I Am A Magnet....

...I collect. What? Well, anything, really; not from a conscious, rational decision, but a sort of 'creeping-up-behind-me-accumulation-of-stuff'' effect. It all depends on what I've been busy doing over the past few days, or weeks, or let's face it, months.

At the heart of this colourful still life is a clip top storage box, designed to accommodate exactly the kind of small items any craft addict will understand. But then, the lid of this handy box turns into a shelf and in next to no time, certain items take root and the whole assemblage begins to acquire the appearance of a Still Life arrangement for Budding Artists. Note the capital letters, which imbue this statement with gravitas.

Now the 'stuff'' becomes merely an interplay of form and colour, something to be appreciated in its own right, and my sense of propriety and tidiness flies out the window. It has its own persona, this group of items, with a story ready to sprout from each one.

A box of rubber bands I bought while I was still at work, which dates them as being at least five years old, were recently brought into play when I needed to bundle something up - I forget what (!) - but their bright blue carton goes so well with the blue clip on the box, and contrasts delightfully with the  green, Scotch Magic Tape container in the foreground...

Then there's an added visual zing from the pink and turquoise pair of compasses, attached to a sad, red and black pencil which has seen better days.  It echoes the scarlet head of the bird who's lost his tweet and, at the top of the picture, the ribbon badge, unraveled, which was once the emblem of some charity campaign.

There's a delicate, wooden filigree  bookmark which came all the way from China - a gift from a workmate - and it's silken cord adds its rich gold tone to the acid yellow of the bird's underbelly. He was a Christmas present from a neighbour, who knew well my sense of fun. For several years, the slightest movement would start up a tweeting song from this warbler, but now his battery has expired, and there's no way to replace it.

So to the casual observer this may be a heap of detritus, but to me, it's a living story, still being written today, for the box of pins, there amongst the heap, will aid me in a dressmaking enterprise this very afternoon!

And In The Daytime

One tiny blue star from my nighttime photo in the previous post, comes into its own, against the dappled foliage. While the sun shone, I took my new camera outside, to see how the screen visibility fared in the bright light, and I must say, I was impressed.

 As luck would have it, an obliging butterfly
flittered to rest on the shrub, long enough for me to click the shutter. There have been far fewer around this year than last, so I was pleased this one was not camera shy today.

I couldn't blame his friends from staying away from my garden, which has had containers devoid of any blooming plants all summer - and the word blooming may be read as an expletive, as well as a horticultural expression! Extremes of sun and rain made my paved sun trap an inhospitable place for pot plants, although the few shrubs with their feet firmly planted in the soil have battled on bravely to create a symphony in shades of green, for which I have been extremely thankful. Mother Nature is such a great gardener when left to her own devices!

The Night Garden

During the past week when my brother and sister-in-law stayed with me, the Autumn weather was particularly kind. It blessed us with much sunshine, which was rather astonishing, as S-i-L is renowned for being a bit of a rain goddess on the quiet! As the intrepid travelers have zoomed around the world during their long years together, many countries could bear witness to this fact. Hehehe!

But this time, the sun smiled - except of course at night. The darkness tempted me to try the 'night mode' setting on my latest camera, and I rather liked this Flower Moon with its tiny, satellite bud which appears to shed its own light on the Choysia leaves in the foreground. I was surprised at how the rest of the nearby foliage remained in shadow...

Anyhow, it prompted me to create this blog post, which has to be a good thing, when you see how long ago it was that the previous one made it to the screen - says she in apologetic fashion...

And also from my night garden, here's the little blue stars that were twinkling at me, too.  How small and shy they look, dwarfed by the spray of huge leaves beside them. Who knows, perhaps my next post will have some daylight pictures, too...