Window on Wednesday

Today my impression of a "bod os" window.....

A weekend spent camping at the beach.....

 Life here in Freetown is not the easiest and at the moment it is particularly bad as the roads are being upgraded and everywhere is mess, traffic congestion, people congestion and construction work...when the roads are completed it is going to be a pleasure but until then it is awful beyond words...so when a friend suggested a weekend out of town camping on the beach the dearly beloved and I jumped at the opportunity....

...our home for the weekend....with a sea view...

Almost a full moon....

...peeking through the rocks...

...this one is a bit grainy as they were far out to sea....

...this little chap sat on this rock with one leg hiding almost all day...

...this is the "little egret"...such poise...

...what a wonderful way to forget the hustle and bustle of Freetown.....

Oniond skins....Sierra Leone sun bake onion skins



A few weeks ago after having collected enough "clean" and "dry" onion skins I gave the onion dye another go. The first attempt here in SL was very wishy washy and dissapointing after the rich colours I had experienced when i dyed with o/s in the UK. This attempt was a little better but the only bit of cloth to pick up the "yellow" colour was the silk velvet, actually this picture does not do it justice at all, the colour is rich with the highlighted bits looking like gold....anyway....the other bits of cloth dyed all came out a pinky colour...no there were no hangovers from the avo dye in the pot....so the explanation for this colour? only Mother Nature knows....

Window on Wedneaday

Wednesday window taken at Leicester village...Freetown SL...



My Ghana bead stash…

Before I left for Ghana a friend told me about the huge bead market that assembles outside a town called Koforidua…upon my arrival in Ghana I started making enquiries about this market…some people did not know what I was talking about ….some people said yes they had heard of this market but did not know how to get there and then there was the information from the High Commission driver who informed me that to take a taxi to this market was going to cost a lot of money…he said I could take the buss but in view of the fact that I was new to Ghana and did not know where I was going he was not sure I should venture out on my own…so sadly the bead market will have to wait for another visit…maybe….
But with beads on my mind I did venture into town where I found some beads being sold by vendors on the pavements…I also visited the craft village somewhere near the hotel we were staying in and have to say that I was ripped off totally…the long string of blue “disc” shaped beads set me back £30 where as the selection of other beads picture here cost me less than £10….but I am happy with my little stash and the mind is racing with ideas of what to do with them….

Farewell Accra….

So time marches on and our time in Accra has come to an end…here we are sitting in the lobby of the hotel waiting for our transfer to the airport….I have enjoyed this sojourn. I have been really impressed with the crafts I have seen…progress is evident everywhere here…most encouraging…unfortunately i did not make it to one of the bead markets i have heard so much about…but who knows maybe next time if there will be a next time…

The beasts taking shape…

Some time ago I took Jude’s Beast on line class here are some of my creations…. 

Windows on Wednesday

Windows are the eyes of a house...the bod os windows here in SL have captured my imagination.... It is my intention to post a window (Internet permitting) each Wednesday...sometimes they will be my artistic impression and at others they will be photographs taken by me...

Here is the first wow...




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Location:wow

Accra Ghana…..

Today we were retracing foot steps….my dearly beloved’s foot steps…we visited the Aburi Botanical gardens…where as a very young boy, he and his parents would visit for a day out….now nearly fifty years later…nothing is familiar and yet everything is familiar….

 

Red and green... beautiful African colours....

Survival of the fittest or in this case the persistant....

A wonderful morning spent wandering around the gardens...

......only in Africa!