Blood red lamp

Posted on December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Creative writing, Dracula, Dusk, Horror, Lamplight, Mystery, Night, Short story, Telling a tale, Very short storyLeave a comment

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Over the front door, the lamp caught the blood red light of the sunset. Strings of ivy trailing around it. Outside a gate heavily covered in it. Swathes of creeping vines hiding the steps.

Only one man came through the gate. The count, the noble man, Dracula.

It was time for his nightly wandering, the lust for blood strengthened his old bones.

New years eve, 2019. Time for sustenance, time for the deep red drink, and the thrill of the chase. Soon he would have his fill.

The leaves of the ivy rustled as he passed through the gate. The churchyard beyond was quiet except for a late dogwalker. The dog would arrive home later. Alone.

Mr X

Posted on December 30, 2019 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Mr X, Oil painting, Old painting, Painting, PortraitLeave a comment

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The exposure is not good on this, but this is one of my paintings from when I was at college

Painted in oils on wood, this has a poster about his band stuck to it and overpainted. Painted in 1981.

I can’t remember much about it, but I saw it today, it’s 39 years old!

Coffee

Posted on December 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Coffee, Decaff, Hot, Humour, Poem, Poetry, Tasty, Warm drinkLeave a comment

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Warm brown liquid,

from Coffee bean

roasted and ground.

Squashed into powder,

granulated and freeze dried,

or steaped in hot water

in a cafetiere

and poured

into a tiny cup or mug.

Releasing its caffeine,

Or on my case?

Not.

Decaff.

Bored.

Not allowed.

Hand in the cookie jar

Posted on December 29, 2019December 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Annoyed, Eaten, Empty, Food, Gone, Grr, LifeLeave a comment

grr. Grr!

Annoyed. We had a box of shortbread biscuits for Christmas, we have had a few. My hubby more than me. The box is on top of the fridge. So I went into the kitchen to make us coffee and get the last few biscuits. Guess what? The box was there, but empty. I’m annoyed.

At least throw the box away once it’s empty. Don’t leave it there to tempt me. He does the same with tubs of butter, bananas (yes he left an empty skin on the fruit bowl!), or he finishes strawberries off and doesn’t throw away the punnet. He finishes bottles of milk without leaving some for my coffee.

Grr.

Schrodingers cat?

Posted on December 29, 2019 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged John Gribben, Learning, Quantum entanglement, Quantum mechanics, Schrodingers cat, ScienceLeave a comment

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Quantum physics. I like reading books about it. But I don’t really understand. Schrodingers cat is in a box. There is a phial of poison in the box with it, but no one knows if the cat us alive or dead unless you open the box. What causes the phial to break depends on entangled electrons…… Which is where I’m lost and can’t remember what I read.

Books I would recommend, that I’ve had for years. In Search if Schrodingers Cat, by John Gribben, and In Search of Schrodingers kittens, by the same author. He also wrote In search of the Edge of Time.

So it’s up to you. It’s a tricky subject, but worth looking into.

Sunset sketch

Posted on December 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Artrage oils, Colours, Doodling, Drawing, Evening, impression, Picture, Purple and orange, Sketch, SunsetLeave a comment

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I wanted to do a colourful sketch of the sunset which was all oranges and purples. I can’t get it exactly right as it is drawn in ArtRage oils, basically it’s a finger painting. I got the idea from a photo by a friend on a Facebook page, but as it’s just an impression there is no point in sharing the photo as this is much more impressionistic than the original.

What is a blog for?

Posted on December 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Creative writing, History, Poetry, Science, themes, WritingLeave a comment

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Blogging seems to be all sorts of things. I follow poetry, science, history, art and all sorts of other subjects. I post pretty much anything I’m interested in. I try and write things that are interesting, sometimes short stories or poems, other times about my art.

I started out thinking it would purely be about painting and drawing. But I suddenly realised that I wanted to include more than that. My writing and grammar skills are not honed. I used to write essays in English or History classes, but that was on the subjects on the syllabus. When I got to Art school I had to write essays and a thesis, so blogging came slowly. I hope what I write is enjoyable or interesting.

The lake

Posted on December 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Busy, Fun, Leek, Light railway, Near Leek, Rudyard, Rudyard lake, Staffordshire, Train, Visit, WaterLeave a comment

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A view of late summer. Riding on the Rudyard lake light railway train, along the length of the lake. I saw this sailing boat over the other side. Too far away and slightly misty to get a clear view. I love the romance of the scene. Its a long, thin lake. Sheltered by hills on either side. Actually a reservoir for the canal system. I don’t think it ever gets stormy on there. No tides, no rise and fall of water, unless there is a period of drought. A lovely, if busy, place to visit.

It’s out in the hills on a little side road, we have cycled there down steep gradients when I was a lot younger. One road to it is very narrow, with passing places. The other is on the far side of the town of Leek and means an extra twenty to thirty minutes travelling to get there.

One day I will take paints and a canvas to capture the views.

Holly

Posted on December 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Desiduous, Evergreen, Garden, Holly, Ivy, Leaves, Life, Plants, Spring bulbs, WinterLeave a comment

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Variegated Holly, a view of winter plants. When desiduous leaves have fallen, Ivy and Holly add green to the garden. We have three Holly bushes. This one, a tall spikey one with fully green leaves and one with pale green edges instead if yellow. The fully green one is the most robust. It is growing in a shady part of the garden and making even denser shade. The other two are in more open areas. We cut off lower branches to let more light into the lower layers of the garden so summer flowering plants are not completely shaded out. I can’t wait for the spring bulbs to come up, although the local squirrel population seems to like digging them up. There will be narcissi and crocus around the Holly in spring.

Sunset

Posted on December 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Day and night, Daylenght, Life, Light and dark, Sad, TiredLeave a comment

IMG_20160522_204446 Well not quite yet. But soon. Another day has drained away. I was going to do more today. It didn’t happen.

If I lived in the tropics it would be warmer and brighter. But the disadvantage is that the sun goes down about the same time every day, and day and night lengths are around the same all year round.

To be honest if I could move to the southern hemisphere for half of the year I might. I just can’t wait for summer.

Longer days, more time to fit things in. Less night and darkness.

Mallaband-Brown

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