Boat Band

I enjoyed going out to see the Boat Band at the Beehive tonight. It’s been over 6 months since I have been out to see them. The pub was quite full with jolly people and it was lovely to feel that mood wash over me. It felt very strange being on my own though. And odd not having my hubby to talk to. But I’m glad I went, I even tried singing a couple of songs.

It had been another long day and I had a hospital appointment in the afternoon, I’m so grateful that my friend came with me to keep me company although she had to wait for an hour and a half while I had a scan. I couldn’t stop shaking so I hope they managed to get good pictures.

Now I’m shattered, I need some food but I might just have a sandwich and go to bed. But I’m really glad I went out. Life has to have some good times.

Quick owl

I’m going to try and get to an art project about Molly Leigh, the witch of Burslem. I want to try and do a painting of her, but I only had a bit of time today, and because I’m trying to get back into painting again I decided to paint an owl. I did it because it’s a magical kind of bird, the way they can fly silent as a whisper to catch their prey. It’s a small acrylic on canvas. I’m not sure of the species as I based this on a precious owl painting I did a few years ago.

Have I been camping?

Have you ever been camping?

Several times, but something always seemed to go wrong!

We went on the train to Wales, we were going to cycle around and camp every day. But we’d only took the fly sheet of the tent not the whole thing. We asked someone if we could prop our flysheet up against his tent, he said yes, then my hubby decided to be generous and bought the man several whiskys in the camp bar, so when we woke up in the morning most of the money had been spent and the forecast was for rain. After a brief discussion (argument) we caught the train home stuck in a guards van with a very loud Welsh rugby team singing rude songs!

Another time we took a frame tent in our car, we put the tent up, only to realise the tent was inside out and the curtains were on the outside. That time my hubby reversed the car over my saucepans! Result, Argument!

Another camping holiday, we cycled 40 miles in sunshine one spring, the weather turned and we had a few nights of snow. We had to sleep in all our clothes. It was minus 11 °C one night. We cycled home and got stuck in snow cycling up a steep hill, we had to take a detour adding 20 miles onto the ride. Result shattered!

Then there was the cycle trip to Cornwall, we were on a clifftop above St Ives. My hubby put his foot through the zip in the middle of the night. Luckily I’d got a sewing kit, so I sat with a torch in my mouth and sewed the front of the tent up, luckily that was our last night there.

We did have a few other more successful trips but we decided to go on caravan holidays instead, and I could tell some tales about them too!

Summer

When do you feel most productive?

I usually feel better in summer, at the moment the daylight is increasing and I feel slightly more productive. I somehow usually come out of myself in the spring, and as the season progresses I feel more enthusiastic.

Spring flowers

This year? I don’t know, I’ve spent a lot of time just staring at things. My motivation is really low. I don’t go out much so I probably low on vitamin D. I will try and get over the feeling of sadness and anxiety. I would like to be more productive as the days lengthen. I will have to see what happens.

A green sea spirit

Painting that just popped up on my Facebook memories today from 9 years ago. It’s a picture of a green man sea spirit. The image was based on a terracotta face I had outside my back door. There is a crack through it which was caused by frost I think. I changed the colours to reflect its maritime appearance. It has a similar feeling to the Air painting I just published, a spiritual or mythical feeling. Acrylic on canvas.

Dragon coffee pot

Something my mother collected, possibly a wedding present from the 1950’s? I’ve always loved this set. I borrowed it off my sister so I could use it in some college work about dragons.

This is a Chinese dragon I think? It might be Japanese, the way to tell is the number of toes on its feet. I think I remember that Japanese dragons have three toes and Chinese have four or five? If you know please remind me.

The coffee set was probably made for the export market and won’t be worth a great deal but I like it, it’s quirky and interesting. I think the dragon itself is quite humerous. I like the colours, also the airbrushing and the slip trailed areas.

I just Google imaged this, it’s Japanese Moriage Bone China.

Finishing work

Describe a risk you took that you do not regret.

I gave up work to mainly look after my hubby whose mental health was deteriorating. I could have carried on, but circumstances were also changing in my job. The way we worked was reverting back to old fashioned ways which I felt was detrimental to our clients. I’d fought hard to help them more and it felt like their needs were being forgotten while money was saved. Services were being slashed. I had to go, and I never regretted it, I just felt sorry for my fellow workers who I left behind. Covid and other problems meant that I didn’t make a go of my small business, but at least I tried.

Old cat sketch

One of our cats from thirty years ago. Drawing in biro. He lived until he was about 17. He was a lovely quiet cat and I remember him and his sister were sweet. His mum came to us, as a pregnant stray. She was very intelligent and liked riding on my shoulders but her son didn’t do that. But he was still clever and would always come when I called or whistled him. He used to sneak into my neighbours house through their cat flap and he came home once with a huge steak in his mouth, growling when I took it off him. I never dared tell my friends what he had done!