Hello everyone

Well, if you're having trouble waking up this lovely Saturday morning, here's a funny photo for you. Here's Axle trying to drink the Lake again. I did start with a scary photo of Axle, he was shaking his head in the water and my new camera is so fast, it can catch every millisecond of expression. Lucky for you: the first photo made him look like an evil dog. See his lovely tongue in this photo?

He's very sweet: if we playfight, he runs in between us and makes funny noises! I think it's disapproval!

Well, Switzerland, thank you for granting us another lovely day: a break from all the rain we've had. I'm sure it's washed our wonderful weekend away by now. Sad . Must do a painting soon, to remember such amazing scenery. If I place it above our television, when there's only rubbish on, I can drift back to the blue water at Blausse again. How enchanting......

I've quite enjoyed going back to the washing-up and getting food out of the freezer again; after all the wining and dining (Liar!!) No; it's not so bad, I do like my own cooking (just as well).

We found a great restaurant the other night in Avenchy. Simply delicious. A nice way of saying goodbye to my father-in-law. The food was amazing. The dessert: well, it was layers of chocolate, then caramel, then vanilla, then chocolate, then caramel, then vanilla......you get the idea. Anyway; on our way back from the restaurant - driving back to our quiet dark village - we had to break suddenly for a cat. As we slowed, the cat continued to dart across the road. Then we saw that it was actually chasing a little mouse!! (A tiny little thing illuminated by our lights) So we'd breaked for a cat and a mouse (just like 'Tom And Jerry'!) As they both reached the edge of the road, the cat finally realized it was either the mouse or the car, so he suddenly darted in the opposite direction. So the mouse got away!! Hurray!!

Actually we pass some amazingly dark woods on the road back to our house. My son told me that sometimes, in the very early morning he forgets to attach his lights (yes, I know!) We tried switching our car lights off last night, just to see what that was really like. I swear, it was totally dark. Shockingly so!

So he had cycled in that? How had he even followed the road? Sometimes he'd seen boars, deer and numerous foxes! Boars!!  On one occasion, something ran alongside his bike; heavy-breathing in the woods. I bet that speeded him up, don't you? Obviously he couldn't see what it was. Perhaps that was just as well! 

Here's some lovely pommes to end with.

Swiss Apple Tree.

Go one, take one, my neighbour won't mind! They're really very tasty. Sad, that all the fruit and veg is on its wintry way out now. I'm sure my veg. patch has gone feral. Anything might be living in there by now.

Keep healthy and eat your fruit and veg. I WON'T TELL YOU AGAIN!!  www.MooreThanArt.com and www.boundlessgallery.com or  questions@moorethanart.com anytime.

Ps. That's spooky! Another neighbour has just delivered me a huge bag of her garden apples! No excuse not to make apple pie then, this weekend!

Hello gang

Hello! Here I am looking even more gorgeous, since my mum's new camera. It has a big long thing on the end and makes a funny clicky noise, but I don't mind.

Well we've been away on a fantastic work's weekend. We set off in a coach through the most unbelievable mountainous scenery I think I have ever seen, setting what must be my own world record for taking pictures: two hundred, in a few hours. But the Interlaken mountains and lakes were awesome. My poor little camera kept having hot flushes, I'm sure I nearly brought on its early menopause.

Lake, Sea Landscape

We visited some amazing water-falls, which really tested my vertigo. We didn't quite reach the top, I started feeling a little dizzy. Kept vizualizing myself going over the metal railings. Well, as you can hear I didn't. You can't get rid of me that easily!!

So many lovely new friends made!! And so much gorgeous food eaten (burp, excuse me) I so regret not bringing my new camera with the long thing (as mentioned by Axle earlier) but I've only had it a few days and I don't know how to detatch the zoom yet (it has a very thick instruction booklet)

Then we visited the most heavenly glade and woodland at Blausse. A place of blue waters, tranquility and steep mountain forests. Obviously the weather had been beautifully planned by the organizers too, for my; they did a great job with the sunshine! I got quite a few photos that are begging me to paint them. See them? They are on their knees, at this very moment. Give me a chance to unpack first!! Please

I can hear you 'oooooing' and 'ahhhhhing'. Can you see the trout, dashing around so close to the blue surface? Great big buggers they were, too.  They obviously had no notion of what a predator was; though, I think we may have eaten their friends for dinner.

We reached our overnight destination, an adorable alpine village. I'm sure my heart stopped for a time, it was so beautiful. You could see paragliders jumping off the high mountains, like tiny dots, growing as they reached the ground.

Swiss Cottage

My husband and I had a quaint little cottage next door, all to ourselves. It was a honeymoon suite, filled with love-hearts and ribbons. I can't show you the photograph, in case you nose through the window - give us some privacy! We had a bathroom (with no door) complete with roll-top bath....................I'll just leave lots of dots there!

Bizarrely, there were tiny dots of cows up on some of those mountains; though they do start bringing them down from the mountains soon.  I'm glad I'm not a cow. I do have a bit of vertigo. I hope they are sure-footed. I kept expecting to see a cow rolling down the cliff. Thankfully, I didn't.  

Sorry you couldn't all come, but there wouldn't have been room on the coach!  www.MooreThanArt.com and www.boundlessgallery.com or questions@moorethanart anytime.

"Well, of course he does dear! It's not the first time I've seen him running away. If you can call it running with only two legs; so awkward. I'm sure I don't know how he doesn't topple over! I mean, I really do feel sorry for him sometimes........"

"I know what you mean Maureen, it doesn't seem fair to see him running around all the time. I mean what does he eat? He never stops to chew the green, does he? I mean he's shockingly thin!"

"Yes, he reminds me a little of Stevie, she just never ate. Spent all day mooing over the corn field. Didn't stop her doing her browns inappropriately though. There's always one, isn't there?"

"Moo, I know......"

Did you love my gossiping cows? Found them in a lovely field, looking as though they were chatting over a plate of grass. Actually, I think they were quite shocked, because we all had the unfortunate displeasure of watching a standing cow poo, on a sitting cow's head. It was very slow to get out of the way and didn't seem to quite manage it in time. Not very charitable, was it? I'm sure these cows looked on disapprovingly. They look disapproving, don't they? I always wonder about cows and how intelligent they really are? Because they look like they just act slow, to me, when beneath it all they're are highly astute?

Don't you just love my new camera? My husband brought me back this lovely zoomy gift, from his global travels. Thankyou sweetie  Good job I bought him some decent shoes, before he went though. At size 15 he's probably made more footsteps than most. Ironically; the shoes I bought him were called "World Tour".  They are Rockport's, and probably the most comfortable men's shoes on the planet. So how did he manage to bring a blister home then?

"Buy a cheap camera!" I say, so I can see some of the sights, get a picture of the places you've visited. So as a boy, what does he photograph? Go on, have a guess! SKYSCRAPERS! Then, some more skyscrapers. Granted, they were impressive skyscrapers. And of course a bridge or two. But having a camera was no guarantee of seeing any of the sights, was it? I should have strapped it to his head!

Cairn Terrier by Laurel Moore.

Did I show you my little terrier painting I did?

It's very similar to one of our neighbours' dogs. He rarely stands still long enough for anyone to photograph, let alone paint. Whenever I think of him, I think of a bouncy ball.

I've not had great success with pale coloured dogs, so far. I realized the reason on this painting: I needed to have a really vibrant background, to bring the dog to life. I think this luscious red curtain looks really great up against his white coat.

"Woof you soon!"           www.MooreThanArt.com and www.boundlessgallery.com or questions@moorethanart anytime.

Hello bloggers

Yes; here I am, showing affection to my loaf of bread!

Yes, I know I've been a bit absent. I'm sorry I've neglected you  I've been busy sorting out my son's career. Parent, careers advisor, chef, nurse: you know; just one of the different hats your have to put on, from time to time. How people have more than one child, I have no idea, but I am full of admiration!

Beautiful September days have been popping up like bright little flowers, again and again and again. A little treat, each hot, sunny day: well you don't expect that mid-september, do you? To go round in shorts and a T shirt? My strawberries are still giving me the odd handful of berries, too and my tomatoes are still turning red.

Me And My Shadow Silhouette

Does my shadow look fat in this??

Yes, this is me again with the back-end of Axle our dog. I am pointing at my worryingly misshapen hips. They don't look quite right, do they? See; I told you we'd had scorching sunshine. You didn't believe me, did you? So here I am proving it to you. Trouble is, at this time of year, you go out in a coat, expecting the worst and end up roasting in a PVC coat. A very nasty way to go, I think.

What, more shadows? But this is a good one, honest. It's me standing over a cliff-drop, leaning against a fence. As you can see my head is missing! This is because the shadow of my head (presumably) has gone over the cliff. Gruesome eh?

It's not just you I've neglected though, I haven't painted either. Well, that's not entirely true. I did do one painting. It's a bit odd, so I won't explain it yet; until I know whether or not it's going to work out (that's intriguing, isn't it?)

Don't lose your head  www.MooreThanArt.com and www.boundlessgallery.com or questions@moorethanart anytime.

Hello everyone

I'm sure you're thrilled to hear that my bread-maker is back on form. Here's me, munching on a loaf of my fresh-baked bread; (stop drooling) since I nearly destroyed it recently by adding no water, which created a horrendous squeaking in the works. But; thankfully, no serious damage was done. I also have begun measuring the ingredients again, on the advice on my husband, who said that bread-making was an exact science. He should know all about science, he's good at it. Sadly, he's away on business at the moment.  Missing him loads  But I think he's being beautifully looked after. They even put a box of chocolates on his bed each day, which he doesn't touch: because he's allergic to chocolate (poor baby) Personally, I couldn't be in the same room as chocolates, sleep with them and not eat them!

Went to a funeral yesterday. Of a lovely old lady in our village. We were really fond of each other in the year we knew each other here. We had a funny relationship before I spoke much French and she certainly didn't speak any English. She was always so kind to me and welcomed us, as strangers into her village. She taught me a lot of French, when we had our little chats. It was difficult and a bit embarrassing at times, but she was a lovely lady. She will be sadly missed. We went to the Swiss funeral which was very sombre. A beautiful choir sung Swiss hymns. Bye bye sweet M

I've produced some great prints for you this week. They're all on ebay if you wish to have a little look. Here's my lovely pink rose flower

Pink Rose Flower Painting by Laurel Moore

"The Last Rose Of Summer" from my original painting. Can you smell it? Deosn't it have a heavenly scent?

Secondly, is this wonderful Swiss cow I discovered ruminating in a field. I've made her into a funny poster print

Funny Swiss Cow by Laurel Moore

There's a caption below this lovely fat cow, which says "I'm Just Big Boned!!" Ironic really, because of course she probably is big boned. She really made me laugh, just standing there looking at me. I was very close, this is why I got such a great photo. I was lucky to chat to her and she came right up to me, head-on. There was an electric wire between us though.

I love the sound of swiss cow bells. Sometimes you can hear them in our village, because they are often moving the cows around for grazing and I suppose since Switzerland isn't a giant country the land is a bit piecemeal. Isn't she a beauty though? I hope for her sake she was pregnant!

Finally, this religious cloud poster print

Religious 'Hand Of God' Print by Laurel Moore.

This looked so much like a giant hand in the sky, so I called it "Hand Of God" It was a real one-off photo I caught from the balcony in Neuchatel, Switzerland. We had the most extraordinary views 300 feet above Lake Neuchatel and the skys were phenomenal. This was a lucky find.

So; all available on ebay, under my name of course. You must know my name by now!! Well, I'm not telling you it again!

www.MooreThanArt.com and www.boundlessgallery.com or questions@moorethanart anytime.

Hello everyone

Rain And My Umbrella

Yes, I'm feeling much better now (thanks for asking) I can look left now without pain. In fact I can look in any direction I chose. How liberating!

Very autumnal now. Well, it is September, after all, isn't it? There's no point pretending it's still summer. I find September a bit depressing if I'm honest. A time of change. You know that the weather is all going to go steadily downhill, by degrees. Getting colder and colder and colder, I'm not depressing you, am I?? Whoops!

Still eating like kings from my vegetable patch. I look like the Karate kid, when I enter my veg patch now. Having to exact these one-footed poses, in order to avoid the nettles (it isn't very well-maintained, by me) Mostly, I do the "Crane Pose", you know, that move on one leg. It's a little precarious. But I do come away with many tomatoes and strawberries, too. Yes, my strawberries are still producing, if I can find them and avoid the prickles. What's that evil one called? No, not Voldemort; it's Thistle! That's an evil plant that one. Very painful, too.

I dreamt last night that I was back at school and we all had a butter each to look after. I'd lost my butter, so I was getting told off by the teacher and was in a lot of trouble.  I'd written my name on mine, too. But, you know what it's like: one butter looks very much like another, doesn't it?

I never found my butter because  my husband began shaking me, saying: "you've got your arm up again" ( I've told him to wake me if he sees I've got my arm up in a funny position; it's a long story, I've had a bad neck) So, I will never know what happened to my butter.

Here's something sad for you. 'The Last Rose Of Summer' a pink flower painting, by me.

'The Last Rose Of Summer' by Laurel Moore.

It makes me feel very sad, when I think about the last rose of summer. Is it the most beautiful and fragrant, because it really is so? Or because you know it's the last one?

I'll offer this lovely rose as a print soon on MooreThanArt.com so you can always keep a last rose of summer too. It reminds me of all the sad things that we have to lose: like summers, swallows and even children who want to leave home. How important it is to try to remember the best; the fresh summer scent of roses..............

Don't lose your butter will you!  www.MooreThanArt.com and www.boundlessgallery.com or questions@moorethanart anytime.