I like petunias, so bright
Shine in the light
Bedding plant winner,
Trailing around the pots
Hanging from baskets
Tough as old boots
I love this gem
Of colour on a stem!
Petunias
Tag: Life
Wales and Scotland
What countries do you want to visit?
I would like to visit Wales again one day. Particularly around Tenby. It’s a beautiful and interesting place. There is a lot of history and beautiful scenery, plus what’s better than an amazing dragon on your flag?
Scotland is my other choice, mountainous and mysterious, with a possible monster in Loch Ness! I have never been, I went to Carlisle once which is on the border. It’s always felt too far away.
I won’t fly, so unless I travel by boat or train I’m never going to go much further. I think my carbon footprint is quite small and I’d like to keep it that way! Plus I don’t really do heat, and when I hear of places already getting up to 40°C or more this year it worries me. I don’t think I could cope with it. I’ve always felt I can watch TV I’d I want to see a place. I can’t afford the reality. And there’s still plenty of England to explore too!
Thistles
Plants love growing, their seeds sneak in cracks, send down roots and push up paving, this thistle is an example of one. Looking round my area the streets are less littered with litter and more by plants. I’m not calling them weeds, they are wild vegetation. I don’t really mind them, except where they grow in front of and on doorsteps. I do think that the streets used to get maintained in a better way. I don’t think I’d like a lot of weed killer to be used, but I hope things can improve soon. Hopefully owners could do a little hand weeding.
My eyes
What’s your favorite thing about yourself?
Not their colour
Not their shape
But the fact they work
That I can see,
So I can paint and draw.
My fear is losing my sight
Finding one day the light has gone
No more views
No more staring at stars
Seeing friends faces
Letting paint flow
Hand eye coordination
My favourite feature
Keep them safe X
Added shade
I added shading to a rose painting I started a couple of weeks ago to give it more depth. It is one of those blush roses, with pink and red on the edges of the petals and some yellow further down. Roses are beautiful flowers, but the simplest of them, like wild roses, Rosa rugosa, are better for insects to pollenate and collect nectar. That is because the petals are open and the central part of the flower is easily accessible.
Unfortunately a lot of flowers are now being bred to have twice the petals (doubles). They look beautiful and interesting, but they make it hard to pollenate by insects like bees and they are frequently infertile so they don’t produce viable seeds.
Look for bee friendly plants if you are looking for flowers for your garden.
An old mug
What’s the oldest thing you own that you still use daily?
I still use an old mug that I’ve had for over twenty years. There’s a small crack in the top of the handle that flexes slightly when I pick it up if it’s full. One day I think it will either get broken in the washing up bowl or when I pick it up. Hopefully the first option as I don’t want a lap full of decaff!
I do use it virtually everyday but I can’t find it now so I’ve used a stock photo that looks like it. It’s like goldilocks, just the right size for a drink, not too much, not too little. The handle fits my hand just right.
I don’t know the manufacturer, but it’s likely to be local as I live in an area called “the potteries”. You can tell people are from here. They lift up pottery and look underneath for the manufacturer’s mark (backstamp). It’s so well known that its called the “turn over club”!
Tired!
What a day! Rain so heavy it must have weighed a ton! A few sunny spells. So cold I put the heating on, snuggled down and snoozed.
As I type I can hear the cars splashing through the rain outside and loud drips falling against the window round the back. At least my new plants and hanging baskets are getting well watered. I need to do some more gardening. Potting plants on, but it’s easier to shiver inside.
What else did I do? I watched a few YouTube videos and got out to get some cat food. Sheer excitement. Hence the pretty flowers, it’s less boring than today.
Standing on a beach
Describe one of your favorite moments.
It doesn’t have to be a tropical beach. Just a warm, sunny day. Sandals off, toes sinking slowly into damp sand. Little ripples in the sand mirroring the way the sea has moved over it’s surface. A flat beach, not steeply tipped, but shallow enough that the sea goes out a reasonable distance. Not too much seaweed on the beach, but enough to indicate the sea is healthy. Interesting seashells to collect, starfish and barnacles on the rocks or in rock pools.
I stand there, breathing in the ozone of the clear air. Thinking of all the other times I’ve visited. Memories of childhood eating ice-cream and paddling in the shallow sea. Looking back at the houses behind the coast road. Stalls to buy candyfloss or sticks of rock, and fish and chips that seagulls clamour for. Remembering the view of the hills in the distance. Thinking of having to catch a train home and wanting to stay forever, come rain or shine. Bright days, sunshine, coastal views, holidays, Heaven.
Japanese food
Bento box at a local Japanese restaurant. It was my birthday treat today. I like how the various types of food are held in compartments so you can mix and match flavours. You chose when main meat or vegetarian portion and the bento comes with rice, salad, sliced pickled ginger, goyoza, sushi, all very tasty. I had roast duck with Teriyaki sauce as my main choice. It was very pleasant sharing the evening with friends and putting worries to the back of my mind.
2 cats
Sharing the settee, two cats, relaxed and sleeping. They do tend to hang up on their sister though. So she sleeps upstairs and these two snuggle down on the crocheted blanket.
The big cat has started snoring. The middle one sleeps quietly. The third,, small one, hopped up the stairs a few minutes ago. The house is settling down for the night.
Mallaband-Brown 