Bench

Posted on May 18, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Beauty, Bench, bloom, Colour, Dorothy Clive garden, fields, Flowers, Green, Life, Poem, Poetry, Rhododendrons, SpringLeave a comment

Why are you facing inwards bench?

Can’t you see the beautiful view?

The green and yellow hills

Beyond the fence…

Tiny farmhouses dotted alongside feilds

Sun shining on a golden harvest?

But I look in, said the bench

I see the quarry garden

Dug out of soil and stone

Carved into a bowl

Lined with rhododendrons

Azaleas, beech trees, oaks

Full of colour now, gaudy flowers

A waterfall splashes and ploshes

In the quarry cauldron

Hidden sculptures in maze like paths

Yes beyond the fence is lovely

But the Dorothy Clive garden is special.

I stayed

Posted on May 17, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged boyfr3, Canals, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1941, Hubby, Illustration, Life, sacrifice, West MidlandsLeave a comment

What sacrifices have you made in life?

I was once offered a job out of this area. The problem was that it would mean moving away from my then boyfriend, later hubby. It was a reasonably decent job, well paid, illustrating the canals in the West Midlands of England. I would be part of a project to map, illustrate and record details of the massive canal network in the area. I really wanted that job… But it was too much of an upheaval. My boyfriend would not be able to come with me and I was scared to lose him. So I sacrificed the opportunity, and truly, I think it was the right decision for me. X.

An old tee shirt.

Posted on May 16, 2024 Posted in Uncategorized, MemoriesTagged Life, Prompt, Recycle, Repair, Clothes, Tee shirt, Reuse, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1940Leave a comment

What’s the oldest things you’re wearing today?

My tee shirts are getting holey before I throw them away. Most of my clothes are more than five years old and many are much older. If I get rid of them I put them out for charity or take them to a clothes bank for recycling. I can’t afford to spend lots of money on clothes. I’m not a designer shaped person (thin), I’m short and chubby. I’ve never bought clothes by well known makers. If it fits and it looks OK that’s good enough for me.

Why waste money on clothes you wear once or twice then throw them away? I think the reuse, repair, recycle, restore values are the ones to live by.

Rain again

Posted on May 16, 2024May 16, 2024 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Description, dripping, Grey day, Life, pouring down, Rain, rivulets, Water, Weather, Wet, window panesLeave a comment

Water from the sky all day, falling incessantly. Rivulets splashing. Grey sky, rain pouring down, puddles and rushing gutters overflowing. I haven’t been out. Sitting in a warm jumper. I haven’t even opened the curtains! I watched the water running down the window panes in the kitchen, following wriggling lines downwards, drips racing each other to the bottom. Tears from the sky. Such a dark day, concrete coloured clouds and not silver lined. Perfect for ducks! Perhaps it will be better tomorrow?

Rhododendrons

Posted on May 14, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Bud, Flower, flower head, Garden, hot pink, Life, Petals, Rhododendrons, Soft, SpringLeave a comment

Beautiful bud, waiting to open, snugly wrapped in a soft covering. Soon the pink will fully unfurl, then the hot pink will blaze away in the sunlight. To join hundreds of other blooms signalling to the bees to pollenate them and so the life cycle continues.

Bench appreciation

Posted on May 14, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Bench, bench appreciation society, Life, looking forward, Memories, Sitting, Wind1 Comment

There is a group for anything on Facebook. I recently joined the bench appreciation society page. It makes you look out for things. In this case I found four seperate benches while I was out yesterday. I enjoyed sitting on them for a rest and contemplating my surroundings. Hearing the wind soughing through the trees and the birds singing beautifully lifted my spirits. I’m hopeful of going out again soon.

Dorothy Clive garden

Posted on May 13, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged bloom, Dorothy Clive garden, Flowers, Fun, Garden, Gardening, Life, Rhododendrons, Snow, VisitLeave a comment

Wondrous garden in the countryside on the borders of Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire. In Willowbridge I think? Every spring my hubby and I would go to see the rhododendrons in flower in the Quarry garden, sometimes they were fully in bloom, other years the blooms hadn’t opened or were going over. Today they were perfect. I just wish my hubby was here still to see them. I’d been to the hospital for more tests so this was a treat for my sister who had come with me. She held onto me on the steeper slopes. Today it was very blustery and overcast with a cold wind but at least it wasn’t snowing like it had been in some previous years.

I wish I was

Posted on May 12, 2024 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged bucket, Feet, Life, Memory, Sand, Sea, Seaside, spade, starfish, Summer, Time, ToesLeave a comment

By the sea

Sand soft beneath my feet,

Tide rising, toes tickled by waves.

Starfish paddle with their little feet

Whelks and cockles burrow

Warm splash of water

Buckets and spades

Time to build a sandcastle for me and you.

Progress

Posted on May 9, 2024 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Burslem, Fine Art, Leopard Hotel, Life, Memory, molly leigh, Mural, Parkinsons, reproduction, WitchLeave a comment

This is hard work, I don’t shake as much when I’m concentrating but the tremors of Parkinsons make small details difficult. I try and hold my breath and clamp my arm against my body. In fact I’m having to redo sections because I’m not happy with the results, but I will persevere, memory of Molly, work in progress. Acrylic on canvas. Copy of a mural I did at the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. Difficult to reproduce the same feeling.

Mevagissey watercolour

Posted on May 7, 2024May 7, 2024 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged 1996, Art, commissioned, Cornwall, harbour, Life, Mevagissey, Painting, Watercolour, wedding present4 Comments

I had a lovely surprise this morning, a message from a lady who I had done a painting for, for their wedding present. It was a commission for her and her husband by her neighbour who I used to work with. It’s dated 1996.

Mevagissey is in Cornwall in the South West of England. We drove down to it on a day trip one summer.

It’s a long time ago and sadly I don’t remember painting it, but it’s got my signature on it and is dated, so it’s definitely mine. I used to like painting landscapes like this, the detail is such a challenge, getting it accurate. I doubt I could do it now.

The lady says she still has it on display and it’s admired by her friends. Not bad for thirty years ago! It’s so good to know my work is appreciated.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Life