New paintings and regular art updates.
Two years ago we were having regular hedgehog visitors to our garden, but this year we haven’t seen any. We live next to a busy road and I worry about them. There was also an area of wasteland next to our garden that had brambles growing on it. That was cleared by a builder who removed all the vegetation from it, our garden is quite wild but there was old bits of wood to hide under. I think we will start leaving food out for them to forage again.
What are the most important things needed to live a good life?
Obviously we all need the basics of life, food, water, shelter. Without them people would struggle. They are the basis of a good life. But on top of this I think education is important too.
The more you learn, the more you can do things. Simple biology is useful for growing crops, understanding how to maintain and feed them, how to breed them so you get better crops over the years.
Learning languages can help you to understand other countries, their communities, the ideas behind their beliefs. And also help prevent things like xenophobia. The more you understand the less anxious you should be.
What about mathematics? You would struggle to run a business without basic arithmetic and if you want to understand marketing or the reach of your products you probably need an understanding of statistics too….
Fishing? Ecology would be a good subject.
Designing cars? Either Art so you can draw a design and work out how it would fit together, or engineering if you want to get down to the nuts and bolts…
So many things to learn, and in some places that could cost a lot of money. So I think education should be free and paid for by the richest people in society.
Of course not everyone is educated to a reasonable standard. But it’s generally understood that the better educated you are, the better off you will be. You might not have a rich life, but hopefully a good life, a life of knowledge, discovery and understanding. And an improved wellbeing.
Memory is a strange thing, time passes slowly, but quickly. The Ukraine is still under attack, its people being shelled and murdered by Russian forces, not a special operation but open war. But we forget, we see it as less newsworthy because we get bored. Meanwhile people get trapped in factories where they have taken shelter. Families are ripped apart, the elderly and disabled are left behind because they don’t have the ability to escape. Mass destruction of the infrastructure continues. Why is Putin allowed to continue? He makes more threats and we are unable to make him stop. Of course the fear of reprisals is part of this. If you don’t remember the attack is continuing how can you help?
Tuesdays #bandofsketchers prompt was Shelter.
This is a bit late. Shelter flummoxed me until I saw my cat getting in a box. Then I looked up cat shelters online. Expected to see cat charities but it came up with a load of sweet shelters for outside cats. This pyramid shaped one with a little porch seemed ideal. I don’t know if the door closes but it looks snug. X
Poppies spreading from pole to pole,
Life and death must fight no more.
Let us give each other peace.
Think before we fight a foe.
Peace would be my lasting wish,
Giving back some bit of hope.
I know my wish can never be.
A world in peace I’ll never see.
But maybe once or twice the world
A life to spare, they can agree.
Orphaned lives must be saved,
Refugees must be delivered whole.
Shelter given, an end to fear,
No more war, a fairer share.
No more death of man or beast,
No more fighting,
Let’s have peace.
He’s curled up,
Happy, warm, snug.
The stray cat outside has a box
Sleeps in the shed.
My cat sleeps where he likes.
So sad.
The stray needs a home,
A place to be warm.
My cat won’t accept him.
Looked for its owner..
Gone away.
Now it needs shelter,
While my cat is happy.
It’s time for the stray,
To get a warm bed…..
My dilemma is how to do it?
Mallaband-Brown