Archive for 20/11/2013
Old School Garden has been nominated for ‘Blog of the Year’ by Brigid Jackson. Being awarded this by a fellow blogger is a great honour. In turn I’d like to nominate the following blogs for the award (in no particular order), as i’ve very much enjoyed their posts over the year:
Chas Spain Design
Sethsnap
Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse
Love Outdoor Play
Greenbench Ramblings
My Botanical Garden
Ariston Organic
Outdoor Nation
Congratulations to all of them!
Old School Gardener
Wouldn’t want kindly followers to feel I am not grafting in the background just because the posts are falling off. (The day job has been crazy as well.)
This is the work in progress out in the shed atm. Just exploring the whole tonal thing and will get some colour worked in soon.
I was inspired by 2kg of apples bought from the market last Saturday.
Love it when the market is at an end and the fruit sellers bag up the produce and yell out “2 (kilo) for $2″.
This lovely copper coal scuttle (as was) is an heirloom of my mum’s and I’ve been working my way up to painting it.
I painted an entire kitchen with copper pans when I was young and unafraid but I had an anxiety about getting this down on paper.
As ever main thing is to keep painting what you see and…
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‘Dull dawn, grey day, and early comes the night,
Now wearisome November’s here again,
With frost to follow frost, then chilling rain,
Or fog comes stealthily, and hides from sight
The dripping world beyond the window pane.
But oh, the glory when the night is clear,
What glittering feast for eyes that scan the skies!
See Jupiter near old Orion rise,
The Bear, the Bull, and Pegasus appear,
And see, a meteor falls, and glows, and dies.
Nearby an owl is calling; now it flies
On silent, velvet wings, while all grows cold.
Frost’s icy fingers woods and fields enfold,
and touch with silver lingering leaves of gold.’
John (Jack) Kett
From ‘A Late Lark Singing’ (Minerva press 1997)
Whilst in Lisbon visiting our Daughter and Son-in-law, we trekked across the City one day to take in some sights we hadn’t ‘done’ before. Having crossed the river on the ferry (our daughter lives in Almada on the other side of the River from Lisbon proper), we set off through a former down beat district that is now an up and coming arty crafty quarter and fell upon the ‘LX Factory’. This nestles under the huge April 25th Bridge in the district of Alcantara. ‘LX’ apparently is an acronym for Lisbon and this old factory complex is promoted as the City’s thriving centre of arts, crafts, and all manner of goods in the ‘shabby chic’ look that seems so popular these days.
The ‘passion for vintage’ extends to the site itself. Back in 1846 a threads and fabrics Company called “Companhia de Fiação e Tecidos Lisbonense”, one of the most important manufacturing firms in Lisbon, was estabslished here. Later a number of smaller industrial outfits occupied the buildings- which extend to nearly 25,ooo square meters. More recently, this rather dishevelled site has become ‘a creative island’ full of many small firms and individual artists and crafts people as well as providing a stage set for a range of events related to fashion, publicity, communication, fine arts, architecture, music, etc.
The day of our visit- admittedly early in the day and out of season- it was a little quiet and not really the ‘throbbing heart and soul’ it must be in busier times. Still, it was an interesting excursion, including a pavement- side coffee as we watched the maintenance men at work.
There were some fascinating and some beautiful murals on the exterior walls of the buildings (including some thought – provoking statements). I was particularly taken with the huge second hand book store which is housed in an old printing factory. The novelty here is that the printing machinery is still in place, elevated several meters above ground level, and books are shelved precariously way above head height!
Note to Self- must remember to return in high summer.
Old School Garden 