With thanks

How do you express your gratitude?

You have to say thank you when you receive a gift, or service, or just someone’s kindness. Why wouldn’t you?

Sometimes just the words will do, but when the person has done more for you, or worked harder than expected then perhaps a gratuity (tip) is required. That might be when you are getting work done on your car. Or the waiting service at a restaurant is good (and in some cases people only make enough money because of tips).

When you say thank you for something to a friend, that may mean that you want to give them a gift. Maybe something small? Some flowers or some chocolates. The recipient may not expect or want a gift, but that shouldn’t stop you from making the offer. Even a thank you note is considered a pleasant gesture.

So don’t forget to pass on your thanks when it’s deserved. Or even sometimes when it’s not?

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July 2023 from across the pond. I don’t know all the details of this holiday but I know it’s important over there.

I know it’s independence day, and that there was the Boston Tea Party and the declaration of independence. We don’t have a written constitution here and we don’t pledge allegiance to the flag.

I hope today is harmonious and friendly for you. That you have fond memories of the day. Wishing you all the best X

Old tops

Pattern

I’m unearthing old tops and leggings because I’m having a late spring clean. I bought some of those vaccum bags that you fill with clothes and then suck all the air out. It’s surprising how satisfying it is to do. I’ve bagged up all my winter jumpers. All I need to do is unzip the bag when I need them again. It also means they can’t be attacked by clothes moths. I will also bag up a winter bedcover and a few sheets and a crocheted blanket. I’m glad I bought the bags. In the meantime I’m enjoying wearing a top I last wore twenty years ago… My cupboards need sorting out more frequently!

Global warming

What are you most worried about for the future?

The heat is on..

The world is melting

Tides are rising

It’s happened in my lifetime

Sea water is hotter

Glaciers are drying up

No water to drink

Once it’s gone.

Drought hits crops

Why not be concerned?

Just because I might be gone

I still need to worry

For the ones that come after.

Do my best to restore things

To how they were?

Not much effect maybe?

But one fingernail holds me

Stuck on a cliff

Of hope to change things

We cannot turn back time

But we may make a difference

If we all try?

Bench post

We were thinking of replacing a garden bench with a new one. The seat has rotted through because we didn’t use wood preservatives and there were a few ones for sale at a garden centre we visited at the weekend. But I gasped when I saw the prices! This one was almost £500! I used to pay less than that for a few nights holiday accommodation, although I can’t see us having a holiday this year. Everything has got too expensive.

At least we have some money to spare, but only because of cutting back. It meant we could afford the vet bill today. I’d rather do that than buy clothes or shoes. Life is crazy, but I’m not going to complain, a lot of people have it far worse than us. I think we have to learn to be kinder to each other…. (and not buy benches…)

Singing group

We had choir practice tonight. We started to learn a song ‘it’s getting better everyday’ we had learnt it a few years ago when we had sung in a play at the local theatre. I was thinking about the enjoyment of singing and I remembered that Elton John was extolling the virtues of being in a choir at Glastonbury this year.

We are not a big group but we harmonise well. We did a few sea shanties and started learning another one about going on holiday.

It was such a positive evening, I would recommend joining a choir or singing group if you want to get calm and improve your breathing too. We learn a capella and we are mainly unaccompanied, it’s really fun!

At the vets

Facing a long wait. The vets are busy and only have on clinician on duty. The people who were here for 2.30 are still waiting at 3.15.

Our cat must have been in a fight, he’s got a big lump on his face which is below his eye. Cats are prone to abscesses and they can burst on their own, but it’s important to get it checked out especially since its so close to his eye.

Anyway I hope he will be alright soon. Wish him luck. X

Great teachers..

What makes a teacher great?

Great teachers make you think. They are enthusiastic, they listen. Great teachers give you an idea you can work with and help you to understand concepts.

I had a great English teacher who once bought a pack of tarot cards into a lesson to explain there were other ideas about mythology than the normal or ordinary histories. I can’t remember much about the class but the artwork on the cards got my imagination working.

We had a great Geography teacher, who really explained clearly about all sorts of concepts, like isotherms, synclines and anticlines, geological fault lines. He made it really interesting.

And I’ve had several great Art teachers, in school and at college. The great ones gave me confidence with the work I was doing. One at school entered my art into a competition and I had a painting exhibited in our twin town in Germany. Another at college said my work had a bit of something about it.

The point is that Great teachers get us to go further and do more than we would otherwise do. Learning is dependent on you making an effort, and by having a great teacher you can be encouraged to try harder. I’m glad I had some.

Overlays

I added different textures, scratches, and overlays to my dotty drawing from earlier oni don’t know why but I have to push the boundaries to my work until it feels finished. I guess that’s why I call myself an experimental fine artist. I like the way it’s digital but it could be painted and then weathered and flaking. I keep editing until I cannot get an improvement in the image.

Up and down

This is how I feel. Trying to balance the world on my nose. It wobbles, but keeps spinning. It precesses and stays just about stable, but demands on me pull it off kilter. Can I do this, will I do that? Can I help with.. I don’t like letting people down so I do my best. Perhaps I should be more selfish? But that’s not what I’m like.

I feel like dropping the spinning wheel sometimes, just let it slide away, tip up then roll off into the distance. Trying to manage the behaviour of someone who self harms isn’t good (I won’t say who). That and personal pain from my medical conditions makes me grumpy. I just want peace. A couple of days to myself. It didn’t help that our neighbours behind us are selling their house and are threatening to cut branches off our trees? We said we would sort things out so hubby, who is in his seventies, was climbing up and down ladders cutting foliage back. All I could do was hold the ladder. That and some other new neighbours have decided to park their car in the alleyway so it’s hard to access the back of our garden. No consideration for us. I might contact the council. So many things to deal with, and now it looks like one of our cats had got an abscess on his face, he’s just come in and his face is swollen. Oh dear!