Moucharabia and Playing the game.

In a way these two titles are linked.

In Marrakech Iwas fascinated by these metal grilles on windows especially when our guide told us that name relates to 'seeing without being seen' and Arabic houses have these as a feature, in many shapes and sizes. This one is a 'monkeyed about with' version.

I use that term to describe my process with photoshop in which I translated the original version of this picture to the one you see above. I describe that process in more detail on flickr and if you click on the picture you will be taken there and enlightened further.

So, I am working for an exhibition with a theme of structures and will use these structures as my inspiration. we'll see how it goes and I'll keep you posted.

I suppose 'seeing without being seen' is one way to describe a person who reads blogs unnoticed by the blogger. Perhaps you do that and thats fine.

But if you make a comment I try my very best to find a way to reply to you. I click reply and then e mail a message..perhaps not every time but I hope you will agree that I usually do.

If you come up as 'no-reply' and there are a few of those, I try to find your blog and usually leave you a comment now and then. Its more time consuming to do that so there will be fewer of those from me. But there will be some. and I have little look at your blog too.

Then there are people who comment and no matter what I do I can't find a way to reply.So a general thank you in a post will have to suffice.

I like reading blogs. I like to comment if I have something to say. I don't mind being seen, and on the whole I get replies or comments back from most people. I'm not talking tit for tat, I don't need one every time and its always a bonus. It makes me feel like a part of the great blog community.

But have you noticed? There are one or two bloggers who never ever, no matter how many comments you leave, because you genuinely respect their work and what they do, deign to send a reply, or reciprocate by leaving a comment.

I mean never.

They are seeing without being seen.

They peer through their own personal Moucharabia, showing off their goods and elicting praise and comment and suck it all up, but never venture out into the bright sunlit courtyard of the comments boxes on other blogs.

Sorry to complain, but why do they bother? There is an option to 'close comments'.

The particular persons I am referring to will not be reading this I feel sure.

EDIT: TWO DAYS LATER: SECOND THOUGHTS: This post drew so many comments and private e mails from people who had no need to feel guilty at all so it made me think more about the subject.

I repeat that I don't necessarily expect replies to comments but just some sort of acknowledgement once in a while, from people whose work I have continually commented on, that I exist.

Of course, anyone can conduct themselves in any way they like. We all blog for different reasons and its not for me to dictate. I am fortunate in that I don't have to go out to work every day, so probably have more time to surf.

I had a link from Karen who has a full time job, and then spends her free time sewing exquisite work by hand, so her time is precious.(Having said that she has still found time to comment on other blogs)

I think I just wanted indulge myself with the Moucharabia metaphor....

Two Little Miracles

Do you remember this photo?
Well it all got a bit overgrown and out of hand and the postman needed a sword, like the Prince in The Sleeping Beauty but with less incentive, so I went out to trim it a bit, and just look what I found!
A perfect tiny nest. Its swaying in the breeze dangling at the furthest extreme of the branches of the clematis.
I got my stepladders to have a closer look

and found little panting bodies inside. I don't know what they are and I hope I haven't disturbed them.

Isn't it just magical? A perfectly formed little pendant full of tiny baby birds. What can they be?

BREAKING NEWS: GOLDFINCHES!!!

I just snipped a few branches away for the time being and at that very moment the Prince arrived with his big brown bag and gave me this:
Arlee's missing parcel.
Its a miracle. For £3.07 its been all the way to Canada and back. You've got to hand it to the Royal Mail and whatever they have in Canada.

Its my own fault. I have the memory of a goldfish and by the time I had taken my eyes from the screen to the envelope I had forgotten one of the numbers in the address and put a 0 instead.

Which brings me to 'word verification'. I have failed at that so many times that some people are lucky to have had a comment at all. How do I know if a bendy stick is 'l' or 'I '?

So for your commenting pleasure I have disabled word verification.

Whats the worst that can happen?

Extra comments?

Bring 'em on!

Thank you for all your comments on my last post. Its nice to know it was helpful to a few people and that I wasn't teaching Grandmother to suck eggs/taking coal to Newcastle/selling ice cream to eskimos/insert your preferred metaphor here.

As I upload photos I see that I have, in three and a half months, used up 8% of my space on blogger so enjoy it while you can.

By my reckoning I only have two and a half years left.

Is anyone going to the Festival of quilts on Friday? I am hoping to have a coffee with Viv.
(Can I lose two stone in a week?)
(Maureen bring your homework!)

Comments and some circles.

This isn't really a well thought out carefully worded and illustrated post. Its just a thank you message and a gratuitous picture of a card I made.
I haven't really got the hang of replying to comments.
Do I reply here on my blog or is it more polite to visit the commenters blog?
What if they don't have a blog?
Sometimes comments come with just a name attached and my failing 56-almost-57 years old brain can't always connect the name to a person.
So this is an apology to those whose comments I appear to have ignored, but haven't. Thank you to all those who have put a link on their blog. If I haven't done the same, its bad management, not bad manners, and very big thank you for all the lovely comments I've had.
They make my day.
I thrive on them.
If you blog, you'll understand.