A butterfly sunbathes on top of the fence. I couldn’t get a decent photo because it was too far away. It looks more like a speckled leaf. The edge looks like a wrinkled and twisted old dry oak leaf. There are plenty of flowers lower down on the fence for it to collect nectar as it sips from them.
I imagine it was trying to warm up as we have had lots of cold and damp days recently.
Talking about insects there was a Huge bumblebee in the bathroom yesterday. I tried to get it out, I couldn’t reach up to the window so opened the bathroom door and in the end opened the back door as well and it just flew out into the sunshine. It was good to see two different pollenating insects in the garden on the same day.
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was slime. A drawing using a photo of my hubby, I’d already drawn over it. I tried to add a layer of slimey gloop as if it was a sculpted bust covered in ectoplasm from a ghost in Ghost busters. You hopefully get the idea?!
A week ago the #bandofsketchers prompt was Peel. Digital drawing of a banana being peeled. I can’t get out to get a new sketchbook so I’m drawing on my mobile with my fingers. Its a bit fuzzy.
If you were going to open up a shop, what would you sell?
If I could I would open an art shop. But I don’t have the skills. I’d need to be trained in accounting, in design to get things looking peofessional, and more knowledge of pricing. Also I’d need sufficient funds to rent or let a property.
At the moment I’m lucky to have some of my work on sale or display, but the business side of it doesn’t enthrall me. I’d never be an entrepreneur.
I did try when I finished work, I set up a studio and worked at producing new art. But the building us rarely open to the public, and my studio is off down a narrow corridor so I don’t have much contact with people when I’m there. Covid and lock downs stopped me from getting stalls on local craft fairs.. A cheaper way of selling than having a permanent ‘public facing’ shop.
I’ve heard of business plans but never had one perhaps that’s my biggest failing, I just keep getting on with getting on….
Just managed to cook! A simple recipe, two carrots chopped, half an aubergine chopped up, half a courgette (zucchini). I set a pan of basmati rice boiling while I put a couple of chicken breasts in another pan and fried them. Then I added the vegetables, added a large flat mushroom, added salt, oregano, and garlic granules. When the chicken was part cooked I cut it up into small chunks. I had some cooked mussels out of the fridge that had defrosted overnight, I added them to the food.
Then I deseeded a single chilli and added that, I spooned cooked rice into the pan and added half a tin of peeled plum tomatoes. In all everything cooked on a low heat for about half am hour.
Did I mention? I stood up to do it, put my crutches to one side. I felt a bit unbalanced, but I’ve got to try and do things. And the meal was lovely. Hubby carried the plates into the living room for me.
Meteor showers are caused by dust and debris from old comets or broken up asteroids, or other rocks or metallic pieces that are within earth’s orbit.
A comet might leave dust as it passes through the solar system. As the Earth orbits the Sun it can pass through the cloud of dust from a comet and burn up in our atmosphere, the burning pieces are what we see as shooting stars or meteors. If one falls to Earth it is classed as a meteorite.
Meteorites come in two types, carbonaceous (with carbon compounds) and metallic (with metals such as iron inside them). If you find one that has landed it can be worth a great deal of money.
Finally the meteor shower is named after the area or constellation in the sky they apparently come from. So the Perseid shower appears to emanate from the constellation Perseus. Others include the Orionids, Geminids, and other star groups. They happen throughout the year and astronomers can predict when they are due although not always the strength of the shower or storm. Tonight’s shower may have up to 100 shooting stars an hour. They usually start after local midnight… Good luck if you try to see them, I wish you clear skies.
A planter I made about thirty years ago, I really wish I’d planted it up with lobelia like this but it got a bit late. It’s had snapdragons in it this year but they have got a bit straggly. I hope when I get a bit better I will be able to get out and rearrange things a bit. Summer is passing by and I’m stuck. Sorry to be grumpy.
My head nods forwards or sideways and suddenly I wake with a jump. I’m sitting in an armchair propped up with cushions. I’m a one level person at the moment, living room, kitchen, bathroom. No escape from a forty foot long pathway to nowhere. I can’t climb upstairs yet and the step out the back door or out the front are non negotiable even with crutches.
Hobbled is a thing that people do to stop horses wandering off, I think they tie a couple of their legs together to stop them running away.
I feel hobbled as I shuffle through the house. Jacob Marley with all his tangled chains couldn’t go much slower than I am at the moment. Then a cat will create an amusing barrier, wanting it’s tummy tickled or just to let me know it’s there. The nightly perambulation of a cat is interesting but inexplicable. In, out, in with a little purr… Crunch biscuits or eat wet cat food, out again. I’m up and down to the bathroom frequently. I have to guess when I will need to use it as it takes about five minutes to walk there.
Dawn is coming up in about two hours. If I put the radio on low I might drift off. Otherwise I’ll watch a bright dawn come up on one side of the house and the sun set behind the big hill about 9pm on the other.
Sleepy but not sleeping, sleep walking? Waiting for loud cars to start roaring past at around 6am. I want my bed!
What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?
Not this!
Yet again I have to be equivocal about this question. I mean I’m not deliberately being ambiguous, but there could be many answers depending on the person, their age, sex, health and the place they are at.
1. Fresh water /food
If you are alone and outside away from people, for instance on a walk it’s a good idea to take supplies. I imagine I won’t be far from transport, but what happens if you get lost?
2. Spare clothes/groundsheet
If you are out and about and lost you might not be able to find shelter if the weather deteriorates or it gets dark. You might have to stay put, so having extra clothes and something to make into a shelter could save you from exposure. We went camping one Easter and I had to wear two pairs of trousers and three jumpers because of the cold!
3. A map
Learn to read maps, if your phone goes flat and you can’t charge it how do you find your location?
4. Medication?
Even if you don’t expect to be out all day and night it’s better to be prepared. The older you are the more likely you are to need medicine. Don’t ignore it, and if necessary take out travel insurance.
5. Car keys?
Yes if I take the car with me, and house keys.
6. Medical alert.
If you take some medications then you need to take warning notifications with you. Similarly if you are allergic to food colourings, bee and wasp stings, or antibiotics it’s worth letting people know!
Mallaband-Brown 