It turns out our cat has the same reaction to being drawn as she does to being photographed, viz: 1) what is that noise? 2) what are you doing? 3) I'm leaving. So here is a drawing which started out as a drawing of our cat and then became a drawing of an imaginary cat. #drawing #cats #PenAndInk #FountainPen

I just read a website's privacy policy prior to making a purchase, and discovered that they quite openly state that they will share or sell my personal information (including contact details) with other businesses for advertizing purposes, and that those unnamed businesses will use said personal information in accordance with their own privacy policies, whatever those may happen to be. I have emailed the business I actually want to buy from, and asked if an offline transaction is possible, as otherwise, I will be taking my custom elsewhere. Easier said than done, however, as I am not aware of any other NZ retailer selling a fude nibbed dip pen - or any fude nibbed pen at all, if it comes to that, actual brush tips aside. #PrivacyPolicy #FountainPen #NewZealand #DipPens #fude

What makes a garden small or large? In the novel In This House Of Brede (1969) a character describes a housing development with ten homes to the acre as "iniquitous". Our house (built 1943) is on a tenth of an acre, and people nowadays seem to think the garden is a big one. What would you consider a small garden? What would you consider a large garden? #gardening

Westerland in the sunshine. #BloomScrolling #roses

TIL that kingfishers nest in tunnels in decaying trees or clay banks...and that they make these tunnels by repeatedly diving on their target beak first. Gotta say, hurling yourself at a wall of earth until it gives way before the barrage of blows from your face is a pretty hardcore way to prepare for kids, but each to their own. #birds #kingfisher #TIL

I always thought the word "smith" was inextricably connected with metalwork, but it comes from the Proto-Germanic word smiþaz, meaning a craftsman or skilled worker. So "wordsmith" might not be so figurative after all. Just think of all the variants we're missing out on: yarnsmiths, numbersmiths, codesmiths, plantsmiths, claysmiths, clothesmiths... #words #smith #crafts

Knitted toy snake. Based on the snake pattern from Knitted Wild Animals by Sarah Keen (adapted by me to knit in the round as I dislike sewing up). Man, eyes are hard. #knitting #snake #FinishOrFrogAlong

There is so much enjoyment to be found in a seed catalogue. #gardening #SimplePleasures

"there is one thing that seems more and more 'in the air' - the realisation that the supremacy of the machine, which is rapidly making robots of humanity, must be faced. And the machine must be put in its place as a servant to do the servile work only, freeing humanity to exercise its birthright of imaginative creative work. ... Art may indeed be under a cloud. But if it is not the spirit of the Creator working in us I do not know what it is. And it cannot be eternally killed." Arthur Rackham, August 1939 #art #ArthurRackham #creativity #AI

You CAN refill a TWSBI Swipe with an eyedropper. I don't say it's wise, but it's possible. #FountainPens #ink