New paintings and regular art updates.
She left us almost a year ago
Gone somewhere else, I don’t know.
A face I’ll never see again
Unless on a screen that isn’t used
And only occasionally appears
As a memory of a reflected moment…..
She thought that?
She agreed with that?
A smile twitches my lips
She agreed with me?
Then the memory fades
The face crumples
I cry again.
What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?
Yet again I have to be equivocal about this question. I mean I’m not deliberately being ambiguous, but there could be many answers depending on the person, their age, sex, health and the place they are at.
1. Fresh water /food
If you are alone and outside away from people, for instance on a walk it’s a good idea to take supplies. I imagine I won’t be far from transport, but what happens if you get lost?
2. Spare clothes/groundsheet
If you are out and about and lost you might not be able to find shelter if the weather deteriorates or it gets dark. You might have to stay put, so having extra clothes and something to make into a shelter could save you from exposure. We went camping one Easter and I had to wear two pairs of trousers and three jumpers because of the cold!
3. A map
Learn to read maps, if your phone goes flat and you can’t charge it how do you find your location?
4. Medication?
Even if you don’t expect to be out all day and night it’s better to be prepared. The older you are the more likely you are to need medicine. Don’t ignore it, and if necessary take out travel insurance.
5. Car keys?
Yes if I take the car with me, and house keys.
6. Medical alert.
If you take some medications then you need to take warning notifications with you. Similarly if you are allergic to food colourings, bee and wasp stings, or antibiotics it’s worth letting people know!
7. A sketchpad and something to draw with.
I’m an artist, what did you expect me to say?
Facebook Memory from 2017.
‘Just back from the Leopard Hotel in Burslem. Met Sharon Crisp the landlady and her lovely staff…it’s 10 year since I painted the murals in the back room there, she is very kindly taking some photos of them for me! This is the Clarice Cliffe Umbrellas mural that I painted way back then …2007?’
Even now I miss my murals, the Leopard Hotel in Burslem was left empty and people got in and vandalised it, started growing cannabis. The building caught fire and only a shell of it remains
My hubby has finally agreed to cut down his collection of train memorabilia. He has static trains as well as various models, but these were sitting in the summerhouse and getting covered in spiders webs. He has enjoyed them for a couple of years, but we decided (so it’s my fault) that it would be better for other people to see them too and get hooked by a love of trains. The thing is if they get left outside they might get brittle in the sunshine and temperature variations. So donated they are. I hope others get as much pleasure from them.
Describe your life in an alternate universe.
Dr Who would be real (what a character!). Scientists would have solved global warming. People would be kinder to each other. There would be enough food to feed the population of the world.
No one would be called a bleeding heart Liberal, because everyone would be. Things would unfortunately happen as normal, like death and taxes, but maybe they would be organised a bit better rather than taking from the poor to give to the rich.
There would be a hypocrite law, basically if you acted like a hypocrite you could be fined for deliberately gaslighting people. I guess there would still be freedom of speech but hate speech would be banned. In my alternative universe we would be in touch with good aliens who wanted to help us survive.
Life would be benign but not boring. And all animals would not be hunted or pushed into extinction. I’m a bit too much of a pessimist though to believe all this could happen.
(I sound like a Miss World contestant from the 1970’s!)
This came up in my Facebook memories and I thought I would share it as an example of something I can do other than painting on canvas. I hope you like this tortoiseshell kitty. X
So many images
So many thoughts
Ideas and colours
Going back years.
My gallery is full
I have to edit
So sometimes they go
Removed so
I can fit in more
Keep below 100
I can’t afford more
It’s just a little blog
And who’s interested?
My life written out
In dribs and drabs…
Kitty likes curling up by the sofa. Right where I walk to get into the kitchen! He turns over and miaows at me when I approach him. Delighted that I’m saying hello. Then proceeds to get underfoot, as I walk slowly behind him. Sometimes he tries to rub against my ankles, which could be deadly to him as I’m still using crutches and am quite unbalanced. Then he jumps up on to the kitchen cupboard miaowing for a tasty treat or to run his head against my hands. He’s a lovely, medium sized cat. No malice, mainly living indoors although he does pop outside sometimes. His one trick is not to come when I whistle him. He used to, but when we got the bigger boy rescue cat it seemed like it learnt to come to me when I whistled, but my old friend has decided to come over when he wants not when I call him unless treats are involved.
What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a meal? Was it worth it?
We went out for a lovely meal at a Japanese Restaurant called Miso in Stoke on Trent. There were three of us so we agreed to share the cost between us as it was a family outing. It’s actually mentioned in a Novel by a Richard Osman, one of his Thursday Murder club series.
We had sushi for starters, with Miso soup, then each of us had a different Bento box, including Duck with teriyaki sauce, and mackeral with black pepper sauce, salad, rice, and guyozo.
Finally we has pistachio ice cream with sesami seeds.
Drinks included iced tea, sake, and cold japanese lager. I think the cost crept up because we kept ordering sake and I also had a glass of peach wine. Very tasty.
We love the place, but they were being refurbished recently, I know it’s reopened but we haven’t had the chance to go back and I will have to be more careful about what I spend!
Wandering backwards and forwards on crutches to the bathroom and my armchair. I can’t help remembering when I was younger. We would set out on a cycle ride or a walk. We used to visit the North of Manchester, around the pennines. Into Wales and see spectacular mountains. Up to Yorkshire and around Ingleborough. Up steep slopes on our bikes then down one long winding valley that took us seven miles back down to our campsite (I was pleased with my map reading that day).
Being ill or injured is difficult. I can’t ignore it, but I guess I have to be a patient patient! But I want to do simple things like washing up. When I can support my weight I will, then cook, the eventually I will have to tidy up, hubby is trying, but he doesn’t quite get organisational ideas. Like putting shopping in the fridge safely! Or how to cook chicken when you have never done it in your life! Time heals I guess.
I wish I was out and about, that I could just stand at the sink and do the washing up. But I guess it’s less than five days since I pulled a ligament in my foot and about eight since the car door slammed into my other leg and cut a hole in it.
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