Exercise

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Today’s challenge, draw an exercise you are doing to stay healthy. I coukd have added my feet at the top, but I was being realistic (in both the descriptive and actual) definitions of the word, I just drew the stairs. I guess this is a physical as well as artistic challenge.

Sitting on my bottom all day is not doing my health any good. Off to walk up and down ten times

X

History?

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What will history make of 2020 and the Covid 19 virus? It is clearly momentous, but what will be the outcome.

Will we return to our profligate ways as if nothing had happened, and slip back into old routines after a hiatus of several months, or is this a game changer where we will all be poorer and have to be more self sufficient.

Maybe the survivalists that have been prepping over the last several years have it right. Or the environmentalists who have urged us to stop global warming will see a glimmer of light from this current situation.

However you look at it there will have to be questions asked about the leadership of the world. That doesn’t mean that people have necessarily done wrong. Just that the chaos of the virus has too many ramifications to take in. It’s too great a problem to allow us to get all the right answers. That said there are some strange leadership decisions out there. Maybe some leaders should engage their brains before they open their mouths….

I want to recharge my batteries…

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Watching too much TV about covid 19, or too much social media. Even when the TV is off I can hear my neighbours TV through the wall. I think he is very deaf. Currently there is sad music, piano, with a heavy beat. With a loud voice over that is too muffled to understand. But in that punchy way that journalists speak.

I stayed up far too late last night, till about four thirty, then got up just after nine in the morning. I’ve tried to stay awake all day but dozed off a few times. To keep occupied I’m gradually getting rid of things and clearing out old papers.

The worst thing is the tension in my neck and shoulders and I think I’m grinding my teeth in my sleep. I go to bed with a stiff neck and it takes ages to get comfortable.

I lost my train of thought, the sound from next door got louder…

I know how to do relaxation, but usually forget. I’m also hunched over my phone or staring at the TV, so that doesn’t help. I could go out and exercise, but I’m worried about doing that as I live in a city and there are a lot of people walking about.

Self isolation is not too bad, I am with my hubby, although our sleep patterns are definitely out.

I just remembered, our cats wouldn’t go to the vets to be inoculated, so they have been indoors for Three YEARS, so a couple of MONTHS more won’t harm me. At least I have access to a garden.

As they say ‘stay safe’ X

Today’s drawings

Those of you who follow my blog know I’ve been drawing my surroundings from the safety of my own home.

Today’s challenge was gardening. I chose to draw some pots and a flower bed in a sparkly amathyst colour brush pen. It includes cyclamen, tete-a-tete narcissi and foliage from geraniums and poppy plants. The sun was shining again today, but there was a bitterly cold wind, not helped by the neighbours behind us that had cut down two trees that had acted as a windbreak.

The second drawing is a quick sketch of the stray cat, Woody, who is doing fine sleeping in the shed and roaming the garden by day.

Thanks USK Stoke-on-Trent for the challenge x

Con trail

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Our of a clear blue sky, I saw a plane flying overhead. I was bewildered at first to think what  it was! In  world where the birds are singing in the cold spring sunshine it was incongruous. Jarring even. I grabbed my phone and took a photo. I could even see the plane itself. Flying West to East, High above the earth.

I wonder about the ground control teams at airports? Are they short staffed, they must be essential staff, and what about pilots and crew? Are they quarantined when they land so they don’t pass it on? This could be a passenger aircraft, or air freight.

Like a castaway on a deserted beach, I wondered if they could see me.

Stay safe all!

Hunker down

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Hunker down,

Hide and sleep

Find your dreams

And hug them deep.

Find a space

Where you can live

Where things are quiet

And silence keep.

Make a nest

Make a bed,

Stay inside

But in your head

Take a flight

Around your room,

Then through the open window

Zoom!

Above the world

The air is clear

The sky is bright

Bird song, you hear.

Look down on streets

So still so quiet,

With hunkered people

Bunkered, still.

But you are free

And safe to soar

Flying high

No fear

Just dreams.

(from an idea inspired by Martha Kennedys blog ‘I am a writer, yes I am’.)

Suggestions for Art group

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I’m in a group called Etruria Artists that was meeting on a Thursday, but we can’t at the moment. I’m hoping we can do something to keep it going.. Maybe we could draw or paint something, weekly or daily. Spend a couple of hours on a Thursday? I was thinking the art could be bright and colourful. Each of the members would suggest something and then make a list. Post on Facebook so the other artists can see it
My first suggestion is fish….which is why there is a picture of one here.
Could be illustration, fantasy, pattern….. X

Robin

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Robin painting from November.

I was reading about Robins on Facebook today where I read this that a friend had posted:

She  I looked up ‘what does it mean if a Robin visits?’

Meaning found: If a robin keeps visiting you in indicates good luck. According to myths and legends, Robins appear once a loved one has died, Allegedly, it’s a simple message from heaven; that this loved one is watching over you. Robins also appear spiritually, to remind you to uncover the happiness.
Robins are also associated with the end of an old phase and the entering of a new one. To see Robin means you need to let go of what no longer serves you and find something else to bring you joy and happiness. The Robin bird is encouraging you to be brave again.

I don’t set much store in old wives tales, but this is sweet. In such a difficult world its good to remember the nice things. We have at least one Robin in the garden, bustling around, finding food. He’s very welcome along with blackbirds and blue tits. I must make an effort and try and get some photos….

Seeing Saturn

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Digital sketch…

Years ago I had the pleasure of using a low powered telescope. I managed to find Juiter and then further away in the darkness was Saturn. It was amazing, the Rings were tipped up so they were much more visible than when they are in the a more horizontal plain. It was tiny, so small, but I could see it wavering slightly in the night air. I think Galileo thought it looked like it had ears?

To see planets with your own eyes, however small they appear is wonderful. The time it takes for the light to get to us means you scan look into the past. So it’s almost like time travel too!

If you ever get the chance, look up and see the sky….

Canada Geese

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On the water, small lake at Westport.

I’m glad I went for this walk a couple of weeks ago. Blue sky reflected in the water, one goose partly hidden behind a post. The water was gently rippled by a cold breeze. The geese were preening themselves.

It’s a random image, but it feels calm.

I will try and find some more images of the world, just to remind me……