Month: Jun 2023

#647 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Food ( but this is not a food blog), Serendipity3 Comments

What’s the most delicious thing you’ve ever eaten?

Hard on the heels of yesterday’s blog this was the prompt today.

3 years into my world of a changed and sometimes absent sense of taste and smell, delicious can mean a whole new world to my faulty olfactory system. Alongside my partial loss of day to day taste and smell. I am losing my memory or recollection of foods I have loved in the past but with that I have developed a liking for things I would have previously avoided. Blueberries are a case in point. I always found blueberries to be a fusty, stale tasting fruit, on the whole I avoided them. Then, in Thailand, I tried this beautiful lemon meringue pie, garnished with blueberries. Normally I would leave them to one side and gift them to whoever I was eating with but curiosity made me eat one. All the embellishments/ blueberries were gone before I even touched the lemon meringue pie. In that moment blueberries were the most delicious thing I had ever eaten. Blueberries in Thailand became my favourite thing.

Mangosteens too, although I had never had a previous opinion.

I wondered if growing in an entirely different climate had changed the flavour of blueberries, but it is me that has changed.

So the most delicious thing I will ever taste may be yet to come…

#646 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Food ( but this is not a food blog), SerendipityLeave a comment

I am approaching a year since I had my first positive -testing bout of Covid.  Vaccinated to the max, the whole episode was very mild. Prior to that I almost certainly had Covid just before the Pandemic shut the world down, and again, just before vaccinations started. Even though I was negative testing throughout what was a very tiresome and ill-making viral experience.

The legacy of these events is a daily routine of a morning black coffee to start the day. I realise that this is no big thing. But this blog of the mundane and repetitive nature of normal life is often about pondering the small things of life. First thing in the morning really good coffee tastes sublime.

Any gains made in recovering my sense of taste or smell were lost with the final and only positive episode of Covid. Then this morning I wondered if my grip of taste and smell has always been rather precarious.

When I experienced migraines the first sign of one approaching was a hypersensitive experience of smell. This was a distinct handicap when working in the medical world. Painkillers could dull the pain but those smells just kept coming. The next phase was brief visual disturbance, then the skull crushing pain. Once the pain was dealt with or had subsided I was always left with no sense of smell or taste for a few days.

Funny that I should only connect the two symptoms today.

I suppose I consider myself to have the engineers nightmare, an intermittent fault but the positive takeaway is a new love of the depths of flavours in a black coffee as soon as I wake up.

#645 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging, Serendipity1 Comment

What’s the oldest thing you own that you still use daily?

The answer is, beyond myself, almost certainly my house.

Built in the late 1890’s. So firmly of the Victorian era but with many Georgian era neighbours.

This week marks 2 years since we moved into this house. It definitely takes a while to settle into new homes.

Things that seemed essential works when we moved in, have faded into insignificance. Other,more pressing, projects have risen to the to-do list.

The yard surprises us every day with its fecundity. We have had strawberries every day for about 6 weeks and the tomato crop are forming beautifully in the outdoor planters. Our gifted courgette/zucchini plant is beating its brothers and sisters who are still in their original home on a farm. Our courgette lives on the garage roof, we learned last year how spiky their stems can be against naked ankles in a yard with limited space.

I have to say that only owning the house for two years makes this answer feel a little like a cheat as it just involved exchanging money for something old that has been looked after by other people.

Old things I have had longer to be responsible for include a Sandalwood Chest of Chinese origin which was owned by family friends of my parents,and was in their possession as employees of the East India Company during the Indian Uprising. Last seen very recently on this blog while we watched Glastonbury on the TV this weekend.

The other daily use of an old thing is a bit tenuous but my Facebook profile picture features a fake fur tiger-print jacket that I wear in the depth of winter. But as this blog is posted daily on Facebook I can probably get away with this. The jacket was made about a decade before I was. So here are two other old things I use every day.

My Facebook profile and myself.

#644 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, SerendipityLeave a comment

Yesterday I went back to the Arts University Plymouth to catch up on two exhibitions that I had missed during the Private View last Friday.  The BA( Hons) in Painting/Drawing/Printing and BA( Hons) in Fine Art. I have a BA ( Hons) in Fine Art. But it was the Painting/Drawing/Printing exhibition that I enjoyed the most and which inspired me to wind back the years and just do a traditional watercolour today. I was also reminded today on Facebook that before we had dogs I had cats as my painting companions.

Harry assisting thegardenpainter
The painting Harry was helping with. Private Collection.

Cats are very different art assistants to dogs. Cats are contemptuous of the creative urge and would not be involved were it not for the soft surgical drapes ( discarded unused from sterile procedures) that I used to protect the lawn and patio. Harry loved the warmth of a surgical drape but really couldn’t care about the art created as long as he remained undisturbed wrapped in plastic backed soft fabric.

The dogs rarely experience the calm of a traditional watercolour painting. I only ever do them on foreign holidays. So today was a complete surprise to them as I sat drawing for a couple of hours and then quietly painted sat in the same position for long parts of the day. Usually they feel actively involved as I move around the studio to find all sorts of different bits and pieces to add to an ongoing painting. Sometimes they can persuade me to cuddle them or find a treat. But me, just statically painting is something they never witness. Unlike Harry they were not prepared to curl up and sleep, involved but not involved. The dogs decided to sleep on my feet, alert to any movement I might make towards the kitchen. Almost unconsciously I then kept my feet very still. Which is fine until I needed to move and then they, the dogs were grumpy and my feet were surprised by the sudden return of blood flow.

We managed to avoid me tripping over a dog or two with feet barely registering my intended movements but it was close at times. The painting and the days chores were achieved. The blog is late, the only casualty of a retro art day.

The painting the dogs were helping with.

Thanks to Facebook reminding me of what a gentle art critic Harry was. And yes King William IV really did pose with a saucy leg position. See official painting below. Floodlighting is a modern addition.

#643 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Music2 Comments

Sunday started on a high note of good weather, good friends and cakes. It ended on many high notes with the televised Glastonbury Festival headline act. Elton John playing his last ever gig in England.

We settled down, still wrapped in towels from our evening swim, with hot tea and fruit crumble. To watch the last set of this year’s festival. At Glastonbury, without the tea and crumble, thousands gathered in front of the Pyramid Stage to enjoy a brilliant setlist.

Watching thousands of people, with beaming smiles, many of them wearing silly specs, singing music from a 52 year career had a proper summer vibe.

Every year at Glastonbury I try to find some new music to explore and enjoy in the summer months. As luck would have it, me and Elton have similar tastes and one of his invited guests was Jacob Lusk from Gabriels whose amazing voice has accompanied me in the kitchen all weekend.

A vision in pink, singing with the London Gospel choir he fulfilled my love of seeing a man in a well- tailored suit. Wouldn’t formal occasions be wonderful if all tail suits were this flamboyant.

One of life’s TV moments.

#642 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Friends and Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

This has been a week of catching up with friends, old, new and concurrent. And cementing a shared life with our middle granddaughter.  I have also, thank goodness finally got some paint effectively on canvas. Which is important. As Sunday approaches I feel like this was a week of effective planning and delightful serendipity.

Dryads Saddle

We found this fungus in an urban street tonight. When we left a friends house. Google lens suggests that it is a Dryads Saddle.

Which begs the question what is a Dryad and why might they need a saddle?

In Greek mythology, dryads, or hamadryads, are a tree-dwelling variety of nymphs believed to inhabit the forests, groves, and countryside of the ancient Greeks. Nymphs is a general term for lesser goddesses in the Greek pantheon, usually associated with the natural world and tied to places like streams, rivers, forests, and fields. As lesser goddesses, they did not wield the power of major goddesses like Artemis or Aphrodite. However, they were often described as influencing human emotions, evoking awe, wonderment, and fear as they looked at the natural world. Physically, they were believed to appear as beautiful young women.

No mention of needing a saddle, but maybe these urban Dryads simply catch a bus.

Mythology seems the way to go with this fungus because further investigation suggests that we could eat it and it would taste of watermelon peel. Which actually just sends me deeper down the rabbit hole. Whoever eats both fungus occurring on trees and watermelon and is able to compare and contrast their taste sensations.

As luck would have it we had eaten very well at our friends house and felt no urge to snack on a random fungus.

A late evening swim was required though. The moon was up and the sun was dipping below the horizon.

There was live music happening not too far away. A swim with the sounds of a Rod Stewart concert drifting in the breeze was an entirely good way to end the day.

Below, woman posing as a Dryad on a Dryads Saddle.

#641 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art1 Comment
©paradoxd3signs

Yesterday we went to the Arts University Plymouth for their Graduation Summer Show. Unusually we knew no -one taking part, none of the lecturers and I was not writing an official ‘piece’ for any publication. The Private View of these things is not entirely about seeing the art. It is about people watching and catching snippets of conversations. Arts students are endlessly fascinating.  Creative young butterflies just emerging from degree courses that have allowed them to grow up and be who they want to be. At the Private view we get to see their parents and grandparents. For the most part normal non-arty people. Proud and excited that they have an ‘artist’ in their family. Puzzled and surprised by being surrounded by art and artyness.

In the bustle of a Private View it is often hard to appreciate everything about the work or the artists who interest you.

The poster at the top of this blog was the image of the night for me. High up on a wall, it was easy to see above the heads of people and the displays.

Like all good art, it makes you think.

A few blogs will come out of this event but only when it is easy for us to concentrate on the actual work on show. I’m sure we missed some gems last night. I am unable to attribute this last image but will do so when I can. A gorgeous fold of wallpaper in the outstanding Interior Design rooms.

Of Course Good Girls Make History

Define Good

Define History

We all make History

As for snippets of conversation, I love this 2 second video. It is the essence of the evening.

#640 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, SerendipityLeave a comment

There is a new Muriel in town. This lovely mural depicting barrel rolling and sailing boats has been freshly applied to a local pub. I never fail to think ‘ Muriel’ instead of “Mural” when I see Street Art like this. My Welsh Nana found words that finish with a blunt end, impossible to pronounce correctly. Her Welshness required an uplift at the end of words. The extra syllable made the word more acceptable to her way of talking. So Muriel it is, but only in the privacy of my own head.

The pub has also renovated an old slipway which has been a sorry sight for the whole time we have lived here. It has been fenced off with safety fencing which has made the outlook ugly and uninviting. A shame because the location is a fine place to watch the sun go down. These waterside heritage sites of old boat builders yards or commercial wharfs once carried the names of men, famous around the World. Brunel the innovative engineer who built railways, bridges and boats, and less acceptably, Hawkins, cousin of Francis Drake, who was a favourite mariner of Elizabeth 1st but heavily involved in the Slave Trade.

How I wish I had photographed the first sunset without ugly railings but we were too busy discussing the potential of swimming from the slipway once it is extended. So to end this blog there is a ‘ Muriel in progress shot’ too bad I never caught the artist ‘ at it’ Nor do I know the artists name. Things to research this weekend, we may be forced to pop in to the pub!

http://thevot.uk/

Below is the Instagram account of the artist. Camilla Rose Signwriter

https://instagram.com/camillarosesignwriter?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

#639 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Firestone Bay3 Comments

Yesterday ended as it had begun. With a swim at the end of the longest day. People have been swimming at our Tranquility Bay location for at least 180 years, when the steps walkways and changing rooms were built for the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe,below his Winter residence.

Our evening swimmers look timeless if I turn the image into black and white.

Just a tiny blog today.

#638 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Stonehouse, Summer, Swimming2 Comments

Happy Solstice, 4:30 AM and the beach was quiet. Half an hour later and this whole beach was full of people who had had a fabulous early morning swim. Many of us will be back at 9:30 pm for the sunset swim. This was the warmest swim I have done since last summer.

Yesterday I hit peak procrastination. I had a painting to finish for an August exhibition I had every intention of spending the day on it but somehow was sidetracked by a painting that has waited nearly 10 years to be finished. The painting was for a specific place in the actual Old Mortuary, It was painted to hang in the stairwell and was not quite finished when our lovely builders hung it before I had put the finishing touches. It was in such an awkward place I never bothered to take it down to finish. Then we moved house and it found a new home. All the time hanging quite happily in its non finished state. I have no idea why yesterday became the day it was finished. I just whipped it off the wall and set about finishing it. Procrastination at its finest.