I've decided to try and do lots of little blogs rather than big ones...well unless the muse takes of course and I get carried away... :)
So, it's a blustery autumnal October Sunday.. the leaves are falling in earnest now, and the weather's quickly changing from sunshine and a pleasant warmness to dark clouds and showers, both of which have the wind carrying a bit of a bite now and then... Think we're in for a blustery winter - we haven't had one for a couple of years and boy can it blow a hoolie round here! (Hence the special ridge tiles on our roof - the ones that grab the physical timber construction of the roof - after the 3rd insurance claim in a row...)
The baking monster has grabbed me again this week - I'm thinking of making banana and date loaf and sultana and ginger rock cakes...
It's Halloween next weekend...hope the weather is kind! We've got friends over and are going to sit around the merrily burning contents in the chimenea (a chance to burn lots of the paper based what-would-have-been-recycled products if the bin men weren't still on strike!) I'm going to have a go at some kind of gingery sticky cake for us to have with carajillo's....
I'm conscious I said I'd aim for shorter blogs...think this will take some practice!
Sunday 25 October 2009
Thursday 1 October 2009
Seasons of mist....
I love this time of year...I'm one of those really strange people who isn't that fond of Summer - don't get me wrong, I love the warmth of a summer day, and way the warmth smells...the buzzing of bumblebees flitting from flower to flower, so heavily laden with pollen they can hardly get themselves in the air again, the heavy scent of the roses in full bloom...but each of the other three seasons hold a special place in my heart - my soul even....
Autumn's splendour of colours - the rich earthy smell of the leaves, reds, oranges, coppers, deep browns....bright red and orange berries, and the deep dark brown bark on the branches able to be seen again... Crisp mornings, bright days, morning mists, rainy days, darker evenings ready to cocoon you, giving you permission to close the curtains on the world or start a fire in the chimenea sitting in front of it in the dark with a brandy to keep the autumnal chill at bay...
Winter's starkness...Nature sleeping, conserving its energies for the coming Spring... brisk cold days, steel grey skies, the flashes of the Robin's breast as he forages for his breakfast on the bird table...the beginnings of buds on the trees - not quite ready to grow but promising they haven't forgotten what's next...Snowdrops pushing their heads through the frozen ground reminding us of where we planted them, and what we can expect from their fellow plants when the world starts to wake up again...the excitement of watching day by day as Winter comes to a close the promise of Spring...
And then the amazing, glorious insanity of Spring!!! Nature fulfilling her perpetual promise of birth and renewal - the madness of the trees, their leaves literally bursting out of the branches - corms and bulbs almost growing before our very eyes! Bluebells, daffodils, primroses...nettles, thistles and blackberries literally growing from what looked like dead matter - an amazing feat that never ceases to amaze me! Daisies and dandelions racing to put on their first show of the new season before they're chopped down as weeds in the first grass cut of the year....
And so, the first of my favourite seasons is here - Autumn, and with it...Hallow'een - but that's a post for later in the month :)
Gaea is putting on one of her wonderful shows for us - immerse yourself in the rhythm of life and enjoy!
Autumn's splendour of colours - the rich earthy smell of the leaves, reds, oranges, coppers, deep browns....bright red and orange berries, and the deep dark brown bark on the branches able to be seen again... Crisp mornings, bright days, morning mists, rainy days, darker evenings ready to cocoon you, giving you permission to close the curtains on the world or start a fire in the chimenea sitting in front of it in the dark with a brandy to keep the autumnal chill at bay...
Winter's starkness...Nature sleeping, conserving its energies for the coming Spring... brisk cold days, steel grey skies, the flashes of the Robin's breast as he forages for his breakfast on the bird table...the beginnings of buds on the trees - not quite ready to grow but promising they haven't forgotten what's next...Snowdrops pushing their heads through the frozen ground reminding us of where we planted them, and what we can expect from their fellow plants when the world starts to wake up again...the excitement of watching day by day as Winter comes to a close the promise of Spring...
And then the amazing, glorious insanity of Spring!!! Nature fulfilling her perpetual promise of birth and renewal - the madness of the trees, their leaves literally bursting out of the branches - corms and bulbs almost growing before our very eyes! Bluebells, daffodils, primroses...nettles, thistles and blackberries literally growing from what looked like dead matter - an amazing feat that never ceases to amaze me! Daisies and dandelions racing to put on their first show of the new season before they're chopped down as weeds in the first grass cut of the year....
And so, the first of my favourite seasons is here - Autumn, and with it...Hallow'een - but that's a post for later in the month :)
Gaea is putting on one of her wonderful shows for us - immerse yourself in the rhythm of life and enjoy!
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Morning meandering of thought...evening enlightenment
Well, there I was, travelling to work this morning...well Husband of Mine was acting as chauffeur bless, allowing me those wonderful vague meanderings of thought during my morning commute without the babble of the general public around me... and I had what I thought to be one of those lightbulb moments...a flash of creativity...
It went along the lines of 'hmmmm...Blogging could be thought of as journalism by the public for the public....'
When I got home this evening I thought I'd do the old Wikipedia search as to what the definition of journalism was and found this:
"Journalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and comment via a widening spectrum of media. These include newspapers, magazines, radio and television, the internet and even, more recently, the cellphone (or mobile phone)...."
It went on to say...
'...The rapid rise of Internet technology, in particular the advent of blogging and social networking software, further destabilize journalism as traditionally understood and its practitioners as a distinct professional category. Combined with the increasing leakage of advertising revenue from pre-existing journalistic media into the internet, the full impact of the arrival of the citizen journalist—potentially positive (proliferation having thus far proved more difficult to police) as well as negative—is yet to be seen.'
Once I got past my initial reaction to the thought of destabilizing journalism (?????) I clicked the link attached to 'Citizen Journalist'....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalist
A rather interesting read (well I thought so :) ) ...
So, my lightbulb moment wasn't unique..sad but true...(a little bit like early humans on different continents making fire or similar tools from bits of their environment without being able to see what the others have done....) More importantly though, it took me on a brief but informative journey that makes me feel like I'm a small player in a bigger game... I may not be a trained or experienced journalist, but it doesn't put journalism beyond my reach, any more than not being a fully trained artist or singer put drawing or singing outside my reach, although I do feel some sympathy for those who have to read, view or listen...remember folks... practice makes perfect ;)
Hmmm....'citizen journalist'... I like that! Think that may work its way into my header somewhere... :)
It went along the lines of 'hmmmm...Blogging could be thought of as journalism by the public for the public....'
When I got home this evening I thought I'd do the old Wikipedia search as to what the definition of journalism was and found this:
"Journalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and comment via a widening spectrum of media. These include newspapers, magazines, radio and television, the internet and even, more recently, the cellphone (or mobile phone)...."
It went on to say...
'...The rapid rise of Internet technology, in particular the advent of blogging and social networking software, further destabilize journalism as traditionally understood and its practitioners as a distinct professional category. Combined with the increasing leakage of advertising revenue from pre-existing journalistic media into the internet, the full impact of the arrival of the citizen journalist—potentially positive (proliferation having thus far proved more difficult to police) as well as negative—is yet to be seen.'
Once I got past my initial reaction to the thought of destabilizing journalism (?????) I clicked the link attached to 'Citizen Journalist'....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalist
A rather interesting read (well I thought so :) ) ...
So, my lightbulb moment wasn't unique..sad but true...(a little bit like early humans on different continents making fire or similar tools from bits of their environment without being able to see what the others have done....) More importantly though, it took me on a brief but informative journey that makes me feel like I'm a small player in a bigger game... I may not be a trained or experienced journalist, but it doesn't put journalism beyond my reach, any more than not being a fully trained artist or singer put drawing or singing outside my reach, although I do feel some sympathy for those who have to read, view or listen...remember folks... practice makes perfect ;)
Hmmm....'citizen journalist'... I like that! Think that may work its way into my header somewhere... :)
Tuesday 22 September 2009
My very first blog...
Well hello out there...!
This is my first blog - nothing earth shattering unfortunately... it's like one of those moments when someone says 'sing something!' and you're lucky if you can remember the words to the National Anthem...(wow! that takes me back around 30 years to a school trip to the South of France - I was around 14 years old and yep - someone said that to me, and yep...I just about remembered the National Anthem...)
Over the years I've tried to keep diaries - I'm not a great diarist though... days, weeks, even months can pass between entries... also, there's something a little unnerving about the marvelous potential of a new book - those lovely crisp, clean pages that intially attracted me to purchasing it become intimidating...what should I write!?!? What if I make a spelling mistake or write complete gobbledygook....!! Arrrrggghhhhh!!!!
So, this is my attempt at a more fluid way of capturing those little insights, vague ramblings and the odd observations but via electronic means with the added benefit of text editing and spell checkers...no terrible handwriting either! I think the Tweets and Facebook updates will still pepper my days - but let's have a go at adding another dimension shall we!
Welcome to The Jottings of Jaxter...let the blogging begin!
This is my first blog - nothing earth shattering unfortunately... it's like one of those moments when someone says 'sing something!' and you're lucky if you can remember the words to the National Anthem...(wow! that takes me back around 30 years to a school trip to the South of France - I was around 14 years old and yep - someone said that to me, and yep...I just about remembered the National Anthem...)
Over the years I've tried to keep diaries - I'm not a great diarist though... days, weeks, even months can pass between entries... also, there's something a little unnerving about the marvelous potential of a new book - those lovely crisp, clean pages that intially attracted me to purchasing it become intimidating...what should I write!?!? What if I make a spelling mistake or write complete gobbledygook....!! Arrrrggghhhhh!!!!
So, this is my attempt at a more fluid way of capturing those little insights, vague ramblings and the odd observations but via electronic means with the added benefit of text editing and spell checkers...no terrible handwriting either! I think the Tweets and Facebook updates will still pepper my days - but let's have a go at adding another dimension shall we!
Welcome to The Jottings of Jaxter...let the blogging begin!
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