I like it

Posted on May 20, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Climate change, Cold, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1944, Heat, Life, Summer, Thinking, Time, Weather, WinterLeave a comment

How do you feel about cold weather?

I like cold weather as long as I can get warm when I need to. I like cold, clear, frosty days. Days when trees look like white sculptures, where hoar frosts build crystals of ice on leaves and twigs. Where spiders webs festoon hedges.

I don’t like warm wet winters, where you go out and your feet feel wet all day. Where the rain blows into your coat hood and trickles down your neck. Cats drive past and spray you with water from the gutter.

I don’t like too hot summers. I can’t cool my house down enough. I feel like I’m melting. Cold showers or an electric fan with a bottle of frozen water in front of it (not too close) are methods to keep cool.

Britain can get very cold and very hot but it rarely stays the same every day. Sometimes we have short heatwaves and cold snaps, but the weather has changed over the last few years. Those mild wet winters are confusing the plants and insects. Life is trying to keep up with man made climate change and I don’t think we are doing enough.

Broken bones

Posted on May 19, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged bones, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1943, Damage, fractures, Life, plaster of Paris, Skull, Xrays2 Comments

Have you ever broken a bone?

Yes, but not saying which ones. It took them a while to heal. All were caused by various types of fall.

Broken bones in young people can cause greenstick fractures, that’s when the bone is broken like a soft twig and can be reset. Simple clean breaks are manipulated back into place then held in place with plaster of paris bandages. Some breaks, like a broken finger can’t be plastered but are just strapped up. Broken ribs cannot be plastered so it’s just painkillers and sometimes strapping? The worst break can be a compound fracture where the bone penetrates the skin. This will require some form of surgery with pins or even plates to hold the bones back in place. Then there are skull fractures that require operations to fix bones back in place. Sometimes pe have plates put in their head if the bone of the skull becomes necrotic. XRays and other types of imaging can be used to locate and realign bony damage.

I dont

Posted on May 18, 2024 Posted in Cat, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Anxiety, Cats, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1942, Friends, Home, Life, Mental health, Outside, work life balance2 Comments

How do you balance work and home life?

I’m too young to get my pension but I’m not working either. My health is not good, and I’m having various tests. So what do I do? I’m trying to keep occupied by doing creative things and trying to get some exercise. It’s weird because I’m not used to being like this, I was always strong physically and mentally but I feel diminished. Time is taking its toll on me.

Sorry, this is too serious, but the prompt is tempting me to reveal more about myself. Lots of things have happened in the last five months that have pulled me in different directions but mainly downward. I try to find a balance between not work and home, but activity and non activity. Sometimes it takes me a couple of days to feel right again. Most of the time I clamp myself tight like a barnacle inside my house, not looking for daylight. It takes me time to pluck up courage to go out. I can think about travelling, but I don’t. I think of all the things that could go wrong.

Luckily I have friends who drag me out. I can go to some places easily, but others? The anxiety is too much for me. Just going outside to pick up the milk off the gate can take me hours to decide to do it. And yet meeting friends lifts me up. My cats help too. What would I do without them.

Well that’s my situation at present….

I stayed

Posted on May 17, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged boyfr3, Canals, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1941, Hubby, Illustration, Life, sacrifice, West MidlandsLeave a comment

What sacrifices have you made in life?

I was once offered a job out of this area. The problem was that it would mean moving away from my then boyfriend, later hubby. It was a reasonably decent job, well paid, illustrating the canals in the West Midlands of England. I would be part of a project to map, illustrate and record details of the massive canal network in the area. I really wanted that job… But it was too much of an upheaval. My boyfriend would not be able to come with me and I was scared to lose him. So I sacrificed the opportunity, and truly, I think it was the right decision for me. X.

An old tee shirt.

Posted on May 16, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Clothes, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1940, Life, Prompt, Recycle, Repair, Reuse, Tee shirtLeave a comment

What’s the oldest things you’re wearing today?

My tee shirts are getting holey before I throw them away. Most of my clothes are more than five years old and many are much older. If I get rid of them I put them out for charity or take them to a clothes bank for recycling. I can’t afford to spend lots of money on clothes. I’m not a designer shaped person (thin), I’m short and chubby. I’ve never bought clothes by well known makers. If it fits and it looks OK that’s good enough for me.

Why waste money on clothes you wear once or twice then throw them away? I think the reuse, repair, recycle, restore values are the ones to live by.

Tonight!

Posted on May 8, 2024 Posted in UncategorizedTagged dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1932, Music, penkhull Ukelele Band, Performance, TonightLeave a comment

What was the last live performance you saw?

Penkhull Ukelele Band tonight! Music like the Sloop John B, a couple of Beatles songs, other songs from the 1960s. Some fantastic Ukelele playing, singing, and fiddle playing.

I’m afraid I have a blind spot when it comes to music, I can sing a song with a choir or on my own, but I can’t recall the words until I actually start singing. It’s the same with song titles, I can sing them, but ask me the title five minutes later? I’ve forgotten it! I can answer most quiz questions but the group and the title? No chance! I’m better at classical music, but I can’t recognise a symphony or a stanza. It’s very strange.

I sing

Posted on May 7, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Calming, Choir, coherion, Community, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1931, Music, pantomimes, plays, Singing2 Comments

What do you do to be involved in the community?

I’ve been in a couple of local community choirs for several years. Not church choirs, or ones where you have to audition or read music, but natural voice choirs where you choose where you want to sing depending on your voice. Sometimes I sing really low notes but sometimes I join in with the high parts if there is a shortage of sopranos.

I’ve got involved in local pantomimes and community plays as a Chorus member and even had a few roles in plays as a singer. It’s good for community cohesion and helps me mentally especially when I’m feeling down. It drags me out of the house when I would just like to ignore the world. I try and persuade people to join me as it’s been a big help to me over the years. It doesn’t solve all the issues but it ameliorates them.

If you want to be involved in the community I would recommend choir singing as an activity. Music helps calm you and can be very meditative.

A job at Jodrell bank

Posted on May 6, 2024May 6, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Cheshire, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1930, discovery, Holmes Chapel, job, Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, Jodrell bank, pulsar, Radio astronomy, Radio telescope, SetiLeave a comment

What’s a job you would like to do for just one day?

WordPress does not have a photo of Jodrell Bank radio telescope near Holmes Chapel in England, so I’ve chosen a random photo of a radio telescope from their image selection.

I love visiting the place, but I wish I had an astrophysics qualification so I could sit in the control room and actually be involved in the discovery of something spectacular, like the radio signal of a pulsar, or the signal from an alien civilisation. To be the first to hear something new. Like Jocelyn Bell-Burnell who discovered the first Pulsar, a fast spinning neutron star that gives off radio signals which can be detected by the radio telescope. She didn’t get credit for the discovery and wasn’t included the nobel prize when it was awarded for the work she did.

If I could be there I’d even enjoy making tea for the astronomers, or just sit quietly in a corner, listening out for signals. I used to be a member of a citizen science group looking out for alien signals. SETI is really interesting and I also like the ZOONIVERSE group that looks at data for several citizen science projects.

The trouble is if you let me in…. You won’t get me out!

I have none

Posted on May 5, 2024May 5, 2024 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Adverts, brands, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1929, Expensive, Food, marketing, own brand, Shopping, Thinking2 Comments

What are your favorite brands and why?

Things cost too much so I try and be selective in what I buy. I go to a few different shops and try and buy what’s cheapest, but of a reasonable quality. I don’t want to buy a tin of beans only to find out half of its weight is tomato sauce.

It turns out a lot of own brands can be as good or better than the more well known ones. So they can be cost effective to buy. I also buy food close to it’s sell buy date, it means there are savings to be made there too. I live close to shops so I can pop out and top up with things relatively easily.

As to other things, anyone who knows me knows I’m not into fashion or expensive objects. If I have money it gets spent on bills or repairs or art supplies.

I hate adverts, I never buy things I see on TV or online. It doesn’t tempt me to see expensive perfume or clothing. I’m not a brand buyer, I can’t be bothered with merchandise like handbags or shoes.

So that’s your answer… None.

Yes!

Posted on May 3, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Choice, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1927, Family, female, Life, Memory, song, Sufferagette, Vote, Voting4 Comments

Do you vote in political elections?

I’ve voted in every election I could. The first time I voted following my families choice, I was young and I hadn’t really thought through my voting intentions, we had always voted one way so I followed suit.

Then I left home, my situation changed. Many conversations followed and I realised I no longer agreed with my family. Much to their surprise I changed allegance. Why? The reality of life was not as I’d imagined it as a child.

I think the important thing to do when voting is to really consider what’s on offer, not just to you, but to your neighbours and friends. Bad policies should not be selected. That means any party that is not bothered about the needs of the population should be discarded. Perhaps we could have more accurate measurement of whether parties have kept their promises?

As a woman I’m proud to vote. I remember all the women 100 years ago who fought for women’s suffrage. If you can find the song on the Internet have a listen to the song “Nana was a Sufferagette”. I think it gives a good idea of how I feel.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: dailyprompt