Nostalgia, schooltime

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The world was simple once. No one had smartphones. If you wanted to find something out you either looked it up in a book at home, in the library or looked in an encyclopedia at school. I’m remembering my school now.

Lessons were many and varied. We had a choice of Art, Biology, Human Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, History, Pottery, Woodwork, Domestic science, Technical drawing, Sewing (can’t remember what it was called), Geography, French, German, Spanish, Music, Sport science, English language, English Literature. At “O” level or CSE.

These were the days when Comprehensive schools had recently been created and our school had been amalgamated from two other senior schools. I found out later that our area was well thought of and the money used gave us standards equivalent to London and Edinburgh! We had an orchestra and other clubs. Computing was just coming in but I never used one. We still had exercise books and biros and pencils.

The school had a swimming bath, sports hall, science and art blocks and a music block later on.

We were just normal council house kids, we were really lucky to have a wonderful school. I remember my time there with mostly joy.

Disappointed

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My sister was going to visit this weekend but she’s got to work. I was really looking forward to seeing her. We would have bought some plants for the yard and I would have twisted her arm to help me put them in the pots round there.

I feel like I’ve abandoned my garden. I can’t do as much as I used to, I need to be stable and not risk falling over. Friends are busy and I have got into a situation where I don’t want to ask for help. I’m as disappointed in myself as anything else. I’m losing my ability to want to keep going.

Esther’s prompt, write about a fictional world you would like to visit.

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Discworld

This is what I wrote :

The world I would like to visit is the Discworld of Terry Pratchett. I would really like to meet Granny Weatherwax and her fellow witches.

I think the idea of an unpolluted, magical world, with tiny dragons that singe you slightly when they sneeze is great.

When there is a real figure of Death with a horse called Binky. The stories weave around using ideas from Earth but putting a spin on them.

Flat Earthers would possibly love the idea that the Discworld is flat and rests on the back of four gargantuan Elephants who in turn stand on the back of the giant world turtle, A’tuin, who’s paddle like legs steer him through interstellar space.

Wood can be sentient, there are pines that count their age so when you chop them down the number of years they have been standing appears in their heart wood. A magically infused trunk will chase you on hundreds of little legs and swallow evil people up.

Rincewind the Wizard is at the centre of many stories and his friend Twoflower follows along and adds to the chaos. Yes I would love to be there!

Digital drawing of a woman

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Playing with Artrage, it’s been a while, I wanted to create the impression of a stained glass window. I like drawing digitally and I used a stylus to try and control my shakiness. I like this app because it had various pens and the ability to make the colours metallic. I paid for it, but not much and I’ve used it for several years .

Horsing about

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I only had an hour at art group today so I messed about and came up with this. It’s a semi abstract painting of a horse/zebra. I was concentrating on a limited pallette, green, burnt umber, a lighter brown, silver  and white. First I painted the horse and highlighted it in green, then I added the gnarly tree. Finally I added textures, including the striped zebra idea. I think it has a vague medieval feeling. I’m calling it finished. Acrylic on canvas.

Don’t trust the results!

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I frequently get games popping up in adverts on my phone and sometimes they say they will measure your IQ?

I just played a game where you ‘unscrew’ bolts that hold a building together. You have to rotate the building in 3d to find the bolts, and also you have to chose the correct colours to remove so that they slot into three matching coloured holes at the top of the page.

I started and kept going to the end, when the counter for IQ got over 120 I was surprised, but as I removed the screws it kept increasing (it didn’t get more difficult). When it finally got to 600 at the end of the game my scepticism peaked!

Silly game, just a test of hand eye coordination.

Cataract check up

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Today I had a check up to see if I was suitable for cataract surgery. I went to a clean, bright, smart clinic. I had to have transport because I was not allowed to drive.

After a short wait and having read the booklet about cataract surgery I went to see the technician to have eye drops put in and then photos taken of my lenses. She also did a check of my eyes looking at an eye chart with and without a small grid that you had to try and focus through. I found I could see the chart better with it, less fuzzy. Finally they checked my blood pressure which was a bit high but the bottom figure was OK as I managed to relax.

A short wait and then I saw the optometrist. This time she checked my retina and also the pressures within my eyes that would indicate glaucoma. Everything was OK. Now I just have to choose when I have the operation as I have other things to deal with before I can get the first eye done.

Wish me luck. X