She gave me ‘that look’
It was questioning me,
Looking into my soul
An unblinking stare
From inches away
Looking into me
It seemed to say….
Where’s my tea?
I see you
Four years ago
According to Facebook memories four years ago I was feeling rough so my dear hubby went out and got me a cheese and bacon oatcake. It doest look appetising but with cooked bacon and mature cheddar with a hint of brown sauce, the Oatcake was folded in half, hot and tasty.
We used to have the occasional oatcake over the months, it’s a local delicacy. As the artist, author and poet Arthur Berry wrote :
Ode to the Oatcake: 1980
- Let us pay homage to the Oatcake.
- Or Otcake or woodcake as the old men called them.
- The Oatcake is not a cake at all really.
- Not like the fairy cake or the Eccles cake.
- Not a cake in that way.
- More of a Potteries Popadum [sic]
- A sort of Tunstall Tortilla.
- A Clay Suzzette.
Justification
I’ve got into a bit of a debate on Facebook about whether the exhaust from airplanes is from water vapour (yes) or chemicals (no). I’ve got especially annoyed since they have said they will be getting rid of fact checkers. I think if you see something on line that does not make sense you should not ignore it but at least put in an alternative realistic point of view. I finished one comment with the words Occams Razor.
Following a series of comments when I rebutted each strange argument with an alternative reasonable comment, someone asked where was I getting my information from? I could of course just said Google. But I don’t. I have had a long life and I like learning information. My memory is very retentive. I can remember telephone numbers from more than 40 years ago (0992 37963) my old home number. I learnt the Greek Alphabet for fun… Alpha, beta, Gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta….. Etc…
So I answered the question, how do I know things by stating :
Mainly science programmes on radio and TV. Reading the new scientist magazine, I’m also interested in the environment and am a member of various nature groups. I’m interested in astronomy. I took science classes at school (biology and chemistry) and had to take physics in one of my diploma courses. I’ve always been interested in science and try and keep abrest of up to date information. My favourite authors when I was growing up were Arthur C Clarke, Issac Asimov, Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman. I enjoy reading biographies of scientists such as Mme Marie Curie and about the Leakies who discovered the Australopithicine Ape Lucy. I am interested in what’s going on in the world. Does this answer your question? I just enloy thinking things through and trying to understand. If that is wrong I will stop commenting.
I try and be polite and as accurate as I can be.
Early dawn
Last night was another sleepless night. I tried a milky hot cocoa then quietly listening to a classical music radio station. I’d stayed downstairs because I have a chesty cough and it’s better to sleep sitting or pillowed up. Finally at just after 7am I gave up and went to bed. I took this photo at the top of the stairs as the faint light blush from the sunrise started to colour the sky. The view is blocked by various trees including a large straggly goat willow. I managed to get comfortable and slept. Then unfortunately someone rang me at 9.15am! After that I’ve been ringing other people so I suppose I’d better stay up.
Comet
There is a Facebook post saying there is a really bright big comet that will appear in the sky tonight. I do get annoyed with these sort of posts because they are so illogical.
I decided to reply: If it was in the sky we would have seen it coming. It wouldn’t just appear. It might be travelling at a few hundreds or thousands of miles an hour but it wouldn’t appear instantaneously. There is a comet called Atlas (not sure of the full name) that is in the southern sky after recently passing the sun. It’s only a low visability comet and is starting to fly out of the solar system. Visible with binoculars just before sunrise. Gradually dimming as it becomes more distant.
Heart
‘I still keep seeing hearts, and it makes me feel like smiling when I do’, she said.
It was over a year since he’d gone, she realised, and things had been hard. They hadn’t discussed anything, it was so unexpected.
About a week after he had died she found a pink, heart shaped petal on her pillow, she had left the window open for some fresh air and it had just appeared, probably on a gust of wind.
She spoke to her sister again. ‘it seems to happen about once a week, I will spot a heart shape somewhere. Daft things like a bubble in the bread was a little heart, heart shaped crisps, presents with them as decorations, stones on the beach, it just keeps happening’.
She remembered the heart shaped cloud that had floated over the house for an hour, just above his shed. Above where he had worked on his bikes and train sets. She knew he was still with her, keeping an eye on her. Maybe one day they would be back together.
Sky
A crystal ball above our heads
A droplet of water magnified
Held to the ground, pulled down,
Curtains draped with fog
Moisture smears the view
Like glasses rinsed and wiped?
The sky’s the thing
Ever changing
Sometimes black, grey, bright.
Rainbows and thunder
Rain and snow, a marvelous show.
Is it a red sky tonight?
A face
Making up faces, good practice if you don’t have anyone to draw. You can work out eye shapes and sizes, how would a long or short nose look? Big or small mouth thin or thick lips? Are the ears visible? How long or wide is the face, what shaped chin.
Drawing is a skill, practice does help. 10,000 hours is meant to make you an expert. Millimeters can change things, hair, makeup, colour, looking in different directions. Up down, sideways, three quarter view.
Please keep working, practicing, enjoy it.
Glass cat
It still amazes me that my friend Phil made us this ginger cat, leaded light window above our front door from a design I drew out for him. It’s proper stained glass with lead holding it all together. It’s about 27 years old. We had it done because the half moon of glass that is above the front door was only single glazed and this does help the draught a bit. I’m so glad I had it made. X
Hubbys tricycle
I need to move on. I’m not going to ride this and I’m not sure if anyone will buy it. It’s a trike conversion. The back wheels and stays are bolted onto a bike frame so it can be adjusted to different sizes. We refurbished it, adding new wheels in 2022. A friend has stored it for me for over a year but it’s not fair to expect him to keep it.
So with regret I will try and sell it. If anyone here is interested I’m in the North Midlands of the UK. I’m willing to sell for a fair price.
Mallaband-Brown 