More Horse and a Tabby cat

Last night I did some more work on the horse head. Now I wish to issue a disclaimer here as this horse head is an expariment to see what I can do and how it will dry so I recognise the shape is not perfect so please bear with me.

Here I have added a mane and forelock.

You can see from these angles that the shape is not quite right.

This is the worst view. My underlying structure was wrong but I dont mind as it was an experiment and I wont really know how successful it has been until completely dry and I paint it up.

I know how I want to paint him I have a couple of Piebald cobs whose portraits I have painted so I am going to use them as models for colour.

Continuing with my adventures I have also finished off this little cat its based on a drawing I did. I dont know how secure or stable the little tongue is until it dries but then there is always superglue!!

Yipee Day in Studio - Horse Update

I have spent all day in my studio today and had so much fun. My horse head is not wonderful but I am so enjoying doing it here are some more stages. I covered it in baking foil first then modelled some ears out of a bit of car and glued them on with Superglue. 

I know the head is a little broad but I am just bashing this out as my first go. The bronze heads in the background are just to give me a guide.

I sprayed the whole thing with mount spray and then started work. I am using Air Dry FIMO. I rolled pieces out in a polythene bag and began by wrapping layers around the foil base. It looks better from one side than the other.

Here it is tucked up for the night!

Air Dry Clay - A Horses Head - Probably

You woukl not believe that an adult could have as much fun with Cardboard,Scissors,Glue and Sticky tape as I have this afternoon. I am using a different brand of Air Dry Clay and either my attitude has changed or its better. I have made another version of Kat based loosely on a drawing called Kartoon Kate I did ages ago.

Buoyed by my liking of this new clay I hsve started a horses head. Well when I say horses head that will be the aim.

Yet again I find myself steering clear of overplanning and just got stuck in.

So here is Phase 1 and 2 of my horse

Phase 1

Phase 2

Housebuilding!!

I decided the time had come for some major refurbishment in the Hedgehog Household. The last home had just been used as a bit of a flop house so Heath Robinson here we come!!


The basis of Hedgehog Mansion is :

A Milk Crate.


I attempted initially to cut out the milk slots to make more room but after about and hour got fed up.

So I packed the inside with broken up polystyrene made some holes with an old soldering iron and then wired a piece of old wood inside to make a 'roof cavity'. A bit like poor mans loft insulation but it should also become somewhere that insects can hide in.


Here is Hedgehog mansion positioned behind the bamboo.

I blocked the holes on 3 sides with old edging stones and bricks. I put some large old lumps of wood on top and dumped loads of rotting wood around. Now over the winter I will gradually add to the heap as I find 'stuff'.


Thus hedgehog mansion becomes a combined compost area, food cupboard and hotel room.

I have piled up loads of loose grasses and leaves beside it as in the past I have found if you leave ample bedding around rather than stuffing it all inside Mrs Hedgehog drags it in and that way its easy to tell if you have any tenants.

And this is how much of Hedgehog Mansion is viewable from the rest of the Garden.

Contact Lens Woes

Thought as this blog is about me I might as well fess up to being a a myopic old bat with Advanced Kerataconus.
The company that make the only lens that works in my right eye.......... dont make it anymore so I am having to go through the hell of the Dark Art of lens fitting all over again.
I just got back from the first Lens Fitting (I lie I had a Cup of Tea first).

I have had an hour or so of trying out various fittings of Synergeyes lenses. I am guessing they are ClearKone as I have to fill the lens with saline to put it in.

As usual an hour of putting in lenses taking them out and shining lights in my eyes has driven me close to large bars of chocolate.

They are so new to my practitioner that she was double checking the fit in the instruction book now if she had gotten me a copy I could have memorised it and helped her out!! At least after we had muddled our way through crowbarring the first fit into my eye (my description not hers) by the time I left having inserted fit 4 or was it 3 I lost track I wacked it in first go.
Big thumbs up for Bill who waited outside and had been off and bought me a tube of smarties for when I came out. At my age fancy getting bought smarties for being a good girl.

Now we wait for 3 weeks for the order to come in from the States!!

Meanwhile I have been supplied a larger Scleral lens for my left eye which is like trying to stuff a bone china teacup under your eyelids. I am taking some time to get used to it and I cant use alcohol as internal medicine as I cant mix booze with some tablets I take.
Hey Ho at least I have decided to make November Quiche month - pastry anyone ??

Arthur 'Two Sheds' Jackson

For those of you unfamiliar 'Two Sheds' is a Monty Python sketch and of course the differences between me and Arthur are I do have two sheds My lovely Studio which no one is allowed to call a shed except me and My Garden shed  which has all my lovely gardening tools and 'Stuff' (In my opinion you can never have enough stuff!).

My Studio is in a sunny corner and my shed is in a very dark corner however my manservant made me a lovely little potting bench finished off with yacht varnish. I would like to think its because he worships me but I think he found the thought of having his own personal chef, Cake Maker Gardener and Launderess locked out of sight outside of meal times much too appealing.

I should however point  out that my brother has exceeded expectations and has I believe Two sheds and a greenhouse but then he doesnt have a garage.

WOW - ULEY FIREWORK DISPLAY

Last night we went off to Uley for their Annual Charity Bonfire and fireworks. Would you believe it is about err um mmmh oh god 30 years since I went to a bonfire night. They are always cold and I dont like loud bangs.

My brother is part of the team that organise it and has been doing it for 7 years so off we trotted!

Well Uley was gridlocked I have never seen so many cars so ambitiously parked apart from the ones that were slung or abandoned. I have never seen so many people. It was at the Millenium field we parked up on a layby near my bruvs house on Crawley Hill.

Not sure where the Millenium field was we followed the crowd. Then we discovered we were following the crowd who also didnt have a clue.

Arrived eventually and couldnt believe the number of people absolutely hundreds and the whole thing was 100% free all money was for charity and you parted with it by buying  ULEY BITTER or Coffee and Cakes or Barbecued Grub or Raffle Tickets or just chucking coins in a bucket.

Being a hater of large  queues there was nothing for it. The BBQ queue was huge so we had to content ourselves with eating the best flapjacks on the planet and drinking Uley Bitter after all it was for charity and to make up  for the guilt of not queueing for BBQ food we chucked our cash in the buckets (Being a keen gardener I have a soft spot for a good bucket).

The FIREWORKS were absolutely fantastic I was so impressed and really glad that Bill was with me because it meant I could spend the whole evening stood looking up with my mouth open without falling over as I had a good handful of coat.

The evening ended with some explosions that were so loud I couldnt decide wether to hide behing the teenage son of Neil and Louise or stuff my head under Bills coat. I had to have a Uley Bitter to recover (strictly medicinal of course its good for shock honest!).