New paintings and regular art updates.
One of my photos that I got in a local calendar for this year. There was a photographic competition in the summer. People were asked to submit pictures of our local village of Penkhull for it to raise funds for the village hall.
In the end three of my pictures were chosen, that’s a quarter of the twelve monthly images! There was also a thirteenth one that was chosen for the front of the calendar. I’m so proud to have had my work included for 2025.
My sister and I went to have a cup of hot chocolate and some cake at the Capabilitea Cafe at Trentham Gardens, in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, this afternoon. It was lovely to get out after spending at least two weeks in the house with this dreadful virus. We were going to have a savory meal but I was tempted by this “the works” hot chocolate.
The sun was low on the horizon when I finally got out. It’s bad this time of year and it was hard to drive the couple of miles there. I’m glad I had my sister with me, she helped me blow up my car tyres and had to point out where the disabled parking spaces were on the Trentham village car park. We had a little wander so I could try and stretch my legs. I managed 1657 steps today, which is more than I’ve done in weeks (that’s in fits and starts, I have to stop and browse (take a rest), every so often). But I escaped from the house at last !
My phone is full of photos and my WordPress account is too. I want to add new images but my blog tells me my media file is full. What can I do? I have to delete previous photos from my previous posts.
So if you read one of my blogs and it doesn’t have a photo to illustrate it, that’s the reason why. I could delete the actual blogs but I don’t know how to do it?
Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.
From ancestry.com
From ancestry.com
“The name Christine has its origins in the English language and carries the meaning Follower of Christ. It is a feminine name derived from the masculine name Christian, which itself originates from the Greek word christianos. The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages and has since remained widely used in various cultures around the world.”
And yet when I looked up WordPress free image library to find something to illustrate this only four pictures appear. This was the prettiest one, but really not relevant!
I suppose the name has always had some influence on me, even though I don’t really call myself Christian I follow a lot of Christianity’s rules. I believe in compassion, care, equality, freedom, respect, charity. I think the world needs to try and work towards all these things.
Maybe being called Christine is like nominative determinism, the name pushes you into certain paths? I don’t know but I think it influenced me.
Dawns coming a little earlier everyday. It’s almost a month since the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere (getting dark slightly earlier in the South).
I only really feel the year has turned when there’s still a bit of light in the sky at 5pm. I remember work days when I would go to the work in the dark and home in the dark. I’m just waiting, hoping for sunlight and warmth.
Last year I had a day trip
Went to the coast
Of Wales
It rained on the way
And it was blustery
By the beach.
I went on a coach
Can’t drive that far
Anymore
One day away
My holiday
……
I had a little nut tree
Nothing would it bear
But a silver nutmeg
And a golden pear
The king of Spains daughter
Came to visit me
And all for the sake
Of my little nut tree.
Funny how your mind looks for something interesting when it’s got nothing to do. I used to know a lot of nursery rhymes when I was a little child. This one I would say is well known? But who knows this one that I used to sing when I was on a seesaw.
Seesaw, Marjorie Daw
Jenny shall have a new master,
She shall have but a penny a day
Because she can’t work any faster!
I want to try and remember more. A couple in Manchester or Salford? Collected a lot of rhymes and children’s songs in the early 1900s. I think their surname was Opie. I’m sure there’s more information about it on line. They found that a rhyme sung in the south of England could travel to the North of Scotland in about two weeks by word of mouth (pre telephone).
What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?
Old, not a word I dread, as long as my mind and body continue to work. I want to keep going. I don’t think there is anything after life, I seriously doubt it, so I want to be me for as long as I can.
Health is the problem. Co-morbidities are flung at me at a rapid rate. One thing or another to take tablets for, carefully balanced to keep me going. Unless the pharmacy can’t get my pills, they are out of stock, suppliers let them down. Almost every month there is a problem where I’m left owed something.
After all that I would like to leave a legacy of my art. I hope my paintings won’t get thrown out, maybe I can keep going for seberal more years. I will try.
What are your biggest challenges?
My biggest challenge seems to be movement inside and outside the house.
Inside I’m unsteady, I use my stick because my feet get muddled sometimes. They twist round each other and trip me up. Going up and down stairs is fun, especially when the cats decide to sleep on the stairs it’s a good job they have white patches so I can see them in the dark.
Outside is a challenge too. Just getting down the steps, hanging on to handrails, then walk a few steps to get to the car. But I get nervous driving, in the past I had hubby with me. Now? I get lifts with people if I can if I’m going any distance. I imagine myself stuck with a flat tyre, or out of petrol, or lost, or too tired to carry on. What happens if the person I’m going to see is out? I think I drove less that 500 miles last year. Memory is of driving all over the country, no longer. My challenge is to get better? I wish.
Draw, edit, play, learn.
Check, change, design, duplicate,
Adjust, layer, fisheye, erase,
Layer, adjust enjoy, publish.
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