Silver Birch?

Posted on November 22, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged City, Life, Memory, Pollution, Silver birch, Thinking, Trees, White bark, WorldLeave a comment

When I was young silver Birch trees were greyish silver. I remember seeing some in our local park. Even when I came to live in this city they were silver grey…..

But now… Each time I see one its white?! Is that right, are they the same species? I think they are…. I think it indicates how much less industrial smoke is in the air? And are trees growing faster now? They seem to shoot up. If they were cut down would their tree rings be wider, fatter, more growth in a year than before the pollution started to reduce… Memories of a changing world.

Nose out of joint….

Posted on November 22, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Cat, Curled up, Fun, Indoor cats, Life, Outdoor cat, Stole his space, Tuxedo catLeave a comment

Oops the outdoor boy is sitting in my indoor boys favourite spot on hubby’s chair. He is getting his paws under the table. Indoor boy is sitting by the halogen heater trying to ignore the situation, but I know his nose is out of joint… (it’s been three days since he sat on me, he’s more distant, especially when outdoor boy wants to have some love.) Now I need to make sure they are all happy. The outdoor cat will probably stay a while, get warm, then go back outside. They are all well fed and indoor girl is on her bed upstairs…. Cats, it’s like watching a soap opera… ‘get orf my chair kitty’ ‘why are you lettingbhim sit there, hooman?’

Cans, prompt

Posted on November 22, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Cans, Drawing, Kitchen, Life, Prompt, Reds, Sketching, Store cupboardLeave a comment

Today’s challenge was to draw cans for today’s #bandofsketchers challenge. Turns out a lot of things in my store cupboard was mainly coloured red. This was mostly coloured in with a watercolour pen that certainly zings. I’m not sure these are the actual colours, I was trying to take a photo in between bright sunshine and deep shade. The resulting photo was too dark so I had to adjust the exposure a bit to brighten it without making the red overwhelming, too be honest I still think it’s a bit bright.

Berries

Posted on November 21, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Berries, Colours, Environment, Etruria, Life, Nature, Photo, Red, Stoke-on-Trent, WalkLeave a comment

Don’t know what these berries are on but they are beautiful, they were along a track downhill from the canal. There were also pieces of old wood that had bracket fungus growing on them. Autumn is a lovely time of year when strong colours can ping out. Looking at the tangle of branches on the left hand side I might play with it and duplicate the pattern.

Two sketches today

Posted on November 21, 2020 Posted in Uncategorized, SketchingTagged Urban Sketchers, Trent and mersey canal, House, Life, Bridge, Today, #uskstoke, Black and white sketch, White bridgeLeave a comment

Two sketches in Etruria today. A corner house and the White bridge over the Trent and Mersey canal. Both were done in response to an online virtual sketch out with #uskstoke (Stoke Urban Sketchers). There was a zoom meeting, but I couldn’t join as I was out and about and had no Internet access. These are hopefully going to be included in an online ‘street’ of people’s images that represent the city. They were very quick sketches and I tried to draw the corner house a few times, it was difficult to get it to fit on a small sketchpad page…..

Duplications

Posted on November 20, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Black and white, Blanket, Fun, Haligen heater, Layout app, Life, Memory, Pattern, Photos, PlayingLeave a comment

If you start with a photo of an object and multiply it you can get some interesting effects and patterns. I started with a photo of our halogen heater, changed it to black and white in a filter and then duplicated it over and over again with my photo booth layout app. I have put them next to each other so you can see the original black and white photo and the duplicated ones. I think the second photo reminds me of a wool blanket I had on my bed as a child.

Red

Posted on November 20, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acer, Autumn, Fall, Gardening, Leaves, Life, Photo, Picture, Red, Tree, Trees2 Comments

Beautiful tree I saw on a walk. I love red trees, but we don’t get many in this country.. I’m not sure what species this is. It does not look like an Acer which are the the ones that look like maple leaves? Are they called Japanese maples? Anyway, this was before the wind got up and blew them all away!

I would love to visit America to see the ‘fall’, every time I see photos of the East Coast at this time of year the colours of the forests are magnificent. I guess this is the last chance to photograph a red tree this year?

Snail

Posted on November 20, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Climbing, Flower, Garden, Hanging basket, Life, Plants, Red, Shell, Snail, SummerLeave a comment

I was reviewing my photos from the summer and saw this in my hanging basket flower. Not a bee but a snail! How did it get up there.. Must have crawled up the wall, then the fence and finally across the hanging basket to get to this flower. I hope it enjoyed its meal.

Tablets….

Posted on November 20, 2020November 20, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Delivery, Humour, Life, Manufacture, Missing tablets, Pharmacist, Tablets, Wondering, Worrying2 Comments

I’m sorry we don’t have some of your tablets today, was my greeting when I visited the pharmacist today. Why what’s happened? Didn’t the doctor include them.? I asked. No its a problem with getting the right strength, there’s a problem at the manufactures I’m afraid.

Well when will they be in, I asked, I can’t not take them. (Do they think they are an optional extra?)

Should be in Monday. Give us a ring then. I asked for assurance they will be in. We will try, we might have to ring round, she said. Well I’ve got a few spare. I said, but what if they aren’t in? Then I said ‘and what happens with Brexit? We both looked at each other askance…

Keeping warm

Posted on November 20, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Life, Cold, Baking, Heating, Warmth, Microwave, Terraced house, Central heating, Oven, HalogenLeave a comment

Almost too bright to look at, our small halogen heater is in the living room combating the cold of our old terraced house. Rather than putting the central heating on, or switching on the gas fire. I don’t know whether it is cost effective. Would running a blow heater be less expensive. I wish I knew where there was a comparison site to check on?

For instance, for baked potato’s I now part cook them in the microwave then bake the outside of them in the oven. But is this fuel efficient or should I just microwave them?

One pproblem is that the previous owner had the two reception rooms turned into a through lounge, plenty of space but more difficult to heat. As climate change increases and a move from fossil fuels is instigated what will be the new means of heating?

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Life