Handle with care

What’s in the box? She asked. I couldn’t say he replied. It just arrived in the post.

They sat and drank coffee.

Open it? She said. No wait till Chrismas he replied.

That was three days ago. Now it was Christmas morning. Let’s open it now, she said? After lunch, he said.

Each time they put it off, the tiny Christmas elf in the box got weaker, hungrier, angrier. It had been posted to bestow three wishes. Now it had decided the wishes granted would be its own. It would start by attacking whoever opened the box.

Elves are fragile, but not as fragile as humans!

Rainy day in Burslem

Delivering a few presents today, the sky was grey and the clouds low, hanging over the hills in a misty damp blanket. I had the blower on in the car but it didn’t keep the moisture out. My glasses kept steaming up because I was wearing a mask.

By the time I got home I was cold and tired. But it was the furthest I’ve driven in nine months. A whole 24 miles.

Wet carolling

Very wwet song book

We went out and sang upon our local church green tonight. All of us in masks. We each had a space marked with a CD on the ground. We sang four songs, Good King Wensceslas, Ye Shepherds arise, While Shepherds watched their flocks by night (Cranbrook version) and the St Day Carol (now the Holly bears the Berry…).

There were about seventeen of us getting very wet, but it was great to sing in harmony with people. We didn’t have an audience. But it was great fun.

Look up Penkhull Mystery singers on YouTube if you want to see us in full voice in previous years.

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Stuck!

Just at the bottom of this picture is the inner door catch of my car. I’d been out to the shop and when I got back I tried to open the door, and it snapped off in my hand! I had to get someone to open the door from the outside. I called the AA (automobile association) and they came out quickly. But all they coukd do was thread a cable tie round the pinion inside the door… Now I can pull on a bit of plastic, and if that doesn’t work lower the window and pull the catch on the outside… Hopefully I will be able to manage until the catch is replaced!

Outside cat update.

You know that feeling when you might be being taken advantage of? The outside cat came in at about 6pm. Had a meal, a good drink, then popped upstairs to sleep on our bed. Now, 11.30pm, he’s come down, come and looked at us for a minute in the living room, gone off, had a drink, then waited by the back door to be let out.

Cats, they really do have humans under their claws! I’m supplying bed, breakfast and an evening meal. I do think he’s getting more social, but he’s got the best side of the deal!

Doodles from three years ago…

These were on my memories from three years ago so I thought I would share them. Yet again a combination of doodling and filters. Probably drawn with a stylus. Using Sketch, sketcher free and ArtRage oils. I like drawing faces in profile.

I’ve found I usually draw left facing profiles for faces and animals. In this case I’ve switched a couple of them round to see how it changes the image. Is it something to do with if you are left or right handed? I don’t know.

Jack Frost

Trying to draw Frost from my memory. Not easy. I couldn’t get the feathery patterns that it makes. Drawn in ArtRage oils. Working between metallic and non metallic white on a blue background.

I remember going to bed in the cold. The Frost built up inside the windows. Our breath condensing on the glass. I was on the window side of the room (I shared with my sister) and the curtains were thin and yellow. Behind them a wide windowledge, then wooden window frames with curly cast iron handles to open them. I’d look out on freezing nights and see ‘Jack frost’ on the panes. If it was really cold we were allowed to put the one bar electric heater on until we got in bed under eider downs and our school macs to keep warm under. I’d often sleep with my coat over my head. Breathe warm air on my hands and try and stop shivering. We only got double glazing to our n family home after I’d left for college I think….

Christmas cards

One thing I do love is getting Christmas cards. I wish I’d got addresses to respond to some of them. They arrive, and I can’t always find the address to respond. I had a letter off a good friend earlier in the year. I wrote back, but lost the original letter. I can’t address a card to ‘my friend’ ‘North of england’. I don’t think it would work like it does for ‘Santa, North Pole’.

I’m not putting up any decorations this year except for the cards.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all.

Hanging around…

Looking out of the kitchen window and the hanging basket I have taken photos of over the months is still surviving. A lot of the flowers have gone. There are still five or six different plants with flowers on them. The other hanging baskets are wilting. But it’s almost the shortest day (tomorrow) how is it coping!? If we ever get a cold night or snow it might die back. In any case I will post again if it’s still going.

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