Claws out

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I have the claw marks to prove it. She’s a lovely cat but she likes climbing up my leg instead of jumping up onto my knees.

This is also spider chaser extreme. Which is fine until she knocked over a bottle of shampoo and the liquid ran all over the floor and behind the sink, that was messy to clear up.

What else? She’s the cat that lies under the mat, she rolls toys under it then pulls them back out by lying on her side and using her claws to try and reach the toy. She also hides behind coats that are hung up and pounces on her brother. She also climbs up on the window behind the curtains and trys pulling at the net curtains. She’s almost knocked the TV off its stand! She’s a really bouncy cheeky cat!

Day out at Rudyard

Rudyard lake, Staffordshire, on a bank holiday Monday afternoon. There is a miniature railway on one side of the lake that takes you up from a little station at Rudyard, which is just next to the railway bridge I’m the way out of the village. It then runs for about a mile and a half. It follows the track bed of the Great Central railway which was removed several decades ago. It heads off to the top end of Rudyard Lake where it ends at a halt and the footpath carries on to another village a few miles away called Rushton Spencer I think?

They had a miniature steam engine and a miniature diesel train pulling the carriages today. We got off at the first stop called the Dam for a lunch at the cafe, then we got back on the train and travelled to the end of the and back to the station.

The only bother was the parking. But someone was leaving so we snuck in a space. Definitely worth a visit and not too expensive.

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77%

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77% awake at 4.06 am?

77% alive?

77% of life gone?

Only 77% energy?

Three quarters or so full of vim and vigour?

Where did the other 23% go?

77% of questions answered?

77% of sleep yet to fill?

Waiting for 100% capacity,

Striving for 23% more enthusiasm.

Fighting for 77% of recognition,

Hating 77% of what?

So much to say and do,

Give me twenty three percent more!

Ah, now it’s 79% at 4.18am…….

Some of our books

Some of our books, we have shelves in three alcoves in the living room but the third was too damp to have one because of damp in the neighbours house. Don’t ask!

Then there are about 100 in our bedroom and more in the front bedroom. When I got to 1000 I stopped counting! I have to admit it’s my hubby who is the biggest reader of the two of us. But I’m definitely a bibliophile. (book lover).

Favourites sci-fi, art, fantasy, biography, science, astronomy, thrillers, autobiography, design, ceramics……

Shattering

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Pixels and glass, an old disco ball changed by using Layout app and adjusting the sharpness, colours and contrast.

Splashing subtle colours around the room, coloured washes staining the walls if the sun glints on it. I know disco balls are not the thing to have in a living room, but it cheers me up. As the sun sets behind the house the light gradually creeps in. First it catches the glass crystals I have in the window and they send rainbow shards through the room. Jittering and twisting across the magnolia plaster. Then the sun drops lower and the disco balls individual glass facets glitter and flicker.

It was from this that I made this image.

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Northern Soul

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To save my blushes I’ve drawn over a photo my friend took of me today.

After we had sung with the combined choir there was a brief break and then a woman got up and did a quick dance lesson to teach us  Northern soul dance steps. The music is in four four time, so she taught us four steps, stand on your left leg, tap your right foot behind, to the side of and in front of your left foot, then put your right foot down about shoulder width away from your left foot. Then putting your weight in your right leg repeat the moves using your left foot. After we learned to do that and danced for a while to a northern soul tune she added a jump, then jump and cross your legs spin round, clap, and carry on doing the side to side step.

I was jigging along with the rest of the crowd. I loved Northern Soul when I was a teenager.

The only problem? My knees are aching now.

Haiku Slam

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We went to  haiku slam this evening. Poets read one of their own works then had to read out haiku’s they had written. Eight poets split into four couples read out three haiku’s each. The best out of the two progressed to a semi final, and then two ended up in the final. It was actually quite dramatic. Some wise and some fun words were spoken.

I did not enter the main competition. I don’t have enough knowledge of the form and I only dabble in poetry. But they had a little poetry competition running along side the haiku. I decided to just join in that, so three of us read a poem out and then had to leave the room while people voted. I came second which was a surprise. Maybe I should try and do more funny poetry, I read a poem called ‘unexpected item in the bagging area’ about the frustrations of shopping that I wrote a while ago.

Little giraffes

_20190822_022803they still need a bit more work. I was painting till 4am. There are things wrong with them, I think the heads are too small slightly, but when you are painting on a matchbox sized canvas it’s hard to get things quite right. A couple of tiny brush strokes and it’s wrong and you have to start again. I left these early this morning as I wanted to see them in daylight. One thing I did notice is the moon on the blue one. I’ve got it curved the wrong way. The light is from the left so the curve needs to be in that direction. I’m also thinking of adding a few specks of white to another one to indicate stars. The one with the yellow sun might have some vegetation added.

Even though they are tiny I treat them like full size paintings. I doubt if it’s cost effective but it’s fun!