Last January
It snowed
Huge flakes fell out of a grey sky
Cotton wool pieces
Layering up
Cold biting my bones
Blanketing the world with a white duvet
Smothering sounds
Birds hushed
Edges softened
Till drip, drip, drip
The thaw arrives.
Snowflakes?
Category: Uncategorized
Saggars and pots
A photo from the British Ceramics Biennial last year. Rain washed spode site glistening in the sunlight.
Missing being able to visit places and see things. Even after a couple of days it looks like they are going to increase local lockdowns and prevent more transmission of the virus.
And yet we see images of people without masks, or wearing them as some sort of decorative chin strap. While the head of one of the greatest countries in the world gets to throw possibly contaminated masks into a baying, maskless crowd.
Crazy, mad, sad.
Double dragon trouble
A mouth full of teeth? No two! When the dragon egg hatched Ernic did not expect to see this! Double headed dragons were a rarety these days. They were more legend than reality.
The dragon was named Tuis, meaning two, and the villagers became more nervous as it grew. Ernic was given the task of feeding it. But those two heads could eat double what a normal dragon ate. Crunching bone and flesh. Dragons didn’t eat humans but they were carnivores. They would sometimes belch flame but they did not need to tendorise their food, their teeth were strong enough to bite through anything.
A gap of a few months ensued, all was quiet, Tuis continued to grow. But his mood started to change. Now he was angry. It was as if each head had a different mind and they started to squabble. One head was more dominant and no matter how Ernic tried it would grab more food. Tuis one was bigger than Tuis two. It had a darker gleam in its eyes. Shar teeth would snap at its twins head.
Finally it happened that One’s teeth grazed Two’s neck. Snap! The deed was done. Tuis smaller head collapsed forward. Then a look of utter despair came across Tuis face. He crumpled. Double trouble. Dead.
The tail of the dolphin
We’d been out all day on holiday one summer in Devon, we came back to the caravan we were staying in. A crowd of people were on the beach and some people were in wetsuits about thirty yards out in the sea. I saw a dolphin so decided to swim. Didn’t know how long it would be around so I just took my glasses and shoes off and got in fully clothed! I swam between the crowd at the shore and the ones further out. He, the dolphin (oh dear clearly male) kept swimming backwards and forwards and as I was in the middle he kept swimming next to me! After an hour I swam back in shore. Why do I know it was a male? Er, a long appendage! There was a notice on the campsite the next day. You can catch illnesses from dolphin breath out of their blowhole. They say swimming with dolphins is relaxing, but I didn’t expect that! The dolphin it turned out was an adolescent male called Georges x
Spring sprung
Spring, sprung
Six months ago
Remember the blossom
The cherries that followed
Apples and pears
All out there
Hope reigns that it will come again.
Springing up from cold earth
Bitter rain
Chilling frosts.
Hope springs eternal….
Drawing with nail varnish
This is a thing now. I had a sketchy picture of my hubby done on black paper. I’d used pastels to do the drawing back in September, but after playing with nail varnish to draw a landscape view, I decided to use them on the drawing. It certainly had an interesting effect. It’s shiny and the colours change depending on where the light bounces off. I finished it off with adding a few lines with a silver marker pen. It reminds me of oil on water.
Trike – restored
The trike is restored! Very pleased, my hubbies tricycle was damaged last week when he turned. One of the back wheels had buckled! The tyre and tube had come off but the tube was still inflated.
We rang a couple of bike shops and were advised to contact Brian Rourke Hand-built Bikes in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.
We gave them a ring and were told to bring the trike in. When we got there, there was a lot of sucking of teeth and questioning if they could do it? But yes, they would see what they could do. Then on Monday they rang, they couldn’t source the right size wheels, (26″), so they suggested it might not be worth fixing, which was understandable. But I argued that it was a historic machine. It had been ridden in time trials and my hubby had come third in a 25 mile time trial about thirty years ago. It would be a challenge. Also they could maybe use 700c wheel rims and spokes instead? Cue chat with the mechanic. Yes they would order them in.
Yesterday we had a phone call, the trike was done! It’s got 700c rear wheels built onto the original hubs, 32 spokes per wheel. The other back wheel was eaten away with rust so they replaced that too. Also a new 26″ wheel on the front (it has less spokes than the back wheels so they could source that). The wheels are all Mavic. New white walled tyres and tubes on 1 3/4″ rims. Also a new front side pull brake. It cost a lot, but it was worth the money. Call it my anniversary present to him.
X
The back yard, mid october
Despite the cold, wet weather the flowers in the back yard continue to survive. If we get any bad frosts I think they will go, but the sheer number of them packed together offer shelter to all of them.
So pleased we had the hanging baskets filled by a little farm nursery back in May/June, they have certainly been worth the initial cost. I go outside and am immediately cheered.
Cat on the line!
Our outdoor cat has decided to take charge of my hubby’s railway set. Luckily there is a pond painted in the centre so he can lie on it and not do too much damage. He’s got a heater in there so he is nice and warm. He’s also started coming in for a few minutes at night. Although he did swipe a paw at my boy cat last night. He’s happy, well fed, and has lots of fun.
From estherchiltonblog #funnyoftheweek
I saw this and howled! I think my friends with dogs will love this. I did try and share her page but couldn’t find the right option. Thanks Esther for letting me share.
Mallaband-Brown 