Month: Mar 2021

Pandemic Pondering #353

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This morning Britain wakes up to the news that human remains have been found in the case of a missing London woman. She has been missing for a week. During that week there has been press activity discussing womens safety. A headline that I noted was that in a survey all the young women questioned reported some anxiety caused by previous unwanted or threatening behaviour by men. Obviously the survey only questioned young women but all women almost certainly have a back catalogue of incidents that are etched into their memories.

If it were possible I could meet with a group of friends over coffee this morning and we could share our various experiences. I’m sure I would be surprised by some of the things my friends have experienced, it would also not all have occured while we were young. I know that all of us build modifications into our life, even if it is subconscious or habitual with the threat of rogue male behaviour in mind.

This morning we are reminded once again that the world is not and has never been a place of equal risk for men and women.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/10/women-tell-men-how-to-make-them-feel-safe-after-sarah-everard-disappearance?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1615450253

Pandemic Pondering #352

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Events, Home Towns, SerendipityLeave a comment

Doubly confined to the house for a couple of days has limited my horizons somewhat. I’ve had to wait in for various Domestic Admin tasks to be fulfilled
The irony is that the past two days have been gloriously bright and dry and now there is a hideous storm. Today may not be any more exciting.

Time at home gave me the chance to watch the Oprah Winfrey interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Shining an uncomfortable light on racism it was a skilfully directed conversation in the hands of Oprah. The fallout may take some time to reveal itself within the public domain.

Beyond that the day was just filled with routine chores , short dog walks and a lot of reading.

One of my dog walks provided the grim photograph of the day.

A very short walk from home takes me to a nature reserve.

The lane to this view passes through a small collection of houses and then two large graveyards. It is a walker and dog walkers paradise. I probably walk the lane at least twice a day, the dogs like to snuffle. Yesterdays snuffle revealed a stretch of disgusting littering. Someone has either emptied their car of cigarette butts or a group of individuals think a tiny stretch of this lane is their personal ash tray.

This stinking pile of cigarette detritus took me less than five minutes to sweep up. Words fail me!

Pandemic Pondering #351

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Another great ‘ Bobbing’ session and time to share another vegetable carving story.

A different bobber did something saintly last week and was rewarded with a carved parsnip digit hidden in the wall near our swimming beach. The carrot finger of the previous week had been nearly nibbled away by local wildlife.

But two days after delivery to the reliquary the Parsnip thumb is looking remarkably fresh.

Obviously in normal times this would all seem a little mad, and of course it is. But in a pandemic lockdown a little vegetable humour can go a long way. Cold water swimming is not only good for the swimmers . It also gives the walkers nearby something to enjoy watching and talking about. Every time we go out for a swim we also get to talk to complete strangers , some who also swim and others who think we are as Mad as March Hares for doing so. It is an absolute bonus to stand in the sunshine, in this third lockdown and talk about whatever comes to mind with whoever is around, all at a safe distance of course.

A Mad March Hare

Pandemic Pondering #350

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What do you do in a lockdown during the tail end of a British winter when the sun is out but the temperature is -2?

A sunrise Mediterranean breakfast on a deserted beach, obviously!!

Meanwhile the plants not in the sunshine reflected true life.

But the fantasy still beckons.

Spanokopita, Pain au Chocolate and Coffee were transported to the beach for authenticity.

Where we found relics , just as we would on beaches far away.

But the huge bonus of being on a beach much closer to home was sharing it with fluffs.

Lola
Hugo
Stanley

And for once we didn’t have to submerge ourselves in sea that is nothing like the Mediterranean.

Pandemic Pondering #349

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Brockwell Park, March 2012

Saturday had a plan! We were heading into the city to have eye tests. Unlike this squirrel we were not heading into London on the next bus, instead our city destination was Plymouth. I say this only as an excuse to use a cute animal picture.

There is a bit of history to our recent eye tests . Each time there has been a lockdown we have recieved computer generated instructions to book an eye test. We’ve followed the instructions to make appointments on-line and then just prior to our appointment weve been contacted by a slightly officiously puzzled human who demands to know why we have booked appointments. The answer “Because you asked us to” is not the correct one as appointments are only for emergencies. We are always cancelled due to our flimsy reasons for booking. Glasses so slack they slip off our faces when wearing masks.

Once again this week we got the reminder message. We booked appointments and unusually nobody cancelled them. So today we went into the city centre for the first time since early December, when we shopped for the Christmas that never was.

We didnt have to avoid too many people.

As it turns out neither of us had changed prescriptions so there was no need to go through the awkward experience of trying on new glasses when you cant quite easily see what you look like because you have poor eyesite. The idea of doing it in a mask just seemed madness so we were glad not to have to do it. Slackness was tightened, always a good thing!

First Starbucks coffee in a year. Not entirely sure what the point of that was!

Giddy with excitement we drove off to West Hoe to catch some sunshine. The sunshine was lovely but even better we caught Antony Gormleys Look II sculpture with no fishermen making the background untidy. Urban art is better appreciated without urbanites getting back to nature too closely.

All in all a good day.

We also have a gleaming car which was the morning project, lucky for you we had eye tests I might have had to try and make cleaning a car interesting!

Have a splendid Sunday.

Pandemic Pondering #348

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©Tony Batty

Saturday sunshine…

Actually it was Friday sun and the image has been manipulated to make everything a bit more golden. Dreamlike perhaps.

There is a reason for this. Todays blog is about dreamscapes. I’ve noticed over the last week or so that my dreams that are close to reality have started to take place in pandemic world. Nothing dramatic, not nightmares. There are times when my dreams are so dull and humdrum waking up is a relief. It is these non interesting dreams that have shifted into Pandemic World. I’m not really sure why I’ve shared this, but as an observation of the progress of the pandemic I suppose it has some value.

Waking up today was a tiny shock to the system. We planned an early morning swim. Ooh it was chilly.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Pandemic Pondering #347

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Books1 Comment

Yesterday was International Book Day. Serendipity put this book into my hands. I ordered it because I like the input this psychotherapist brings to a TV art programme. Graysons Art Club on Channel 4. Eponymously named for her husband, ceramacist Grayson Perry.

We have a lot of Grayson’s books @theoldmortuary. He is an original thinker. We go to his exhibitions and his live performances. I’m sure Philippa will not have written a bog standard self-help book.

https://g.co/kgs/BYLCwC

This might seem like an odd book for me to read . @theoldmortuary our parents are long dead and the Pandemic has rendered us theoretical relations. No hands on parenting, grandparenting , or siblinging in this house currently.

To be honest I just fancied something that wasn’t a novel, biography or a book club essential. I’ve had a great pandemic year of reading , hardly a moment wasted on a below par book. So why not take some time with a book that is not exactly aimed at me. I love reading books by wise women regardless of the theme or its relevance to my life, there is always nuggets of information to be be gleaned and used for the benefit my mind management.

Wise women will also be significant in my next reading project. I’m writing a review for this fascinating book about women who have relocated to Italy.

LostandfoundinItaly.com

Just as with Philippa Perry there is an arty connection. Linda Winter, a friend of mine who lived a similar London/Tamar Valley life as me, relocated to Italy two years ago and is the illustrator of the book. I can’t wait to get a copy in my hands, how delicious to read it with real purpose and a chance to write about art again.

Pandemic Pondering #346

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This last few weeks has seen bloggers around the world start to comment on the anniversaries of Lockdowns starting. I use the Bloglovin App and WordPress Reader to follow other blogs.

Being a daily blogger I have another 19 days before I need to confront an anniversary, but no matter what the style or genre of the blogs, that I choose to follow there are some common threads. Puzzlement and incredulity that a year has passed and the changes that they have experienced from the mundane to Life Altering.

Not needing to write my anniversary blog just yet but being aware set me thinking yeserday. We deliberately imposed restrictions on our contacts and travel well before the government imposed restrictions on us. For over a year now we have barely travelled 10 miles in any direction from the Tamar River and that includes periods when we could have gone further. Excluding a couple of essential trips to London , with some stops on the way, we have lived the travel life of the average person in pre World War 1 times. Within that small radius there are only about 5 locations that we regularly visit by car. Everything else is a walk starting at home. I’m certain my life has never been this geographically restricted ever before. Obviously like everyone I am also, culturally, socially and familialy restricted which are far more significant. But I am a Thursdays Child.

Loaded into a motor cycle and side car soon after birth and driven 15 miles from maternity unit to home. 10 miles is just not enough!

Pandemic Pondering #345

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity2 Comments

It may be somewhat late into our International pastime of Lockdowns to give you a new hobby for your daily exercise. But better late than never, I can give you a new micro  hobby of looking for Urine deflectors on buildings during your permitted exercise. Once you know the function of a urine deflector they are easy to spot out in the open . Positioned to discourage multiple men from urinating, repeatedly, in the same outdoor location they are designed to return the flow of amber fluid squarely back onto the urinating chaps own feet. I’m sure all cultures have them. Urine deflectors are built onto historic buildings and contemporary ones. Technology might just be removing the need for this almost annonymous feature. A specialist paint or coating has been developed that bounces wee off perpendicular surfaces. I know this not because I have an unnatural interest but because my flat in London was located on a small unlit lane very close to a railway station and  @theoldmortuary is opposite a pub ! In either location I have shouted, used a hose and chased the pisser off on those rare occasions when I have caught them in the act. They are rarely apologetic and mostly indignant. Paint would be the answer in both cases , an architectural feature not really possible.

This urine deflector is on the corner of an old pub called The Butchers Arms. Now known as The Hutong Cafe in Stonehouse Plymouth.

The one below is outside the Bank of England.

Link to article below.

https://londonist.com/london/secret/urine-deflectors

Old pubs and public buildings are great locations to find them. We have a big one in Saltash, positioned between an old pub wall and one of the supporting brick legs of I.K. Brunels Royal Albert Rail Bridge that spans the Tamar River.

Mighty Engineering
Practical Engineering.

Happy hunting!

As soon as there is good light there will be a PS ( how appropriate!) to this blog …

P.S. Last night I noticed these 3 additions to the bottom of our church tower. Are they Urine deflectors? These slopes are only added to one side of the church tower base. Historically this church had its own brewery and Public House. This side of the tower would have been on the way home to the town from the pub.

Pandemic Pondering #344

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Bobbing, exercise and safety but so much more.

Bobbers the Whatsapp group was formed to give a group of friends some safety in their first year of year -round sea swimming. No one ever swims alone and we nearly always have an on-land observer who keeps an eye on the ‘ bobbers’ who have decided a time to swim together. Some of us have known each other more than thirty years, some others just a few months and today a new bobber joined us.

The safety aspect was underlined today when we heard of the sad death, yesterday, of a fellow open water swimmer, in the next bay to our own.

Bobbing has given us all a fresh new friendship group and the topics of conversation post swim are wide ranging.

The startled look on my face on the header image is the effect of two bobbing sessions.

Yesterday  Bobbers hit the beach early to avoid too many people. Overnight the beach had been used for outdoor drinking and it was a dreadful mess. One organised ‘ Bobber’ cleared all the rubbish from the beach and stacked it by the rubbish bins. 

On the way back to the cars the same bobber saved a dogs life as she swooped him out from under the wheels of a car as he ran away from his owner. She was declared a Saint for the day. Witty chat suggested that we break off her fingers in order to have a valuable saintly relic.

This morning she arrived with a gift.

We swim very close to a convent , it took very little effort to store the finger within its own protected reliquary within the convent wall.

But as things do, in post swimming conversations, one thing led to another and the finger found an amazing spiders trap.

Which pretty much demonstrates a post bobbing conversation. Loudly covering a million topics and sometimes getting lost down a complex and convoluted hole.