Ultima Thule

Posted on January 13, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Astronomy, Blog, Blogging, Learning, Life, Science, Space, The sky at night, TVLeave a comment

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Excuse the picture. I tried to draw what Ultima Thule looked like.

I just watched a programme called “the sky at night” a BBC programme about the Nasa New Horizons mission that flew past a tiny planetoid called Ultima Thule (pronounced Thooley) on 1st January 2019. This was the same probe that sent back beautiful photos of Pluto a couple of years ago. Ultima Thule is only 21 miles long and the probe showed that it is made up of two lumpy spheres of material stuck together at a neck. There is only one clearish photo so far but they also know that it probably is a red colour. The pictures they published have been brightened to show details but the thing is probably a dark red colour.

The probe was apparently travelling at around 15 kilometres a second so it sped past Ultima Thule and is now several hundred kilometres past it and travelling further into the Kuiper belt (a ring of debris spread in a flat layer around the outer edge of the solar system). New horizons is nuclear fueled because solar panels would not work in the darkness so far from the sun.

It will take two years to stream all the data thay have collected from the probe back to Earth. This is the furthest world we have ever seen close up.

I love informative programmes like the Sky at Night. Its been on TV since the 1960’s I think. I have learnt a lot about astronomy over the years from it.

Street names.

Posted on January 13, 2019January 13, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Fun, Life, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Stoke-upon-Trent, Street names, The potteries2 Comments

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One thing I do notice is street names. There is a Christine Street in Stoke-on-Trent and other names that are part of my family.

But one thing I have seen is where names have changed. For instance this name was changed to Spark Street. But what was it before?

It starts with P, but that’s all you can see… As I’m an incomer I don’t have a memory of it changing. I suppose I would have to look at old maps. If I do I think I will find a few more changes. I’m guessing it might be from when the six towns became a federation and turned into the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The towns are Stoke-upon-Trent, Burslem, Hanley, Tunstall, Longton and Fenton. Also known as “The Potteries”.

The painting’s on the wall.

Posted on January 13, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Banksy, Blog, Blogging, Graffiti, Life, PaintingLeave a comment

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There is a form of art called graffiti that has been created for centuries. But there is a modern take on it by artists creating pictures using stencils. The most famous of these is called Banksy.

Recently a painting has appeared on a garage wall in a Welsh town called Port Talbot. It’s of a fire burning on a garage and a young girl standing in that pose when you are standing in the snow, arms and face held upwards with the snow falling on them. But in this case the snow is actually the ashes falling down from the fire. I think it questions what sort of world young children are growing up in. Banksy paintings are worth a lot of money, so a fence has been erected around this one. His work has been defaced, painted over, removed and sold, and in one case shredded. It all goes to show what an influence he is having.

Art is fascinating because it is ubiquitous. Without it what a dull place the world would be. If we have to have graffiti I would prefer a Banksy to rude or crude images that sometimes appear on local walls. Art can be interesting, startling, ugly or beautiful. As can life.

Buying papers, the cost

Posted on January 13, 2019January 13, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blog, Blogging, Budget, Cost, Finances, Learning, Life, Money, News, News paper, Papers, ReflectionsLeave a comment

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I did a calculation today because I love newspapers and we get them virtually every day, but a friend asked how we could afford it…..

The result was scary! It turns out if we buy a paper every day of the week it costs hundreds of pounds!

Hiw on earth didn’t I realise this. My partner also buys a magazine every week… Help!

Luckily I’ve realised if I subscribe just for the weekday papers it would cost 2/3 the price (or we could stop buying it completely, which is possibly the more sensible option.

We want to keep informed and find out what’s going on in the world. But with fake news on the Internet and a biased press I prefer to read a paper I trust…. So we will consider the subscription route.

Studio rents

Posted on January 7, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Changes, Life, Rent, Studio, Work, Worried6 Comments

New year, new threat of rent increases in the studios. Not by the cost of inflation, but possibly by 25% or more! Im not saying where I rent, and I’m not publishing this on FB. I’m just worried I won’t be able to afford it. The fear is that I will retreat back to home and have to give up my dream of being an artist. The increase would possibly mean people looking for cheaper alternatives.

The threat is not clear yet, some people are hoping for lower increases. Its just that its a blow for a little thriving community of creative people. I sometimes think that greed is at the bottom of everything. So frustrating.

Gallop

Posted on January 5, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blog, Change, Digital drawing, Digital illustration, Dray, Farm, Gallop, Horse, Life, Time1 Comment

I remember a children’s programme I used to watch when I was a child. The theme song included the line “on white horses”, but I have very little memory about the show or the rest of the music.

There were many programmes with horses then. Including the Lone Ranger. A children’s TV show called Follyfoot I think, and another called the adventures of Black Beauty based on the story by Anna Sewell.

I remember always drawing horses. My favourites were dappled grey ones. It’s not as frequent an obsession now, and as there are fewer horses and ponies on TV, I don’t get the chance to look at them very often….. Other memories include going on holiday to Dorset as a child and seeing a white horse carved into the hillside, and hearing that a rough sea with white topped waves was said to have “white horses” on it.

Life does seem to move at the gallop now. So many things change as you get older. I suppose we are living in the most technologically rapidly changing times in human history. Not long ago horses were used on farms to haul plows. Dray horses to pull brewery carts, and even to work down mines and pull canal barges. How times change

One Whole year here!

Posted on January 3, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Anniversary, Art, Blogging, Design, Life, Stories4 Comments

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It doesn’t feel like a year! I’ve posted over 600 blog pages and over 10,000 views….. How did that happen?

I do varied posts, from art to poetry, small short stories and hopefully funny stories. I didn’t think I could write so much and such varied things.

I think it’s worth being on here and as long as I continue to enjoy it, and don’t get too foxed by things like blocks and the new Gutenberg editor, I will carry on blogging.

Orchids

Posted on January 3, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Flower, Home, Indoor plants, Life, Orchids, Re-potting, Scent2 Comments

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Recently I’ve been buying orchids. I think they have beautiful flowers and the way they grow is fascinating. I’m no expert but I’ve noticed they like potting in transparent pots. I think it’s so light can get to the bark. The plant sits in loose bark and you can get orchid food, which you add to the water you use for them. I don’t think they like tap water, but that’s all we have got.

The pink orchids pictured are a new addition, they are supposed to be scented but I could not smell any perfume. They seem to like a bit of warmth and I’m worried that it might be too cold in the kitchen.

One of the orchids I bought about a year ago has grown lots if ariel roots. It’s had quite a few flower spikes. First they grow bulbous buds which open to form magenta flowers. I’ve cut back all the dead growth and repotted them. I have 5 orchids now. I think they are 3 separate sorts. Hopefully I can keep them going!!

Cold inside

Posted on January 2, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blog, Blogging, Cold, Fun, Heat, Heating, Humour, LifeLeave a comment

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“Brrrr it is getting cold in here” she said. “Put the little oil heater on”. ‘yeah, ok’…

“I’ll have to put my jumper on”…

Half an hour later, “that heater isn’t doing much, and you have had the oven on to bake a loaf. Is the central heating working?” ‘ow yes, the radiator is hot…..’ “so why is it so cold in here?” ‘I don’t know?!’

Half an hour later. ‘I’m just going to water the plants upstairs’…

‘er I think I know why it’s cold….?’

“why?”

‘I left the window open’

‘I’ve shut it now’

🤦‍♂️ Face-palm.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Life