Peeking from copses

Slow day at cash job so cooked up some great Haikus for the new angel series;

Pass our tree at dusk -
You take us for buds or leaves;

We find this funny

Gazey umber eyes;
Age-faded but all-seeing,

Dressed up with flowers

The links are joining up thick and fast now; thinking about angels in trees reminded me of the photos I took in the valley around April when a sinister lopsided copse I had nick-named 'the witches copse' suddenly burst into white blossom one day. So maybe an angel copse and not witches after all! The first Haiku is the ladies of the Holm Oak, who are doubtless a mischevious bunch. The latter is a new one that again derives from a series of linking ideas; the trees and angels kicked it off, then the Hindu wedding with henna designs on hands, a film last night with a guy sporting a heavily tatooed face, and finally a conversation with my Swedish chum about the midsummer traditions in the 'motherland'. Apparently the Maypole of the British Isles derives from the Swedish 'maia' pole, the 'maia' meaning 'dressed with flowers. Having said that, I just spent a fruitless few minutes in Wikepedia failing to find any collaboration of this fact, but hey, I'll go with the Swede's story, he should know... The sum total of these colliding stories and images is the picture I now have in my head of a tree dwelling angel, the picture on board and faded with the years, which depicts 'Maia', a reclusive angel with facial topiary designs, wingy headpieces and 'wrapped' black hair. She is a little shy and disturbed-looking peeking out of the picture frame and is shown in front of her dark tree home.

Walking to walk along the valley this morning I met a lizard, which surprised me as it wasn't even a very warm start to the day, but there he was having a little wander before the dog-walkers disturbed him. He froze as I passed and said hello but shot off as soon as I was at a safe distance. Also grey wagtails and greenfinches dotting about and the now familiar selection of thrushes and blackbirds going about their early morning worm pulling and shouting.

Maybe it is my early morning meanders along the valley and my interest in all things vegetal at home in my herb garden, but suddenly I am painting green. I have had a weird problem with green for ages and rarely use it in paintings, apart from a sunflower that I called 'A little green' in honour of its presence, and 'The Glade' that I was yakking about yesterday. It suddenly seems the right colour to use and I am finding it poppping up all over the place. Hey, man, green is the new blue!

Stu cooked a fabuloso dinner last night, still in budget mode; Orzo, roast chicken with rosemary, a stack of roast aubergine, onion, pepper and tomato with garlic and mozarella, and a pepper and garlic coulis. Oh, and our happy herb oil. Looked fab too and had a shrunk and tubbed version for my lunch today- totally spoilt I am, nay junk food in my lunch box!