New paintings and regular art updates.
Tuesdays#bandofsketchers prompt – sound. I went abstract with this, drawn in felt pens then adjusted digitally in photodirector. It represents the cacophony of sound someone with hearing difficulties suffers. Hearing aids boost hearing but also don’t differentiate sounds.
Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?
I was about ten when I read Old Yeller written in 1956 by Fred Gipson.
I only have a memory that it was set in the southern area of America, maybe texas. There’s a boy who is helping run a farm and he takes in a stray dog which he calls old Yeller because it’s yellow coloured. I think they had adventures, a bit like Lassie. But eventually the dog was bitten by something that had rabies and was infected. The boy had to decide what to do and I can see in my mind that the dog has to be tied to a tree so it can’t bite anyone. Eventually it has to be shot. I can’t remember what happened next, but I do know it really upset me. I guess that’s why it’s stuck in my memory. I think Disney made a film of it, but I don’t remember seeing it. I do think the book cover had a yellow dog, like a labrador on it.
I enjoyed other books, Nancy Drew, The Hardy boys, and books on myths and legends, but Old Yeller really stuck.
Collage of my dove of peace based painting. The dark line across the centre makes it look like the birds are reflected in water. I did this to show my support for Ukraine.
Hearing that the Russians have destroyed a dam in Ukraine makes me wish for peace even more. Villages are flooding and water levels are rising. The hydroelectric plant there has been affected anf the Nuclear power plant nearby is also at risk. This is awful. Inhumane, violent, innocent citizens will lose (have lost) their homes. It’s also an ecological disaster, destroying habitats that were homes to animals on the delta. How can Putin be so evil? Those responsible need to be bought to account. Give peace a chance.
See cloud man fly
As he floats by..
Oh my word! It’s been so dry,
There’s been no rain, I wonder why?
The clouds do roll across the sky
But squeeze them, they stay dry.
Most of May it wasn’t wet
Or if it was then I forget…
From sun-up to sunset!
High pressure domed
Across us roamed
Mild dry air
No rain to spare.
Just high uv
Sunburn you see
So let it rain
And rain again!
On my walk this morning I found this forlorn bench. It was just on a path on a patch of grass. I didn’t take a photo of its view, because it overlooks a car park and then some old buildings.
I did notice a Magpie (hello Mr magpie, how’s your wife is a saying to dispel sorrow caused by a single Magpie) and a little pied wagtail nearer the fence. I wish the street furniture was a different colour. The bench, bin and fence look somber in black, although that matches the birds. Maybe a nice shade of blue or red? Who knows….
Just read a fellow bloggers post about the paper trail (or lack of it) to get her vaccum cleaner fixed. It reminded me of recent interactions with the Internet where I have struggled to find out information.
First you have to find the right website, then you have to register, add a password, make sure it’s strong enough, accept cookies…
Then you have to find the right section of the website to fill in. I thought I’d done that, but when I visited the place I was trying to register with they didn’t have my information. Turns out I’d registered to get special offers not service!
Back to the website. I found the right section after ringing the helpline and waiting 40 minutes for an answer. So I had to attach documents. Luckily I have a printer/ scanner. So I created .pdf files.Is everyone following so far?
I sent the documents only to get a message back saying one of them was too old. I found the up to date one (which inconveniently had tea spilt on it) it was still legible.
I had to send it off again, hopefully they have it now.
Then, a friend who has no Internet rang. Could I help? She’d had a letter telling her to go to a council office. But she couldn’t find out where? I checked the Internet and got a phone number, rang it, after twenty minutes I got an answer. Sorry this department doesn’t deal with that… You need another department. (the select number 3 option did not include the right section) She gave me the direct phone number (wow!) but there was only an answer machine so I left a message. THEN I turned the letter over…. The address she needed was on the back…. I could go on, but everyone probably can relate.
Why is this happening? Cost cutting, cheapness and a belief that everyone is computer literate….
Hubby gazing across the canal at Etruria festival today. I should have used two pages to show what he was gazing at! But he moved too much so I just got a quick sketch in…Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was gaze.
Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.
He often sits up in the tree
Ot atop a chimney pot
He starts to sing
His voice raised
In skirls and slides
Whistles and trills.
Old blackbirds sing longer
And better, complications
Added each year.
Attracting and announcing
Territory and partnership.
His music gives me joy
Taking the time to listen
Releases peace,
Simple and sweet.
Another couple of drawings/experiments, I do love learning and playing with art, but then I want to know how do I optimise my photos on my phone? My old antivirus used to do it, but now I’ve changed phones I can’t seem to work out what to do.
Should I use something in settings, or will there be an optimiser in my gallery. It’s worrying because my media here keeps telling me it’s full. When I upload optimised photos it’s not as bad. And along th e same lines, how do I sync my phone and my PC? It would help sort things out….
How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?
Sometimes I’m on my phone for hours, scrolling, flicking between pages and videos. Watching, absorbing, wasting precious time!
How to stop? I have to think about the time. I look at the clock and if its after 1am I leave the sites I am on, close them. Retreat back into reality.
The trouble is it’s cozy having online friends. People that think the same way, or slightly differently to how I do. Lucky to not have too much animosity. I know when to ignore rude comments, not get drawn in. But the Internet is easy to get embroiled in. You just have to switch off “and go and do something less boring instead” as the phrase went on an old TV show called “Why don’t you?”.
Mallaband-Brown