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.

#1354 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Books1 Comment
A beach on the South West Coastal Path

The sun sets on a Book Group Day that should have been a humdinger given the weekend news,that all was not quite as Salty as it should have been on the Saltpath written by Raynor Winn. Or as we now know her to be, plain old Sally Walker*

https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-real-salt-path-how-the-couple-behind-a-bestseller-left-a-trail-of-debt-and-deceit

Even the name change is a bit of a hint,who would conceivably give up on the surname Walker for a book featuring walking. Someone who couldn’t let her real name be known.

But no Salt Path discussions for the Bookworms today. Just 5 of us rocked up and out of respect for the other 7 we just discussed politics, the trials and tribulations of the ‘ burner’ phone for activists over 70 and a book of short stories by Ali Smith.

August’s meeting will be fascinating. A whole month for the Salt Path to unravel.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I was never comfortable with the writer and narrator of the Salt Path. I even gave up an interest in a local folk band, Gigspanner when they invited her to join them.

It is ironic that this revelation has come just as I have ended my Raynor Winn  reading session. People helpfully suggested I read her second and third book to educate myself into liking and understanding her and her story more. The attempt to scrub my cynicism and replace it with some compassion had already failed when the news broke this weekend.

It gave me no pleasure at all to be proved right, because whatever I think of the author and her book, a lot of people have been inspired by her to walk the South West Coastal Path or to attempt seemingly impossible tasks when illness strikes.

I always hoped I was wrong about her, I excused myself from my dislike by thinking that I was misreading what I was reading, while reading ‘ between the lines’.

But to write one untruthful memoir could be considered an accident.

Two might be a coincidence.

Three is a pattern of deceit.

And to allow a Movie* to be made is asking for trouble.

And that appears to be exactly the tipping point. Although the film is less awful than the books because it can easily be viewed as a work of fiction. But now I feel some discomfort for the Actors, Gillian Anderson and Jason Issacs who gave excellent performances as people who were not who, or what they thought they were.

Books and bookclubs! They make you think.

Mount Batten Bay, slightly embellished. Why let the truth get in the way of a good story. The Saltpath.

#1353 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

What could you let go of, for the sake of harmony?

Sharing my opinions, is something I am willing to withhold for the sake of harmony. As long as I value the harmony I am preserving. But there are times when you just have to cast harmony to the wind and fly an opinion up the metaphorical flag pole to catch the same wind. Opinions are like the devices put on beaches to keep the sand in place.

Sometimes they work, other times they don’t.

And sometimes, for the sake of harmony, opinions are just not required. There is a path to harmony without them.

#1352 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Beach Life, Bobbing1 Comment
A fabulous weekend away in South East Cornwall.

Bobbers Bob away sometimes. In our dreams our away bobbing bay looks like this but the weather had other ideas.

Which in truth was a mixed blessing. This camping field remained empty. We chilled as the rain came down. We hunkered down and talked rubbish in the biggest camper van and in the morning the sun came out and we were the first on the beach. But the sea was very, very cold. But we will remember it like this because for a wet weekend it was perfect.

#1351 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Daft Questions1 Comment

Describe your most memorable vacation.

All vacations are windows into a different world and are almost all completely memorable for a wide variety of reasons. To choose one over all the others at this precise moment would be bonkers. Maybe when I have had my actual last holiday and I have time on my hands and feet, in some other realm, I could make a spreadsheet and engage with a futile holiday comparison. Every holiday, mini break, weekend away is a privilege. Each is a unique experience. Describe my most memorable vacation?  Not a chance. I may not have had it yet and in all honesty my bandwidth for things being memorable, both good and bad is huge. But every vacation really is a window into someone else’s world. A moment to be treasured not graded.

Written from my window into other worlds.

An isolated field somewhere in Cornwall

#1350 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Yardening1 Comment

A late ponder, #1350 was started at 13:50 BST. Late because domestica started early today and involved car domestica and a visit to the vets. All routine stuff but we added peripheral domestica to the core tasks. At 13:50 we are officially in a lull. I could be packing for our weekend camping trip but instead I thought I might celebrate my climbing rose who is just poised at the top of a small wall. Almost ready to begin her career as a Defensive Planting Rose. Once she nips over the wall she will be free to cover our garage roof and hopefully her nasty little thorns will discourage the neighbourhood cats from taking trips to our yard to take a dump in our pots.  She has 14 rosebuds ready to bloom. She clearly has a different objective, putting beauty before Warrior Queen. The only creature she has stabbed so far is me as I gently train her towards my own specific needs , quietly tying her growing shoots towards the top of the wall. Maybe I should have discussed the plan with her.  But her blooms are lovely.

#1349 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Stonehouse1 Comment
8 a.m

What’s your definition of romantic?

My mother, who was in most ways a very pragmatic person, had a guilty secret. She loved a romantic novel.

I have inherited her pragmatism but not her taste in books. Romance books are not my thing unless the romance is just one facet of an engaging narrative. Romancing, romantic gestures etc, just feel a little icky and coersive in specifically romantic novels. There is nearly always a power imbalance or jeopardy involved in the interactions between the people involved, there would be no story without such things.

However, as a woman whose glass is habitually half-full there must be a huge dose of my mothers love of romance residing in my soul, because life is sometimes shitty and yet I always try to find something positive in whatever situation.

Noon

The tidal pool was my destination for the morning dog walk and later I swam from the beach beside it.

For both visits it was rather a seaweedy experience.

8 a.m and noon.

But my glass-half-full, romantic head will only ever remember a beautiful morning walk and a delicious lunchtime swim, not the weed that made the pool unusable and stuck on my skin. Romance is seeing beyond irritation, embracing the moment and finding the golden nuggets in every experience. However mad that seems.

Not paying too much attention to the seaweed of life.

Reality of a good day.
Romance of a good day.

Harold S Kushner* emphasized the importance of finding good in every situation, stating, “If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul,”.

*

Soul nurturing, that is pretty romantic in my opinion.

#1348 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Van Life1 Comment
Johanna Lucretia.

For tide-time reasons we have moved to another bay for our evening swims this week. The peaceful arrival of a Tall Ship was in marked contrast to the business- like Naval vessels or Ferries that keep us fascinated at Firestone Bay.

Mount Batten was a prehistoric trading port, dating back to the Iron Age. It has been a key location for the defence of Plymouth and was an Air Force Base where Lawrence of Arabia was stationed. It has, over time,  developed into a water sports hub since the  Air Force moved out. All a bit hotch potch with no clear development plan. The area is currently in the process of being upgraded and made more attractive to tourists and visitors of all sorts. I suspect I have never mentioned it in a blog but it is a regular spot for us to dog walk and sometimes camp overnight. Free parking by a beach is always a good thing.

The sea temperature this week is a balmy 16 degrees C. Last year the waters of Plymouth Sound never reached such heights, even during August or September so to do so by July 1st is quite lovely.

Another lovely thing is to swim , drink a cup of tea and then go straight to sleep after a gorgeous sunset. No shower, just lovely salty skin and slightly damp hair. The damp dogs are less appealing.

Sunset at Mountbatten

#1347 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Van Life1 Comment

Farewell June, you were a funny month. One moment too hot to handle and the next, raining so hard that unusual places flooded. And then in the middle of another heatwave a sea mist rolled in and we could barely see which way to swim.

Swimming with fog horns.

Welcome to July 1st,🌞lets see what interesting weather you have in store for us.

#1346 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn domestica, SerendipityLeave a comment
Wood and coffee stains.

We popped to a coffee shop and bakery during the weekend drizzle. Slightly damp, the outdoor, rustic table showed signs of many a coffee spill. A hard working piece of wood, but nothing like as hard working as this similar looking piece of wood which I photographed supporting the jetty for the Statten Island Ferry in New York.

Decades old wood still working hard, long after its life as a living thing is over.

And now just bystanders to coffee and commuters.

Interesting though that if I  digially abstract the cafe table the image can look exactly like a forest clearing.

Nature is a wonderful thing.

In other news I am continuing with my Glastonbury supported summer clear out. Doing the non day to day Domestic Admin that builds up behind the scenes.

To be frank, on day 3, I am at the point with my domestic admin that I am beginning to feel lethagy.Not unlike attending an actual music festival, I don’t much care who is on the stage I just want to lie in my tent and commune with nature,I am done with the whole thing. The summer clear out is over for now. Who knew domestic admin could fill a festival weekend quite so pleasurably? Until the moment when you know.

“I am so over this.”

#1345 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn domestica, Serendipity1 Comment

What does a woman who loves music festivals do when she does not get a ticket for Glastonbury. This one plans a weekend of  ‘jobs’ that are vastly improved by the background sound of the BBC livestreaming the music aspect of the festival.

And just like that the futility (utility) room was stripped out tidied and put back together. Our store of Covid restriction ‘essential’ baking and cooking ingredients have gone in the bin.

Farewell inert dried yeast and sumac + many others well past their best.

Tidy Cook Books

Hello tidied camper van too.

And as a reward, a little live night music. Shanty singing in a Cornish Village Hall.

https://stunsls.com/

A fabulous evening out with some of our bobbing friends and friends of friends.

And now on to Sunday, what  satisfying jobs will we get on with to interesting music?

Tidy Kitchen Drawer