I stick things on
Move them round
Plonk one magnet
Then another
And I get…
Memories and laughs
It’s just another surface
To cover…
By the way
I like black and white!
My fridge door
Tag: Time
Esther’s challenge: New beginnings
Esther Chiltons blog has writing challenges every week, I’ve started trying to do some. New beginnings was an interesting one.
This is what I wrote :
New beginning?
I hope so.
My life has changed in so many ways. I’m having to reassess what I can do, can afford, can maintain.
New beginnings means the garden is starting to flower, I hope to get outside and maybe paint if I feel up to it. I need help to keep the garden tidy.
My main wish is that my health improves and I can have some real new beginnings….
Esther does other challenges, like on Mondays we try and write a limerick with a certain word in it, or on Thursdays a set of words and a limited number of words to use. It’s fun. Why not look her blog up?
Driving test
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
,
When I failed my driving test I learnt from that experience, I learned that an unmarked crossroads should be approached with caution and you should stop to check if anyone else is coming and give way if necessary. Also if the driver next to you drives over a pedestrian crossing on a one way street, don’t assume it’s clear of pedestrians. If someone is about to cross- Stop!
When I did the follow up test my car would not start… It turned out it was an electrical fault. I sat in the drivers seat while people from the test centre had to give me a bump (push) start. The instructor told me to turn right, I indicated left! I apologised, explained the electric problem had flustered me. We started again, me convinced I had failed again.
We did the test, I passed! I was amazed, but I had learnt from the previous test.
Moss ‘n’ grass
Green moss spreads over tree roots, a grass seed must have blown in or washed there. It’s nestled in a small pocket of soil in the hollow of two roots. Good to see green when the world is mainly grey and brown.
We were on a walk on a dry day, but moisture from the previous days rain had enhanced the luminous colour of the moss, it was almost lime green in contrast to the darker grass. A real hint of the coming Spring.
I only took the photo because I joined a moss appreciation group on Facebook. Along with other groups, it makes you look differently and more closely at the world.
I’m starting to
Do you believe in fate/destiny?
Which way do the dice fall for you? Can you control your fate or is it out of your hands? I’ve always thought I have some control, some freedom of thought. I don’t know any more.
Am I fated to end my life cast away on a desert island, or skydiving on a Sunday afternoon? No chance, they are just random thoughts. But I can sometimes see a pathway I don’t like. I will fight against that.
Destiny? A destination that is foretold or preordained? Like a Princess who is destined to become a Queen. Maybe that is what my destiny will be… To be a rich and famous artist? Nah!
I don’t have one
Do you enjoy your job?
I gave up work to look after my hubby and try and set up as an artist. Sadly circumstances mean that he is no longer here and I don’t have the possibility of keeping my artists studio.
I won’t stop painting though, creativity is my reason for living. Despite health issues I cannot give it up. So I suppose really I do have a job, but it’s very much part time. I will still accept commissions and do my best to produce quality art work. I hope I continue long into the future, drawing on these recent events to produce new art.
Decay
Some of the buildings on the old Spode works site continue to deteriorate while others next to them are being restored and reused.
My fear is that some, like this one, could literally crumble before they get any work on them.
Time moves on, plans have been made and then stopped because they did not fit in well with both the historical significance of Spode works and the surrounding town. The traffic management needs considering too. Meanwhile the buildings need protection and rebuilding.
Too many historical and unique buildings in the city of Stoke-on-Trent have disappeared recently. Destroyed because of disrepair or fire or vandalism. The industrial archeology of the city needs saving. Otherwise we will end up with warehouses or generic apartment buildings and lose our history.
Where Manchester used old Mills to create loft spaces and apartments, we seem hell bent on hollowing out our citys history.
Leaving school
Describe a phase in life that was difficult to say goodbye to.
When I left school all those years ago I remember feeling like I was falling off a cliff. Hard to change my life.
Everything had been about learning, getting up every day, going to classes, coming home, doing homework. Trying to make the switch to ‘real life’ was a shock. I knew the times I worked would be different, but I got a couple of part time jobs cleaning and waitressing so I was not free to enjoy weekends or evenings anymore. This got worse as I went to college in the following autumn so I was trying to fit in my college work and my jobs and trying to get some work life balance.
I managed the change in my life OK after a few months but strangely it was hard to say goodbye to. I was still with my family and friends. The next year I left home. That was the real shock to my system.
Singing cheers me up
I was at choir practice yesterday and today. It cheered me up. I have to say I feel much better when I do go. I believe it helps to release endorphins in your brain? I know that when I’m feeling really down it helps so much. I would suggest if you can join a choir do it! A lot of choirs don’t have auditions, and are taught be repetition of the musical phrases rather than using sheet music. That’s how we are taught, the choir master sings a line and we repeat it. Gradually building up the song. We sometimes have the words printed off phonetically. We’ve learnt French, Zulu, Maori, Spanish, Bulgarian and many other languages learning that way.
I know this is a bit random, but I think its a great way af helping your mental health and also a good way of socialising.
Snowdrops
I went with a friend to Rode Hall today to take a look at the snowdrop walk, an annual event where people can walk round and see snowdrops growing by the lake and in the woods. Sadly we are at the end of the snowdrop season so a lot of them have finished flowering. But it was good to get out.
I’ve been hiding away recently. I don’t like driving very far as my health has deteriorated. But going out with a friend made me feel safer. I hung onto her on the slippy muddy bits. I feel like I’m teetering forward all the time. My balance is off, but I managed to bend down and take a photo of the snowdrops (galanthus ?) I know Rode Hall has lots of varieties of snowdrops and snowbells?
I got home and fell asleep, I was so tired, but I’m glad I went. Spring is on its way.
Rode Hall is off the A34 Road near Scholar Green in Staffordshire.
Mallaband-Brown 