Zoom 🎶 singing

Posted on July 14, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Cheerful, Choir, Friends, Fun, Humour, Laughter, Life, Music, Online meeting, Random, Singing, Webinar, ZoomLeave a comment

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Last night we had fun trying to sing together as a group on Zoom. It was a laugh, we all tried to sing together but the delays on the line meant that most of the time we were badly out of sync with each other….

Then my cat jumped up and kept getting in the way. She was walking backwards and firwards in front on my camera, so I grabbed her for a couple of minutes, I must have looked like a Bond villan! My friend who was hosting the meeting, tried to play music for us to sing to, but we couldn’t here it. At one stage he had three screens and two mice and keyboards on the go trying to get it to work. I admired the effort as it was the first time he had tried to do it!

Next week we will have another go, but it might be best to mute everyone and just sing along with someone leading the choir. As it was we were too busy falling about laughing instead of trying to sing the tune. I’ve never heard Molly Malone sung like that except as a raucous chorus in a pub on a boozy night out. It was a fun night though with friends.

Water

Posted on July 14, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ground, Life, Mineral water, Minerals, Rocks, Spring, Spring water, Tap water, Thinking, Time, Water, WateryLeave a comment

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I’ve just been reading a Facebook post discussing whether spring water is better than tap water, on the premise that tap water had more minerals in it.

I know that in Britain the water quality is regulated and that government checks that quality regularly.

Water from springs perculates through rocks with minerals in them. Over thousands or millions of years they pick up the minerals as they are dissolved by the water (rainwater will also contain dust particles from the air, and organic matter from the ground before it gets into the rocks). Then it depends on the geology. That’s why we have hard water and soft water. In some springs the water can be hot. Some were used by the Victorians as purgatives as they contained high levels of things like sulphur. They were used as cures and remedies, the idea being that they cleansed the body.

Modern tap water contains a few additives like fluorine. But in measured amounts. My dad used to call it ‘corporation pop’. Not dangerous.

Two frogs

Posted on July 13, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Amphibians, Environment, Fish, Frogs, Fun, Garden, Humour, Life, Nature, Pond, Wild life garden2 Comments

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Hubby often goes down to the pond at night to look at the fish and feed them. The pond is deep so you can’t see them easily in the daylight. He has got a few minnows and goldfish in there. But over the last couple of nights he’s disturbed a frog that plopped into the centre of the pond. Tonight when he went out two matching frogs were looking back at him from either side of the pool.

So I asked him which one he’d kissed?

Lol.

Canal view

Posted on July 12, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged 13 miles, Beautiful day, Blogging, Canal, Exercise, Fun, Half marathon walk, Life, Trent and mersey canal, WalkingLeave a comment

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Photo taken by my friend who went for a walk with my hubby yesterday. The Trent and Mersey canal. Near Middleport pottery heading south west along the canal. He saw a group of swans swimming along the canal. There are apparently Carp, Roach and Pike in that section of the canal.

He actually walked thirteen miles! A half marathon. He’s feeling it today. I’m impressed and amazed. I’m afraid a mile is enough for me. I think I need to do more exercise and seeing the photos I’m jealous of the walk he did.

At the boating lake

Posted on July 11, 2020July 11, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Boat house, Broken, Housework, Life, Park, Random, Toy Boat, Walking, Washing machineLeave a comment

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My hubby went out with his remote control boat today. He took it to the boating lake in the park. This park is beautifully tended with floral borders and a restored boat house.

I wish I’d gone, but I was busy sorting things out as we are having to get a new washing machine. The old one has finally given up. The thing works but it keeps coming up with error messages. E8, E9. Don’t know what they mean but it’s stopping it finishing the programmes. I can only get it to work on one, 30 minutes 30 degrees…

But what’s this got to do with parks? Only that I didn’t go on a walk. They did about ten miles. I wish I was fit enough to do it. Humph!

What I see in maps (and other things)

Posted on July 11, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Cat, Drawing, Fun, Humour, Life, Map, Pattern, Seeing faces, Time2 Comments

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I took another look at this post about map reading and suddenly saw a cat. I’ve written about finding things in wallpaper, or ink blots or all sorts of different things including the front and back of cars. Grilles on cars can look like grinning mouths, headlights like eyes. I love seeing animals and faces and objects in clouds. Sometimes it drives me mad when I see something over and over again. Once seen, never forgotten. Life is strange, the mind is stranger.

Park tree

Posted on July 10, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #uskstoke, Blogging, Drawing, Life, Nature, Park tree, Poem, Poetry, Sketching, Tree, Urban sketchLeave a comment

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Strong tree,

tall tree

Sycamore.

Standing proud in the park.

Green tree,

branches waving,

fluttering.

Never still.

Giving shade,

cooling air,

softening the edges.

Buildings round

have pleasant views.

Park trees,

pleasant days

sunshine and showers.

Long day

Posted on July 10, 2020July 10, 2020 Posted in Cat, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Busy, Cat, Covid, Lecture, Life, Meeting, Tired, Tree, vetsLeave a comment

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Well that was a busy day. I didn’t sleep because my female cat was having an inoculation this morning and I’d got to get up early. She’s sneaky, she doesn’t like cat carriers so we have a soft big bag that I can put the cats in. I had to hold her by the scuff of the neck while my hubby zipped the bag up. She yowled a lot on the way to the vets, but then settled down as I spoke to her quietly.

All was fine, she was inoculated and I bought her home. She was relieved and so was I!

Later when I went to do some college work she snuck behind me on the chair and went to sleep so I think I was forgiven.

We had an interesting talk about illustration online for a couple of hours. Looking at the use of collage and text in illustrations. Then later I met up with my two friends in the park. I sat and drew a tree and calmed down. I was so tired I could have fallen asleep in the sun. Sitting two meters apart on a roundabout. We gave it a few spins but I’m getting too old for things like that. Dizzy!

Then shopping, home, a bit of tidying and cooking. I have got a few more things to do. Not much of a diary entry. But it was at least busier than normal.

Finished Lobster painting.

Posted on July 9, 2020 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Animal, Art, Blogging, Completed, Finished, Life, Lobster, Marine, Ocean, Painting4 Comments

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On the easle, I used a bit of gold paint in the background to give it a bit of sparkle. I hope the recipient will be happy with it. It’s acrylic on canvas, about A4 size. I did the background with very thin paint to start with and lots of water so the paint spread out and looks blotchy. Like a rough stone surface with bits of weed floating with it. I also tried to get the shadow underneath it to make the body stand up away from the ocean bottom.

Who’d think, cherries in coleslaw.

Posted on July 8, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cherries, Cherry, Cherry tree, Cooking, Crop, Food, Fun, Gardening, Jelly, Life, Poem, Poetry, Salad, TrifleLeave a comment

With such a large crop,

bowls full to the top,

I tried-

To decide-

what to do with them?

Each cherry on a stem!

Salad with cherries

fills my belly.

Coleslaw with cabbage

with cherries added.

Now I’ll make jelly

with added cherry,

summer fruit,

so much loot.

Birds are merry

They have cheery

Cherries too!

🍒

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Life