Directions

Posted on April 20, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged A to Z, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1912, Directions, Driving, Lost, Map, Memories, Positive, stranger, Time2 Comments

Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.

I was visiting friends at their new house about 40 miles away and I got lost. My hubby doesn’t like asking for directions so we struggled. I could not find where the place was and I’d forgotten to bring the A to Z map, (before satnav which I still don’t have). After a couple of miles of confusion I pulled over to ask a random stranger. I had moved up from that county years ago and I remembered how helpful they are.

Oh yes dear, said the old man, I know where it is. You go down the road past the speedway track (that’s where I met my wife you know), turn left onto the main road past the church (oh we got married there). Right at the roundabout (where I took my driving test), left at the football ground (my team, I’ve supported them for years). Then it’s second on the left (you can’t miss it, the trees are in blossom down there), and you’re at the street…..

After that long conversation we found my friends house easily. I was happy we had stopped. It reminded me of the type of people in that area, always friendly and talkative, engaging and funny. It was a positive encounter.

Foggy day

Posted on November 28, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged cold and damp, Digital drawing, Driving, Fog, low cloud, Mist, Sunset, WeatherLeave a comment

It is foggy today, the mist started this afternoon, a cloud coming down low, covering the sun as it set. Blurring and shadowing the skies colours. Now it is more dense, I drove up our hill and the lampposts disappeared, like white smoke was hiding them. It was hard to see through the fog, obstacles hidden until you were almost on top of them. There’s a set of traffic cones half way up our hill where a car partially knocked a wall down. I didn’t see it on the way up! I came home along a different road to avoid it.

Cycling

Posted on November 25, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Bike, Broken, Car, collapsed, Cycling, Driving, head injury, Life, Memory, Sad5 Comments

I was thinking about when I used to cycle several years ago. I used to be able to ride for miles. Unfortunately I was knocked off my bike and sustained a head injury. When I recovered I carried on cycling, but I did not know the brazing on the front of the bike had been damaged. I was cycling up a hill when the headset and down tube seperated. The front wheel bent forward and the forks collapsed!

I decided to have the bike repaired as I only have short legs, I’d tried getting a new bike, but it wasn’t the right size or shape of frame. Unfortunately the bike shop I took my bike to was a little disorganised. They lost the frame for a year. I didn’t have a bike, so I took driving lessons. By the time I got the bike back I had a job that I had to commute to, so I used the bike less and less. I eventually gave up. I keep thinking I will try and get on my bike again, but my hips and back are too stiff…. Life, sometimes it really gets you down.

Wasted journey

Posted on September 17, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Annoying, Cars, Driving, dual carriageway, football match, Life, Roads, Soccer, Traffic, traffic jamLeave a comment

Sometimes you can tell things are going to go wrong. A ten minute journey turns into an hour long trek, at a snails pace. Sitting in a line of traffic to the main duel carriageway I took a left turn to take ous down a side road. That was OK so we proceeded to some traffic lights and turned there. Mistake, at the end of that road is act junction. Everyone was turning right, back down to the duel carriageway. I was turning left. I finally managed to edge out of the junction. Then stuck at more traffic lights, stuck coming down the road to a major roundabout. Queue on the roundabout, queue on the main road into the town we were going to. It became apparent that everyone was trying to get to the local football match.

So, I missed the person I was going to meet. I could not communicate with them as my messenger app is not working. I don’t have their phone number. So all we could do was trek back home. It was slightly better going the other way, but I’m irritated and frustrated. And I hate traffic.

picnic time

Posted on August 4, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Driving, Falmouth, Food, ivans_uk_tours.com, picnic, Tewkesbury Abbey, Travel, TravellingLeave a comment

Nothing nicer when you are travelling to stop off for a break. In this case we were on our way down to Falmouth and stopped off at Tewkesbury Abbey. My friend who runs Ivans_uk_tours.com provided a picnic hamper full of goodies. I want to go on another trip like this. Its great not to have the responsibility of a long drive and to have an itinerary sorted out by us but undertaken by someone else. I kept saying it was like having a butler!

Inktober 2018

Posted on September 30, 2021October 4, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged 2018, Art, Black and white, Design, Driving, Fun, inktober, Life, Memory, record, SketchingLeave a comment

Three years ago I was drawing pictures for Inktober. I did do drawings for the whole month. I must have visited my sister and drawn my impression of driving in the dark. That’s something I hate, people driving behind you with their headlights full on. (the two white dots on the drivers mirror) this was from my memory.

Since I’ve been doing an illustration course I have amassed a large collection of drawings and sketches. So many memories. Even during lockdown, I have recorded images. I’m not sure where to store them all!

Out all day

Posted on September 15, 2021 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged cat cafe, Cats, Coast, coastal defences, Driving, Flooding, Long day, Seaside, VisitingLeave a comment

It’s been a long day. We went to the seaside to visit a relative but when we went to the sea it was fenced off! Apparently there is work being done on the sea defences to protect the coast from flooding.

That was really disappointing but we did visit a friendly ‘cat cafe’ which was lovely. The cats and kittens are being well looked after and it was very calming after a long drive.

Away

Posted on August 22, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged brief encounter setting, car ride, Carnforth, Driving, Lancaster University, train show, TravelLeave a comment

Yesterday we were ‘up north’ in Carnforth visiting relatives and we went to a model train show at Carnforth railway station. The station was the setting for the film ‘Brief Encounter’. There is a museum at the station about it. I might write a bit more about the model railways. We stayed at Lancaster University guest rooms, OK but no TV or radio and the WiFi wouldn’t connect to the Internet. Hence my lack of posting yesterday. A wet and misty morning meant an early breakfast. We came home by 1pm, so about 200 miles done in around twenty four hours!

Long hot drives

Posted on January 23, 2021 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Driving, Hot, Landscape, Memories, North Yorkshire coast, Robin hoods Bay, shingles, YorkshireLeave a comment

I remember the long hot drive to Robin Hoods Bay a few summers ago. It was so hot in the car that I had the window open. I had no air conditioning and the temperature was rising steadily. My right arm was being burnt by the morning sun as we crept our way slowly North and East through Yorkshire. Its a large English County and full of cities, towns and villages, but also farmland and moors.

We visited a cottage in Robin Hoods Bay. It was upside down, with the bedrooms on the ground and basement floors, and the living room upstairs. The photo is my painting of the view from the living room. We spent a lovely few days visiting landmarks and beaches, but at the end I became very tired and aching, I thought I had bad sunburn… It turned out I had shingles. It was a memorable trip, but not necessarily for the right reasons!

Rainy day in Burslem

Posted on December 21, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Condensation, Damp, Driving, Grey day, Mist, Presents, Rain, WetLeave a comment

Delivering a few presents today, the sky was grey and the clouds low, hanging over the hills in a misty damp blanket. I had the blower on in the car but it didn’t keep the moisture out. My glasses kept steaming up because I was wearing a mask.

By the time I got home I was cold and tired. But it was the furthest I’ve driven in nine months. A whole 24 miles.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Driving