Humming Bird Hawk Moths

I was so excited today to see a humming bird hawkmoth hovering on a lilac bush in the centre of Edinburgh! Gosh its October for goodness sake this must be a major sign of global warming! I didn't get a photo and the moth's wings were moving so quickly that any photo I took wouldn't have come out. But there are some photos on the UK Safari website: http://www.uksafari.com/hummingbird2.htm.

haiku - books

On One Deep Breath this week the prompt is to write a haiku or tanka about books. So I thought of an outdoor scene for an environmentalist with her books:

in a shady spot –
the wind blows through the leaves
of my favourite book.

Festival of the Trees Blog Carnival

I am delighted that my poem Corstorphine Sycamore, has been included in this month's Festival of the Trees Blog Carnival, hosted by Hoarded Ordinaries. Go along and check out the wealth of material about trees - poetry, photos and articles - posted by bloggers around the world!

Haiku - windows and doorways

At One Deep Breath this week we're asked to write haiku about windows and doorways. First I wrote two haiku about looking out of the window, the first in Edinburgh yesterday, the second from our Bed and Breakfast hotel in Ventimiglia, Italy last November:

outside the window -
rain lashes down
from a dark leaden sky.

outside the window –
the Mediterranean
merges with blue sky.

Then finally:

the black cat
watches over the garden –
framed by the doorway.

There's yet another haiku on this theme on my Alter Ego blog here.

Currently Reading

I've just finished reading two wonderful novellas by Banana Yoshimoto. 'Hardboiled' follows a young woman after the break up of a relationship and Hard Luck follows another young woman after the death of her sister as she befriends the brother of her sister's fiance. Both are beautifully written and full of autumn, falling leaves, cold clear air. Very seasonal.

I'm now reading Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman, a physicist and writer. This small book is a collection of imaginary dreams dreamt by Einstein as he worked on his Theory of Relativity. Each short fable looks at the essence of time from a different angle, imagining how it would affect people's lives in Berne, where Einstein was living when he was working on the Theory of Relativity. It is a stunning book, that makes the reader really think about how we perceive time and also how we should use time. How in fact we should live.

At the same time I am very slowly reading Kafka's Das Schloß in German. To find out more about that book, visit my Alter Ego blog here. (Sorry, I'm having difficulties with permalinks at the moment, so you'll need to scroll down a wee bit!).

Alchemy for the 21st Century

Surrounded by discarded things
we’re too cynical to believe
in a Philosopher’s Stone
too lazy to see the scope

in our base materials
the stuff we throw away
cans and bottles, newspapers, rags
endless plastic bags.

Our Philosophers Stone
is found in thoughts, ideas
crafty skills and inspiration
patience and dedication

to transform waste into the new gold -
groundbreaking art
clothes beyond fashion
crafted with passion.


This poem is until 23 September currently part of the Waste Not Want Not exhibition at the Caledonian Hall at the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.

Notelets Wallet

My Mum has always admired the notelets I've made from reclaimed materials, so I've made her a set to use! The designs of the notelets are similar to those I've posted before - Japanese text with pictures of birds, flowers and butterflies. I've put them in a wallet made from an old folder reclaimed from the office bin and decorated with coloured paper, more Japanese text and pictures of butterflies.