Caught a cold.. So colouring..

Screenshot_20200224-202334

I hate getting colds, but it’s that time of year….

Screenshot_20200224-202334

So my sister visited and showed me a website that does something similar to the adult colouring books you can buy these days.

Screenshot_20200224-202334

Now I think I’m addicted! It’s certainly taking my mind off the cough I’ve developed. It does mean I’ve wasted a lot of time doing nothing. But I need a rest. I’m hoping whatever it is, it doesn’t develop into anything worse. In the meantime, back to colouring.

Screenshot_20200224-202334

X

Panto scenery? Oh yes it is!

IMG_20200223_215357_262IMG_20200223_215222_430IMG_20200223_215120_620IMG_20200223_214914_951

Now the panto is over I can share the scenery paintings I did. The market scene was painted with the help of John who started it, (he’s one of the stage cew) and he helped me with the sky on the desert scene. The flat figure came back out of the “mangle” after the character playing a policeman crawled through it in search of Aladdin. I also added clothes to the front of the “washing machine”, the man playing a second policeman crawled into it, and after a few seconds a child climbed out, as if shrunken, but with a full sized uniform!

I had a lot of fun doing these, and I may be painting a mural in Wales now I’ve finished doing this.

X

Sprigs of spring?

IMG_20190807_180522_optimized

In months my garden

will be aflower,

floral fancies,

blooming anew.

But sadly now

the sight is of grey hue.

Cold sprigs of twigs

leaden coloured,

deadened stems.

Give them some sun,

some warmth

some food?

Then they will improve their mood.

I wait and cry

with many a sigh,

Looking around

For colour on the ground.

Daffodils and Tulips

Crocus and Snowdrops.

Then Bluebells and Violets,

will stir the air,

colours will flare!

Brighten the world,

set bees abuzz,

and waken my love,

of nature.

My cat watching TV

sketch-1582481088069

My cat likes watching animals on TV. I was watching a nature programme with spy cameras, they were built to look like animals so that they could film various creatures. There was a spy owl that was flying over a pack of wolves and my cat started watching it. She continued to watch till the end of the programme….

She is the only one of about eight cats that we have had over the years that has shown any interest in TV.

She just stares, sometimes if there is a chase she quickly glances at the animal doing the chasing, but to be honest the pictures are edited together so fast that it must not be coherent to a cat who can’t follow the narration! Anyway she’s gone again now. People on TV!

X

That’s it for another year!

Everything’s cleared up and tidied away….. Chairs stacked and put away, empty glasses and plastic beakers cleaned and disposed of. All the sweet wrappers and crisp packets that had been left on the floor were cleared up last night. The changing rooms (four garden gazebos) were taken down today, clothes will be washed and the ones that were rented will go back to their owners. At ten thirty last night the people we had hired the mikes off came to collect them, only to be told they would have to wait a quarter of an hour because we were doing an encore!

Comments made include our panto was better than the professional one held in the city centre at Christmas, and that out cast were good. The only complaint we got was that the radio mikes kept dropping out. The panto has been filmed so hopefully I can get a copy.

It was worth all the months of hard work. If you want to see one of the sketches we did look up “if I were not upon the stage” on YouTube. It’s not our version but gives you an idea of what we did.

X

Two pantos in one day!?

So instead of taking photos I decided to draw members of the cast. Less issues over copyright when sharing here because no filming or videos are allowed of the actual panto and I don’t like sharing people’s pictures randomly.

I’m slightly dreading doing two performances and remembering my lines. At least it’s finished today so I can have a rest tomorrow. Then I will get back to blogging here, which I have been neglecting this week.

Cat plate present

DSC_2416

I’ve been given a couple of these cat plates by a friend recently. I really like them. They remind me of Victorian illustration, but the sepia toned cats are on a nice blue background. The back stamp says PrintRun.co and made in China. Microwave and dishwasher proof. That doesn’t give you much information. I could investigate further, but I don’t think I will.

There is a thing which people who live in Stoke-on-Trent do, which is to look at the backstamp on pottery and see where it was made.

So anyway sorry to be quiet, busy trying to learn lines!

Panto went well!

Oh yes it did! All my hard work seems to have been appreciated with the scenery. The panto is a hoot, with compliments about how good it is. The songs were OK. I almost remembered them! I only forgot one line, but non of us were 100%, but that doesn’t matter as the audience haven’t read the script! We even seemed to dance well. All the cast were enjoying themselves and the audience were appreciative, even with a delayed start due to a parking issue. They laughed all the way through and there was some brilliant clowning about.

Well, only three more performances. I’m shattered, but too tired to sleep.

X

Above our door

_20200220_143806

I designed this about 25 years ago. A cat resting in the window above our front door. My friend Phil Shaw who was a carpenter also knew how to make stained glass, so I drew out the pattern and he made this up for me. It’s been there ever since and I love it. When we had our house double glazed I wanted to have this incorporated into a window but they couldn’t do it, so it remains, behind the single glass window. Letting the sunlight in. Coloured patches on the carpet.

I want to post some panto photos.. But I can’t!

_20200214_191546

Sneak peek of the washing machine front I’ve painted. Today was the dress rehearsal, one person had a problem as her trouser elastic snapped and they fell off as she was trying to make her entrance. I was practicing part of a song, and forgot to go on stage to sing that song. We got a lot of feedback on the mike’s. One of the helpers or cast got a parking ticket even though they were arked correctly… I still can’t remember all my lines, and in one scene the person before me completely forgot his so I didn’t know where I was! And breathe….

But on the whole we are getting it. There are lots of songs, dance, sketches, a nice story, an evil villan and lots of fun.

X