Across the tracks
A year ago
The trees had changed
The wind did blow
Leaves on the line
Stopped the train
No steam appears
On time or later
When fallen leaves
Cause a layer
Of mulched and damp
Leaf shaped litter.
A year ago,
Tag: Life
Outdoor cat eating Inside!
It’s starting, the transformation. Our outdoor cat is coming in for meals, sniffing noses with the other cats. He then yowls to be let out. But at least he can get warm if he wants. The others, indoor cats, are tolerating him. I think they need to start going out but I’m worried they will get lost. It all takes time.
In fact the outdoor cat has started rubbing round my legs and accepting a head scratch. He’s off again now, put into the night, but he had a shed he can sleep in. A cat bed, and an old jacket for warmth.
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Quiz 🌃 night
We have won the last three quizzes, once by one point, then in a tie break (knowing the length of the coast of Australia) and last time by half a point.
I feel the luck must run out soon. Will there be more questions about Flanders and Swann songs, or the method of measurement for horses?
What weird questions will come up this time? The maximum length of a boa constrictor, who played James Bond in Moonraker, how many gills in a quart, what chemicals are in quartz, who was in the band the Bay City Rollers? Who can tell…..
Wish us luck!
Old paintings
A couple of small paintings I did about three years ago, acrylics on canvas, sorry the colours are off. I liked trying to get the perspective on the window, and the splash of the fountain and the ripples in the water.
Anyone see a face?
A fellow blogger mentioned Pareidolia today because he noticed he could see a face in a piece of lichen. Of course I then had to look back over my recent photos to see if I could find anything that looked like a face?
I’m one of those people that see faces in everything. I had to get rid of my shower curtain as I could see five or six bubble faces in it which was quite disturbing! I wondered if the designer had done it deliberately!
When I was a child I would often lie on the grass and looked up at cloud faces and animals, elephants chasing camels across the sky….
I might write a poem about that….
Negotiations for paintings
I’ve recently been commissioned to do a large family portrait for a friend of a friend, but I’m concerned about what they want to pay for it? They also sent me a great many photos in different conditions with lots of different groups of people on them. The problem is I can’t make a coherent image or composition using them.
I replied ‘That’s twelve portraits for £50?, it would have to be a small painting or a watercolour. Please can you choose the best photos that I can work from. I will do it but it will take a while. Possibly a couple of hours per portrait which works out at a cost of £4 per portrait or £2 per hour. I would normally charge £50 (normally £60) for one portrait, but I understand you might not be able to afford any more and I don’t want to ask too much. I want to do a good job for you and as you have already got a couple of my paintings I will consider only asking for a small amount for the painting. But please can you choose the twelve images you prefer as then I won’t get it wrong. “
I want to paint for people, but I don’t think they realise the work that goes into things. I would Never overcharge, but on the other hand I’d like to be paid at least the minimum wage for it!
How would you respond? Should I have questioned the request or refused it?
Note * I’m now just doing a very small painting, but I do wish people understood how hard it is to paint something like this, it’s not a snap!
Today’s #bandofsketchers sketch
Today’s prompt for #bandofsketchers was a drawing of a body part, so I chose to draw my hand, drawing the sketch! I’ve seen other drawings where a person has drawn their hand and a sketch pad balanced on their crossed legs. Adding the shadow of my pen and my hand on the sketchbook to try and indicate this is a sketch, also not completing the line at the base of the box. When I do a sketch like this I have to try and think logically about how it works, what it’s meant to indicate and whether I need to include all the details or if I can leave some more sketchy.
Stressed
Oh hell!
I feel so stressed. I had a message a month ago from my Internet service provider that they were no longer supporting other applications that could be used to pick u your email. I thought a) it might be a scam, or b) it wasn’t that important. But speaking to a friend I realised I did need to sort it out. But when I tried today I couldn’t get it to accept my password? Why? I tried an old password, still no. And it kept saying it was sending a verification code to my land-line. So I needed to add my mobile number somehow!? Hair pulling ensued? What! I looked at my old password ( I know I shouldn’t write it down), and underneath the old password in tiny writing was another one. Could it be? Yes! Now what? Give us another email address to recover you email to. OK I could do that. Then find my email application and copy and paste a one off password (which I’ve made sure I wrote down)….
Done!
Suddenly a lot of the tension in my shoulders has dissipated. The fear that has been building up for weeks has reduced. All I can say is, that was very complicated and I hope I never have to do it again!
Doing my usual trick of multiplying photos makes these abstract patterns. I love the spectacular autumn colours. Ot as brash and gaudy as the trees over in the USA. I like the subtlety of our trees. Perhaps we don’t have the right climate conditions to bring out very bright colours except in Acers, or maybe we have different trees? Anyway I hope you enjoy these fun patterns.
Country View
Over there, beyond the houses, that’s how close the countryside is to this city. Wooded hills and farmers fields, the river Trent lies in that valley. Its the beginning of a great river that eventually empties out on the East Side of England near the mouth of the Humber after meandering through Nottinghamshire and I think Lincolnshire.
Our city does not sit in a conurbation. Its not surrounded by other towns in a massive urban sprawl. Yes there are towns nearby, but the gaps between them have not been filled in by housing and industrial development yet.
No great mountains or rolling plains nearby, but a gentle green land eventually leading to Welsh hills in one direction, or the flat lands of the East. The industrial Midlands South of us and the Peaks of Derbyshire in the North East and the Lancashire coast to the North West. A small geography lesson.
Mallaband-Brown 