Sometimes insomnia is a good thing

Did you see the moon on Sunday night? We've been having spectacularly lovely weather and perfect clear skies so I saw the Blood Moon in all its glory. My middle of the night wanderings are usually fruitless but this time I was rewarded with an amazing view. Apparently this particular alignment won't happen again until 2033 so I'm pretty pleased I didn't miss it!

Laura and Jamie took this photo on his iPhone just as the moon was rising above the horizon. Later that night the shadow of the earth totally eclipsed the bright moonlight although you could still see them entire shape of the coppery coloured moon - I kept awake long enough to see totality but gave up on waiting for the light to reappear.

I've made a quick start on a page in my art diary. The Liquitex transparent acrylic inks I like so much flow in a way that I hope looks crater-like. Laura came up with a clever way to suggest the approaching shadow - I shall experiment and see if it works!

With the fine weather continuing, we escaped to a local National Trust property, Dudmaston Hall today. I know I'm always predictable when it comes to autumn foliage - I photographed this very same Actinidia this time last year!

But can you blame me when it looks like this?

We do our best to install an appreciation of nature in our little granddaughter but to be honest the giant chess set was more of a hit today. I see potential in that checkerboard of black and white though - it would make an excellent partner to a drawing of the Actinidia leaves on a page in my book. By the way, DMTV viewers will be getting an update on how the diary is shaping up very soon. It's bulging now and will soon be impossible to close but that's exactly how I like it.

The trees at Dudmaston are laden with fruit ready for their celebration of all things apple related next weekend. Our own trees are heavy with fruit too and we look set for apple pies and crumbles every day for the foreseeable. Bang goes the diet again.

But our priority right now is tomatoes! I've been roasting trays of them every day and the freezer is almost full of tasty pasta sauce to last all winter. Apples will store but tomatoes won't be ignored for long!

Thanks for dropping by - Linda x