Month: Dec 2021

#64 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

Nothing in my blogging life is predictable. Some days I struggle to find some words and pictures. Other days several little stories knock on my brain anxious to be let in, cogitated and then set free into the blogsphere. Today the typewriter story won the day but the others will get their moment in the sun.

I have long wanted a manual typewriter to type titles and my name on watercolours. I was quite specific on my needs, a hard type that might also slightly emboss and fairly rudimental. By a happy coincidence I met a blogging typewriter fanatic at the blogging course in Spitalfields. Michelle Geffken writes Paper Blogging.

https://www.paperblogging.com/

She was generous with her time and knowledge and after reading her blog I felt ready to dip my toe into actually buying a small typewriter. Ebay furnished me with an Olympic Splendid 99.It arrived yesterday, it is very cute. But hidden in its original leather carrying case was a whole little adventure. The original owners Margery H Butterworth and W H Butterworth had typed their address on the Final Test and Inspection Report. My little typewriter was delivered to them in 1960 in Singapore. The power of Google can show me the house it was delivered to.

©William Teo

28 Chiltern Drive, Braddell Heights, Singapore 13

Googling Margery H Butterworth and W H Butterworth also dug out a little gem. It turns out that in 1965 they wrote a paper on Green Elephant Grass in Tropical Foraging.

Is it too bigger leap of my imagination to think that it would have been typed on my new acquisition in the early sixties. My efforts with this typewriter had better be equally interesting. For now I’ve just dusted it and cleared out some very dry tropical leaves!

First typing, and a question, does anyone know of a typewriter servicing engineer. Those I’ve found on line are very fully booked.

Have a fabulous Saturday, I may be spending some moments typing.

P. S I tried a quick sketch of baubles with added typing. With a little practice this is going to work.

#63 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn AdventLeave a comment
Tavistock

We don’t have any advent calendars in the house. We mark our way through Advent with jobs achieved. Nobody needs to see dull, domestic tasks so I thought I would share some of the doors that I’ve collected over the years to illustrate this blog. The doors are a nod towards the excitement of opening a door or window on an advent calendar every day of advent. If not exactly excitement there is satisfaction as Christmas slowly comes together in a new house and in a new location. We are avid watchers of property porn, it is a wisdom gleaned from such programmes that you really like a house when you imagine where you would put your christmas tree in a property that you are viewing. I dont think it ever crossed out minds where Christmas trees might go when we looked at this house. This lack of decisive property planning bit me on the bum today.

Hoi An

Our old house had some unusual proportions and we have a curiously slim but tall artificial tree that suited the old dining room, the actual mortuary workshop, perfectly. The new house is Georgian with a later Victorian extension. It took me many relocations of the tree to find it a new home in this house. Snuggling up next to the fridge freezer was the only place its skinny frame looked comfortable. Who could have possibly guessed that several hours are needed to find a Christmas tree its happy place.

Seoul

In other advent news the international parcels have set off on their journeys, and in quiet moments I can track their journeys across the globe on an app on my phone. They are boldly travelling to countries that would not currently welcome me in person.

Spitalfields

Today is the day for buying and positioning a bigger tree and writing christmas cards.  Beyond that I’m not entirely sure what else will be behind the Friday door!

Stonehouse

But for now there is a skinny tree in a happy place.

#62 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Advent, Devils Point, Serendipity, Street Art1 Comment

Good morning Miss Spearmint. We had a long walk this morning which ended up near to our swimming beach. Miss Spearmint had taken up residence to digest her fishy breakfast so there were very few swimmers and everyone was advised not to swim or interact with her. Recently a marine mammal charity has set up a swimmers/walkers whatsapp group for the whole of Plymouth Sound which pinpoints where she is swimming,or hauled out so that people can avoid interacting with her. On the whole it seems to be working.Unfotunately though Miss Spearmint does still crave the company of humans which is not good for her.

Before Miss Spearmint hijacked this blog I was going to natter on about retail counters. Not the sort that are so busy in the general run up to Christmas but one that no longer exists.

I found this sign this morning on the earlier part of my walk as I explored an undeveloped area of the Royal William Yard. This picture has everything that I love. Rust, peeling paint and mystery. A mystery that could be revealed if only we had the ledger that holds the codes for 15.SI.

Really close to this beautiful door is some very contemporary deliberate graffiti which brings a little colour to the blog which Miss Spearmint and a faded door have failed to do. I will end on a bright note!

#61 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Advent, Bobbing, SerendipityLeave a comment

Storm Barra delivered a Sea Heart this morning.

An unusually high tide made these liquid hearts on the rocks that litter our swimming beach. The steps further along also got a little magical drenching.

And for now the sun is out. On days like this, wrapped up in lovely warm clothes I wonder why I choose to whip my everythings off and swim in this exact location. But when I’m in it it is the best feeling in the world.

#60 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Advent, SerendipityLeave a comment
©XC Weather

The calm before the storm. There is another named storm on its way. This is todays weather forecast. Last nights dog walk was a very peaceful affair.

Nativity and resin cows peacefully twinkling in a landscape with no wind.

Overnight the mood of the weather has switched from benign to malign and there was just a small window of opportunity to walk the dogs today. Serendipity and the forecast sent me out to the beach at the exact same time as some friends. So todays blog has four doggy companions enjoying Tranquility Bay before they are confined to the house by Storm Barra

So far so tranquil, lets see how peaceful tomorrow looks.

#59 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn WordsLeave a comment

I love neon signs.

Neon signs are rarely created to encourage quiet optimism, which is exactly the sensation this statement evokes in me. But if I felt commanded to feel good, invoke would be the correct word.

©Merriam Webster

If I had commissioned this sign I think I would have added the word ‘again’.

I’m only pondering this because neon signs are expensive so you want to get them right. On the other hand googling ‘It’s time to feel good’ has given me an earworm for a Monday morning which it would be unkind not to share.

“It’s time to feel good” is a commonly misheard lyric in ‘Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves. The actual lyric is ‘and don’t it feel good’

So there we have it, a classic ponder to start the week and a pleasing earworm, have a good Monday

#58 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn abstract photography, Advent, SerendipityLeave a comment

Evening dog walks are getting a lot more twinkly. I love this completely contemporary festive home. Nothing tacky about this house

This festive property takes a more traditional approach, and diligence to lightbulb placement. At home we have gone for something a little less ostentatious.

Our home window is a work in progress, the next stage is baubles in every shade of garish. Lime green and pink anyone?

#57 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Hugo and Lola, SerendipityLeave a comment

It is not all about dog walks in lovely places and comfortable places to sleep. Sometimes Hugo and Lola believe that they are doing actual work. Here they are on car duty while we have a wee and grab a coffee.

Yesterday was pretty full on for them. Early morning house guarding duty while we went, with other bobbers, for what turned out to be the most disappointing ‘ bob’ of recent times. It was a really low tide so there was a good bit of rock scrambling before we even hit the water and then it was all a bit sea weedy for a while until we hit water deep enough to swim in. The dogs, of course, had to offer counselling and support when we returned.

After the car journey there were more dog responsibilities. Urban Squirrel watching.

And minor hangover care after a Christmas party.

#56 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Royal William YardLeave a comment

These illuminated winter trees warm up my late afternoon dog walk. I try to get the second dog walk of the day done before the sun starts to dip below the horizon. There just seems to be something wrong about having two or even three walks of the day done in darkness. Again yesterday I missed the dimpsy twilight and hit full on dark just by delaying our departure a tiny bit. These trees, recently illuminated, perked our walk up marvelously.

The dogs have the unique experience of having a wee while illuminated. Something that they are completely indifferent to. Were the same thing to happen to me I might also struggle to see the beauty of the moment.

Trees are not the only thing to have taken on some festivity. The tunnel that leads directly to the sea is a bright arc of colour.

Wonderful as this all is I really need to get out earlier if I want to catch the last hour or so of daylight for the next couple of months. Maybe I should set an afternoon alarm!

#55 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, ExhibitionsLeave a comment

I’ve spent the last couple of days with fellow Gallery Guides at The Box in Plymouth. The picture above is three of us standing in the North Hall of the museum within a video installation which is part of the Songlines Exhibition.

One of those unusual moments when illumination does not make something easier to see. I haven’t really written a blog about Songlines yet, I am still finding more to learn and appreciate every time I spend a few hours in the galleries. By the end of February when the exhibition closes I will have distilled my thoughts. For Gallery Guides it is not just about the installed artwork, the reaction and questions from the public also forms a vital part of our perception of the exhibition.

Yesterday I had many different interactions with visitors and some of them really do set me thinking. This exhibition has brought people from all over the country to Plymouth, some of them with vast experience of world travel and Indigenous Culture.

https://www.theboxplymouth.com/events/exhibitions/songlines

Talking to strangers is something I took for granted before March 2020 when Covid shut the world down. Now it is something I only really get to do at Art Exhibitions. Thank goodness art expands the mind.