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

Ten certainties?

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List 10 things you know to be absolutely certain.

Is this an exam?

1. The Earth is an oblate spheroid. That is it’s almost a sphere but it is fatter around the equator because of its spin.

2. Crisps are crunchy and made of potatoes that have been thinly sliced and fried (who said these had to be serious? ).

3. The Sun is approximately 93 million miles away from the Earth. But because the Earth’s orbit is an ellipse it has times when it is slightly nearer, and times when it is slightly further away.

4. Water freezes at 0°Celsius. I don’t know if it’s the same in Fahrenheit.

5. Too much sugar and salt is bad for you. But you need some to maintain your electrolyte balance.

6. Halleys comet comes back into the inner solar system every 76 years, it’s next due in the 2060’s (I’ve forgotten the exact year)

7. Cats don’t have 9 lives, they just pretend!

8. I know for a fact that I don’t get enough sleep!

9. Green plants absorb all the other colours and reflect green? I think.. I’ve forgotten the physics behind it though.

10. Singing really can help your mental health. It’s good for breathing too.

Well those were a few random (and probably useless) facts. I tend to pick up a lot of ideas, and as I have a retentive memory I hold onto facts that are not much use to anyone.

Simple rose.

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Some flowers are very complex and can also be bred with double the petals, they look very pretty. But bees and pollenating insects can’t get at their nectar and pollen. A massive bloom could make it difficult for bees to feed and collect food for their grubs.

So try and choose bee friendly plants, they often are labelled to help you chose them. And look for simple flowers like this where the central flower parts, anthers, stamens etc are easily accessible by the insects you want to attract.

You can also build bee hotels for solitary bees from grasses and sticks and small lengths of hollow bamboo. If you look you can find designs on line to work to. Have fun and support your local bees! I was speaking to a beekeeper today. He said one honeybee only makes about a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime!

Tangled

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A drawing from a while ago. It was called molecules. I was trying to find an image that describes my tangled brain. I think I’m OK, then I don’t know. I’m trying to do things, but I’m tied up inside a cotton sack, trying to find the way out.

Am I being dramatic? Perhaps, I have lots of thoughts about what I want to do, but the procrastination gets me all the time. The older I get, the less enthusiasm I have. Sorry, its just one of those nights. I’m watching a sad film and it’s getting to me. I sometimes feel time is running out. Grief is a tight knot. Like a molecule, twisting and turning. Time for some rest perhaps…… I’ll be OK….

Tired

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Chocolate and bunny

After the choir singing and procession I realised just how tired I was. We went into the robuck centre in Newcastle under Lyme and stopped at the cafe in the atrium. I wanted something to drink and somewhere comfortable to sit down and rest my ankles and knees!

The cafe was called Family Bakery Cafe. It was friendly and had cakes and pastries on offer this afternoon so I treated myself to a hot chocolate drink and a poppyseed pastry swirl to go with it.

The robuck centre has many closed shops but it sounds like more stores will be opening up. I hope so, the cafe is a good thing to have because it’s hand made cakes are delicious. But the way things have been no one has any money at the moment. I wish this small business all the best. X

Mediaeval pageant news

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We sang, we processed!

Newcastle under Lyme borough began in 1173 and this year is it’s 850th anniversary. They hold an Artisans market on the “stones” in Newcastle and we had been invited to take part.

Not all the members of Loud Mouth Women like their images being published so I have adjusted this.

Loud Mouth Women performed, we did a lovely set of songs for the 850th anniversary of Newcastle under Lyme. We were singing at the market cross and sang Greensleeves, Scarborough fair, Cockles and Mussels, La Para Deux, Fair and Tender Ladies among other songs, then we processed around the town centre with a children’s recorder group called the knights templars, a mediaeval minstrel band, freemen of the town and at the head Nello as the King.

Luckily the rain kept off until about half an hour after we finished x

Security

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Are you seeking security or adventure?

At my age I prefer security. I used to like adventure, but I’ve grown out of it!

When I was young we used to cycle all over the country, riding a bike or a tandem for miles. We would go out and ride at weekends to different destinations. We would also catch the train and then cycle from there to campsites or a place to visit like a castle or a forest. One of my favourite places was Grizedale Sculpture park. On that occasion we had got a car and the bikes were tied to the top of it. We parked at the campsite and used that as a base to cycle all around the lake district.

One day I was cycling home from a friends houss and was hit by a car. I ended up with a fractured skull. From that day I became nervous of cycling. After a couple of more years of riding the bike suddenly collapsed underneath me. It had been damaged in the accident and the brazing had broken on the bike headset. It took months to get my bike repaired by which time I had started to drive more frequently. My health got worse and I was not able to ride my bike any distance.

I think it was about then that I became more risk averse. I still liked to go and do adventurous things but I was more careful. Nowadays I am even more concerned with safety. Covid and the pandemic has made me more aware of my situation and my security. I guess that I realise my life has changed, and I can not do things I would have happily done in the past.

Ustinov

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Quick sketch of Peter Ustinov.

I just watched a compilation programme of Peter Ustinov being interviewed by Michael Parkinson. It was fascinating to see him after so many years. He was a writer, actor, mimic, humorist. He was of Russian and descent but also had ancestors from other countries. He acted in Spartacus and Quo Vardis amongst other films.

Hearing his tales of his time in the army, film, school life, and theatre among other things was hilarious. He was charming and debonair.

I had forgotten how funny he was. He made Parkinson laugh and chuckle as he told tall stories. This was in the 1970’s or 1980’s. I can’t remember much about the programme when it was first shown, but this was wonderful. If you can get the BBC Iplayer I would suggest trying to see it…. Or if not look him up and try and find some of the films he was in.

St Swithens day

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From the Encyclopedia Brittanica :

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St. Swithin’s DayTable of ContentsHomeLifestyles & Social IssuesFestivals & Holidays

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St. Swithin’s Day

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Also known as: Saint Swithun’s Day

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Last Updated: Article HistoryTable of Contents

St. Swithin’s Day, also called St. Swithun’s Day, (July 15), a day on which, according to folklore, the weather for a subsequent period is dictated. In popular belief, if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day, it will rain for 40 days, but if it is fair, 40 days of fair weather will follow. St. Swithin was bishop of Winchester from 852 to 862. At his request he was buried in the churchyard, where rain and the steps of passersby might fall on his grave. According to legend, after his body was moved inside the cathedral on July 15, 971, a great storm ensued. The first textual evidence for the weather prophecy appears to have come from a 13th- or 14th-century entry in a manuscript at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Well it’s raining and blowing a gale, and the local weather forecast is for some rain all next week, so St Swithens might be right. In the meantime Europe is sweltering so I hope some gentle cooling rain gets down to the south of us and rinses the heat dome over southern Europe out of the way.

For all the climate deniers the world has been it’s hottest since records began over the last seven days. Maybe it’s not too late to do something about it, but big business doesn’t want to lose profits.

Daisy daisy

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Artrage drawing with metallic and non metallic textures. Duplicated because I was thinking of the song ‘Daisy daisy, give me your answer do…’, I remember at the end of the film ‘2001 a space oddessy’, the computer Hal2000 starts to sing the song as its memory is being deleted by Dave Bowman, the sole surviving astronaut.

If you’ve never seen the film, or read the book (by Arthur C Clarke), I’m sorry for the spoiler. The book goes into a lot more detail, and several of the main parts of the story were changed in the film. Clarke went on to write sequels to the story from different protagonists perspectives. I can’t remember them all but they were good reads too. When you think how old the original book is you can forgive some of the odd, old fashioned ideas, and the film seems slow in comparison to films in today’s times, but it’s a beautiful piece of work. No massive cgi special effects or green screen, just well painted images merging in with the live action. Worth a read or a watch….. I won’t reveal the rest of the story….