Month: Aug 2025

#1367 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

What profession do you admire most and why?

Could ‘Great Thinkers’ be considered a profession?

I am at my most creative when I indulge in disordered thinking. I am more than capable of productive and ordered thinking. To do so, I always have to translate my disordered thinking into ordered thinking. Sometimes I have to allow my ordered thinking to have a little freedom to wander into the realm of creativity.

I admire the undesirable qualities of great thinkers. Selfishness, reliance on others, assuredness, arrogance, certainty, single-mindedness. Knowing, that in my hands those same qualities would not lead to great thoughts but to an insufferable person. The world does need more great thinkers but it does not need any more insufferable people.

I suppose I admire great thinkers in the same way that I admire great sports people. Knowing that something that is a great achievement would not be in my  best interests or within my skillset.

My balance, or imbalance as a thinker is 60/40 or 40/60. Constantly switching from one foot to the other to find my own equilibrium. I admire Great Thinkers, I just don’t have it in me to be one.

#1366 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Art for saleLeave a comment

It is 17 years since I obtained my Fine Art Degree. A watershed moment in my creative life. Finally achieving the type of degree I wanted, rather than the career based subjects I chose to pursue at 18. Getting what I had always wanted  was not as satisfying as I had imagined. In fact after I got my degree I went through the least creative phase of my entire life. 2 years of not creating any new projects or attending art courses. A very fallow patch. I think I needed it. A Fine Art Degree was not a bit as I had imagined. Luckily in my 2 years of zero creativity I lived in London and could visit museums and art galleries and stock my mind up with all the things that I had been taught to appreciate in real life rather  than from text books. After the 2 year gap I atarted making art again and have been doing so for 15  years. There is a good bit of art stocked up in drawers and files around my home which is why When I needed to illustrate my  blog of yesterday I could find a sketch of a Leviathan from my stash of art work.

Facebook reminded me today. of a large 2 metre by 2 metre painting that I sold about 5 years  ago.

My leviathan is tiny in comparison but with the magic of a digital manipulation app I can put the two together. They sit comfortably together because the mark-making on both is mine and the relative difference in scale has been altered as can the perspective.

The large abstract painting has gone on its own journey, which is satisfying but the poor old Leviathan has been stuck in a folio with no obvious future, other than the tip when I am in my dotage or deceased.

But by playing around with both today he may have a future as a greetings card or a print. The Leviathan in Plymouth Sound is a catchy title…

Something to think about.

#1365 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Books, Van Life2 Comments
©Anne Bobber

Mythical creatures on a mystical night. We camped overnight under a full moon and read books about mythical creatures.

As luck would have it the mythical creature in the book was a Leviathan which we had visited earlier in the day.

Overlooking Plymouth Sound for overnight camping we were not troubled by the low sad songs of unhappy Leviathans. Instead they jumped and frolicked in the bright moonlight which was untroubled by clouds or any other weather predicament.

The Leviathan and a full moon at Stonehouse
The Leviathan and Plymouth Hoe

It helps, of course, that Nana drew a Leviathan a few years ago.

#1364 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn ponderingLeave a comment

It is easy to pick up free magazines with lovely articles in the Summer months. These two fell into my hands yesterday.  Primarily aimed at tourists they also give us up to date information on places that we visit often. Padstow is very location specific . Drift is more regional. Both good with a cup of coffee.

Drifting is what we did yesterday  when we specifically visited Padstow. Yesterday Padstow was at Peak Padstow.

So with pasties in hand we made our way to a field overlooking the estuary. Just as visitors have done for centuries. So I made our family picnic photo look historic

My pastie was rhubarb and custard and I followed it with a gooseberry yogurt ice cream. Hardly traditional but it was a drifting kind of day and I drifted from more conventional flavours towards the joy of English Soft Fruits.

I realise now that I really value the word ‘drift’ and indeed the idea of drfting through a day.  All from a magazine that I picked up  on a whim.

#1363 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Food ( but this is not a food blog)1 Comment

What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a meal? Was it worth it?

I have no idea what the most expensive meal that I have ever had cost me. I have been lucky enough to eat in some very swanky places and don’t recall ever feeling cheated or disappointed.

I have also eaten all sorts of meals in ‘ cheap as chips ‘ places and been absolutely thrilled with the quality and value of my meal.

I find that disappointment is more likely to occur in the middle ground. Chains or places that believe they are fancier than they are. Establishments that are themed or over-decorated to attract Instagram moments are often very much styled over substance, with £££ spent and charged on decor ingredients and skilful chefs who are well-paid.

If the meal on my plate is not worthy of the cost. No one can force me to go back,but if everything about the experience is wonderful I will always return if I can.

Plastic flowers and grotty loos  might make me feel cheated even if the food was fab. Obsequiousness from the front-of-house staff makes me lose my appetite for a big bill. Micro-herbs and foam, also unlikely to thrill me to empty my purse.

All reasons to question the value at the bottom of the bill.

#1362 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Words1 Comment

Scour the news for an entirely uninteresting story. Consider how it connects to your life. Write about that.

Headlines always fascinate me. I know that they are written to grab attention and are largely forgotten once readers take a deep dive into the nitty gritty of the story.

What is a week’s worth of honey?

And to whom is it a weeks worth.

The answers are endless.

What does a week’s worth of Honey look like to you?

A jar lasts me about 6 months so my answer would be, about a teaspoon.

That would never satisfy two bears. But it might easily be a full weeks production for a busy bee.

#1361 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

This could be me dozing in a quiet leafy glade. Hair wild and a sleepy head resting on moss. The care of three fabulous granddaughters makes me yearn for just a tiny daytime snooze with dappled sun dancing on my face . But they, the granddaughters are busy little people and snoozing is not on their game plan.

Time with them all is a gift that should not be wasted by snoozing for either Nana or Nona or indeed the dogs.  We all need to take some time to sniff the flowers together.

Dozing can happen later.

#1359 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

Life can be full of surprises but not always the ones that you have been warned about. 8 years ago I was walking on the High-Line in New York and the signs were that I might encounter more floppy areas and flaccid bits, than usual in my encounters with other humans.

There were no signs that said you may encounter a really low trip hazard and wreck your right knee half way through your holiday.

The knee injury was way more significant than seeing naturists at large, but it is the sign that I remember. Is it a warning or an advertisment.

Why wuuld anyone do that?

#1358 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity3 Comments

What’s your go-to comfort food?

Comfort and reliable. Two answers in one. Neither are Fine Dining or by any stretch of anyone’s imagination interesting.

Comfort food=Marmite toast or any spread on top of toast with butter on it. My top 3

Marmite

Marmalade

Ground Black Pepper

In all iterations the butter must be real and salty.

Reliable food has evolved in my life. Good quality shop-bought lasagne if I am feeling reliably fancy. 35 years with a home in the far west of England has taught me that the humble Cornish Pasty made well is a lifesaver.

The Pasty Gold Standard.

Not all pasties are made equal and at their worst they are a pappy meat and potato pie with a faint aroma of human body odour. At their best they are a peppery blend of beef and onions combined with swede/turnip and potato wrapped in perfect golden pasty.

Yesterday was a spreadsheet kind of day. If everything went well there was a twenty minute gap in which to eat a pasty before an art exhibition, Private View and a trip to the Theatre to see Hamilton. The spreadsheet day and the pasty.

As a tick box exercise the spreadsheet day went well. With. 95% success rate. We dropped 5% because the Artist at the Private View made a speech at the beginning. So fine words were heard but not a single brushstroke of paint passed before our eyes.

Hamilton was fabulous and the pasty fed us both before our evening started (warm) and at 11pm (cold) . That is a reliable, even comforting comestible.