Author: theoldmortuary.design

theoldmortuary has been a blog for about five years. It has evolved into an almost daily event. Pondering on the things that are inspired by my daily life. Often mundane, sometimes repetitive I swerve from hyperlocal activity to big and small thoughts without blinking an eye. I am an artist and writer. My hometown is Plymouth in South West England, part of me will always be connected to London and another part loves to travel.

#271 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Covid +Leave a comment

What have I learned about being Covid + during a heatwave. Caffeine in an iced coffee at 3pm is the most magical thing. Sapped of energy by both internal and external forces, caffeine is the wonder drug I have discovered. Normally caffeine does not pass my lips after midday. If it did that old charmer,insomnia, would be snapping at my muscles and picking around in my head to cause upset. However Mr Covid has made my head thicker than porridge and the tentacles of doom that caffeine energises cannot penetrate in any way at all.

Fresh air this evening, our little coven of covid positives took ourselves off to an enchanted wood where we knew we were no risk to anyone. Two hours of paddling and fresh breezes rustling through trees perked up our viral load, with no human contact, the end.

#270 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Pandemic ponderings1 Comment

And so, just like that, normal life stops with the screeching speed of a braking Heavy Goods Vehicle. What we had thought was a bad touch of hay fever turns out to be something entirely different. Routine testing prior to a visit to a vulnerable relation has put three of us in the Covid box. None of us are too poorly with it but it is the perfect excuse to watch Lion King.

Normal blogging service will resume when it cam

#269 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

Yesterday was a fine observation of how Covid has altered life. @theoldmortuary used to row gigs out of Cawsand, this coastal village  Until yesterday we had not been there for nearly three years but in the past we knew these waters very well. For the first time ever we arrived by ferry.

The plan was to spend about three hours on the beach doing the things that 3 year olds love. In reality so much more was achieved as Kayaks could be rented, and fabulous milk shakes ordered.

And the sea was warm enough for everyone to swim as much as they wanted. We are nearly at the end of our week of intense family time. It has been such a blast of fun and exploration but also a big lesson in how beautiful our surroundings are and how accessible everything is. Looking at life through the eyes of a child really is an education and a wake up call to enjoy the moment. After a day at the beach we went on a camping adventure. High up on a Devon hillside we looked west towards Cornwall and in particular at Cawsand where we had spent the day.

Camping for a three year old is very exciting and almost derailed the beach outing because of the levels of excitement the appearance of a small person  sleeping bag created. Lessons to be learned, do not reveal the trump card of the day until all other activities have been exhausted. We even practiced camping in a supermarket car park while provisions were purchased.

Driving skills were practiced.

But the ultimate goal was always the sleeping bag.

Not necessarily sleeping though!

#268 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

Circles of Life.The patterns of a poppy, jelly fish and chandelier are very similar looking images of this weeks blogs. Life doing circles is sometimes more obvious than others. Curiously in the week when my two grown up children have returned, temporarily, to the nest. I have witnessed real birds sitting in nests. Something I have never, knowingly, been close to before.

These three little birds were perched in a nest near a footpath down to the beach at Tregantle. Desperately squeaking for a supper of fresh worm.

Having braved the hurley burley of Padstow on a busy sunny day we managed to escape the crowds by finding a first floor restaurant.

We were not the only ones to have a birds eye view of the crowds while sitting in a calm contemplative space. A pigeon had found herself a snug spot just a few steps from fine dining and a well stocked bar. The chandelier in the top picture would give her light too when daylight faded.

All too soon, of course, these nests, as will mine, will be empty again. The circle of life bringing tristesse after joy as certainly as night follows day. Possibly a glum way to end a blog without reminding ourselves that it is a circle of life and that joy , perhaps yet unimagined, will also follow hard on the heels of tristesse.

#267 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn FamilyLeave a comment

You almost never know when is the last time you will do something. Visiting Whitsand Bay in South East Cornwall is a case in point for us. A spectacular 8 km sandy beach about half an hour from home. To visit takes a fairly determined beach goer as access is down a steep path but the rewards certainly outweigh the 10 minute descent. I suspect life got in the way of our family visits. There was a period of life when I had two children under 7 and two terminally ill parents who lived 300 miles away.

Quite why I allowed life to stop us visiting I don’t know. Life pressures and commitments have a way of limiting freedom and choice, almost imperceptibly but, brutally. So 30 years have passed and the small children who last struggled down the hill with me have children of their own.

This is not the sort of place to ignore for 30 years and a beach this beautiful that allows dogs year round should have been back on my radar as soon as we got Hugo 10 years ago.

Better late than never, life is too short to let a place like this slip through my fingers again.

#266 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn FamilyLeave a comment

Building family memories at the Lost Gardens of Heligan did not disappoint.

Advert in Devonport

Even getting there lived up to the name. Despite visiting many times we talked so much we missed the turning and ended up in Mevagissy. No bad place to end up but not the destination of our actual day.  A family reunited after the Covid years is an overwhelming experience but Heligan gave us the time and place to wander and talk and reconnect in groups of one or two or even as one big pack. Under the watchful gaze of non human, plant sculptures.

Or even a traditional scarecrow keeping birds off flowers and observing us under his watchful button eye gaze.

https://www.heligan.com

Brave things were done by me, a person whose life -long anticipatory vertigo is something to be lived with but not life limiting. Feel the fear and do it anyway.

Just doing really normal things with people that you love is just so pleasurable after two years isolated from one another. One lesson I have learned is just to keep pushing forward. Not always on a rope bridge, for sure,but looking forward rather than back is a strategy that works for all aspects of life as well as rope bridges.

#265 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

The sun setting on the first of our family days . More than 15,000 steps walked by 5 adults, 2 dogs and one small person. Fabulous to have a day out that just used a quick ferry ride. When we lived in Cornwall, Mount Edgecumbe was a 30 minute car journey. I used to marvel at the families from Plymouth that just casually caught the ferry over for a picnic. Yesterday we did exactly that. Packed up food in our rucksacks and set off on the Cremyll ferry from Admirals Hard to Mount Edgecumbe.

A ferry has crossed this stretch of the Hamoaze since 1204, or 7:15 in the morning depending on your time frame.

In true picnic style ours was eaten fairly soon after arrival and desert was an ice cream from the fabulous Orangery.

15,000 steps was a lot for everyone in the gorgeous weather of yesterday. On our return we all eased our bones and feet with a swim in the sea and our minds with bedtime stories and boardgames.

A day in mid July that felt a lot like Christmas in so many ways.

#264 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, SerendipityLeave a comment

Rather an appropriate quotation for a day with a late blog. A busy day in beautiful weather but very much a day for making the most of the moment and having our family around us.

©Jenny Tsang

Plymouth was beautiful but we turned our back on Plymouth and headed to Cornwall on the ferry. Not exactly the gateway to Cornwall but certainly an interesting portal to a different world.

Castles and canons were the perfect props for a small girl obsessed by Pirates.

Then a cruise past our usual dog walks.

And then time to set foot back in Plymouth.

#263 theoldmortuary ponders

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

Quite the red letter day in the yard today. Firstly the bees were going crazy for the poppies in the early morning sun.

Then a small under gardener arrived from Hong Kong via London and Sennen Cove. Never has the 10:15 from Penzance brought such a precious person.

She quickly set about the watering tasks. Then it was time to find the play park and walk the dogs.

Dog walking is a serious business when you are 3 years old. But for us all wildlife spotting became very serious when we spotted a Smooth Hound Shark at Freemans Wharf, not far from home. That is setting the bar very high for the rest of her visit. We will do our best, but I fear we may have peaked too soon!