Carrot cake with pouring cream.

Posted on January 27, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged afternoon tea, Cafe, Cake, carrot cake, Food, pouring cream, Sister, Treat, Trentham Gardens3 Comments

Last week I went to Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent. This cake was a bit blurry but nice. The cream calmed the sweetness of the carrot cake down. We had intended to have sandwiches and salad. But when we got to the cafe it was a bit too late to get anything savoury.

It was nice to get out of the house and go for afternoon tea with my sister a few days ago. I’ve been ill for a few weeks now, I’m OK one day, then I’m shattered the next, so I really enjoyed the trip out.

Carrot cake seems to have become a British classic along with fruit scones and banana bread. Others include black forest gateau and Victoria sponge. All of them are real treats.

Carpet

Posted on January 26, 2025January 26, 2025 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged 1993, carpets, cellar, Fine Art, front room, Life, Memory, Old House, Painting, TimeLeave a comment

Section of a painting I did about 1993. It’s interesting to look at how I painted the pattern on the carpet. It was actually a large rug on a terracotta and black tiled floor. This was in our old rented house which was quite delapidated. The cellar underneath this room was very wet and the mortar was rotting. It was held up by an acroprop and you could see the floor was bowing downward so we didn’t use the room much and I used it as a studio. When you changed a light bulb you needed to take insulation tape with you. The wire was cloth covered and would fall off when you changed the bulb. There’s a lot I could say about that old house, but that’s it for now. It is funny how a painting can evoke so many memories.

Canal builders

Posted on January 25, 2025January 26, 2025 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Burslem, Emulsion, fine art James Brindley, josiah Wedgwood, Leopard Hotel, Mural, PaintingLeave a comment

One of my murals from the Leopard Hotel in Burslem. Stoke-on-Trent. Sadly lost in a fire. Brindley, Wedgwood, and two other people involved are depicted meeting at the Leopard to plan the work. It’s been several years since I painted it and I can’t remember the other names so if anyone knows please tell me. This was emulsion paint directly onto lining paper on the wall.

I’ve just been told the other two were Erasmus Darwin and Thomas Bentley. Thanks to my friend Greg Stephens for the info.

Tents moment

Posted on January 25, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Anglesey, Car, Fish and chips, Food, frame tent, Holiday, Memory, red wharf Bay, Tea, tent, Wales5 Comments

I put a five man frame tent up once with my hubby. We’d borrowed it because ours was worn out. It was only when we had finished putting it up that we realised the curtains were on the outside! It took another hour to redo it. The thing was huge with complicated bedrooms to hang from the internal frame. It had taken an effort to get in the boot of the car it was so heavy.

We were on holiday for a week at Red wharf Bay in Anglesey, hubby also managed to back the car over my best saucepan, which was annoying because we only had a couple of small pots to cook in until we could buy a replacement. I think we went to the local pub down by the bay and had delicious fish and chips and a pint of beer for tea. (So there was an upside after a frustrating afternoon).

Finally in progress

Posted on January 25, 2025 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged another painting, Art, Ceramic, Fine Art, Flowers, Pottery, Teapot, Work in progress2 Comments

I started this at art group last November and I hadn’t touched it till today’s art group. That’s about 2 months. I feel guilty that it’s taking so long but with illness and one thing and another it’s taken me this long to get going again. It’s a work in progress and I want to try and get a better feeling of three dimensions to the teapot.

I working the pattern out as I go along and I need to take into account the lighting aswell. It’s been four hours and I didn’t want to stop, but the session only lasts till 2.30pm

Wooden

Posted on January 23, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Art, Beech, Carpenter, elm, Grandfather, Life, Memory, Pine, symmetrical, Walnut, Wood2 Comments

Sliced wood. How do you make a veneer for furniture? Cut through a slice of wood four times, glue it onto some backing wood like pine and add three more pieces rotated so the result is a symmetrical pattern.

This is what my grandfather, who was a carpenter, did for my mom and dad as a wedding present. He gave them two wardrobes, one large and the other smaller. He used a carcass of probably elm or beech and then used Walnut, polished and stained to a dark glossy finish. They were beautiful. As a child I used to go and look at them. The pattern and colour enthralled me.

Not brilliant.. Doodle

Posted on January 23, 2025 Posted in Memories, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Ballerina, Digital drawing, Doodle, Drawing, Fairy, Playing, proportions, Sketching, solarizeLeave a comment

A doodle from a few years ago. I just found it on my phone, I was playing with colour and texture, using an app to solarize areas. But clearly I wasn’t concentrating on proportions! This fairy Ballerina has very large legs and one large arm, and the other arm and the head are tiny. The body is too small too. I think its a case of looking at one part too closely instead of viewing the picture as a whole. Anyway I thought I’d share it as a bad example of doodled digital art.

Full memory again

Posted on January 21, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Art, Blog, deleted, files, Media, Memories, Photos, Posts, Time, WordPress5 Comments

My phone is full of photos and my WordPress account is too. I want to add new images but my blog tells me my media file is full. What can I do? I have to delete previous photos from my previous posts.

So if you read one of my blogs and it doesn’t have a photo to illustrate it, that’s the reason why. I could delete the actual blogs but I don’t know how to do it?

Winter sun

Posted on January 21, 2025January 21, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Dusting, glass ornaments, Ivy, January, Light, Memories, Sunlight, Tired, Window, WindowsillLeave a comment

Sun glancing through the stairs window in January. I don’t have a window cleaner and the ivy is growing up and in the way and the glass ornaments on the windowsill. But I like the chaotic jumble of colour and shadow. I’m not very organised about anything anymore. By the time I’ve walked upstairs I’m ready to fall over. Dusting? I haven’t done that in a while. I need to get my act together. Anyway not much else to be said.

Christine

Posted on January 21, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged baby names, bloganuary, bloganuary-2024-21, Care, Compassion, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1824, Memory, Name, nominative determinism, Thinking, TimeLeave a comment

Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.

From ancestry.com

Variations Christina, Khristine,

Christie

From ancestry.com

“The name Christine has its origins in the English language and carries the meaning Follower of Christ. It is a feminine name derived from the masculine name Christian, which itself originates from the Greek word christianos. The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages and has since remained widely used in various cultures around the world.”

And yet when I looked up WordPress free image library to find something to illustrate this only four pictures appear. This was the prettiest one, but really not relevant!

I suppose the name has always had some influence on me, even though I don’t really call myself Christian I follow a lot of Christianity’s rules. I believe in compassion, care, equality, freedom, respect, charity. I think the world needs to try and work towards all these things.

Maybe being called Christine is like nominative determinism, the name pushes you into certain paths? I don’t know but I think it influenced me.

Mallaband-Brown

Category: Memories