Panto rehearsal

Posted on January 10, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Aladdin, Dancing, Fun, Humour, Life, Panto, Pantomime, Penkhull, Penkhull pantoLeave a comment

Can’t show you the show, it’s a secret, but rehearsals continue for the pantomime we are putting on in February. (20th, 21st and two shows on the 22nd).

The show is Aladdin, where he has to find an old lamp, which is then taken from him together with his true love by an evil wizard. Fun ensues.

Tonight we were practising the dances (which is why I haven’t posted a photo). It was hard to get right, basically the choreographer is making it up as she goes along and we have to follow her moves. I’m not the most nimble and I can’t keep up. But we’ve got time.

Fingers crossed.

Banana

Posted on January 10, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Banana, Food, Fun, Humour, Life, Milk shake, Taste2 Comments

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I just made a culinary disaster. I decided to make a milkshake with a mashed up banana and some milk I frothed up.

The milk was frothed in a glass container with a metal mesh on a length of metal and a lid (like a small caffitierre).

The disaster? If you try and mix mashed banana with milk make sure it’s properly smooth, or you end up with a cold lumpy mixture. It tasted OK though.

Nutritional facts, I think I read there are 89 calories per 100 grams. There isn’t as much potassium in them as urban myth says. People with latex allergy can become allergic to bananas. They are related to plantains which are more starchy and can be cooked. There are other species including green and purple bananas.

Lion sketch

Posted on January 9, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Bear, Big cat, Colour, Drawing, Etruria, Fun, Gellato crayons, Lion, Memory, Sketch, Trying to rememberLeave a comment

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I went to Etruria Artists today and was asked to draw lions as we were having a little drawing challenge and the group has a lion as a mascot.

I could have looked at a photo but I wanted to see if I could draw a lion from memory. What I ended up with was a lion / bear hybrid I think! I called it bearly a lion.

Colours used were gellato crayons (I think they are called) with metallic shades. They are a bit like lipsticks and can be drawn with, smudged and have water added to them to make them flow. I used a black ink pen to draw the thin lines. It’s a curious big cat.

Time travel

Posted on January 9, 2020January 9, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Dr Who, Fun, Interesting, New scientist, Question, Relative dimensions, Space, Space and time, Tardis, Time, Time travellingLeave a comment

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A Dalek at Froghall a few years ago… That’s another story…

I was reading the New Scientists back page last week and there was a question about time travel. Where would you go to in the past or future? Something along those lines. The answer one person gave is that as the planet moves through space, if you travelled six months forwards or backwards for example, when you rematerialised Earth would be at the other side of its orbit. Difficult unless you are in a vessel with an airlock. They went on to explain that as the sun is also moving through the milky way galaxy, its planets spiral around it in its wake, so where Earth was a year ago is far behind where it is now.

I realised from reading that, that your time machine would have to move in space as well as time. In something like the T. A. R. D. I. S. This is a time machine in the Sci fi series Dr Who. It means “Time and relative dimensions in space”. In other words it can travel in space as well as time.

Considering the show was first broadcast in the 1960’s that’s pretty clever. Working out you need to be able to find the Earth’s coordinates in time and space. Mind you they were closer in time to Einstein so they might have had more of an idea about it than we do…..

Just doodling

Posted on January 8, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Clay, Doodle, Fun, Great pottery throw down, Middleport, Pottery, Sketch, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

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What to do when you are watching TV and you want to draw? Wait for the ad break and draw something quickly.

I’m watching something called the Great Pottery Throw down where twelve potters compete each week to make the best ceramics. This week the challenge is to make a six piece coffee set with a caffitierre, two expresso cups and saucers and a toast rack. Really enjoying watching people design, make and fire pots. Watching clay dry and drawing… Fun!

Playing

Posted on January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Fun, Landscape, Mirrored, Photo, Play, Reflected2 Comments

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You don’t know what you will get when you play with photos. This was the result after playing with this photo. _20200108_143749

And also playing with the brightness and hues in it….

I like it.

Just a photo of a reflection in a window.

Curled up cat

Posted on January 8, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Cat, Fun, Observation, Photo, Poem, Poetry, Rhyme, Sleep, Sleeping catLeave a comment

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He’s sitting on my chair,

lying on my bed,

eating my food,

drinking my milk.

He’s taking the mickey,

having a laugh,

being very cheeky,

making me wait.

He knows I won’t move him,

won’t pick him up,

put his paws on the floor,

put him out of the door.

He’s a very lucky kitty,

sleeping on my chair,

he should be here..

and I should be there!

Art lunch

Posted on January 6, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Art lunch, Blogging, Etruria Artists, Fun, Get together, Group, LifeLeave a comment

My friend runs something called art lunch, which is basically an excuse for artists and creative to get together and meet up over lunch or tea. She provides the venue and some of the food and drink, but we all bring a little contribution to the lunch. It’s a good place to network and catch up. You find out about things you may never have heard of without going to it. If She’s held them in various venues in Stoke-on-Trent and I’m thinking of offering our garden as a venue in the summer.

There were plenty of artists there and I think everyone had an enjoyable time.

Trying to be an ornament.

Posted on January 5, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Cat, Cat ornament, Fun, Poem, Poetry, Staring, Statue, StillLeave a comment

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Sitting by the black cat,

staring into space,

straight and statue like,

that look on his face.

Looking all innocent,

quiet and still.

Never moved a muscle,

while I looked at him.

Then down on the ground

like a flash.

Tiny shards of pottery

fallen with a crash!

Butter wouldn’t melt,

no sign of remorse,

going to be a statue.

Somewhere else?

Of course!

Bunting

Posted on January 3, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bunting, Coloured, Design, Fun, Homemade, Pretty, Sewing, SimpleLeave a comment

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Cloth bunting in a cafe we visited earlier. A simple way to decorate and cheer up a room.

Easily cut out of old cloth or clothes using scissors or pinking shears. Fold over the top of the triangle and stitch up leaving a hollow tube to thread some wool, string, or a line of material through. Or stitch them directly onto the line so they are at regular intervals. I don’t think it would be difficult to make this at home and hand stitch it. A fun sewing project.

Whoever made this chose some pretty patterned and coloured cloth. It cheered me up.

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Tag: Fun