Shedcast 15 - Looking to the Future on 16 04 2021 at 16 42

Hi Everybody,

Well, I'm feeling a bit sombre this morning as I watch the TV and the preparations for the funeral of The Duke of Edinburgh. It is certainly 'history in the making' as my mum used to say to me. But, life goes on and we shall all just get on with it. David and I have much to look forward to (Covid permitting). 

Anyway, here is our shedcast from last night, we had a couple of hours of conversation over a glass of cider. You will find my sonnet for Prince Philip, below.

      Jane Sharp 

Here is my artwork of the week: All That Jazz and Wild Thing and because this is the last week of our group's weekly painting, I have included the wonderful paintings of my friends, Lorraine and Bob who will now concentrate on their garden for the summer before we resume our challenge in the autumn. Lorraine's Malham Cove is great, and Bob's mountains in blue is stunning. Thank you two for your encouragement.

All That Jazz

Wild Thing

Malham Cove

Mountains in Blue

I couldn't resist taking photo's when David and I went for a long walk the other day, we are really so lucky to be able to step outside the front door directly into the beautiful countryside that surrounds Birdwell.

With the better weather we hope to do many more long walks, especially enjoyable when there is a promise of fish and chips on the way, as was the case when we walked to Hoyland. I would doubt anyone could better the haddock and chips that we got from Ernie's in Hoyland, just the best! We sat in the lovely Old Martha's Yard to dine.

So that's it for another week. The sun is shining, it's a lovely day and I am looking forward to a great week ahead. Lockdown is slowly coming to an end and the wheels of Britain, at least, are about to start turning again. Thank you for taking an interest in my blog, I hope it brings a few smiles.

Keep safe, and keep smiling, 

Love Jane (and David) xx

Shedcast 14 - Rest in Peace Prince Philip on 09 04 2021 at 16 29

Sad news! Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh died yesterday morning at the age of 99 years, may he rest in peace.

Meanwhile, life goes on for the living and the good news is that some of the Corona virus restrictions will end on Monday as the number of people infected continues to drop with deaths now down to below 20 per day. The Barnsley area is still one of the highest infected in the country together with surrounding northern areas. Pubs will be allowed to open on Monday, but only as outside venues, so those without a beer garden will be out of luck. Our beer garden is ready for the onslaught! 

So, here is last night's shedcast:

Poetry and Prosecco - The Zoom event organised by members of the Shortlands Poetry Circle was a lovely event and made for excellent Friday night entertainment. Not being able to get wifi to the shed, we converted a corner of our living room into a shed lookalike for 2 hours of poetry- it was fun!

This is my set which we recorded earlier in the shed:

For the first time in a long time we had visitors last week and we all sat in our garden in the freezing cold, in the hail and snow, in the perfect happiness and joy of being together. Thank goodness for fire pits!

And David and I went for a few walks during the week, at least we can do that:

So, it has been a good week for some, and a not so good week for others. I am looking forward to the week ahead, to more artwork and hopefully to a bit of cello practice, AND a bit warmer weather - please!

Have a good week, everyone, keep safe and keep smiling,

Love from Jane and David xx

Shedcast 13 - Happy Easter on 02 04 2021 at 17 13

Happy Easter to all!

I wish you a pleasant weekend full of love and hope and lots of Easter Eggs. As you will see on the Shedcast, David and I have a bit of chocolate in the house for the weekend. The weather has turned chilly so we shall have to put on an extra layer when we walk out today. But hey, it's not mid-winter and the spring flowers are out, and the birds are singing. We shall enjoy the fresh air, and thank God for our health and the freedom to enjoy the countryside. 

The past few days have been lovely and warm and we were able to sit out in the garden and even have a chat to our neighbour, over the fence. Things are almost normal!

 

My artwork of the week - subject 'Birds' took a few days to complete and I have now started a big picture commissioned by my sister. The bird is a Bearded Vulture which lives on Crete and is an endangered species. The person is a Cretan poet, Kostis Moudatsos. As ever, I know there is room for improvement but I do so enjoy the challenge:

Endangered Species

And I know my friends will not mind me showing you their paintings because we all work so hard every week. I think this week's efforts were especially good:

So, the challenge of a new week is ahead. I know it is going to be a good week because we are going to have visitors on Tuesday. We will sit in the garden and share an hour or two, something that we have not been allowed to do for months. The restrictions are easing and we can now meet up to six people in an outside space. The number of people with the virus is now going down, millions have been vaccinated and slowly, slowly, the world is opening up in Britain. Unfortunately it is not such good news for many other parts of the world where lockdown rules apply. This virus is not going to go away, we know that, and we must all be vigilant for some time yet.

In the meantime, we shall do our best to enjoy life. It's another month and another book. I'm not sure what to read this month yet but last months book 'Daemons' by Anthony Peak was very interesting, though a bit tedious to get through, and in such small print that my eyes were certainly struggling.

So, keep safe everyone, and keep smiling. 

Bye for now,

Love from Jane and David xx