Pottery head I made over twenty years ago. It’s planted up with straggly snapdragons this year but this photo from two years ago looks better. I really need to get out in the garden but I don’t seem to have the strength to sort things out at the moment. I’m fed up and I know gardening would help but the heat over the lost few days has made me really weary. It’s been close to 30°C. At least my hubby has been watering plants. Today? We are expecting heavy rain showers, so the plants will get a little water.
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.
Collage of my dove of peace based painting. The dark line across the centre makes it look like the birds are reflected in water. I did this to show my support for Ukraine.
Hearing that the Russians have destroyed a dam in Ukraine makes me wish for peace even more. Villages are flooding and water levels are rising. The hydroelectric plant there has been affected anf the Nuclear power plant nearby is also at risk. This is awful. Inhumane, violent, innocent citizens will lose (have lost) their homes. It’s also an ecological disaster, destroying habitats that were homes to animals on the delta. How can Putin be so evil? Those responsible need to be bought to account. Give peace a chance.
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was drop. Drop or drops. Tried to imagine how water drops fall and splash… I know drops fall like a flat oval, not the pointed ones that kids draw, and water splashes back up like a crown…. I didn’t use a reference picture, just tried to remember…
It looks like blossom, but it’s actually a puddle with trees reflecting in it then wind born bits of twig and flower petals floating on top. I thought it looked interesting and unless you look closely it’s really hard to tell what’s going on. Anyway this is from Rode Hall again. I also took lots of pictures of benches dotted around the grounds. I might post a few photos here. There is a Bench Appreciation group on Facebook that I shared them to. I wonder if there is an abstract nature page for this sort of photo?
What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?
Five things that are everyday things?
1. Washing up liquid. Not used to the excess, enough to clean plates and cutlery without polluting the waterways. You can buy ones that are ecologically acceptable. It makes me happy that I can have clean plates.
2. Clean water, to drink, for washing and for bathing. I so lucky to live in a country that mostly has this, although the infrastructure is aging and even here there are some droughts and water shortages.
3. Are Cats everyday objects? I have to say they give me great pleasure and happiness. I’m not saying they are perfect, they can be mad, silly, crafty, cheeky. And they are pretty ubiquitous.
4. Electric light. I wish more people could have this, to be able to see at night without using smoky candles or oil lamps. I hope more communities can get solar power. It’s been shown that school children do better when they can see to do their homework. And maybe more solar power for other necessities.
5. Toilets, it’s a little bit delicate to talk about, but we are again lucky to have them here. They help reduce illnesses and ideally people could be given them. I think you can twin with communities through charity to raise funds to build them in poorer societies. I don’t know the details unfortunately.
Looking down into the water I saw a reflected horse, brown and white with a dark mane. Pleased to see some life around me I looked up from the reflection, but there was nothing there. Only an old tree overhanging the water, flecked with red and brown leaves, that was all, then the sky and a wooden fence….
I looked back down into the water, it was murky now, covered with ripples from the wind, no sign of my previous vision.
I stood up and started walking around the path. The lake was not big and it took me ten minutes to walk through the grass and sedges to the gate. The lake was in a dip so it was soon disappearing behind me. Flowers and hedges shimmering in the sun. I looked back over my shoulder and saw a horses head appearing out of the water, it stepped onto the bank, it started to trot, gallop, it was moving fast towards me. Covered in pond weed, mud slipping off its coat, steaming in the sunshine. I RAN as fast as I could. I could feel its breath on my neck as I reached the gate and flew through it. I stumbled and looked up. Just the sky with white clouds scudding by. No water horse!
Mallaband-Brown 