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

Magnolia flower 🌸

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We have a small Magnolia Stellata tree that has come into blossom this week .

There are many species of Magnolia from tiny blossoms to as big as a human head. They range from pure white to dark pink. They are beautiful and spellbinding. Our tree is only just coming into flower but others are full of blossoms. Masses of pink and white petals adorn the local trees.

Magnolia can be affected by frost and seem to like sunlight. We were lucky to get ours to grow. All I would say is follow the instructions carefully if you intend to plant your own.

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Tea cards

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Walking round a charity shop I came across this bundle of tea cards. As you can see the back of one says its a collection of pictures of British butterflies. And yet the top card is a bird?

When I looked at the cards there were a few birds mixed in with the butterflies and there are also duplicates in the pack.

Tea cards, and cigarette cards too, used to be included in the packaging of the product to help sales. I used to collect them myself when I was a child. But you had to rely on getting the right card in the box to make a set so I didn’t ever get a full set.

I guess it’s similar to pokemon cards in the 1980s or 1990s.

Anyway I like these. They are bright and cheerful. I just wish I had the album to stick them in.

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Ow my legs

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Ow my legs! Our female cat loves sharpening her claws on my legs, she sticks her claws in my trousers and then arches her back and pulls down. Sometimes she gets flesh too. I found blood trickling down my leg earlier on today. I love her to pieces but as soon as I realise she’s doing it I have to brush her away.

She rushes round and plays all the time. She fights with our boy cat but only in play, she puts a paw on his head or he puts a paw on hers and then she pushes him away with her back legs. One thing neither if them do is the strong fast kicking movement so neither of them get hurt. And they only nip each other, there is no going for the scruff of their necks. Basically it’s like slow motion wrestling followed by fast chasing.

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Unitarian meeting house

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In 2018 I sang with three choirs at the Unitarian meeting house at Newcastle-under-Lyme. The original meeting house was built in 1717 but the building was burnt down. I don’t remember everything they told us but I think Josiah Wedgewood whose portrait is carved in wood above the door was a supporter of them.

I was impressed by the tapestries of their history that were on display in the hall. It’s fascinating what history there is in this area. Some of the Methodists first met near Stoke-on-Trent at Mow Cop and also built Bethesda Chapel in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent..

Berador

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Berador, wind wraith, fourth brother of the Vars. The clan of the elements.

Brother to Shenth, Earth wraith, Strunt, fire wraith and Flonda, water wraith.

Berador had been seperated from his brothers in the War of Merenda. He was now lost in the great forest where his breath beat against the leaves and branches, tearing at them, and yet he could not escape.

It had been three months since the war ended and they had left him here thinking him dead. But the breeze in him still trembled the trees and sparse grasses. He knew Autumn was coming, then he would have a chance.

As the season turned the Forest grew orange and golden and mauve in the cooling air. Now Berador could push his breath against the leaves and they started to fall, curling and flying away. They fell in drifts on the ground that he struggled through. But he could see his way now. Beyond the edges of the trees lay their old haunt, Skreelt Castle.

In days he would be home, in days his brothers would celebrate his return. His breath would sustain him until his homecoming. He knew it would not be long now.

 

 

Ache

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I have that sort of portentous ache that feels like I’m coming down with something, perhaps a bug? I’m not sneezing yet but my throat is sore again. Perhaps I’ve been overdoing things, just feeling tired and aching.

Trouble with the Internet is that you can seek sympathy instead of just getting on with things. It is good to moan but it’s also probably annoying to hear people going on about how they feel  Is it appropriate to complain?

Well I guess in one way it’s informative. I won’t be doing much today because I’m not well. But whose business is that? I’m talking to strangers, to people who don’t know me. One may be sympathetic another thinks get over yourself.

My health pales into insignificance compared to people hurt or killed by cyclones or murderers. Life feels personal to me. But I am one individual. Life is more than that.

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Don’t you know?

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Don’t you know I love you?

Don’t you know I care about you?

It’s bleak out here

It’s cold and grey.

My heart is lost, broken, destroyed.

It hurts that you don’t care,

It hurts that you’ve gone away,

You are here in body but not in spirit,

You changed before my eyes

Your memory has glazed over

Milky white, foggy, out of focus

I can’t break in, I can’t get close

I still love you

Won’t you remember to love me too?