun and trees, all over again. I need to think this through. Hmmmm.

Night, night folks, sweet dreams,

Emy xxx

New Painting As Promised

Bloody scheduled outage at 4pm, right in the middle of my bloody new blog creating. . .so the whole thing went pear-shaped and I had to delete it and do it all again!!!!! Before you ask, 'Oh another blog?' the answer is yes, one of two. One is completed the other is still on'the drawing board' stage.

SO MAKE A NOTE OF THIS:

Animal-Equals 'Animals Our Are Equals' A blog site with a difference. I won't tell you any more, go click!

And as promised, a new painting, only one mind as that is the subject for the second blog. More on that in a few days, weeks maybe, as I haven't got the space to paint in London at the moment, I need my studio in Devon and we will be going there around 17 May. Am counting down the days as usual.

'Fire Over Blue' Oil on Canvas

Apart from pulling my hair out over the blog, nothing much has been happening today. I keep thinking I'm coming down with something, but I've been saying that for weeks and I have to keep it at bay as I'm seeing my friend Gemma on Friday for lunch at her new flat. Yes, she's a grown up now, and I'm a little behind. But oh, I can't tell you how pleasesd I am with my Animal-equals blog site. I'm so looking forward to it, especially in Devon in the summer with the new cows! And I'm going to swallow my fear and walk in the field with them. For years I had no problem doing that- then Foot & Mouth came and I didn't see cows in the fields for 2 years after- and I kind of lost my nerve. But now I'm ready (to be chased?) no, they can smell your fear, I'll have none! Uuummmmm, I'll let you know. But, wow, 'live' cows or should I say 'alive' cows?! All the pictures now will be from the archives, but they are good ones.

Ok, that's it now, I'll wish you all good night,

Emy xxx

Catching up. . .The Fair From Yesterday

Canary Wharf from the Heath

Let's Go Fly A Kite

Welcome to the Fair

View from the Big Wheel

On the Big Wheel

Big Wheel

View from Wheel, Old Saint's Church

View from Wheel, Welling and Water Tower on Horizon

View from Wheel, behind, Canary Wahrf

Zippo's Circus on the Heath

I also have a film of my ride on the Big Whell but as always YouTube are taking a long time to process it! This was yesterday (bank holiday Monday) and it was a nice time. We only went on the wheel, that's all you need when you're at at the fair, that and a coconut shire but they went years ago! Pity because my Dad always won one!

Not much else today. Went to the garden centre and bought loads of nice plants for the garden and planted them this afternoon and weeded the stones. Then it rained, and for once we weren't caught out!

Ok as YouTube is being pretty bad, here's a Muppet Show film I found the other day:



I think it's great. Rowlf playing Beethoven's Minuet in G Major. . .they don't make kids TV like this anymore! Least then it was educational, now it's just plain silly, like the Telletubbies for example, what the hell was that all about? (just double click on the film as it's not working, I can see YouTube going down the drain as 'PutFiles' did!)

Ok tomorrow, I promise, painting pictures (just had to get the fair out of the way!)

I don't know what's wrong with Tom Cruise these days, though I've never much liked the chap. This joke of his he made or small outburst over 'eating his baby's placenta' I've been feeling sick all day because of it! Read full article here

We've booked a one week holiday for the summer (no, no-where abroad, why go abroad when you live in the British Isles?!) 15th July for a week to 'Old Mill Cottage', Brockhampton Estate, Herefordshire, a National Trust Cottage, the same one we went before in 2003. I can't wait. The National Trust cottages' are great. A tad expensive. But always in beautiful locations, either in the centre of villages or towns or tucked away on a cliff-head or amongst rolling countryside (which this one is), to take a look at the Cottages the Trust has to offer click here
You can browse the pages or just type in Old Mill Cottage and have a look at the place and be very jealous if you like!

So more paintings tomorrow, though I'm running out of paint and canvas! Oh well, painter's hazard!

Lots of love,

Emy xxx