Grey man

Posted on September 9, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Design, Green man, PhotosLeave a comment

IMG_20180910_003116_866

Actually green man, but I decided to see what he would look like in black and white.

I took the photograph at Salts Mill in Saltaire, Yorkshire, about 4 years ago.

Green men are found all around the country, representing the spirit of the fertile world? I guess so. This one was a design on a large gardinere in the Salts Mill complex. I think he is probably a Victorian design. There us something quite disconcerting about green leaves growing out of his mouth. It reminds me of when a was a child, when I was told if I ate apple pips an apple tree would grow inside me!

We also visited a green man shop in Pickering, in the north Yorkshire moors a few years before, and came home with a tiny green man and a plaque of a lady surrounded in sea shells and seaweed. I’m not sure exactly where it was, I think it was near the railway station, in the centre of the town, it may have closed by now.

I like painting green men and women, there is a succulent power in them, green and verdant.

When cats stare….

Posted on September 7, 2018 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Cat, Photos, Presence, Spooky, Stare6 Comments

Late at night, my cat suddenly stares into the other room, somehow aware of something in there. I look but there is nothing but darkness, no sound, no movement, no figure, nothing except an old armchair.

It doesn’t happen often, but I feel sure my cat is seeing something in another realm that we cannot see. Cats eyes are so accurate, catch every ray of light, every glimmer or speck of movement. Reflecting them back in the dark as shining pools of mother of pearl, glimmering, unblinking.

What does he see? A previous presence? A future me? A distant spectre made visible by random fluctuations in the aether?

Nothing happens, he continues to stare for a few moments more then relaxes and commences washing his paws.

Rhyl Air show

Posted on August 25, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blog, Blogging, Drawing, Photos, Rhyl air show, Sand, Sea, Sketching, Sun, WalesLeave a comment

A sunny August bank holiday weekend, at least today, forecast is for rain tomorrow……

Rhyl beach is long and sandy, there were food stalls and lots of things on show including the RNLI and RAF and Royal British Legion for the Poppy appeal.

We walked along the coastal path, towards the town and watched planes zipping by, aerobatics, an old Blenheim and a couple of Spitfires. All free, and as we had walked down from my sisters house we didn’t have to pay for parking!

Rhyl airshow takes place every August Bank holiday, when a free show is held and the planes fly out over the sea. There can be big crowds but it was not bad today….lots of space on the sand and great viewing conditions.

First we saw a five plane aerobatic team, then an old autogyro from the 1960’s, later on old war planes, a Blenheim and a Dakota and two Spitfires. There were other planes following, looping the loop, doing stalls and twists, soon there was a fighter jet trainer shooting across the sky.

The climax was a team of around 6 red devil parachutists, falling from the sky with smoke trails. I say 6 as the sun was shining in my eyes and I could not see the screen of my phone. As there parachutes opened they also flew the welsh flag below them. Brilliant afternoon. I even got slightly sunburnt!

I managed to get a few reasonable photos on my old Samsung phone, I also did some quick sketches of the planes.

Seaside

Posted on August 24, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blog, Blogging, Bridge, Design, Life, New architecture, Photos, Rhyl, Seaside, WritingLeave a comment

This is a new footbridge at Rhyl. The bridge can lift up on both sides of the footpath so that boats can navigate the lower area of the river. The footbridge is at the west end of Rhyl just near the blue road bridge and next to Rhyl’s bike hub where you can hire bicycles.

On our visit the sun was shining, but it was quite windy. The river below looked quite muddy and because the river is tidal the water was rushing out towards the sea.

The structure is interesting, the footpath seperates around a central mast and you can see down to the hydraulic rams that can lift up the two halves of the bridge. I haven’t seen in operation but I imagine it looks spectacular.

Old Brown furniture

Posted on August 23, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Furniture, Handles, Life, Old Brown, Photos, Walnut, Wardrobe, WoodLeave a comment

These photos do not do the wardrobe my grandfather made justice. I had taken photos of the handles and lock but not of the lovely thick walnut veneer thst covers it. The doors have two slices of veneer onbyhem so th a the pattern is in 4 quaters.

Grandad was a wonderful carpenter. He did work in churches and made lych gates. I dont know if I ever met him, because by the time I was old enough to know him he had passed away and grandmother had remarried.

I think though that I got a lot I my artistry from him. The wardrobe is old and scratched but still loved and used. I think we should all use old furniture, you don’t need to go all modern, refurbish it if you must, but save your money, and the planet!

Clematis

Posted on August 21, 2018August 21, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Clematis, Colours, Design, Flowers, Gardening, Life, Photos, PlantsLeave a comment

IMG_20180822_001625_578

Clematis, blousy and purple,

or tiny and pink.

Growing up walls,

Along fences, up high.

Clematis, bell flowers,

Fuzzy seedheads,

Growing round trees

Up to the sky.

Clematis, spring and summer flowering

Now monumental,

Grown with great love.

Makes me sigh.

Clematis, old friend,

Newly open flowers,

Grow bud and petal,

You give me joy

Shattered

Posted on August 15, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Fatigue, Humour, Illness, Life, Photos, Tired, WritingLeave a comment

Perhaps I am getting too old, but although the temperature here has gone down considerably I still feel very hot and tired. Almost on the verge of a cold or something.

Consequently I gave myself a day off today to try and get some energy back. But all I have done is felt grumpy and ended up sitting in a heap of listless thoughts.

I posted this morning about being addicted to blogging, maybe today has shown me how much I am? Sitting still with not much to do. But I do not feel well. I’m not looking for sympathy, just a way out of the apathy!

Tomorrow is only half an hour away, maybe a good night’s sleep will help ease things. But being a woman of a certain age does not help!

Oh well onwards and up the apples and pears to Bedfordshire!

Its raining!

Posted on August 10, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Humour, Life, Photos, Rain, Water, Weather, Weather forecast, WritingLeave a comment

20180810_114303

I just did the strangest thing, I saw it was raining hard outside, and then checked my tablet to see what the weather forecast was saying (light rain). Is this an indication of how addicted to my tablet I am.

Thinking about it, is that why they are called tablet computers? I know that’s not true but it makes you think.

Anyway the rain has just poured out of the sky, all those black and grey piled up clouds finally released their water. If I were living a hundred years ago I would have just watched it, but today I took photos and filmed it! Not such a great event in the scheme of things, hardly worth noting. So why write about it in a blog? If I had a diary and was writing 100 years ago I think it would have been about daily events, or even the war (not known as the 1st world war till later) I certainly would not have taken photos of rain, even if I had a box brownie. I once made a pin hole camera and developed my own pictures. You put a piece of photographic paper inside a biscuit tin in the dark. You make a tiny hole in the tin and cover it. Then you go into a lit room or outside and uncover the pinhole for a second. Cover the hole again then develop the picture in a darkroom. I got some good results.

Anyway, I changed the subject…..yes, rain, good stuff, unless it causes flooding, damage, mud slides……

Bye x

Skies

Posted on August 10, 2018August 10, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Air, Blogging, Earth, Life, Photography, Photos, Sky, Sun, WritingLeave a comment

One thing about living in a temperate climate in the Midlands of England is the variations in the sky. We might have just had one of the hottest summer’s on record, but like most people here I am waiting for the rain to come back. The country usually gets enough, but at the moment satellite imagery shows the grass burnt to brown instead of the greens of summers. Trees seem to be fairing better because they have deep roots. But hopefully when the rain comes down from the sky the land will recover.

Skies….

Clouds fly on the breezes and winds,

Blue skies soon turn grey,

Magic sunsets illuminate the sky,

Stars shine out on high.

Shooting stars obscured by clouds,

Planet’s seem so bright.

Moon and Sun in turn appear,

Sometimes Moon hides Sun.

Look up, look up, into the air, not just to the ground,

Above your head the sky astounds,

The world below is gone.

Well I do like skies. There is something called the cloud appreciation society which has interesting information about clouds. They suggest blue skies are boring, and watching the different sorts of clouds is the thing to do, from cirrus, cumulo nimbus, asperatus, mammatus, stratus, so many names. New cloud formations identified. ..

Skies are such a barometer (no pun intended) of our atmosphere. I would hate to live in a country where the weather stayed the same for months.

Organ grinders

Posted on August 4, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blog, Blogging, Etruria, Etruria Industrial museum, Music, Organ grinders, Organs, Photos, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

One thing about Britain, and in this case specifically England is that we have our fair share of eccentrics, collectors, restorer’s and skilled artisans.

Today was a case in point. I met some lovely people who restore and make their own organs and are known as organ grinders because they turn a handle at the back of the machine to work a set of bellows to play music.

Apparently you can get various sorts of organs. A lady showed me how hers worked, with a roll of paper, held on a tube (a bit like a toilet roll). As she turned the handle to pump the bellows the paper roll passed over a series of holes attached to pipes at the top of the machine. the paper was slightly waxy or plasticised, it had small holes cut in it and as each set of holes lined up with the organ pipes it played a note, pipes that were covered with the paper did not play. The lady told me the organ was made in Germany by a famous maker. Sadly I forgot to get a note of his name.

Other organs music was on flat peices of card joined together like a jacquard pattern for weaving. One even had a sim card in it and all the player (grinder) had to do was turn the bellows handle.

The owners of the machines were all dressed in Victorian costume and were dotted around the Etruria Industrial museum. They were there for there national meeting and had come from all around the country. They are staying for a week and will be here until next Sunday.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Photos