New paintings and regular art updates.
Our house, our friends, our relatives.
We were together so long
I can’t say ‘my’ yet
Even after a year.
Sometimes I feel like it’s a dream.
Hubby, my hubby, will be back.
Walk into our house
Be with our friends
Our relatives.
They know
I miss him.
So
I still like this old oil painting I did of lands end twenty or more years ago. I actually painted it from a postcard. Lands End is at the furthest west part of Cornwall which is in turn the furthest west county of England.
We tried to go to Lands End on day trip while on a holiday once, but we couldn’t afford the entrance fee (I have no idea how much it costs now). So we ended up going down into Sennen cove slightly North of it. That was lovely, we found a great gift shop that was seriously tempting.
I think we were stopping at St Ives for a week, and visited the Tate gallery there. We also drove round to Penzance which was on the southern coast. I wish I could remember more about it. That’s the trouble when you only go somewhere once, long ago, memory fades.
Do you ever see wild animals?
Yes I see wild animals, mostly birds including Robins, blackbirds and wrens, but a squirrel jumped onto our garden fence last week, right outside the kitchen window. I’ve previously seen hedgehogs and also spotted a fox a few years ago. My garden is a bit of a wildlife haven with bushes and trees for the animals to rest in. There’s also a leaky pond, so sometimes we have tadpoles and frogs.
I must put out some bird food soon. I’m a bit nervous though of slipping on the leaves out there. My garden is on a slope so I could end up sliding down it in the mud. Must be careful.
We have a red storm warning for tomorrow covering most of South and Central Wales. Then amber for surrounding areas including where I live.
The warning is for strong winds up to 90 miles an hour with a danger to life, with damage to buildings and trees possible including flooding. I think there have been four named storms so far this season including this one. There has been a lot of rain, which is far more than we usually get. (this is the UK where we gets lots of rain).
See you on the other side….
Watercolour I did several years ago at the end of Cheddleton Station platform looking towards (eventually) Froghall wharf.
In the other direction the train line extends half a mile or so before ending abruptly neat the Cheddleton to Leek main road. The train line itself used to continue to Leek before travelling on to Stoke-on-Trent.
The line is starting to be rebuilt towards Leek! It’s exciting news that has been long awaited.
To find out more look up the Churnet Valley railway on the Internet.
On a quiet day
The world can stay
Bound in a shroud
No need to unwrap
Or unstrap
The troubles on my back.
I’ll rest my eyes
As time slowly flies
Through the open windows.
The sky is grey
And I can’t say
If my troubles have dwindled.
I need repair
And real self care
To haul me through my sadness
Without that care, a real nightmare
Will send me into madness.
So quiettude is what I seek.
No loud hurrahs
No rowdy bars
Just me, alone, asleep.
Tears, in memory of him, digitally manipulated photo using photodirector (not AI). 4.12.23.
Are you more of a night or morning person?
Night is good for fireworks, comets and supernovae. You can’t see them well in daylight.
Also exciting things like auroras and the bright glow of volcanoes.
You might be able to see the milky way galaxy, planets and meteors.
Not that I’m obsessed with astronomy.
Also when you go inside you can watch interesting films on TV.
Daytimes? Well if you are looking forward to nice weather you can sometimes be lucky and get sunshine. But isn’t watching a thunderstorm at night more exciting? And reading a book in bed is relaxing.
Plus, getting up early in the morning it’s often cold. I prefer to stay snug, thank you.
One moon, reflected
Selene or Luna
She glisters through the twigs
Origamied by my buttons
She is twisted into more dimensions.
Fluid glory, etched through glass
Sunlight floods across the horizon
From the opposite side of the world
Pale blue sky washes around
In a month will you appear again?
The tides of time enthralling me.
Is Lady Liberty disappearing into mist and fog? What happened to the support of huddled masses? Can there possibly be mass deportations?
Looking up the name of the island where people arrived in America, Google says:
On 1 January 1892, Ellis Island opened to receive immigrants. At its peak, during the early years of the 20th Century, thousands of people passed through its gates each day. Angel Island in San Francisco Bay had the same role on the west coast from 1910 to 1940.
So why is this aspect of America. Support and kindness now being curtailed? Perhaps it is through fear, perhaps it is selfishness. I don’t know. There seems to be almost a mass hysteria around the world where xenophobia is taking control. We see it in the UK where the legal routes to migration have been reduced and people fleeing conflict have been forced to risk travelling across the Channel in small boats to get to the UK. Vicious rumours about those poor people have caused riots and misinformed so many people in negative ways.
We see war in Syria now that has started to maim and kill people again. Destabilising countries causes strife and fear and forces people to move. Gaza is in crisis, Ukraine is being destroyed. Sudan has floods and starvation to mention a few current crises. But instead of dealing with the bad actors we allow the oligarchs of the world to feel they can get away with their cruelty.
All of us need to stop and think about kindness, caring and love. It’s about time we thought as President Kennedy did, not what we can do for ourselves but what we can do for others. Somewhere humanity needs to think about our fellow humans and not just grabbing what we can and damn the rest.
It makes me dispair and worry about what we are doing. Maybe fear of what’s happening to the Earth’s environment is now impacting on its population. Somehow we must start to care more about each other.
Mallaband-Brown