Author: artbychristinemallabandbrown

I'm an artist based at the Spode factory site in Stoke on Trent. I paint, draw and create digital art. Contact me at mallabandbrown@aol.com

Joyful habit

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Describe one habit that brings you joy.

Recently I’ve found myself singing in the shower. I don’t think I’m disturbing anyone as my hubby is deaf and the neighbours have moved out!

It’s lovely trying to sing one of the parts for a song our choir is performing. It means I can get the part right instead of struggling. It also means that I can learn the part off by heart and not have to ready from my songbook.

I also try and remember my favourite film tunes. Like Summertime, or Moon river or Singing in the rain. They are all old music, but they are lyrical and sweet. They give joy to my heart.

I think you get a different acoustic in a bathroom, you get an echo that can enhance your singing. That’s why I enjoy it.

A cup of tea

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I asked hubby for a cup of tea, ten minutes ago. He put the kettle on then wandered off somewhere. I can’t make it myself as I’m walking around with crutches. My balance is a bit off and I’m still in pain so I’m struggling to support my weight on my foot, I’m getting better but the damage only happened four days ago.

I know it’s hard for him, his mental health isn’t good. I asked him to cook tea earlier. I had to tell him to read the instructions, he can’t hear me because he gets irritated by his hearing aids. When he’s in the kitchen and I’m in the living room, he says my voice sounds like “wah wah wah”. Then he accused me of “mansplaining”, I was just trying to help him. I know his anxiety is bad, how do I help without appearing to interfere?

I’ve just written this and still no sign of him!

Fat cat wore cat flap!

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Late last night, as I was sleeping in my armchair, there was a curious clattering noise. I woke up to see my big cat walking into the living room with the door of the cat flap and the surrounding plastic bit stuck round his belly!

A few years ago I had to replace the flap and the bit around it because he had battered the original flap trying to get through it. It was before he was our cat and he used to sneak in and pinch the other cats food. The replacement is a bit small so it can fall out if it’s treated roughly.

It was very amusing seeing him wearing the door as a skirt! He was soaking wet from the rain. Looking like a black and white otter! I released him from his trap. He fell asleep on the chair next to me.

View out

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The sun was shining through the checking office door at Etruria Industrial museum. The age of the building means that the walls are damp by the door. I like the red fire extinguisher and the blue in the corner add pops of colour that work with the browns and greens outside and the terracotta colour on the wall. The conduit pipes to the electrical switches give a hint of the buildings Industrial heritage. This office is set between two arms of the Trent and Mersey canal and the Cauldon arm of it. Inside are old bakalite telephones and other old fashioned equipment.

Condensation and chemical trails

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A friend posed the question, what comes out of airplane engines? Con or Chem trails? It’s a question I can’t resist answering, I’m hopefully telling you something you already know?

Condensation trails are what comes out of plane engines. Water vapour from the engines condenses out onto dust particles in the upper atmosphere. They cause the characteristic long thin trails up high in the sky. On the other hand chem trails were the US using crystals of silver iodide which is a harmless salt. It acted as nucleation  point for water droplets and was washed out of the clouds it had been released into. They used it to make rain during droughts, I’m not sure if that is still the case.

There is a Kate Bush song about it which I’ve forgotten. We had to learn a few of them a few years ago I can’t remember which one.

I’m curious about these questions..

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What are you curious about?

How does the person setting a prompt come up with a question. And more interesting than that, how do you ask it politely.

The questions set are open to interpretation. Are you honest, but giving away your data to someone who shouldn’t be allowed the information as they might steal it? Or are you insincere and keep all those bits of information to yourself.

The questions have to be generic, I guess. Able to be answered quickly and simply, or answered in a more complex way. When we answer, is the information going to be misused? Or will it just sit here in the blogasphere, ignored, waiting to be discovered. Maybe that’s why we answer these questions. To leave our mark on the world. Or leave a seperate question instead.

Foods ‘interesting’

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I can’t get in the kitchen to cook meals, my ankle won’t take my weight and I can’t stand to stir things. So my hubby has had to discover the microwave and things other than boiled eggs (which he can do). He assumed a frozen potato and a chilled cornish pastie would take the same time to heat in the microwave on the same plate….

I pointed out that he should look on the packaging. Tea is a bit bland and boring, but at least it’s safe. My hubby can’t hear the alarm on the cooker that tells you the food has been in for it’s cooking time…

But very kindly, a friend came and did some shopping for us. Hubby doesn’t always get things that are on the list. He substitutes things like natural yoghurt for fruit yoghurt (probably healthier) or will buy three bunches of grapes and five tins of tomatoes instead of one. It’s not wrong, but I don’t have the cupboard space. BUT he’s learning, making decisions, working things out. And I am truly thankful.