St Swithens day

Posted on July 15, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged 40 days and nights, Encyclopedia Brittanica, Gales, Rain, Saint, st Swithens day, Weather, WindLeave a comment

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St. Swithin’s Day

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Also known as: Saint Swithun’s Day

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Article HistoryTable of Contents

St. Swithin’s Day, also called St. Swithun’s Day, (July 15), a day on which, according to folklore, the weather for a subsequent period is dictated. In popular belief, if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day, it will rain for 40 days, but if it is fair, 40 days of fair weather will follow. St. Swithin was bishop of Winchester from 852 to 862. At his request he was buried in the churchyard, where rain and the steps of passersby might fall on his grave. According to legend, after his body was moved inside the cathedral on July 15, 971, a great storm ensued. The first textual evidence for the weather prophecy appears to have come from a 13th- or 14th-century entry in a manuscript at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Well it’s raining and blowing a gale, and the local weather forecast is for some rain all next week, so St Swithens might be right. In the meantime Europe is sweltering so I hope some gentle cooling rain gets down to the south of us and rinses the heat dome over southern Europe out of the way.

For all the climate deniers the world has been it’s hottest since records began over the last seven days. Maybe it’s not too late to do something about it, but big business doesn’t want to lose profits.

Daisy daisy

Posted on July 15, 2023 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged 2001 a space oddessy, Book, Daisy, daisy daisy, Film, Life, Music, special effects, Time2 Comments

Artrage drawing with metallic and non metallic textures. Duplicated because I was thinking of the song ‘Daisy daisy, give me your answer do…’, I remember at the end of the film ‘2001 a space oddessy’, the computer Hal2000 starts to sing the song as its memory is being deleted by Dave Bowman, the sole surviving astronaut.

If you’ve never seen the film, or read the book (by Arthur C Clarke), I’m sorry for the spoiler. The book goes into a lot more detail, and several of the main parts of the story were changed in the film. Clarke went on to write sequels to the story from different protagonists perspectives. I can’t remember them all but they were good reads too. When you think how old the original book is you can forgive some of the odd, old fashioned ideas, and the film seems slow in comparison to films in today’s times, but it’s a beautiful piece of work. No massive cgi special effects or green screen, just well painted images merging in with the live action. Worth a read or a watch….. I won’t reveal the rest of the story….

Forecast

Posted on July 15, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cold, expectations, Poem, Poetry, precipitation, Rain, Shine, Warm, Water, Weather, Wet, whether, Wind2 Comments

Tomorrow will be cool,

or not

It will be wet, 40%,

Or not?

Wind and rain

Or sunshine again?

We can say with clarity

There will be weather

But we don’t know

Whether

It will be fine

Or rain will make

The pavements shine!

Precipitation!

Be alert….

Belly

Posted on July 15, 2023 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Belly rub, Black and white cat, Cat, Claws, Happy, Life, Paws, Purrs, replete, Tuxedo cat2 Comments

Belly rub? Yes please, I tickle his tum. He purrs. Friends with each other, he is content to lie on his back. No sharp claws, quiet paws. Ten minutes, twenty… Then up he gets and toddles off to his food bowl. Next out into the night, the wind is blowing and the stars aren’t bright, in fact it’s blowing a hooley out there… But he’s happy and replete, out on his nightly patrol, come rain or shine….

Who to invite?

Posted on July 14, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Artists, Burslem, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1997, Friends, Life, Old friends, People, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, The Leopard Hotel4 Comments

If you could host a dinner and anyone you invite was sure to come, who would you invite?

I would invite all my artist friends from over the years. Plus all my family. I would go to the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. It would be fully restored (it was destroyed in a fire) and all my murals would still be there.

We would chat about the old days, and what they had been doing. Find out about where they had lived after I lost touch with them. I would lay on a good meal for them depending on what food they liked. I don’t remember what they used to eat? How could I after 40 years or more in some cases… But to know their life has gone well and hopefully they have been successful.

Who wouldn’t I invite? Famous people. I would be in awe and unable to talk. Can it be possible to meet someone who is important and speak with them at their level? I just don’t know.

Questions like this trouble my imagination. It’s wonderful to think of great people, but I would be too nervous and shy!

Tortie cat

Posted on July 14, 2023 Posted in Cat, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Black and white drawing, Cat, Fun, Life, Poem, Poetry, Sketching, Tortoise shell2 Comments

Pattern makes me happy

Cats are fun to see

A patterned cat is better

Than a plain one to me!

Can’t you see

How funny it can be

To have a tortoise shell cat

That looks like knitted wool

She’s warm, cuddly and fat

And specially cool!

Mad dress

Posted on July 14, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Choir, Colour, dress, Flags, Life, Music, patchwork, Performance, Time, wrap around dress6 Comments

I’m singing at the weekend and I needed a mediaeval type dress for a pageant. I found this in the local store. It’s very “flaggy” or like a patchwork. I’m going to wear it because it’s long enough to cover my legs and that means I can wear warm leggings underneath. I hope the weather is better than it has been all week. It’s been raining and cold.

It’s a wrap around dress and I had to move the button inside to slacken it off a bit. Anyway, wish our choir luck, we are going to need it if we aren’t going to get very wet!

Chopped

Posted on July 14, 2023July 14, 2023 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Bread, chopped, Complementary colours, cut in half, Digital drawing, Finger painting, Loaf, rough sketchLeave a comment

Thursdays #bandofsketchers prompt was chopped. I could have drawn a can of chopped tomatoes, or a tree chopped down. But I wanted to play with ideas so I sketched a loaf chopped in half, I was using the various digital drawing apps that I have on my phone. Seeing if I could import the image between each of them!

Charm?

Posted on July 14, 2023 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black cat, bracelet, Cat, charm, Humour, ladder, Magpie, Mr magpie, superstition4 Comments

Excuse the wrinkly wrist! My friend gave me this Buddhist charm bracelet this week. I’m not a person that believes in superstition, but since I got it things have gone well.

That said I still say “hello Mr magpie how’s your wife” when I see a single Magpie (a friend got me into saying it). I try not to walk under ladders, even if that forces me into the road. And love black cats (They are lucky in the UK). So no I’m not super superstitious, but clearly I do have some latent suspicions!

Anyway I’m wearing the charm, wish me luck! Lol

Knowledge?

Posted on July 13, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Age, AI, Chemistry, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1996, Knowledge, Learning, Life, Memories, Telescope, Thinking, Thought, Time53 Comments

What do you think gets better with age?

Thinking about this question is a challenge. As I age I know I’m not getting physically better, but I hope and believe that I have better knowledge now than I did in the past. I try and keep up to speed with many things. I would say I’m a generalist, not an expert. My brain cannot take all of that information in, but I can try.

I think you always need to be willing to learn. Why not? Why be afraid of finding things out? It makes life more interesting.

For instance, the images that The James Webb telescope is taking of the universe really interest me. Our eye on the universe has got so much better in recent years. Then knowledge about chemistry might help us reduce or stop some of the carbon dioxide emissions that are causing global warming? Changes in computing and AI might help with human health?

And knowledge should be something we all seek. Having knowledge can give us a personal key to what is going on in the world. Avoiding fake news and fake facts. Being wary of things that are too good to be true (They probably are). There is a lot to sift through. But I think its worth seeking out true knowledge.