Sunday 25 August 2013

North Sea Cycle Route - the whole strory!

Last year I cycled around the North Sea... it was an amazing adventure and I met some wonderful people and saw some amazing places.

I have recorded the journey on Google maps, so you can zoom in and see the detail. You can also see the blog and the photos for each place by clicking the short description on the dialogue box. Hope you like it.



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Tuesday 25 June 2013



TAKE A LOOK AT MY ART BLOG ON TUMBLR. THIS IS WHERE I HAVE PUT ALL MY STUFF SINCE AUGUST 2012
http://rayharrisfad.tumblr.com

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Making babies

I went to the bottom of the garden and made some babies... and here they are:






Tuesday 11 June 2013

Lovin my garden this year

I've been planting some flowers in pots and mother nature has supplied the rain and the sunshine. The story so far...








Saturday 8 June 2013

Walking the dog

Been on a few nice walks with Harvey recently. Here are a few photos taken on the way



 






Wednesday 29 May 2013

Faries at the bottom of the garden

Those fairies at the bottom of the garden have been extra busy lately. The other morning I got up and found that they had put up some directions. I'm gonna follow the white arrow

Saturday 25 May 2013

Okay what is it?

Guess what this is a painting of... I'll give you a clue... I found it on Whitesands beach.
Come along to the Great Big Art Show and find out more.


 
 

Friday 24 May 2013

Rehung my Final Major Project again!

You've got to hang your exhibition project up correctly... sounds simple. There are lots of pitfalls and I hit quite a few. Double sided tape - forget it. Its good for sticking work in a sketch book but not strong enough for holding prints or paintings on the wall, even if they are on nothing heavier than cartridge paper. Dress making pins look like a good solution, especially if you have a handy pin pushing tool. First off, make sure the pins are pointing downwards otherwise gravity takes over and you beautiful work flops down. Second, don't push them in too far or you will never get them out again. Pins seem a bit - well small and weak, but in actual fact... yes they are, no matter what Neil says. What about the hook and tuff of velcro?? Great idea, strong and reassuring, but not entirely dependable. The glue on them does not like nicely emulsioned walls and guess what my beautifully white walls have on them? Now I'm not one to complain, but five attempts at hanging 15 pieces does begin to get on the nerves a bit. Last night I thought I had cracked it, only to go into college this morning and find a mixture of not quite right rebellious pieces. I decided to go for belt and braces. Pins, glue and velcro... that's belt, braces and another belt. Reckon I've sorted it ha ha ha.

 
It's going to be a great exhibition, come along if you can. Here's the Facebook link:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/463113147097388/

Oh yes, had a great run into the wind along Crammond Prom at lunch time. Think I might do the Haddy 10 km ::))

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Cycling again

Before today, I had got the bike out a few times this year.  I got the bike out a week last Wednesday. I remember the day well because of an embarrassing incident outside the Post Office, where I fell off and gave myself a nasty bruise on the bohooki. It was pretty sore and I had problems going upstairs and couldn't go running that night. I blame the muck still on the bike from my cycle around the North Sea last year. The chain came off, got trapped behind the gears and bingo there I was being asked by a mum with her buggy whether I was alright. 'Yes, I winced.' Since then the bike has been cleaned, the gears have been sorted and the toe clips which contributed to my fall, have been removed.

Today was quite different, it was a great day for cycling. The MET weather predictors had the east of Scotland with the sun over it and the rest of the UK with dark clouds and rain over them. They were right... cycling in the sunshine - very nice.  I had worked out that it wasn't a good idea to cycle to Edinburgh College, Granton campus from Haddington because it is a twenty odd mile trip each way and I would have to get up very early to get there for 8.30. Instead, I took the car to Musselburgh with the bike inside and parked it at the park and drive. From there it is about 10 miles to college, which is fairly acceptable for a ride before the working day. Although I haven't been outside on the bike for a while, I have been on the saddle quite regularly at spinning. There was only one head case, who thought it was a good idea to pull out of a side road as I was going past. The rest of the trip was splendid. I enjoyed the smell of the sea wafting over at Potobello and on to Newhaven, as I cycled past the morning traffic jams. So, I'm back on the bike, back on the road where I should be.

For the latest info on my Art course and our forthcoming exhibition go to:
http://rayharrisfad.tumblr.com/

Sunday 19 May 2013

Waves and mist

Went along to Ravensheugh beach, Tyninghame for a run with Harvey this morning. I was pleased to see that a thick mist had enveloped the coast because it meant that there were not too many people around. Since the so called Spring arrived, I have noticed that Harvey has been very flighty. I think his sap is up and it means he becomes bohooki magnet when any female dogs have even the smallest trace of hormone about them. He also tends to get into more I'm a tougher dog than you stand offs. The good news is that he knows the route we do like the back of his paws and he is mostly good company as a fellow runner.
The run is a figure 8 which heads through the woods and behind the dunes. We cross over the dunes at the far end and run along the beach to the low cliffs at the far end. Then its along the edge path around past the stone seat and back through the woods and around the beach to spit island at Tyne sands. We go to the far end of the spit on the south side and come back on the north side. After that there is a loop through the woods which takes you back to the car park.
It wasn't long till we came across the first lot of dogs and Harvey did his I'm tougher than you routine to a lab that was about twice his size. The run along the beach was surreal, with a thick mist tucked up tight to the biggish waves crashing in. It gave the run a bit of extra novelty... I know, but heck that's me. After the second woods Harvey reappeared from one of his wanderings and headed straight past me, going in the wrong direction to a group of dogs I thought he hadn't noticed. No diplomatic faux paws happened this time and the rest of the run consisted of me plodding along in fairly straight line and Harvey running all over the place. I put him on the lead before we got to the car park because, in the mood he was in he would have gone off for another solitary run which would involve me waiting around for half an hour (well 10 minutes.)
I forgot to take Harvey's ball, which keeps him closer at hand, and my Edmondo... must do better next time.

Saturday 18 May 2013

Thursday 2 May 2013

Rock patterns

Things are heating up at college. Neil wants us to present a final piece tomorrow and to bring in some home made cakes to celebrate. In a weak moment I said I would do something with rhubarb, seeing as it is sprouting in the garden pretty well. Naturally, crumble came to mind, but serving it cold isn't such a good idea, but what else can you do with rhubarb... answers on a postcard please.
After quite a lot of scratching my head I have come up with some photos for tomorrow. They were taken down at Whitesands beach where my idea for my Final Major Project started off... so here they are.

 

 
 
Just got to get them mounted and hung by 11 tomorrow

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Harvey has a love - hate relationship with his Meer Cat soft toy. Most of the time he likes to shake the stuffing out of it. Here he is in a more mellow mood.

Monday 29 April 2013

My Dad's steel ruler

They don't maker things like they used to... its true. The steel ruler I got with my kit for college is lethal. It is thin, flexible and has sharp edges, resulting in several nasty cuts to my fingers when I was trying to fish it out of my bag. So I decided to use my dad's steel ruler which I had lying around the place. It is thicker, heavier and it doesn't give you nasty cuts when you are trying to grab it out of the bag. I had been using it for quite a few weeks when I had a good look at it. My dad must have prized his steel ruler because he engraved his name on it. On one side he put his initials in his own loopy font... priceless. Now I'm very fond of the old ruler too.


Friday 8 March 2013

Give me sunshine

My hanging basket flowers haven't been getting much sun lately


But when they get a little sunshine...



...they love it