It would have been our anniversary today. We lived together for years before we married. I painted him when I was about 20 and he still sits in this painting looking out at me. I did a lot of drawings and portraits of him over the years, I am glad there are visible memories of him.
What will happen when I go? Who knows what my relatives will want to do with all my art? Will a local museum take them, or will they just get skipped? I don’t know, I won’t be here but I would like to have some recognition. The trouble is I’m very eclectic, I paint for my self in these images. Ah well, more questions…
On our honeymoon we went caving! Today would have been our anniversary. When I thought of writing this it was our anniversary eve but I fell asleep and only just remembered to post something….
Time flies when you’re feeling sad. It rolls along leaving you behind. I keep imagining what things would have been like if he was still alive. Being on your own means having no one to discuss problems with. Yes I’ve got friends but it’s not the same. We went through a lot together. I wish we still could.
My friend often sends me photos on WhatsApp. I don’t know what is going to pop up in my messages until they appear. This time he sent me a series of pictures from Saltaire Food festival. Saltaire is near Bradford in Yorkshire. It’s got small, stone built terraced houses, mostly a living room and small kitchen and two bedrooms and a bathroom. I think they filmed the new version of “The Railway Children ” movie there.
At the end of summer it puts on a great market full of food stalls from all over the world. We went a few years ago and discovered Churos from Spain. Like a mixture of sponge fingers and doughnuts crossed with each other. We tried curries and paella. There was a giant lobster balloon. It was very busy when we went. If you are in the area it’s worth a visit.
Thinking of the innocents that have gone to their deaths through war and genocide. But not just that, also plague and starvation. Cutting funding to medical programs is not helping, and using misinformation is particularly cruel.
What is there that we can do? How do we not weep constantly because of those losses? It’s overwhelming. From the past and into the future, there is no enlightenment. Very little truth and reconciliation. A few places have succeeded, Northern Ireland and South Africa spring to mind.
Maybe we should look at what worked or went well in those situations
Now Gaza and Ukraine, Yemen and Sudan are experiencing the horrors of man’s inhumanity to man. And it really does seem to be a male thing. But maybe I’m wrong.
There should maybe be a class in schools. Respect for humanity. I remember an experiment I heard about. A class of children were split in two. Half were given scarves and told they were better than their counterparts. For the day or the week they were allowed to lord it over the other half. But during the next week the other children got the scarves. Suddenly they had the upper hand. Both groups got to experience the indignities and descrimination of the underdogs. It apparently was a great success in improving how children behaved. Insight is so important.
Stressed! My old cat went out while I was shopping, I realised he was not around and I’ve just been calling him for an hour. I left the back door wide open, I kept whistling, it cuts through traffic noise. I also put messages on WhatsApp and got lots of support – one person even offered to come to look for him, he is not eating much except cat soups and drinking a lot of water. It’s such a worrying time.
I thought he was in the garden but its very overgrown and if I went out looking for him I could easily fall over. BUT thank goodness… He’s back! I feel like the boy who cried wolf!
A metal (cast iron) cold painted black and white cat on my windowsill in the kitchen. I have two. They both peep out through the Christmas cactuses. I don’t know why it’s there, it just is. It stares back at me, he’s quite startling in the right light. I’m seeing things better these days.
Mallaband-Brown 