Knickers!

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This is how I went to get my prescription from the supermarket today. I couldn’t see a mask so stuck my head through a new pair of knickers, gave them a twist then put the other leg hole over. Someone in the shop complemented me on the pattern!

Lots of young to middle aged blokes standing chatting together. The security guard asked them if they lived together, one said yes, the other no! One of them kept sitting down and wiping his forehead, like he had a fever! He went to the cash machine. I told the guard, he said oh the cleaners come out and wipe it over every so often.??
I tried using the touchscreen on the self checkout with my wooly gloves, that didn’t work. So had to touch it. I also tried the card reader, but that didn’t work  so had to tap in my pin number.

Then when I came out there were three blokes chatting round the car next to mine… No social distancing….

Anyway, came home and put knickers and gloves in the washing machine. Washed face and hands. Relatively safe but don’t feel safe.

Comfy challenge

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A sketch of my very old, but very comfy, pink slippers. Used metallic acrylic paint over the sketch, then added more details in pen over the top.

This was today’s challenge with #uskstoke today. It’s not my best sketch or painting, it’s a bit dark, and you can’t really see the metallic paint. But it was fun to do, and after all, why not?

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Using up sprouts

I had a bag of sprouts in the fridge, they needed using up. What to do? I took a mixture of leftovers and cooked something ‘not bad but interesting’ according to my hubby.

First I used up half a small onion. I chopped it up and cooked it in a small amount of butter and olive oil. I added some garlic granuals, dried chives, and dried basil.

I then added sprouts that I had cut the base off, took off the outer leaves and then cut them into quarters. I added some water to the mixture up to the level of the sprouts in the pan and let it gently simmer.

I cut up two large tomatoes that were getting wrinkly and were just past their best before date.

I carried on simmering it to soften the vegetables.

While I was doing this I put on a small amount of penne pasta in some boiling water. I cooked that until it was Al dente (still slightly firm)

As the sprouts were softening I added half a jar of tomato pasta sauce that I’d saved from last night.

If you want to leave it there you can. That would be a vegetarian option. But I had some mini frankfurters to use up, so I cut them into small pieces and added them to the mix. Once they had heated through I tasted the food. It was quite ‘sprouty’ so I took a small piece of cheddar cheese, about a thumb sized piece for each of us and melted it into the mixture. I added a little salt to taste and then drained the pasta and added it to the mix.

Cooking time, about twenty minutes in total.

Don’t know the cost, but not much.

Ingredients

Half a small onion.                              About two big handfuls of sprouts.    Two large tomatoes.                              Half a jar of tomato pasta sauce.              A handful of mini frankfurters.               A small amount of mild cheddar cheese.                                                           A couple of handfuls of pasta.

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Today it’s a selfie drawing.

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Wow, I look quite sad in this drawing, but I’m not. It is just my face falls into a slight frown whan I’m concentrating.

Faults with this, my eyes are probably a bit to far apart? Looking at my phone to do this. It’s not the same as looking in a mirror. The image is quite small and the screen kept switching off. The background is a more than thirty year old painting I did at our previous house.

This was today’s challenge for the urban sketchers group in Stoke-on-Trent. Day twenty. Hanging in there.

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Day 18,urban sketchers challenge

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This one is ‘hanging on the wall’ as you can see I’ve got a lot of stuff on the mantelpiece and on the wall. I haven’t drawn the dust! I don’t move stuff around much. I think it would all fall off if I did. I’ve also missed out the crack in the chimney breast.

I’m really enjoying this 30day challenge and hope we continue to do more once this month if work is over. It’s interesting having prompts. I might not like some if them, but it gives me ideas for things to sketch. And also the opportunity to translate them into what fits in around my life.

I’ve reconnected with drawing more over the last couple of weeks than I had done for years. My only sadness is that my eyes are not as acute as they were. I have presbyopia, which means the lens in your eyes doesn’t change shape as well, so it’s harder to focus in on close stuff. I have reading glasses, but when I want to look close, then at distance it’s a bit annoying. Anyway I just peer over the top of my glasses. Plus my lines are wobbly.. But you can’t have everything. It’s just a sketch xxx

Feathered or Furred

#uskstoke challenge. Today’s was to draw something furry or feathered. My cats were my subject. I used a 5b pencil on cartridge paper in a Daler Rowney, soft white, A4 sketchbook. One cat was on the cat tree which has several trays to sleep on. The other moggie was on the pile of washing that needs folding up. I’m going to do it when he gets off! He’s been asleep there most of the day.

So yeah, I could have done the birds outside. But apart from the odd wood pigeon, they don’t stay still long enough to draw.

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Playing

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Grab a stylus and doodle your cat. I used ArtRage oils to draw this. I didn’t have enough memory on my phone so I deleted it, but I’ve uploaded it onto another device. So maybe I can get on and do a few more digital drawings.

Lockdown, I hope it means I will be doing more art, if I can get my mojo back.

Does being shut for the duration mean you’ve lost yours too or are you being brilliantly creative?

Stay indoors, stay safe…. X

His birthday

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Another year towards three score years and ten? I’ve had a quiet day with him today. Is it true men get grumpier with age or is it just the current situation? This is a ‘reading the paper’ face.

How do you keep safe in the world? He does the shopping at the moment as I need to stay in. But we had a trip out today, the pharmacists is not within easy walking distance, so I drove us there. Then a little detour up to the shop on the hill to get supplies and a few beers for a birthday drink. I did that because I knew what I wanted and I’m quick when it comes to shopping. Narrow isles meant some dodging backwards and forwards to leave a healthy gap between customers.

Then back in the car and down the opposite hill to give the car a bit of a run. (It’s been sat for a week and with cold nights I was expecting it to have a flat battery, but it had started first time).

Tonight I went and got us a takeaway Thai meal as a treat. Restaurants are allowed to sell take away food at the moment. (so much for me staying in!)

But that’s why I’ve been quiet today. Quietly celebrating my hubby’s birthday.

Humane mouse trap

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A friend asked if anyone knew a humane way to trap a mouse. This was a method I was once told about for a humane trap.

Put chocolate in a wide necked bottle. Prop it up and put a tea towel in the neck so the mouse can climb up. The idea is the mouse eats the chocolate but then can’t climb out of the bottle because the glass is too steep and slippery. When you find it in the morning use the teatowel to stop up the neck of the bottle and take it outside to release.

It might work, you never know. At least the mouse won’t be eating your food. The bottle should be put in a quiet place so it feels safe. X