New paintings and regular art updates.
But when they take position on the settee at either end, they just make me laugh. They were like two lions sitting atop gate posts this morning. Watching what was happening, waiting for their breakfast. Matching black and white masks stoically patient.
My head nods forwards or sideways and suddenly I wake with a jump. I’m sitting in an armchair propped up with cushions. I’m a one level person at the moment, living room, kitchen, bathroom. No escape from a forty foot long pathway to nowhere. I can’t climb upstairs yet and the step out the back door or out the front are non negotiable even with crutches.
Hobbled is a thing that people do to stop horses wandering off, I think they tie a couple of their legs together to stop them running away.
I feel hobbled as I shuffle through the house. Jacob Marley with all his tangled chains couldn’t go much slower than I am at the moment. Then a cat will create an amusing barrier, wanting it’s tummy tickled or just to let me know it’s there. The nightly perambulation of a cat is interesting but inexplicable. In, out, in with a little purr… Crunch biscuits or eat wet cat food, out again. I’m up and down to the bathroom frequently. I have to guess when I will need to use it as it takes about five minutes to walk there.
Dawn is coming up in about two hours. If I put the radio on low I might drift off. Otherwise I’ll watch a bright dawn come up on one side of the house and the sun set behind the big hill about 9pm on the other.
Sleepy but not sleeping, sleep walking? Waiting for loud cars to start roaring past at around 6am. I want my bed!
List 10 things you know to be absolutely certain.
Is this an exam?
1. The Earth is an oblate spheroid. That is it’s almost a sphere but it is fatter around the equator because of its spin.
2. Crisps are crunchy and made of potatoes that have been thinly sliced and fried (who said these had to be serious? ).
3. The Sun is approximately 93 million miles away from the Earth. But because the Earth’s orbit is an ellipse it has times when it is slightly nearer, and times when it is slightly further away.
4. Water freezes at 0°Celsius. I don’t know if it’s the same in Fahrenheit.
5. Too much sugar and salt is bad for you. But you need some to maintain your electrolyte balance.
6. Halleys comet comes back into the inner solar system every 76 years, it’s next due in the 2060’s (I’ve forgotten the exact year)
7. Cats don’t have 9 lives, they just pretend!
8. I know for a fact that I don’t get enough sleep!
9. Green plants absorb all the other colours and reflect green? I think.. I’ve forgotten the physics behind it though.
10. Singing really can help your mental health. It’s good for breathing too.
Well those were a few random (and probably useless) facts. I tend to pick up a lot of ideas, and as I have a retentive memory I hold onto facts that are not much use to anyone.
It’s hot, and the cats have come into the living room to enjoy the breeze from our oscillating fan. They won’t sit right in front of it but are off to one side so they can feel a bit cooler. I’ve got the back door open for once after dosing myself up with hay-fever spray. Usually the windows and doors stay firmly shut but it’s hot AND humid tonight. It’s rained for a bit so that’s cooled the atmosphere slightly. Meanwhile the cats just decided to mooch off somewhere else xxx
Sundays #bandofsketchers prompt was slope. I drew a cat sloping off the page, with a sloped back walking down a slope. Three digital variations…
What topics do you like to discuss?
If you know my blog, it’s full of different things, ideas, thoughts. I try and explain things sometimes, although I might not have accurate information. But I try and get the gist of things. I like working things out. I also talk a lot about my art (which is what the page was originally set up for). Then I sometimes write poetry, although again, I wouldn’t say I was brilliant at it. And sometimes I write short stories. So all in all I try to vary things and hopefully not be too boring?
I suppose this all reflects a varied, comprehensive education. I’m definitely not a narrow minded specialist. I try and listen to both sides of an argument, but I’m not wholly impartial. If a subject seems important for the world or the environment, I will generally support it. I try not to be fooled. There are a lot of strange ideas out there, and the Internet can be an effective (and bad) way of spreading misinformation.
I enjoy science, particularly astronomy. You can find posts I’ve written where I ramble on about things like galaxies or eclipses, or disagreeing with strange ideas about the shape of the Earth.. It’s an oblate spheroid. I have collections of books, glass, paintings and other objects, so I try and keep myself enthusiastic about many and various things. And then there are Cats. That’s a whole separate post…
Recently I’ve talked about my health, but is this the right forum? Will I miraculously come across a solution to my problems? no, I think I just have to get on with things. But I certainly feel supported and I’m grateful for that.
What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?
Five things that are everyday things?
1. Washing up liquid. Not used to the excess, enough to clean plates and cutlery without polluting the waterways. You can buy ones that are ecologically acceptable. It makes me happy that I can have clean plates.
2. Clean water, to drink, for washing and for bathing. I so lucky to live in a country that mostly has this, although the infrastructure is aging and even here there are some droughts and water shortages.
3. Are Cats everyday objects? I have to say they give me great pleasure and happiness. I’m not saying they are perfect, they can be mad, silly, crafty, cheeky. And they are pretty ubiquitous.
4. Electric light. I wish more people could have this, to be able to see at night without using smoky candles or oil lamps. I hope more communities can get solar power. It’s been shown that school children do better when they can see to do their homework. And maybe more solar power for other necessities.
5. Toilets, it’s a little bit delicate to talk about, but we are again lucky to have them here. They help reduce illnesses and ideally people could be given them. I think you can twin with communities through charity to raise funds to build them in poorer societies. I don’t know the details unfortunately.
The cats asleep on the mat. No space to walk past them and I want to get in the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Meanwhile the wind is whistling round the windows and the cat flap is rattling in the wind.
Black and white cats
On a black and white mat.
Full of purrs
These soft furs
Curled up warm
In the storm.
Weather forecast.. Yellow warnings for severe weather. Gale force winds and heavy rain. Apparently we have a fast moving jet stream above us which is bringing rain and strong winds over the next couple of days. Hang on to your brolly! We went out in it and got soaked, but the blossom is starting to open on the pear and cherry trees, so spring is making itself known round here. The wind has blown a couple of slates off the roof. I don’t know if I can claim on the insurance? I will have to find out, I don’t hold out much hope.
The cats keep coming in like wet otters and curling up in warm places. I don’t know why they want to go out at all. I can tell the direction of the wind because the rain is lashing the back of the house and the gutter is overflowing and dripping down onto the back windowledge, you can hear the drips. It’s also due to get colder for a few days and there may be some small snow showers, heating will have to go on again….
He came in out the rain, jumped up on the chair arm and flopped down next to me. Head hanging down by my knee. So comfortable and relaxed. He wasn’t fully asleep though. As soon as I took his photo he decided to move.
All three of our cats were within a few feet of each other earlier on. I think it’s because we are just having a couple of heaters on in the living room to save energy. So they are huddling a bit to keep warm. Mi d you I’ve got the living room light on for a change. Sometimes it’s like living in a cave when we just have a couple of lamps on. I can imagine myself doing paintings of cats on the walls, like cave paintings. X
Mallaband-Brown