Do you believe in ghosts?

Hello everyone...:o)
I thought you might like to see a painting I did a few months ago for my MIL...
And hear about the strange reason for painting it in the first place...(not that I'm being all dramatic ;o) )

Last year my husband (The Troll) 's grandmother 'Cissy' who died in 1994 kept 'visiting' me...not in the ghostly sense...but in the 'keeps-popping-into-your-head' sense...she just would not leave, she was there all of the time...I couldn't stop thinking about her...
Now I never knew Cissy very well, we only met a few times but she was a lovely lady, with so much life in her and a wonderful past to share if anyone wanted to hear...and The Troll was very close to her and spent all of his holidays and weekends at her home when he was young...
We were the last people who saw her alive, which has not gone down well with the MIL :o(
We visited Cissy and Charlie, her husband, a couple of days before she died unexpectedly and I had a feeling when she looked at us driving away that she was going to die...she seemed strange...
MIL (Lee) says that if I had told her that I thought her mother was going to die she would have rushed down to Gloucester (yes the home of Dr Foster ) to be with her...which says a lot for my 'premonitions' really, but I felt bad telling her...I don't think she will ever forgive us for being the last ones to see her mother alive...

So...back to the painting...I don't do portraits it's not really my thing...but Cissy just wouldn't go away...it was as though she was telling me to paint her...I have a few photographs of Cissy as an old lady but they weren't right for the painting...I have one very old photo of her as a young woman and this seemed to be the right one...so I started to paint her, not exactly as she was in the photo as she wasn't smiling...but as she is here...
Cissy was by my side as I began...and she stayed with me throughout the painting process...sometimes correcting me by gently pushing me on...then one day...Cissy was gone...just like that...she had left...
The Troll was away while I painted his Grandmother so it was a surprise for him to see her...I'm not really sure how he felt about seeing her after so long but I think he liked her...
If it had been left to me, I would have refined the picture more and corrected some mistakes...but when Cissy left me, I thought I should stop painting...so this is how it was then...without my usual fiddling!
I know that Cissy wanted me to create this picture for her daughter Lee (MIL) so I wrote a letter to her explaining why it was created and that Cissy wanted her to have it and that I had no idea why...and also that Cissy seemed happy...then The Troll took the painting when he visited the family (on a detour from a work trip) and gave it to his mum...I just hoped that the whole thing didn't upset her or drag nasty things into the present for her!
She wrote back to say that she had been visiting a 'Spiritualist Church' locally and had been trying to contact Cissy for a long time...with some slight success...and that she felt her mother had come (through me) to tell her the answer to something she had been worried about (I don't know what)...and that it was a lovely spiritual gift and she was very happy with it...
Which was a relief! :o)
So...that's the story behind my 'Spirit Painting'...I'm not sure if I enjoyed the experience but I do wonder if anyone else will 'come through the veil' and ask for a portrait...I wouldn't mind doing Marc Bolan...but that's another story...;o)
Bye for now...back to the sick room for me...

Just sitting with my W.I.P...and cat

Hello again everyone...hope you're all enjoying yourselves this fine day :o)
As I'm still not feeling too clever (health wise)...I can't stand at my big easel (called Biffy...yes, my easel has a name and I love him!)...I'm sitting an awful lot, which drives me crazy unless I'm doing something...so...I thought I'd show you what I'm up to...(Works In Progress)

I'm not sure how much to change the pusscat yet...I think he needs a white bib...and something doing with his paws, they look like he needs a pedicure!
And his coat is very untamed!
And there's a lot more to do on the cauldron...as you can see from my poor old battered and rusty specimen...the one in the painting needs ageing!
Shame I don't have a lovely stripey cat to pose for me...but I'll have to make do with my imagination there ;o)
I don't like the bottles much either...they look too 'modern' to me so something to change there...
Can you see how hard it is to just enjoy painting?
And don't you just love my painting table?
We actually sit down to eat at this poor old thing...but I am just an old traditional and have to inherit things which I feel sorry for...and cannot ever think of parting with...
Imagine...
You are an old table which has been good to families for over a hundred years, faithfully standing by to aid in their mealtimes and school work, not to mention all of their creative endeavours...
Then along comes this New Chap...all modern and showy with his shiny surface with scratch resistant coat...and they look at him and cry, 'Oh he's so handsome and clean and his legs are so smooth and straight...we must get rid of Old Faithful this instant and invite New Chap into our lives'
Never going to happen!
I love Old Faithful's fat funny legs and his gouges and paint stains...
Okay...so we can't all fit easily on him anymore and he really does need a good sand and re-veneer...but then I wouldn't want to paint on him...so he will have to stay as he is...bumpy, scratched and well loved...
Bit like me really ;o)
And...so my dear friends...I will bid you all adieu...
Now go and tell something old and well-loved that you 'heart' them and I'll see you again soon...:o)

A Familiar Spell

Hi everyone :o)
I'm peeping my head around the 'sick room' door for a bit as I wanted to show my piece for the EHAG challenge 'Familiar Friends'

I have always had a soft spot for toads, all kinds, I love their warty backs and the way they walk... And we are very lucky here that they find their way into our greenhouse and bury themselves in the plants, as they are incredibly useful creatures for the garden.

Not to mention their magical connections...although I do think they have been given a bad press because of all the licking that went on in the Dark Ages (toads have a secretion on their skins for protection, which someone found could make a person have hallucinations if they licked it...just how anyone ever found that out in the first place, I have no idea...but it was a while back...!)

So anyway...back to the challenge...I'm waffling again (I blame the bug ;o))...
Most folks think of Cats when they hear of a Familiar but my first thought is always Toad...so here he is...his name is Touchwood...and I have to say I'm glad that I finished him well before we caught this lurgy as I would have been sorry to have missed him...

So...now it's your turn for a challenge...
What do think of when you think Familiar Friend?

And on that note I will vanish in a puff of smoke *******