New paintings and regular art updates.
I’m involved in the Penkhull Mystery Plays and we had a read through of the whole play yesterday. I just decided to doodle what I think the main baddie in the play could look like. Her hair is a tangle of flowers and weeds and twigs. Sharp faced, but without the beak of a nose and hooked chin of traditional depictions of witches. She’s more punk than ancient. I could imagine piercings and tattoos too.
Speaking to a friend in America about snakes reminded me that there are a few species here including the most venemous one, the Adder. It’s recognisable by the diamond pattern on its back.
My hubby was climbing cliffs in Devon when he was young and put his hand onto a hand hold. He realised to his horror that it was a nest of Vipers! He told me he had nightmares for weeks afterwards.
But there are grass snakes which are lizards not snakes, they have vestigial legs I think. We found one basking in the sand on a Devonian beach one summer holiday. It glinted gold in the setting sun. Wonderful.
I’ve got into a bit of a debate on Facebook about whether the exhaust from airplanes is from water vapour (yes) or chemicals (no). I’ve got especially annoyed since they have said they will be getting rid of fact checkers. I think if you see something on line that does not make sense you should not ignore it but at least put in an alternative realistic point of view. I finished one comment with the words Occams Razor.
Following a series of comments when I rebutted each strange argument with an alternative reasonable comment, someone asked where was I getting my information from? I could of course just said Google. But I don’t. I have had a long life and I like learning information. My memory is very retentive. I can remember telephone numbers from more than 40 years ago (0992 37963) my old home number. I learnt the Greek Alphabet for fun… Alpha, beta, Gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta….. Etc…
So I answered the question, how do I know things by stating :
Mainly science programmes on radio and TV. Reading the new scientist magazine, I’m also interested in the environment and am a member of various nature groups. I’m interested in astronomy. I took science classes at school (biology and chemistry) and had to take physics in one of my diploma courses. I’ve always been interested in science and try and keep abrest of up to date information. My favourite authors when I was growing up were Arthur C Clarke, Issac Asimov, Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman. I enjoy reading biographies of scientists such as Mme Marie Curie and about the Leakies who discovered the Australopithicine Ape Lucy. I am interested in what’s going on in the world. Does this answer your question? I just enloy thinking things through and trying to understand. If that is wrong I will stop commenting.
I try and be polite and as accurate as I can be.
My hubby always fed the birds at this time of year. I just realised that I need to take over. But I rarely get out in the garden because of being so unsteady and the fact that there are uneven steps,and the pathways are covered in leaf mould. I must make a plan to try and get out and feed them, other than that I think I will ask a friend.
Do you ever see wild animals?
Yes I see wild animals, mostly birds including Robins, blackbirds and wrens, but a squirrel jumped onto our garden fence last week, right outside the kitchen window. I’ve previously seen hedgehogs and also spotted a fox a few years ago. My garden is a bit of a wildlife haven with bushes and trees for the animals to rest in. There’s also a leaky pond, so sometimes we have tadpoles and frogs.
I must put out some bird food soon. I’m a bit nervous though of slipping on the leaves out there. My garden is on a slope so I could end up sliding down it in the mud. Must be careful.
I just woke from a weird dream. I was in a wooden hut/ nature reserve and was with a large group of strangers. The team leader bought up the question that people were asking about, could we go canoeing?
I put up my hand to speak, but whilst other people voiced their opinions I was studiously ignored. Suddenly I saw a newt in a corner and I didn’t want it to get trampled. I went over and gently picked it up, wondering if I was allowed to. Don’t you have to have a licence for newt handling?
I came outside by the front door into a lovely natural wood, but the newt had dissappeared. I had to find it again. Meanwhile I was in a garden with a pond. I saw the newt and picked it up. I placed it in the foliage by the pond, and as I stood up I saw the newt tail in my hand.
Then I woke up! I have no idea what it meant. I was just glad that I remembered it. I don’t think it was a lucid dream but it was interesting. I wonder why I dreamt it?
List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.
I guess this question is asking what jobs you would consider if you already had sufficient funds and didn’t need to earn more?
I would like to do jobs that were useful and interesting, and that helped people. Perhaps someone who volunteered to support patients and visitors at hospital, explaining where various wards and departments were, offering to get people a drink of water or show the where they could get food?
Alternatively I would like to work on some environmental issues, support natural wildlife, perhaps in a hedgehog hospital?
Finally I would have liked to persue a more formal career in art. I’ve always painted but never been able to make enough money to turn it into a career. Oh and sell books too!
But basically I think it’s important that people are paid a decent living wage. So many people have been working at below the poverty rate and taking two or three jobs to survive, and that’s just in industrialised countries. Think about it, one man is likely to become a trillionaire in the near future and also being offered tax cuts to increase his income even more. Total madness.
Tawny owl https://g.co/kgs/tciyaEu
Just heard owls hooting in Penkhull, Stoke-on-Trent. They were going too whit, too woo. That means there are a pair because they share the call. The male hoots one part and the female responds (or it might be the other way round) I think they must be tawny owls but it’s years since I’ve heard any. I can remember hearing a pair regularly 10 or 15 years ago. Perhaps they have migrated in? Good to hear them. Odd I’m wearing an owl patterned top today!
Commissioned acrylic on canvas. A surreal abstracted spirit : Green woman. With antlers adoring her head. It’s taken months to finish because I shake even though it’s only about A4 size. I imagine her standing in a grotto of trees, hidden from mortal view. She is nature, watching carefully as the land changes through time. She fights for the natural world and environment.
What does your ideal home look like?
I don’t live in an expensive, ideal house. This is next door. Mine is in better repair, but it’s an old house built in the 1900s. It’s been changed so that it has a bathroom/kitchen extention. It took years to buy because we previously rented.
Someone suggested to me recently that I should downsize. To that ideal home the prompt asks about? But why should I? Unless my health deteriorates further. I know where I am. I have a large garden at the side of the house. It’s full of nature, an old pond, trees, squirrels, hedgehogs. Why do I want someone to buy the house and rip it apart. If I ever find the money I would repair and restore it. I guess that’s my ideal home. Maybe with a stair lift and storage for my art?
Mallaband-Brown