December time again

Such a long time since I last posted. I've been busy with major changes at work, not only the splitting up of our department but sending us to another NHS trust and another hospital! Things are slowly beginning to settle down but I don't know if we'll ever be happy where we are at the moment.
Anyway, it's the 1st of December - World Aids Day, the beginning of the Christmas season, the beginning of the frosts and also my birthday month, I'm sure more things will come to mind.
I'm going to try and post almost every day of December - see if I can focus my mind......

Jasper's Feline Abstract ACEO

Sarah's ACEOs

Haven't had much time to paint recently but we did manage to snatch an hour this afternoon to do a little fun painting. I had some ACEO size pieces of gessoed watercolour paper so I got a few acrylic paints out and got my daughter Sarah involved. I only finished one before our tom cat Jasper decided to leap onto the paint and one of the prepared ACEO cards. I've posted my piece here and will post Sarah's and Jasper's in separate posts.

I find new year a little bit depressing but I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Thought I'd mention a couple of art technique books which I like. The first one by Claire Harrigan I have mentioned before in a previous posting 'Abstract and Colour Techniques in Painting'. I can't find a website for this artist but you can find examples of her work on the web. The book is illustrated with numerous colour illustrations of her work and gives a good insight into moving towards abstract and semi-abstract art and the use of colour. Being a 'colour junkie' I love looking through this book.

Another book which came my way recently is 'Collins 30 Minute Acrylics' by Soraya French. She is a professional artist and was the 2005 winner of the SAA Artist of the Year award. This book is a little gem which covers the basics as well as providing inspiration in small bites. It is also full of lots of colourful illustrations to whet the appetite. Her website is - http://sorayafrench.com/wordpress/

The weather has been wet and windy - not quite 'Christmas' weather. The snow - if we get any - seems to come later now, between January and March.
All the cats went out to play before the rain got too heavy so the house is now covered in hundreds of muddy cat prints - amazing how they even get them on the walls!

I've never been ice skating before and today was my first attempt. I went with my daughter to The Centre for Life in Newcastle where they set up a temporary open-air rink during the winter. http://www.life.org.uk/.
It took me a long time to leave go of the side and the boots were killing me but I finally managed to get round the rink on my own - I never fell over once, which really surprised me. It's only something small but I feel a real sense of achievement and I tried something new!

The only problem with the days after Christmas is 'post Christmas depression' - that sort of empty feeling you get when the celebrations are over (or is it just me!) Could just be that I'm tired and need a rest - I just don't seem to have the time.

On Boxing Day there was often a tradition of fox hunting in more rural areas – while some people call this a sport I could never see anything sporting about a group of grown men and women with a pack of savage dogs chasing a frightened animal and tearing it to bits – not to mention the occasions when they invaded peoples gardens and ‘accidentally’ killed peoples pets.

A few years ago a law was passed in England to make hunting wild mammals with dogs illegal though this often seems to be flaunted by people who think they are above the law. I know my views won’t be shared by some people but I’m sure there are more humane ways to deal with foxes and other animals if they become a problem, anyway today I am mentioning the website for the League Against Cruel Sports – always worth a look. http://www.league.org.uk/index.asp

What we seem to forget is that the human race is encroaching more and more into the wild areas that are left leaving nowhere for our wildlife to inhabit – we seem to cause most of the problems, I just hope we can come up with the solutions.

Well , Christmas Day is here at last. We've opened presents, eaten and drunk too much and will spend the evening as 'couch potatoes' watching soaps and the Doctor Who special, then we'll all most likely fall asleep on the sofa with the cats.

My Daughter has spent half the day playing 'Brain Training' on her Nintendo DS - I did try it but found that attempting it after a few glasses of wine is not good for your score! The cats have been playing with the wrapping paper and Christmas crackers and my partner has been chilling out as today is his only day off this week.

I hope you all had a good Christmas.

I know it's a bit of a miserable subject to talk about on Christmas Eve but my Dad died late at night on Christmas Eve 1979, and for all it's 28 years ago I still think of him every Christmas Eve. It's a bittersweet time for me as I also lost my Mother in December 2005.
It's about this time of day when the sun has gone down and it's dark outside that I think about all those people I miss, whether they are just a distance away or gone forever. Spare thought for all those missing someone at Christmas, whether they have passed on, or are elsewhere and can't be with you, maybe they have to work over Christmas or maybe they're in the armed forces and posted abroad.
And as it's Christmas Eve and a special time for children let's remember Madeleine McCann who disappeared on May 3rd and hope for a miracle.

Well I've just finished wrapping all the presents so now I can relax and have a cup of tea. Did a quick two minute sketch with a Christmas / cats theme - that's all I've had time for recently as I haven't been able to spend time painting- it should say 'Meowy Christmas' but I don't know if it's readable.

Spare a thought for all those people still at work and those who have to work over Christmas.

The town centre of Newcastle is really busy in the run up to Christmas as is the Metrocentre in Gateshead. I suppose it's not just Christians who 'celebrate' the non-religious traditions - many people exchange cards and gifts and join in with the parties - I hope that everyone tries to be a little nicer to each other, a little more tolerant and charitable - lets all embrace the celebration of light at the darkest time of year.

Thought I would try and take some photos of the surrounding Christmas lights but I didn't get many good photos so I've just posted one - this house is just round the corner.

I'm on holiday at last! tried to do some last minute Christmas shopping - I hate it when I have to do other people's Christmas shopping.

I have one more day at work then I'm on holiday for a few days (hurray!!!) Quite a few of the houses in the area have lights outside so I may take a few pictures and post them tomorrow. We don't have any lights as the cats chew the wires. Never mind I can enjoy everyone else's lights.

To get into the Christmas spirit we had a little lunchtime 'buffet' in the office. Everyone brought some food or soft drinks (no alcohol allowed on the premises) - makes a change from the boring sandwiches I usually have.

One of those 'up and down' days today. Just think this time next week it'll be Christmas day and we'll be stuffed with turkey and chocolate........

Just a quick post today as things are hectic at the moment. Went to a Christmas dinner/disco last night - food was OK but there's never enough of it! Most popular thing seemed to be the plastic water pistols which came out of some of the Christmas Crackers - great way to use the awful wine they served!!
Been food shopping this morning as there will be little time as Christmas approaches. My partner's father has been taken ill so we may be really busy for the rest of the week

Cats are close to my heart so I thought I would mention a couple of cat charities - many cats and other pets are homeless through no fault of their own so spare a thought for them at this time of year.

http://www.cats.org.uk/

http://www.catchat.org/index.html

http://www.cats-protection-newcastle.co.uk/

http://www.brysons.org.uk/index.php

http://www.rspca.org.uk/

It's my birthday today so I treated myself by getting my hair coloured - might as well brighten things up for Christmas.
As I'm another year older I thought I would highlight the 'Help the Aged' site - http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/en-gb/ - I think the elderly get a raw deal when it comes to health and life in general - according to the site half a million older people will eat Christmas dinner alone - something for us all to think about.

I'm hoping to relax tonight with my family, eat my birthday chocolates and watch the X Factor finals.