Walking today

Posted on June 10, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Aching feet, Bee, Cat, Exercise, Fun, Hill, kilometers, Miles, Time, Tired, WalkingLeave a comment

Three walks around and about today totalling 11.97km (almost 7.5 miles)

Two were around the university then a late walk once things had cooled down this evening. I walked up our steep hill and saw the sunset, I didn’t get a good photo of it, then on and around the top of our hill before descending again. I know I’ve gone far enough because my feet and ankles are aching.

I came home to an errant bumble bee. We tried to put it outside but it must have flown back through an open window because I caught one of my cats looking like it was about to pounce on it. In the end I used the mug and envelope technique and it was transported safely out of the back door and flew off onto the night.

Horse Chesnut

Posted on June 4, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged chestnut, childhood games, Conkers, Fun, horse chestnut tree, Memory, Time, TreeLeave a comment

This trees flowers make Chesnuts when they are fertilised and mature.

Chestnuts are big brown nuts or seeds. They have hard shells and children gather them up in the autumn to play the game Conkers.

The local children throw sticks up into the tree to knock the chestnuts down. Then they make holes through them and thread them onto string tying a knot at the bottom so the Chestnut (or Conker) doesn’t fall off.

They take turns to swing one conker against the other until one of them cracks and breaks up. There are various tricks to try and make the chestnuts harder, like for instance soaking them in vinegar.

The more conkers a child hits and breaks, the more important the child’s conker is. If it’s only broken one it’s a ‘oner’ a six would be a ‘sixer’ the winner is the person whose conker does not disintegrate and beats all the other ones.

Probably not a game played much these days. But I remember playing it until my friend conker accidentally hit the knuckles of my hand. Ow!

Still missing the sea

Posted on June 4, 2021June 4, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Beach, bucket and spade, Crab, Memories, Sea, Seaside, Shells, Sunlight, Thoughts, Time7 Comments

Sunshine, a stick of rock, sandy beach, bucket and spade to make sandcastles. The cool feeling of wet sand as you wiggle your toes in it…or the hard ridges of sand rippled by shallow water. Memories of collected shells, long thin razor shells, cockle shells, mussels, spirals and smooth. So many types.

All these memories were made on various holidays and day trips to beaches, looking out over the sea, walking through seaweed that littered beaches, sand flies and sand hoppers.

Remembering catching various trains, some of them were steam trains. Watching the countryside fly by, a river running on one side of the train, then the other. The train running past the caravan site we stayed at.

Sunshine, rain, home made cooking in the caravan on a tiny stove. Sleeping on a bed made of boards and cushions where the table had stood. Gas mantles that hissed when mom lit the lights at night.

The tiny crab that escaped from my plastic bucket and spade and hid in my shoe… And it’s pincers snapping on my little toe!

Memories and the wish to make more. Missing the seaside.

Fading roses

Posted on May 27, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Arteza metallic watercolours, fading, falling petals, Old, Poem, Poetry, Roses, Time, Very short poem, Watercolour, WiltingLeave a comment

Petals wilting

Leaves drooping

Soon you will fade

The flowers crinkle

Then one by one

The petals drop.

Waiting

Posted on May 26, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged art college, drawing celtic knots, Nervous, Semester, Sketching, Tied, Time, Waiting2 Comments

Tied in knots.. An old drawing from the 80’s

The results of this semesters work on the illustration course I am doing are not due out till the middle of June but we go back to work at the start of June. So effectively we are starting back without knowing if we have passed or failed. The fees are due so you might also pay without knowing if you are allowed to continue. To say there are quite a few nervous students about is no joke. Tied in knots, waiting to see what happens next.

Poppy painting

Posted on May 19, 2021 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Colourful, Fine Art, Painting, Poppy, Red, Time6 Comments

Poppy, acrylic on canvas, painted in 2013. One of my favourite paintings. I wish I could grow poppies as colourful as this.

Setting Moon

Posted on May 19, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Crescent moon, Earth, Eclipse, Moon, Orbit, position of the moon, position of the sun, Sky, Sun, Time, WorldLeave a comment

Seen a couple of nights ago, a blurry setting Moon, chasing the Sun round the sky.

You can tell what angle the Moon is to the Sun because of the angle of the curve on the sunlit side. As the Moon waxes and wanes the position of the Sun can be worked out, full Moon=the Sun is on the other side of the Earth, a sliver of Moon, the Moon is in between the Earth and the Sun. Eclipse? If the Moon Eclipses the Sun it is directly between the other two bodies. If the Moon turns bright red its the Earth getting between the Moon and Sun, its only really then that you can see the curvature of the Moons surface, whichis usually so reflective that it looks bright and flat.

I guess this is the most number of times I’ve written ‘”Moon” in a blog!

Too many buttons?

Posted on May 16, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Buttons, classic editor?, Editing, Layout, Learning, positioning text, Time, too many options, Understanding?, WordPress6 Comments

What are they all for WordPress? I know you are holding some training sessions. But I don’t have time for them. I don’t need an immersive experience, I want to point and press!

I’m still coming to terms with the loss of the classic editor and all I do now is press enter and start another block. The one thing I do like is more control over image sizes, but how do I set whether an image is right, left or centre of the page…?

I never learnt type setting, I don’t know what to do when I can type columns? I’m interested in getting my thoughts out, not how to place them on a page. Yes it might look scrappy, but I’m not fussed….

Gate house

Posted on May 15, 2021May 18, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #100daywalkingchallenge, cemetery, Clematis, Death, Life, Photo, Rain, Sad, somber, TimeLeave a comment

View of the gatehouse of the cemetery with masses of Clematis Montana? growing up and around trees in the grounds. Splendid gates and brick pillars add to the impression of a proud building. I enjoyed walking through the cemetery tonight, in a gentle rain. The somber clouds echoing the place.

I like the subtle colours in this photo, mostly muted except for the lime greens of some of the newly grown leaves, sulphurous and alive, balancing out the pinks, greys and browns. It had just stopped raining (we had been sheltering under a tree when I took this photo). I dont know what I think of buildings in cemeteries, could anyone acyually live there or is it offices? and who locks up the gates at night- is there an official gate keeper?

Blue woman…

Posted on May 11, 2021May 11, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged blue woman, Creative writing, dramatic, Figure, Ghostly, Morning, Short story, Sleep, Spooky, Time, Very short story, Waking3 Comments

He woke up and saw the figure of a blue woman hovering in the bedroom. She was standing, but as he looked down to the side of the bed her feet were a couple of inches above the floor.

She had no facial features, like a mannequins dummy, blank faced, not even eyes. No mouth, no sound. He felt, somehow though, that she was looking at him? The angle of her head, tipped down and intent on where he lay. He noticed motes of dust in the sunbeam shining through the window. He could see them floating beyond the figure. It was dissolving as he watched.

Finally it faded, gradually, slowly, melting into nothing. No explanation, no reason, gone. All he felt was a wash of calm, not fear, and relieved that she was gone.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Time