All found yesterday on one beach.
They were all there basking in the warm November sunshine.
Posted in art from natural objects, humour, stone
Tagged beachcombing, Devon, faces found in nature, Seaton Beach, silly saturday
Posted in art from natural objects, stone, walks
Tagged faces in nature, faces in pebbles, random finds, silly saturday, stone face
Continuing the story of the ‘Bench of Gratitude’ Installation at West Dean College.
As I sat on the bench and looked out across the park, the focus of my gaze became the clump of trees in the middle distance.
Dan, our tutor, would come round and chat with each of us about what we were creating. He asked if I was thinking of creating something under those trees to link to two places. Hmm … I wandered up there to have a look.
Near to the trees and just behind them is an installation by Andy Goldsworthy ( whom I have found inspiring for a very long time). It is a chalk boulder, surrounded by small chalk stones. You can just see a white dot under the branches of the clump.
This is a photo of the Chalk Boulder I took in December 2021 when I went on a Helen Turner, Wabi Sabi art course.
I picked up a small chalk stone and went back under the clump of trees to look back towards the bench and ponder the next step.
As I stood there it became clear to me that a) I did not want to create something under these trees and b) I could invite others to add to what I was doing at the bench if they would like to.
I do love creative collaboration.
When I got back to the bench, I still had the piece of chalk in my hand and wrote MEMORY GRATITUDE CONNECTION
A Valentines Day present for my daughter and her family.
The big heart shaped stones were found by Little Miss M, in the stream near my house a few years ago, the others have been sitting in my ‘heart-shaped stones’ collection on my bathroom windowsil. The moss and catkins are from my garden.
I am still experimenting with moss-on-a-plate arrangements and when I saw these little stained glass trees on the Not on Amazon (I do not buy from Amazon) page on Facebook ….. well of course I had to get them.
They are made by an independent UK artist, TaylaMadeGlass
This is not an Ad, I like to support small independent businesses, the link is in case you would like to find out more.
I am joining in with Cathy and her hugely enjoyable In a Vase on Monday meme.
Cathy has made a moss-on-a-plate for the garden and that is my next mission.
30th Jan 2022 in garden, photos, stone, travel, walks
Tagged family time, Silent Sunday, Stourhead
After visiting Cathy’s garden, the next day I drove another two and a half hours to visit a friend from school days who lives in Cumbria.
The weather had turned cloudy. On the first afternoon we walked at Leighton Moss and the next day walked along a nearby canal.
The decommissioned canal is now a haven for wildlife and a fun feature to have at the end of the garden.
Not quite sure of the purpose of this stone construction, which was at the top of the bank going up to the canal.
but obviously I enjoyed finding this little collection outside a farm gate

and I have a soft spot for old, rural post boxes (I wonder how long they will be in operation for)
Then we walked along an estuary and up through the woods to get a view of the hills and mountains of the Lake District, which were just peeping through the November skies
A happy time reconnecting with an old friend and seeing a very different landscape.
Next day I was off to Harrogate to the Knitting and Stitching Show!
I am very excited about telling you all about it – it was FANTASTIC!
Spending time by the ocean restores my spirits like nothing else can.
I went to Newquay with two friends – we have holidayed together before many times, so we know it works. This was a special birthday treat for one of us, spent in a very special place.
The video was taken on our balcony and the round room at the end was our sitting room with 360 degree views – it was spectacular.
We walked, we ate delicious meals, we did a mind-scrambling jigsaw together, we danced to 60s and 70s tunes, we read, we watched the surfers and the golfers below, we relaxed, we laughed and breathed in all that ozone.
I hope you too can soak up some holiday vibes from the photos – put on a bit of Elvis, the Stones, the Beatles and the Proclaimers and you will be right there with us!
look at the salt water swimming pool
On the walk home: a bench with lichen and rusty bits!
on the beach we found thousands of these magical remains of By-the-Wind-Sailors
a type of jellyfish, but so much more than that
we watched the storms
and drank coffee in the cosy Seaspray Beach Cafe
and every day a rainbow!
it was magic!
Posted in art from natural objects, mandalas, stone, travel, walks
Tagged beach, coast, Cornwall, Fistral Beach, heart of stones, Lewinnick, Newquay, rainbows, sea, Seaspray Cafe, storm clouds
The Shelbys are having a Zoom meeting …….. now don’t all talk at once!

Coronavirus has hit Shelbyville
None of the residents wanted to get ill
It was with some resistance
They had to social distance
Yet they found they could communicate still!
All of them had the Zoom App installed
So during lockdown they wouldn’t feel ignored
They could chat every day
Sing songs, dance and play
No chance of them getting bored!
At 9 every day it’s keep fit
With the Aliens it’s become quite a hit
With their yoga and gym
They keep themselves trim
They are not the type to just sit!
Maggie and Shelma miss going to town
All the shops they love have closed down
But the girls are not stopping
They now do internet shopping
They’re the most glamourous Shelbys around!
Sandy misses Shelma whom he dated
His love for her is unabated
He keeps the romance blooming
With lots of daily Zooming
Most of it is very X-Rated!
poem by Judy E. Martin
photo by Sandra Dorey
There might be some of you who have not met the Shelbys before, here are a few links
Meet Maggie, the Pole Dancer Maggie More Maggie Meet the Family Meet Shelma Shelma and Sandy Sandy
It feels so good to team up with Judy once again. She is a frontline worker as a nurse and I am full of admiration for her. I was delighted when she said she could find the time to create one of her fabulous poems to go with the photo.
Many thanks for the work you do Judy and thank you so very much for sharing your humour and poetry with us.
Posted in art from natural objects, poetry, stone
Tagged humour, Judy E Martin, poem, poet, poetry, shell art, silly saturday, UK poet
Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while will know how much I loathe housework, but these are strange times! Today found me actually wanting to give the bathroom a thorough going over!
As I was putting things back on the windowsill, I realised that every item has a special memory or significance to me.
Left to right:
There is an Umbrella plant, that I grew from a root cutting given to me by a dear friend who I see only rarely nowadays. She is currently staying somewhere in deepest India, unable to return home due to the transport system in that country being under lockdown. The glass bowl it sits in, has been with me since I got married in 1972, nothing special, not beautiful, but it has become an old familiar friend.
In a little pot next to it are some honeysuckle cuttings, waiting to see if they grow roots, so that I can give some little plants to my daughter as requested.
The fish shaped little dish holds a bumble bee that sadly died in my bathroom, I know Little Miss M (7) would love to see it, so I am keeping it for when she is able to come into my house again.
The clay dolphin was made by Miss E when she was about 8. I took her to some wonderful sculpture and stone-carving worshops when she was being homeschooled.
I bought the brass incense burner with the Ohm symbol when I was travelling in 1994 and visiting Buddhist communities all round the world – such powerful memories. It reminds me of chanting in the echoing valleys of the Himalaya Mountains.
The scallop shell was given to me by my neighbour, who is a diver, and brings me yummy scallops in the summer. The shells it holds all come from the beaches of my beloved Pembrokeshire, collected on my month in a treehouse by the sea.
Sea glass, collected on my local beaches, in times gone by.
A collection of tiny white pebbles – there is something so beautiful about them.
The twisted piece of wire with beads: this was a spiral Christmas decoration I had been making with my grandchildren

One of them sat in the bathroom, and after the twins came to stay – I found this one had been just too tempting to resist – I rather like the resulting tiny wire sculpture.
The jam jar has more honeysuckle cuttings,
and the shell on the right was given to me by my Mum when I was a teenager.
A whole lot of family, friends and memories on that tiny windowsill.
Do you have similar little collections about the house?
Posted in children's art, garden, home education, sculpture, spirals, stone, walks
Tagged altar, beachcombing, Christmas Decorations, collections, cuttings, family, honeysuckle, pebbles, seaglass, shells, windowsill, wire and beads

29th Sep 2019 in garden, sculpture, stone
Tagged Dorset, garden seat, lake, Sculpture by the Lakes, Silent Sunday
Here we are on the first Tuesday of the Month , our Monthly Meet-up Photo Challenge, with another collection of WINDOW photographs. To join in please leave a link to your photos in the comments. Your photos can be any interpretation of the subject, and can be your latest photos or archive photos and posts – all welcome.
Forde Abbey on the Somerset/Dorset border in the south of England is the perfect place if you are looking for a collection of windows to photograph. Join them on Instagram to see some wonderful photos of the gardens.
The photos above are the windows to the Orangery, we couldn’t go in in February, but peeped through the windows to see the citrus trees inside

I hope we will be able to wander through this space later in the year when the house is open for viewing.
Til then we had the outside views to enjoy.
But we could go into the Chapel where, behind the Rood Screen, there was a delicate tree flowering in the window – is that a Mimosa?
but this Window at the other end of the Chapel stole the show
especially with that blue sky beaming through.
I’m looking forward to seeing the windows you have spied this month.
Posted in garden, stone, travel, walks
Tagged Dorset, Forde Abbey, Monthly Meet Up Photo Challenge, Monthly Photo Challenge, photo challenge, Somerset, windows
Linking with my cheerful cheeky playmate, Judy Martin, for another Silly Saturday
Some are baggy and saggy
Some are perky and pert
Some are tiny little gnat bites
Some so big that they hurt!
Some are flabby and floppy
Some are bouncy double Ds
Some are wrinkled and crinkled
Some hang down to the knees!
Some are always kept covered
Some are all over YouTube
Have you guessed what these are yet?
Yes! A nice pair of boobs!
~
Poem by Judy Martin
Pebble Art by Sandra Dorey
Inspired by artist Amy Gear and one of the photos she posted in Instagram
We have something a little more risky for you next Saturday!
You have been warned! 😉
Edit:
Judy’s blog is, most deservably, up for an Award and I’m delighted to say so is Wild Daffodil – pop over to Sasha’a Blog and have a look to see all the different categories. You might see one of your favourite blogs there and give them a vote!
Posted in art from natural objects, poetry, stone
Tagged Amy Gear, humour, Judy E Martin, pebble art, silly saturday

I met this guy on Branscombe Beach last weekend, any ideas what his name could be?
He looks like he might be emerging from his underground home to see who’s about.

I think he might be related to this chap who lives in the Lost Gardens of Heligan

I don’t know his name either.
Joining in with Cee’s Oddball Challenge
Here we are again. Helloooooo! How has your photographic month been? I’ve had a great time in the recent snow and ice, in the delightful village of Branscombe, Devon. I stayed in a little self-catering flat, called Nestlecombe, in the Square that I have no hesitation in recommending.
In the bitter cold wind I went down to the beach to see if I could get some inspiration for our subject this month. I do love to see stone-balancing, and you can see some beautiful examples if you look at the Genteel Giant’s photographs on Instagram. My sisters met him on Newgale beach when we were staying there in January, I was back at the holiday let crocheting at the time, so didn’t get to see him, but love his work.
It was far too windy to try stone balancing but I played around with scale a bit.

The sea was scarily fierce and with the tide coming in, it nearly caught me out whilst I was picking up the plastics on the strand line (hence the poem)
I tried in vain to catch the power and the scale – the pictures look tame in comparison with the experience.

We are such tiny creatures who do well to respect nature’s power
high tide
strong winds
fierce waves
~
death is only a trip away

~
Please leave a link to your photos of SCALE in the comments below. Can’t wait to see them!
You can see the whole year of subjects on my Photo Challenge Page.
Next month’s subject is
YELLOW

As seen in a hotel.
I love the simplicity of this for a winter arrangement.
Pop over to Cathy’s to see what she has in her Vase this week.
Posted in art from natural objects, stone, Vase on Monday
Tagged In a Vase on Monday, pebbles

Shelma was going out on a date
So excited she just couldn’t wait
She was looking her best
In her January Sales dress
The evening was going to be great
~
Sandy lit Shelma’s fuse
She loved his winkle picker shoes
It brightened her mood
To be with such a cool dude
He banished her January blues!
~
They wanted to paint the town red
But painted the beach blue instead
A moonlit walk along the sand
Strolling together hand in hand
Anticipating what lay ahead.
~
poem by Judy E. Martin
shell art by Sandra Dorey
What lies ahead for this couple I wonder, any ideas?
Will it be calm seas or stormy waters?
Judy and I have enjoyed teaming up again this week. I do love her take on things, pop across to Judy’s Blog to read more of her delightfully beguiling work.
Did you know you CAN still buy Winkle-Picker shoes? I’ll be looking out for them now.
I recently found the pebbles that my grandchildren children had drawn on last Summer, lurking in the bottom of a bag. They had obviously been lying in wait, ready for an appearance in a ‘Silly Saturday’ or two.
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