Pottery head I made over twenty years ago. It’s planted up with straggly snapdragons this year but this photo from two years ago looks better. I really need to get out in the garden but I don’t seem to have the strength to sort things out at the moment. I’m fed up and I know gardening would help but the heat over the lost few days has made me really weary. It’s been close to 30°C. At least my hubby has been watering plants. Today? We are expecting heavy rain showers, so the plants will get a little water.
If you were forced to wear one outfit over and over again, what would it be?
If I were forced to wear an outfit it would always be a tee shirt and trousers. But I would say that is casual clothing and not an ‘outfit’. I guess if I were forced I might wear dungarees with some sort of blouse? I like being comfortable and I am a bit clumsy so I might spill my coffee or food, so if I wear patterned tee shirts any stains might be less noticeable!
The other reason why I don’t like outfits is that I had to look smart for my job of twenty-five years. It was horrible to wear such straight-laced clothes. And boring. And unimaginative….
One outfit I did like wearing was one of my friends tie dye tee shirts with patchwork trousers. I felt like a real artist when I wore that. I would be happy to wear that until it fell apart!
I was watching the weather forecast and the smoke from the forest fires in Canada has risen in the atmosphere and had been carried by the jet stream up across the Atlantic and towards the UK. The smoke particles are not low enough to cause breathing problems, but they are in the right place to scatter the light more at sunrise and sunset. This should result in brighter red and orange skies in the morning and evenings.
A similar phenomenon happened when Krakatoa erupted in the 19th Century. Then the volcanic dust that was swept into the sky caused changes in the evening light and blue moons being reported. We have to realise how interconnected the world is.
How do I reduce the size of my saved photos? I’m getting close to my limit again, so I’m still deleting pictures off blogs. But ideally I want to keep the photos. I could go into a post and edit each individual image, reducing the file size to medium or small? I’d only have to go through thousands of posts? I can’t afford to increase my WordPress /Jetpack package. So I’ll keep fudging things and deleting my most fuzzy or boring photos… Maybe I’ll win the lottery?
When it’s quiet here I can still hear the birds singing in the garden. Blackbirds and Robins seem to sing the loudest, but I can also hear Pigeons cooing and Magpies cackling in the morning as they dive and swoop around the trees.
The blackbirds were singing on top of our neighbours chimney pot, long and varied songs to call for a mate and to display where its territory is. Now they have become a bit quieter, they may have raused their young by now. The Robins still flit about but with the heat I think they are quieter too.
The world keeps spinning and the birds keep singing. I hope the birds keep coming back. X
I think about spirituality sometimes and I question whether it is part of religion or not?
I don’t really know what I believe in. I was brought up as a Christian but I also think there are other aspects of spirit and life that come into your thoughts. I cannot be dogmatic or “born again”, I think you have to question things. Just because the bible says the world was made in seven days does not mean it was. That explanation seems like a simple way of understanding the Earth and the Universe. As we grow and learn we have to take on board science and all the knowledge that has come about over the centuries.
I could be an atheist, and not believe in a God or Gods, but in fact I’m more of an agnostic. I don’t know what I believe in, but if the universe is infinite and “God” is infinite how can I possibly know anyway?
I love John Lennons song “Imagine”, imagine there’s no heaven above us, and no hell below (I don’t think I’ve got the words right). I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I don’t know if there is anything after life, and if there is, what comes after that?
I enjoy Yoga, and we do breathing and meditation exercises. I think that helps me cope with my life. I think there are aspects of spirituality that I could question more, but I don’t know whether I should.
I think this man sized puppet at Etruria canal festival a couple of weeks ago was meant to be a preying mantis. I didn’t get the details of the puppet theatre company but they are obviously very skilled makers! I think this is absolutely beautiful (sorry if you don’t like insects), the colours are amazing and the way it is painted with such great detail is a tour de force. If anyone knows the name of the puppiteers please let me know, put it in the comments. Then I will edit this post and include it here. X
Three years ago our cherry crop was already picked. The tree came from the old Woolworths shop in Stoke about twenty five years ago. It must have been happy because now it’s about thirty feet high.
The cherries are starting to ripen, but they are not ready yet. Maybe next week we can reach the lower ones. The rest we donate to the birds. One thing I need to do is buy a big umbrella, it really helps to stop the cherries we pick from rolling off into the undergrowth!
I just drew this… I saw a red admiral butterfly outside and wanted to take a photo of it, but it flew off. I decided to draw something against a dark background to make it stand out more. This was drawn in the Artrage app I use, it gives nice metallic effects, hence the abstract look of this butterfly.
Mallaband-Brown 