Oh well
Not selected
Does not mean bad
Or unsuitable?
People have to fit in
With the style
The colours
The motifs
Of an exhibition.
Anyway
I liked it X
Didn’t get in!
Paints
What paint to use on scenery? It would be cheaper to use emulsion paint, but the tins are too big for the Mystery Play job as we only have a few pieces of scenery to paint, so I got out my trusty acrylic tubes. The palettes are a bit of a mess, but I have to admit I like peeling the paint off to see what the back of the paint looks like (shiny and smooth, multicoloured).
More to do, tired…
Cave
Turned a block built stone wall on the back of the cottage scenery into a creepy cave today…. With the help of three other people. It was so good to get help. I’m physically shattered and would have struggled for days to get this done. But with a little help and much appreciation it’s done. It needs a bit of wood to support it. By the way it reminds me of Cezanne in a way. X
Today’s limerick..
Esther Chiltons weekly prompt of a limerick comes with a word to include. This week’s was to use the word “hack” somewhere in the poem.
This might make sense to American readers :
Don’t hack your Rose garden
Please give it a pardon
Let it thrive
And-Beehive
So plants grow, in your yard Don
I admit doomscrolling
How do you waste the most time every day?
Too much stuff to see
Glance, read, what was that?
View, like, heart,
Glance, worry, comment.
Distracting dopamine
Images, words, notes,
Got to stop, put it down
Doomscrolling
Not a good way of looking
At the world…
Can’t do as much…
In the past I used to do 8 ft square boards of scenery for the Mystery plays, and I could paint rapidly. Now it’s taken me all my time just to do this and a few bits and bobs. I don’t have the strength in my arms so this was mainly painted with a small brush and instead of using a full sized board I have one that has an extra couple of bits stuck on. It has a hole because the back of it was already painted as a cave. It’s due to be a witches cottage I still try to be me.
Custard creams
Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to childhood?
My favourite biscuits when I was a child were custard creams, a layered sandwich of two biscuits with a creamy vanilla layer in the centre. You would twist them apart and lick off the filling, then dunk the biscuits in a cup of tea, carefully soaking them and eating them before they got too soggy and fell apart.
Sometimes mom would buy a crispy slightly oatier version with a lemony centre to it which would be eaten in the same way.
Just reading the prompt took me back to our living room, sitting at the dining table with a China cup and saucer and matching plate. Milk jug and teapot. The biscuits were eaten after heinz sandwich spread sandwiches on white bread.
I also remember the rusty orange settee and the wallpaper with tiny rosebuds and ribbons printed on it.
Dad bought home a wallpaper book once, full of swatches of paper patterns in various colours. So exciting to look at.
Longest (or Shortest? Day)
Someone reminded me what day it is today. Midsummers day. In the Northern Hemisphere it’s the longest day. I’m not sure but I think it’s the Shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere.
We have been singing “Summer is Icumen in” in choir. I usually sing the “foot” which is sung under the lyrics which are an example of middle english polyphony.
This is a set of lyrics from Wikipedia :
Middle English
Sumer is icumen in
Lhude sing cuccu
Groweþ sed
and bloweþ med
and springþ þe wde nu
Sing cuccu
Awe bleteþ after lomb
lhouþ after calue cu
Bulluc sterteþ
bucke uerteþ
murie sing cuccu
Cuccu cuccu
Wel singes þu cuccu
ne swik þu nauer nu
Sing cuccu nu • Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu • Sing cuccu nu[9]
Modern English
Summer[a] has arrived,
Loudly sing, cuckoo!
The seed is growing
And the meadow is blooming,
And the wood is coming into leaf now,
Sing, cuckoo!
The ewe is bleating after her lamb,
The cow is lowing after her calf;
The bullock is prancing,
The billy-goat farting, [or “The stag cavorting”[11]]
Sing merrily, cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo,
You sing well, cuckoo,
Never stop now.
Sing, cuckoo, now; sing, cuckoo;
Sing, cuckoo; sing, cuckoo, now![12]
Penkhull Flag
Since I’ve been talking about the Penkhull Mystery Plays I thought I’d share an image of our flag and information about it from the flag institute:
Flag Type: Village FlagFlag Date: 7th July 2018Flag Designer: People of Penkhull with Philip Tibbetts and Graham BartramAdoption Route: Popular VoteUK Design Code: UNKG7540Aspect Ratio: 3:5Pantone® Colours: Green 355, Yellow 109, Blue 286Certification: Flag Institute Chief Vexillologist, Graham BartramNotes:
The Penkhull Flag is a community flag proclaiming the unique identity of this district of the City of Stoke-on-Trent (Staffordshire).
Penkull is a hilltop village and conservation area within the city boundaries, with strong links to the Spode family.
Josiah Spode I lived in Penkhull, close to his famous Spode pottery works, while his son Josiah II developed the village as a dormitory suburb.
The Penkhull Flag features a golden saltire nowy charged with a blue oval bearing a golden rooster.
The green field evokes the rural nature of the village.
The saltire recalls the crossroads at its heart, while the blue central oval represents classic Spode tableware.
Meanwhile the rooster draws on the weather vane of St Thomas’s Church – a commonly used emblem in the village.
This winning design was chosen by popular vote, achieving just over 35 per cent of the poll, and flew for the first time as part of the Penkhull Mysteries event.
Faces
Playing with colours and textures. Who needs AI when you can play with things yourself? This time I started with an acrylic on canvas, then I used photodirector and incollage apps to play with the images. I’m getting some interesting effects.
Mallaband-Brown 