New paintings and regular art updates.
I hate hot weather, I eat too many ice creams! Sweet and sugary, tempting me, cooling me. But also not good for my body. I used to have a lolly maker you filled with cordial and water. Pop sticks in each deep, round cylinder and freeze. The sticks act as handles. Bobs your uncle.. Low calorie water ice lollies.
Have you ever had surgery? What for?
When you get pain in your wrist and near your thumb, when your thumb, index finger and middle finger start getting numb when you hold things. When you start dropping things, and sleep with your hands turned outwards to reduce the pain?
Go and see your doctor. You may have carpal tunnel syndrome. In my case it was that. My job was using machines to print with and holding a heavy box to type information into. After 5 years the pain got so bad I sought medical help.
My radial nerves were being trapped by a band of muscle round my wrists. I could have had an injection. But the problem was severe. 75% reduced nerve conductivity in one wrist and 43% in the other. I couldn’t hold a teacup for long, never mind a paintbrush.
I elected to have local anaesthetic as I could get the operation done sooner. So one morning I was wheeled into an operating theatre and watched with interest as the surgeon operated on my wrist and hand. A few weeks later I had the second one done.
Now twenty or so years later both hands are still fine and I am so glad I had it done!
How do you waste the most time every day?
Too much stuff to see
Glance, read, what was that?
View, like, heart,
Glance, worry, comment.
Distracting dopamine
Images, words, notes,
Got to stop, put it down
Doomscrolling
Not a good way of looking
At the world…
Marigold? I’m not sure. Taken 14 years ago, came up on Facebook memories. The brilliant orange makes me want to eat fruit! I think there’s a tiny bee or wasp sitting in it. I think it was taken on a digital camera not on my phone. Not bad memory. I can even remember my friends garden where the photo was taken.
I’m playing an Imp in the Penkhull Mystery Play, I have one line (and a few more as the narrator). It’s not obvious I’m an Imp, I just have to shout out “my name is Jakobah” , push a rock across a cave mouth. Then shout “goodbye”. There were more lines but they were cut because the play was originally one and a half hours long so it had to be edited. Maybe this is another case of measure twice, cut once! Anyway I hope to do so some more painting later x
Describe one of your favorite moments.
One of my favourite moments is collecting my hanging baskets from a local nursery. Today (yesterday now) I did that. It was my birthday treat. I ordered 6 this year instead of 8 so I bought some extra plants for the walls and ground. I was really pleased with them. Luckily my sister was over for a visit so she helped me hang them. And that was a favourite moment.
On the 5th of June 1925 City status was bestowed on Stoke-on-Trent. So today we celebrated it’s Centenary.
A few years before on 31st of March 1910 it’s six towns of Longton, Burslem, Hanley, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent joined to gather to become the County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent.
Notable for living in the city were Oliver Lodge, inventor of the spark plug. Josiah Wedgwood inventor of different types of fine pottery. HG Wells lived here for a while in 1888. And Arnold Bennett, the author of the five towns novels wrote many books about the area.
On 5th July 2025 our area of Penkhull will be putting on a Mystery Play about a reimagined story of how the six towns were named.
Happy anniversary Stoke-on-Trent.
I’m not OK this afternoon. A bit shook up. I saw someone climbing up my garden gate through my side window, so I decided to confront them. I’m afraid I swore at them very loudly (along the lines of “What the EFF do you think you’re doing?” ). Then I realised it was a couple of teenage boys from the local school. They were shocked and so was I. They explained they were trying to get some of my white lilac for their mums which is about 8 foot up off the ground. I told them they should have asked permission. I explain it shook me up because we were burgled 18 months ago and caught burglars climbing over the gate… I still feel rough (high. BP). I let them get some flowers as I was also shocked by shouting at them! They were OK about the shouting and apologised to me.
Hubby played a prophet in one of the Mystery Plays a few years ago. It was outside but his big booming voice could be heard by the audience sitting on the green. He could project his voice over the traffic noise. If he had been bought up in a more middle class environment I’m sure he would have been an actor. But mental health meant he struggled to remember all his words. We also did the local amateur panto together. He got a pretend Oscar one year for most enthusiastic entrance (or something like that). He was a marvellous, memorable man.
80 years ago, on the 8th of May 1945, Hitler was defeated in the second world war. But that was only in Europe, the war actually ended on 2nd September of the same year when Japan surrendered.
It’s significant that it is the 80th year as it is probably the last time that many veterans from the war will be able to celebrate it because if they were 21 (start of adulthood) when they joined up they would be 101 or older now.
Memories fade but this is a way to remember the joy of the ending of the conflict, although not for everyone. We should remember those that were injured or wounded, either in the military or civilian. Those that were made homeless or those that lost relatives and friends. I’m glad and sad in equal measure.
Mallaband-Brown