I’m not here, I’m away. So I’ve scheduled this post to appear on Tuesday evening to satisfy the curiosity of the Macro Monday crowd.

If you want to know what that green square with the blobs on it really is (though I’m SURE most of you already know) please pop over here, and take a peek.

Thanks for playing!

Well … I’ve been very busy all day, what with one thing and another, and suddenly I realised that it was Macro Monday tomorrow! What to do? The light in this house is a bit dim for photography in the evening and I really didn’t want to get the lights and lightbox out.

Inspiration struck, and here you see the result!

It’s a bit of a cheat, because I took this picture with what I had to hand. I think it’s a very easy puzzle, but what do I know? If you think so too, please do leave a comment with your answer!

Clues? Even though it’s the easiest, peasiest puzzle I’ve ever given you? Oh well, alright then.

I’ve seen these all over the place. Home, work, school, shops, in the street, on the river (or in it, as it might be), and in every single country I’ve been in. They’re useful at times, a luxury for most, and some think they’re a damned nuisance and ought to be banned.

So, leave your guess, and pop back on Tuesday evening (UK time), and see if you were right. I bet most of you are! I’m not going to be around on Tuesday evening, so I’m going to schedule a post to give you the answer at the usual time Fingers crossed that it works!

This made me smile. I found this rather super bit of graffiti in Norwich, on the side of a shop.

I don’t know when people began making stencilled grafitti, but I’m seeing more and more of it. The good side of that is that it tends to be very well executed, and usually, quite attractive. I suppose the downside is that it is really quick and easy to do. No standing there for several minutes with two or three different spray cans while you draw something freehand, just stick your stencil to the wall with a little duct tape, a quick spray or two, and you’re out of there.

Anyway, the ‘missing’ poster of Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man did make me smile. Renamed ‘Renaissance Man’, I can only assume it’s a comment on the general dumbing-down of … well, everything. Coined to describe the great thinkers of the Renaissance period who were extremely well-educated and skilled in many different fields, ‘Renaissance Man’ is certainly a rarity these days, though he does still exist.

I don’t think you’ll find him down the local nick, though.

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Hello my lovelies!  Yes, I’ve been neglecting my blog this week, haven’t I?  You see, I have more family woes, I’m about to go on holiday for three weeks, I have more dogs to update the Brambleberry site* with, it’s both the Great Greyhound Gathering AND my older son’s birthday on Saturday, and in addition to all of that, I’ve been trying to re-float my Etsy shop.

I won’t go into the family stuff.

The holiday is worrying me a little because I always get stressed before going on holiday.  I worry about what to take, what I’ll forget, the travelling .. all kinds of stuff.  And also because of my two comfortable pairs of walking sandals, one has been chewed by Sid, and the other has turned into a pair of frogs.

Yes, that’s right.  I’m sure you’ve had frog shoes at some point yourself – suddenly, while you’re walking along minding your own business, you hear something funny.  It goes  ‘gribbit, gribbit, gribbit’ and it’s coming from your feet.   When shoes wear out, sometimes a little hole appears somewhere and air gets into – or maybe out of – the sole.  Not only is it mildly embarrassing, but they’re never quite as comfy ever again. Needless to say, the shops no longer have summer sandals in (let alone summer sandals in my size, which is Extremely Wide with Incipient Bunions. It’s all autumn stuff.

*Sigh*

So, the Etsy shop.  I donated a few pieces of jewellery to an online auction in aid of a greyhound with a seriously bad leg fracture (external fixators, the whole works) and was asked if I wanted to be a part of a craft showcase, and what was my shop name please?  Well, I’d let my Etsy shop slide, but here was a good opportunity to revive it with free advertising, so I went ahead and opened it up again, and started making jewellery again, and all the photography and listing etc involved just ran away with my time.  It is soothing though, during a time of family troubles, and I do love making things like those fancy dog tag collars up there.

I don’t just do dog jewellery, of course.  There’s earrings and bracelets too, and tassels to be added soon.

Today I’m taking part in A Sort of Fairytale’s online link party ‘Shopping Therapy Thursday’. If you have an Etsy shop, or even if you just love pretty and unusual things, mostly handcrafted with love, then do pop along and see who’s there – or even join in yourself!

I’ll be back to blogging properly again soon, I promise! I’m taking a computer away with me, so hopefully you’ll get some lovely pictures of the Italian countryside – and no doubt a few oddities too! I always seem to find them.

* The dogs aren’t up yet, but sometime over the next few days they will be!