Friday Bliss # 58

It was a sunny day yesterday so I decided to take a walk to the Common starting at a footpath by one of the pubs.

The carved artwork nearby has aged and changed colour to a light grey.  I took a closer look at the carving of the trees and dog.

The path with its old cobble stones was probably used as a wider track up to the Common and was tricky to walk on until it became smoother.

 The horses are usually in a different paddock.

horse hair strands on the wire fence

Stone was quarried for local use so there are hilly areas and then dips in the path.

Heather has mostly become dried out and brown, but there were a few patches of purple here and there. The yellow gorse bushes, bright green young broom and different types of grasses added subtle colour.

The wooden seat was wet so I didn't sit on it.  Even though places are beginning to rot it's interesting to see moss growing between the cracks.

The weather was changing so it was time to turn back and retrace my steps back down and home. We're fortunate to have the common ground, wooded areas so near home.  It looks as if no-one was about, but in fact there were quite a few dog walkers up on the Common.

The chrysanthemums that Mr P grew from seed and planted in the containers have suddenly started to bloom.  The nectarine and citrus trees will be brought into the covered yard soon.

I hope you have a good weekend and week ahead.  We have a busy week of medical appointments and then younger members of the family are coming to stay for a few days as it'll be half term holiday for them. 

Joining Riitta's Friday Bliss linkup

Off the Shelf Festival of Words, Sheffield 2019: It's All a Fiction Readers' Afternoon

'Off the Shelf ' Sheffield Festival - illustration by Phlegm
whose obviously still associated with the art scene in this city
and well known here and nationally for his street art murals.

Our city of Sheffield's annual literature festival is taking place over the next month organised by the two universities, Museums Sheffield and supported by the Arts Council, England.  There's always a creative programme of events and I try to get to some of them including the Readers' Day.  For the second year this particular event was held in Firth Court, one of the main buildings of the University of Sheffield.  Mr P dropped me off at Weston Park Museum and as I had time to spare I went in to view one of the art exhibitions - more about that another time.  Then I walked down the hill through the park to Firth Hall.

The six guest authors this year were all new to me although they have a following by many in the audience.  However, it's always interesting to hear about the process of writing a novel, what inspires someone to write about a subject. As it says in the Festival of Words booklet describing the writers' work, the subjects and themes included "love, loss and letting go" Do Not Feed the Bear, "homelessness" How to Find Home, "a dark thriller debut" Impossible Causes, "families and relationships" We Don't Die of Love, "an hilarious comic novel" Diary of a Somebody and "an epic, timely story of brotherly love" The End of Time.  There was the chance to ask questions and meet the writers afterwards.  The discussion was led by someone from Radio Sheffield who always takes the chair on these occasions.  There were refreshments in between the two sessions so it was a chance to relax, talk to other book lovers as well chat informally to the participating fiction writers. I bought the book How to Find Home and as we were given a book bag with a freebie book I shall have some more thought-provoking reading on my To Be Read pile.