Painting and reading

Which activities make you lose track of time?

When I paint I lose track of time, the world goes away. Sometimes I lose myself completely. I know I feel pain in my arms nowadays, and I can’t always focus on the tip of my brush because I get slight double vision. But I have to do it. I’m under a compulsion to spread liquid onto a hard or soft surface (board, wall, or canvas) and recreate images or come up with ideas of my own….

My other passion is reading, I rarely read a book from cover to cover anymore unless it’s very short, my hands stick in place, my trigger fingers play up and I get cramp in them. But I do like using reading to send myself to sleep. I’m currently rereading The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton. It’s a sci-fi novel set in the 1960’s? It’s also a very good film…. He was the author of Jurassic Park by the way.

Goodnight, off to bed to read….I might just lose track of time again. X

It hasn’t changed

What’s your favorite recipe?

It will always be trifle

Ingredients

Jelly powder or cubes to make up about a pint of jelly. Choose your favourite flavour.

Fresh fruit, I use raspberries, blueberries or strawberries.

Blancmange powder or if preferred custard powder to make a pint.

Pint of milk.

Two tablespoons sweetner or sugar.

Fresh double cream, choose how much you want.

Toppings, can be glace cherries, or chocolate sprinkled on top or hundreds and thousands.

Make up a pint of jelly /sugar free jelly with about 3/4 of a pint of boiling water and a little slosh of port or sherry and add raspberries or blueberries or strawberries or a mixture of all three (I don’t use sponge fingers as they are too sugary.).

Let cool then store in the fridge overnight to set thoroughly.

Next mix blancmange powder or custard powder with a small amount of milk from a pint and sugar or sweetener to taste.

Put the rest of the milk on to boil, as it starts to boil carefully pour into the custard or blancmange powder mix, stir it in and then pour back into the pan, bring to the boil while stirring and let it thicken on the hob over about a minute.

Turn off the heat and let it cool. To stop it being too hot to pour onto the jelly (it will melt) place the pan of custard/blancmange  into a larger pan of cold water (without getting the mixture wet) this allows it to cool, stir it every few minutes to stop it going lumpy and setting. When it is cool enough pour over the jelly.

Finally whisk the cream into stiff peaks and put on top of the custard/blancmange.

The sugar free version is nice to have if you are diabetic but still want a treat.

Serve in nice glass bowls if you can. This gives 6 good sized portions.

Top ten movies

What are your top ten favorite movies?

  1. Close Encounters of the third kind. Good Sci-fi movie from 1977
  2. The Theory of everything, biography of Steven Hawking.
  3. Goodbye Mr Chips. 1940s film about school life.
  4. Shenandoah, western with James Stewart.
  5. Harvey, James Stewart and a giant invisible rabbit
  6. How to train your dragon, animated film.
  7. The cat from outer space, 1960’s Disney film
  8. Born Free, set in Africa about a lioness called Elsa
  9. Jurassic Park, because Jeff Goldblum is in it.
  10. A fish called Wanda, Madcap caper.

Fixed!

A few weeks ago I spilt some bleach on my favourite trousers. I’ve been meaning to do something about it, so today I plucked up courage and got my black acrylic paint out. I put a book inside them so the paint wouldn’t show through on the other side then carefully painted the orange tinted bleached areas. What do you think? I think it’s turned out rather good!

Broken glass

I am annoyed. I put this glass down by my chair this morning after drinking some fruit juice. I went out to an appointment, came home, went to walk into the kitchen and caught the glass with my foot. Of course it smashed. It had a heavy base but the ridged sides were thin and delicate. Result, glass shards everywhere. I hope I have swept them all up.

I don’t know if it’s possible to make glasses like this stronger, it was an expensive glass and I’d like to buy a replacement, but dare I? Do I have to treat it like a rare jewel?

My eyes

What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

Not their colour

Not their shape

But the fact they work

That I can see,

So I can paint and draw.

My fear is losing my sight

Finding one day the light has gone

No more views

No more staring at stars

Seeing friends faces

Letting paint flow

Hand eye coordination

My favourite feature

Keep them safe X

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums sprawling in the back yard. They are in our front hedge too. There are flowers six foot up in the air. You can tell its nasturtiums because of the shape of their leaves, sort of like umbrellas. The leaves, as you can see, are sometimes variegated. The colours vary from pale cream to deep red. I’ve never seen a blue or purple one? Maybe they will do some genetic modification to change that? At the end of summer they are something cheerful to look at.

Etch-a-sketch

Who remembers these? I loved mine and by twirling both buttons together I found I could draw curves! I used to draw mazes. I remember turning it over and the shake of the silver dust as it covered the trace of your sketch. Also the twanging of what might have been elastic bands moving a stylus? Against the screen. It was just a tiny dot. A bit like a computer cursor! I’d love to get one again!

Love poppies

Poppies make me smile

They have real style

If I could put them in order

I love white ones with a red border.

I like himalayan blue

I wonder if you do too?

Welsh poppies are yellow

A colour that’s mellow…

Orange from Californian lands

Red sunshine, might grow on sands

But red are my favourite flower

They seem to have a great power.

To me they are iconic

And I’m not being ironic

The colour of Ruby lips

Red blood and rose hips…..