A trip to the vets

Booster shot time for the cats….

One was fine, the other one not so much. She hid in a cupboard, ran under a cupboard, ran behind the armchair, ran in the kitchen then out again. Finally I managed to grab her at the top of the stairs because we had shut the bedroom doors. Then, well walking downstairs when you are a bit wobbly on your feet and cannot hold the handrail because you need to hold onto the cat… To say I had a feeling of vertigo, scary. Hubby came halfway up the stairs so I could deposit her into the cat carrier.

Then off to the vets, female cat was miaowing all the way (The male was much quieter on his trip) . I kept gently telling her she was OK. The vet was lovely, he was very good with both cats and gave the inoculations while my cats were still in the carrier. A quick check of each cats hearts and we whisked them home again.

Now two hours later I’m being headbutted and purred at by the female. A sprinkling of catnip seems to have helped.

I was in it!

What was the last live performance you saw?

Our choir members sang at a celebration for the completion of a project a few weeks ago. We were involved with a performance at The Potbank hotel at Spoke in Stoke on Trent, which also included the Boat Band (above). Our choir leaders are members of the band. We sang sea shanties and some interesting pieces, like the Eerie Canal and A Wonderful World which Louis Armstrong sang.

Being part of a choir is something I would recommend for helping your mental health. I only sing a couple of times a week and wish I could do more. Singing takes you out of yourself. Singing at a performance boosts your confidence. I’ve sung many times over the years and I don’t get overwhelmed with nerves anymore. OK it’s usually only to a few people, but if I’m giving pleasure to other people then that’s good.

As to an actual performance that I saw, but was not involved in? That goes back a few years I think. We went to the theatre and saw a play about suffragettes. It was interesting, it brought out a lot of the issues women were affected by in those days. I wish I could remember what it was called? It’s so long ago that I’ve forgotten! I don’t know if it was during or before the pandemic? Life can be hard to remember!

Help

My life is quite chaotic at the moment. Lots of things to do, plenty of time, but lack of inclination to do things. Procrastinating is my favourite pastime!

Everything is tangled up. I’m trying to organise and assess things, but failing. Thinking and worrying is not helping. I think I need to meditate or do some relaxation. It’s not that I don’t want to do things, but I think I’ve had my head in the sand for so many months, I don’t know how to drag it back out. I know this is self reflection, and I hope its a good thing. Writing it down might give me a push.

Grief has not helped. And now other people I know have died and that has knocked me back. I don’t want to think of the end of things. But I guess we should all make some plans? Sorry this is a bit random, maybe talking will help though.

Eye see

Eye see you looking out at me. What are you? A mishmash? A chimera….

An ape or monkey? Imagined monster, alien symbol.

Is that a volcano or a scientific flask full of acid. How were you created. Are you a figment?

Have you got whiskers or a moustache? Close set eyes stare back. A mythological owl.

Do those eyes hide a soul, will you start to howl? A dark night could hide you, are you foul or fowl?

Artrage face

Abstract face finger painted with the Artrage app on my phone. I like the way the different brushes and changing the roughness of the surface and grain size gives it a real textured surface. I added lines on the eyes and mouth rising a roller tool that left a line if you dabbed your finger on the surface of the phone. I also added spirals on the edges of the picture, I was trying to make it look like material. If you turn the pen up to 100% metallic the colours get darker.

Reflection…

It looks like blossom, but it’s actually a puddle with trees reflecting in it then wind born bits of twig and flower petals floating on top. I thought it looked interesting and unless you look closely it’s really hard to tell what’s going on. Anyway this is from Rode Hall again. I also took lots of pictures of benches dotted around the grounds. I might post a few photos here. There is a Bench Appreciation group on Facebook that I shared them to. I wonder if there is an abstract nature page for this sort of photo?

Gunnera

One plant we tried to grow in the garden was Gunnera, seen here at Rode hall. It’s a large leafed plant with a spiky surface. It grows in wet conditions and the leaves can get to 2 or 3 feet across. This was by a large pond that has a waterfall at one end flowing down a stream to the lake. There are a large variety of plants at the hall but this is a favourite.

We also noticed there were rhododendrons in flower today, which means we must visit the Dorothy Clive garden to see how that is growing.