Clare Davis Etheridge

Latest Posts

Things I have been doing this past week.

This has been the first week of school summer holidays for us because we have been away for two weeks. It has rained and rained which brings slightly cooler temperatures, but along with it lots of wet which rules out outside stuff. So I have been snarling at computer games a lot and rejoicing when someone wants to play a human game like ‘Othello’ or some drawing gets done!

I have kept up with ‘My Fitness Pal’ on my phone which hasn’t been as much as a chore as I thought it would be. It is certainly an eye opener though, where those calories are hiding. Blimey. I have never been a calorie counter, so I am watching carefully. I am guilty of ‘saving’ calories on some days so that I can have a beer or a glass of wine, but I have been keeping to my quota which I am pleased with. I wonder if it will work? I only want to lose a few pounds, so fingers crossed.

I have also been to the Y lots and keeping up with my workout classes which is an essential part of my week. On Thursday I went to yoga as usual and decided to take a less muddy path through the woods. Remember all the rain, well, the woods was a mud pit and a ‘less muddy path’ was really not an option! This route turned out to be a mistake as I gracefully slid down a little hill and ended up sitting in mud with my ‘saving myself’ hand completely caked in wet sloppy, drippy mud. I got up, had a little swear and decided to carry on to yoga class with a muddy butt and a very muddy left hand. I washed my hands, held my head high as I walked through a gym full of kids, and went to class. Thank goodness yoga is taught with the lights out and I use my own mat!

On the upside, the universe decided to be a little kinder to me on the way home and I spotted a great big turtle sitting in the creek enjoying the rain and then a toad hopped across my path as I slugged back though the woods, still in the pouring rain!

This week, I borrowed a few books from the library to get me drawing and sketching, so I am looking forward to opening up my sketchbook and getting inspiration from ’20 Ways to Draw a Tree’ by Eloise Renouf, ‘Pinterest Perfect’ and ‘Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Faces’ which is chock full of funny face ideas!

Since it has rained all day every day this week, the garden is growing like mad and I am reaping the rewards almost daily. I pop out (in the rain) and snip a bowl full of leaves for a salad. I have kale, arugula, beets and spinach which is a delicious combination.

I hope you had a lovely week and have a very fab weekend planned. It is supposed to stop raining here for the weekend, so that is exciting!

Through The Lens Thursday #25. Tie.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

It has rained pretty much non stop for the last week which means that the garden is growing and I seem to have wet feet all of the time!
It is still warm though, so it is time to bring out the summer bracelets. I made these two last year and there are lots of knots involved in each one. I had to tie a lot of knots!
The next prompt for Through the Lens Thursday is ‘Seasoned’.

Thrifting on Cape Cod

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

It will come as no surprise to you that I actively sought out thrift and antique shops while we were on holiday in Cape Cod.
There is a plethora of church thrift shops over there which are great places to find some amazing stuff if you are willing to have a good root about, and I am willing!
From a church thrift shop in Chatham, I found a lovely little cup and saucer with the most delightful design. I feel inspired to draw lots of cute buildings every time I look at it. It is Danish, but I am not sure how old it is.

One of our favourite shops on the cape is Buddhas and Beads in Eastham and it was there that I can across a box of goodies which included these pelican key chains which are all ready to be mailed at the costly expense of a 4 cent stamp. I can’t find the pelicans online, but it appears that stamps were 4 cents in the late 1950’s.
On the other side of the mailing tag is the limerick ‘A curious bird is the pelican. His beak can hold more than his belly can’, which I think was written by Ogen Nash originally. A pelican and a limerick through the post! How cool would that be in your mailbox!

We also visited Wellfleet Flea Market early on Sunday morning which was a fun trip, the market is held in the Wellfleet Drive in Theatre and there are stalls selling everything from buoys to books.
I picked up a handful of vintage keychains with a view to making them into pendants. The orange necklace is from another Chatham church thrift shop and the Llangollen photos are from Harwich Antique Centre. I was drawn to the photos because Llangollen is where we would go on holiday when I was a kid.

Of course I saw lots of buttons along the way, most of them plastic and not very attractive, but I couldn’t leave the bag of buttons I saw at Buddhas and Beads behind, a ‘pot luck bag’ for $5.00. There are some fab old buttons in there, including some teeny tiny mother of pearl buttons which are so pretty.

Some great treasures found on Cape Cod.
See you tomorrow for Through The Lens Thursday.

One + Four = Life. Weekly Photos 24/52

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

We are now home from our holiday in Cape Cod and it took about 15 minutes to settle in. I love coming home from holidays as much as going!
Among the photos I took last week, there seemed to be a mini theme of signs, so I picked some to share for One+Four=Life.
Lots of things seem to have been in place for the past 50 years with little change on Cape Cod, including lots of cool signs. I am still wondering what a P.X. restaurant is? Do you know? Do tell.
The lifeguard stands were in a car park waiting to take up their post on the beach, I took this photo amid a thick sea mist.
I hope you have a fun week ahead planned! Happy Monday x

Through The Lens Thursday #24 Car

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

I have been on the look out for a good car shot all week and I have to say this is not my favourite photo of all time, but it is a car and not the rental mini van we have had all holiday!
I like the look of old beat up cars and trucks, but they are few and far between here on Cape Cod.
This was taken at Chatham airport and most likely belongs to someone who has just popped out for a jaunt in his (or her) private plane!
Next week is ‘tie’, so I am on the look out for tied things, or maybe a tie.
Happy Thursday!

One + Four = Life. Weekly Photos 23/52.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Oopsie, I am a little late for the weekly foursome, but better late than never!
I have some photos from our holiday in Cape Cod for you this week.
1. Wellfleet Drive in cinema hosts a flea market at the weekends, so while we were bargain hunting, I snapped the audio and visual of the cinema.
2. This must be the tiniest library I have ever seen!
3. The famed ‘Days cottages’ on the beach at Truro.
4. We went to the closed Air Force Base at Truro which now houses the Highlands Centre. Most of the base is abandoned and cool to look around. This is one of the basketball courts all overgrown.
Have a fab Tuesday!

Through the Lens Thursday. #23 Serene

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

This week’s Through the Lens Thursday post is a favourite because we are on holiday!
In gorgeous Cape Cod with the family, walking the beach and watching the wildlife.
Next week is ‘Car’.

Through The Lens Thursday #22. Pattern.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

For this weeks prompt I wandered into the local industrial park where I knew this wall resided. I know, glamorous location!
Patterns are everywhere, and once you start looking for them, they pop up all over the place.
Next week’s prompt for Through The Lens Thursday is ‘Serene’.

Preparing for Vacation.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

We are going on holiday at the weekend – hurrah! Well it will be hurrah when I am on the plane on my way, until then I am in a little tornado sized week of making lists, packing bags and cleaning the house, emptying the fridge and rounding up lovely neighbors to help feed the cat and dog and water the plants.

Isn’t it a worry all this getting ready for holidays? Are you a holiday worrier or are you too busy browsing the guide books?

We are going to Cape Cod, so we are still in this country which won’t involve new money and we are staying in a rental cottage, so we have a place to ourselves. We have been to the same town for the past two holidays and we really like it, I worried (shocker) that it is a bit boring going to the same place every holiday, but we know the area now and still find new things to do and places to see. The Cape Cod coastline seems to be in constant change so that is always interesting. We love to find horseshoe crabs and spot the seals bobbing about and hope they manage to avoid any great white sharks who may be passing by.

Did you know that ‘Jaws’ was filmed near Cape Cod at Martha’s Vineyard? I have never seen him hanging about in the sea thank goodness!

I remember going on family holidays which I didn’t have to organise and I was so excited I could barely sleep for a week before. All I had to do was pack my swimsuit and 110 camera (with film) and squeeze in my walkman (with cassettes). The biggest worry was which tapes to pack, C90’s were always best as they lasted longest and I didn’t have to pack so many. At least now I don’t have to worry about music as I have Spotify, after I have logged onto it on my phone, now what is the password again….?

What to pack? It is much cooler over on the east coast than it is here which I am rather looking forward to, but I am not sure what to pack. When I was a teen and heading off to European beaches, I was heading into the heat and sun, here we have hot, humid summers, I run away from it whenever I can. I suppose you always want what you don’t have!

I think we are going to try and just take hand luggage which frankly is a challenge when we have to take towels and bedding which takes up a good portion of clothes space. There is a washing machine at the cottage, so I can pack one pair of jeans, one pair of trousers and a skirt along with a handful of t-shirts and a sweatshirt and be pretty good for clothes.

The main space taker in my bag will be my ‘entertainment’- my camera, iPad, books (I still prefer the paper version), magazines, pens, pencils, sketchbook and crochet hook and yarn. I need stuff to do friends, I am very very very easily bored, probably worse than most 5 year olds! I always have the romantic notion that I will sit on the beach and gaze out to sea and beachcomb, which I will, but I can’t sit still for more than a few minutes, so I need stuff, stuff to do. I love to search the beach and I am happy to walk for miles with my head down looking at the sand while paddling in the shallows and rock pools, this year I plan to do some sketching of the what-nots I find on the beach. Hopefully that should keep me a little bit entertained!

I will be blogging as and when, so I can share my travels with you! Yay.

See you tomorrow for Through The Lens Thursday. x

One+Four=Life. Weekly Photos 21/52.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Thanks to Pip at Meet me at Mikes for hosting One + Four = Life this week again, I didn’t take many photos this week, but I managed a few, so here are my four snaps.

1. Ice cream sweets from Grandma and Grandad in England. Before the kids consumed them, I managed to find some funky paper in a copy of Mollie Makes for a quick photo.

2. Waterloo, Illinois under blue skies.

3. Rust and lichen on a bridge.

4. Strawberry summer cake. I came across the recipe on Smitten Kitchen’s Facebook page and had strawberries in the fridge, so I made it. I highly recommend this bake. In fact I don’t think I have made anything which was disappointing from the Smitten Kitchen book or website.

Wishing you all a happy Memorial Day!