Take a photo mainly of sky. Have one or two corners with a building or plant on it. Use a collage tool to create four images and rotate them so that the silhouettes merge in the middle… Voila!
Floating
Going abroad with a cold
Describe your most memorable vacation.
I went on holiday on a wine tasting tour with my relative. Unfortunately I started coming down with a cold on the coach. Soon my nose was red with sneezing and my throat was sore.
Over the channel and into Europe. I slept most of the way. I had thought that I would be able to order some aspirin in a shop, but I made the mistake of asking for it in a familiar way rather than the proper (formal) way with strangers. I got an disapproving look!
Two days of cold with runny nose. I don’t remember much, I couldn’t taste the wine, I didn’t know how to order food. Half of the trip was during a local holiday so the shops shut at midday.
Eventually it was time to come home. I enjoyed the scenery, the friendly vineyards and wine tasting cellars. But I was glad to be back on the coach.
The highlight? Watching ‘ The hunt for Red October’ video on the TV above my seat. It cheered me up and took my mind off the journey.
Hosta!
My hosta has flowered and the slugs have left it alone. Yippee!
Migraine
Had a ‘retinal migraine’ last night, an unnerving experience. I was reading subtitles on TV when they started to go blurry, then the edge of my vision started to sparkle and look jagged, hard to explain, so I’ve tried to draw it. Apparently according to my optician it’s not unusual, I should have covered one eye then the other. If it happens in both it’s an effect in my brain. It cleared up after 20 mins. (if just in one eye, then it may be a problem in one of my eyes).
End of the rainbow
I just read a post on Facebook about a rainbow and it bought back memories from the 1980s.
I was outside on a sunny day when dark clouds piled up as a shower passed by. I noticed a rainbow forming and unbelievably the end came down just up the street from where I was, about fifty yards away. I walked forward and it moved away. I tried jogging, but it kept the same distance away, then gradually faded as the sunlight was blocked by clouds behind me. I really think this is a real memory, not imagined…
Application unsuccessful
I’m sad to say that I didn’t get my painting of Molly Leigh the Burslem witch into the three counties open exhibition this year. (Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire).
I know they had over 200 entries and it depends who is selecting the works of art. I also know that the exhibition has to be cohesive and not too eclectic. So will I enter again? Yes, but I will probably choose to do something less specific. But I’m glad I painted this.
The reason why? I painted something similar to this as a mural in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, several years ago. The building burned down a couple of years ago and I wanted to try and recreate the memory of it. The painting means a lot more to me than getting it in this competition. X
Say thank you
How do you express your gratitude?
With a note or in words
To receive and to give
Make good your gratitude,
Or say it with flowers?
For work of many hours
Giving back your pleasure
Of deeds well done
Or welcome support
In adversity.
For service rendered
Time spent in caring,
Thanks are required and accepted.
Down
People aren’t around, and if they were I don’t want to bother them. Some memories have been arriving on my Facebook page and I remembered what fun I was having ten years ago. People were there then, a group who worked together. Work was OK, life was satisfying.
Now? I feel shattered, broken, I’ve caught myself crying a few times. I’ve got things planned for later on, so I hope I’ll be OK. Life is up and down at the moment. I’m sharing this here because it’s better to get things off your chest. I need to unstick myself and stop thinking about things. But worries assert themselves.
This was triggered by adverts for funeral plans and wills on the TV and seeing seven or eight police cars and an ambulance up the hill last night. What happened? Are people OK? Nothing in the news, but anxiety bites again.
Penkhull Mystery Plays
Ten years ago, three horseheads of the apocalypse!
Up until Covid we were merrily holding Mystery Plays almost every July. We had a fallow year where we did other things, but the central play was missing. But now a group of residents are working towards a 20th anniversary performance in 2025.
So on Saturday 6th July 2024 we are holding a Titchy Theatre fundraising event to try and enthuse people to get involved for next year. The event will be in Penkhull Village Hall from 12.30 to 2.30pm.
We had fun creating props from willow withies and paper and glue. The horses were based on Picasso style ideas.
Glass
Photo of a drinking glass, it has a ridged blue surface spiralling round the outside. I took this photo looking through it at the TV screen in a darkened room. The curves on the right hand side are my fingers and fingernails. There are pieces of ice at the bottom of the glass. I might put it through apps to see how it comes out.
Mallaband-Brown 