Category: blogging

#1365 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging1 Comment
A pearly Christmas Tree at Teal’s, South Cadbury, Somerset

What skills or lessons have you learned recently?

Rather a dry question for today’s Christmas Tree. But subvert it a little and ask.

“What new pearls of wisdom have you gained recently?”

My more romantic version of the question brings forth so much more inspiration for a well honed answer.

Pearls of Wisdom come in all shapes and sizes and in many different colours.

The pearls of wisdom I learned yesterday were all on the darker end of the spectrum. But they overlayed the pearls of the last few weeks that were much lighter and brighter colours, more joyful in every way.

“It’s all a part of  Life’s Rich Pattern/Tapestry”

Never a truer quote and one that rings true every day. Gathering pearls of wisdom and adding them to life’s rich pattern is a skilled and valuable lesson. However uncomfortable those lessons may be at times

Pearls of Wisdom waiting to be needed.

#1369 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging3 Comments

Good morning November. Time, I think to accept that Autumn is fully established and in fact 2/3 done. Winter beckons with an icy finger and cold gaze. 

I went full flamingo yesterday when I bought a bright bra that exactly matched a bright but old thermal layer.

Long after I retired myself, my trusty on-call bras just kept on going.

Named and chosen because they could be worn continuously for  up to 36 hours and not be in any way uncomfortable. Originally I had a stable of 5, which has dwindled down to 1. Bras with that level of stoicism are only really required for travel these days. And travel is on our November itinerary hence the purchase of the Flamingo bra. Serendipity offered me a Pigeon coloured blue/grey/deep lilac bra in the right size.

The trusty old bra went off across the underwear rainbow bridge yesterday . So on days when stoic underwear is required I will be either a Flamingo or a Pigeon.

I already know that in the winter months the Flamingo bra will get more use. I suspect I am more inherently Flamingo than Pigeon, but in the darker months something vivid regardlese of where it is worn is a real boost for the soul.

#1335 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging, BobbingLeave a comment

Another day and another squeezed in swim to the days activities. My real handbag has to double up as a swim bag. The dogs had to take a small break in their actual walk.

And I was on a time constraint to get my habitual swim done. Barely time to pose for an action shot.

My neighbours and the Bobbers were all planning dips at 10 but I needed to be out of the water and on the way at that point.

Bobbers at 10. Firestone Bay

Our dogs needed to be groomed and we needed to be on the road.

Yesterday a friend published a Substack about the phenomenal rise in sea swimming at Firestone Bay. I love the way he writes so thought I would share his musings with you.

https://open.substack.com/pub/thehutongbagelco/p/a-cultural-phenomenon?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2zszs8

After reading this I shared this photo of our Bobbers with him.

Summer and Winter Bobbers.

I would urge you to read his Substack.

While everything he says is true he certainly understates the significance of The Hutong Cafe.

I believe is is the beating heart of the Stonehouse Peninsular. A place where heart, passion and good vibes flood out to touch every swimmer, tourist, business person and their dogs who pass by the door. You don’t,even have to go in to feel the magic of Hutong.

Bottom right our dogs at Hutong.

We have taken our friends and family to Hutong. We even made Covid Friends in the Hutong Queue in Pandemic times. Bobbers pop in for warm ups. Does Jack  even mention they offer a free hot water bottle service?

A ponder with someone elses ponderings at its heart. What is not to love.

#1331 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn abstract photography, Architecture, art, blogging, Bobbing1 Comment

Our Autumn Equinox performed pretty well yesterday. Our 12 hours of daylight were sun-filled with just a hint of chill.

And if natural sun were not enough we popped along to Devonport Market Hall to see Helios an installation by Luke Jerram.Featuring a giant orb, representing the sun and an ambient soundtrack that represents many of the cultural, social and science impacts that the sun has on humanity around the world.

Bean bags and chairs are provided for static appreciation and the architecture of the Market Hall encourages  360 degree viewpoints.

I managed to get one of my complicated images. Which has half of my body balanced on a table and plugged into the mains via a socket extension. A dangerous position to be in, if it wasn’t just a trick of many lights.

12 hours filled with sunlight of different sorts. My final moment of sun worship was a little on the chilly side but worth the cold to spend time swimming towards the setting sun.

Helios is free to visit at the Market Hall, Devonport. Open daily until Sunday 28th September.

#1322 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging, Serendipity1 Comment
Do pictures Lie?

Of course they do.

We did a  regular dog walk around Sutton Harbour and The Barbican yesterday. A one hour dog walk, with time for sniffs etc

Both are hugely busy harbours with a constantly changing cast of seafarers and tourists on any day of the year. This weekend is a massive Sea Festival and everywhere is heaving with people having a good day out.

Live music fills every corner and spills across the harbours at high tide. Merging and blending. Drunken choruses of Robbie Williams tracks, merging with the rhythms of sea shanties and Church bells.. Hen parties with high heels on cobbles and men observing, holding pints and opinions that are not worth repeating.

These harbours have been bustling hubs for centuries and I would say these photos , taken in the midst of the happy hubbub could have been taken any time in the last 700 years. Dogs would have pee’d on the lobster pots as Hugo did. People would have been reflected in puddles. People would have made tracks.

 

Birds would have swooped over water.

So these calm pictures do lie, because they were tiny calm and unlikely moments, taken in the midst of happy people, crowded together intent on having a good time.But by excluding nearly all human detail, they are timeless.

#1268 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging1 Comment
3 girls on a beach.

Day 1 of being back to 1 girl. The fizz summer that is 3 grandchildren has dropped to  the more normal level of 1.

Still fizzy, just less so.

So two fizzy girls are returning home and I have photographic memories to be processed and forwarded on. One fizzy girl invited us to a car boot picnic last night. Car boot picnics are all well and good when you are two, but adult heads need a little more headroom when eating chips and drinking ginger beer.

Normal blogging routines will re-establish.

#1312 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging, SerendipityLeave a comment

It seems that I am not the only  person/ thing to have a vivid imagination in this house. Last night Hugo got me up for a wee and something spooked him in the top corner of our yard. It didn’t move when he gave it a good telling off. I took a picture in the gloom of midnight using the night settings and there was nothing remotely frightening to be seen.

Of course I was wide awake at this point and decided to write a newsletter and get some admin done, which thankfully had me off to sleep again in less than an hour.

For no particular reason, when I reviewed the photograph this morning,. I asked the randomised AI feature on my phone to reproduce the image. The randomised AI image trawls through my recent photographs and looks at the post-production tools I have used to edit them. It comes up with four suggestions. The hit rate of success is delightfully low for use as a stand alone editing tool but interesting results can happen and be useful in a much larger creative project.

Yesterday I was at an art exhibition, struggling to take good photos in a beautiful but awkwardly lit gallery. A subject for the next blog. All those photos of paintings gave my yard aspirations!

With the sea five minutes away I never have a fantasy of a plunge pool in my yard but clearly the yard has its own dreams and aspirations.

#1247 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Anecdotes, blogging, SerendipityLeave a comment

It has been a really busy 3 days setting up and running an art exhibition. Hardly time to draw breath or write a regular blog that is not exhibition centric. But today we hit the halfway point. The Private View was held last night and now we have 3 days of welcoming our guests and taking some time to enjoy the experience that has been created. I have lost count of the fabulous and fascinating conversations that I have had, but one when the hanging team were exhausted has stuck with me. Almost as a mantra for life.

We were installing art within two huge spaces in a Grade 1 listed building. The obstacles and impediments of the hang were demanding and often required improvisation.

Two artists, up high ladders were nattering as they worked.

“We are just going to have to bodge first and finesse after”

Bodge and Finesse. My new favourite word pairing.

So much of life could be described in that way. I would argue that often, to finesse is bodging and that bodge is the epitome of finesse.

Normal, less arty blogging starts next Tuesday.

#1120 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn abstract photography, art, blogging1 Comment

Does my blog affect my art. I wonder if it does? The map above is the map of a very regular walk.  Today I am not so sure if my art and my walk are in some way linked. I have never noticed this map before. It could be new. I was rather charmed by the little footsteps as they reflect my regular circular walk.

The walk this morning was fabulously colourful.

Domestic admin/yardening followed the walk, planting roses and garlic, but later I put some finishing touches to an ongoing painting.

I can’t help feeling that the centres of my final fantasy flowers look a little like footsteps.

And my choice of colours are pretty similar to the boats I chose to photograph.

#1000 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging, Serendipity1 Comment

Co-incidence is a wonderful thing. The serendipity of life is a major factor in my blog writing.

Until this popped up yesterday I had no idea I had been blogging so long. The early years went through a few transitions and I really only found my niche when I accidentally hit on a prolonged daily blogging regime. Like many things in life Covid-19 caused a three month course related project to become open ended when the end point,the second part of the course failed to happen for two years.

15 years and 1000 editions of the current blog feels like an achievement. Not epic or outstanding, certainly not life changing for anyone beyond myself. I have become much more observant of the minutiae of a moment or tiny details in the bigger picture.

This picture of a snail appeared in the blog in 2017.

Much more recently Snails and I have been pondering companions as I undertook the white wall painting in the yard.

The two snails nicely demonstrate the different textures and directions of life. The last snail posing occurred this week. Not such great focus on the snail.

But this is where blogging, and my love of art and odd photography collide. A Surreal celebration of 15 years or a thousand blogs. Courtesy of my unpredictable photo manipulating  app.

Below is the snail of the moment.

A snail just waiting for something to pique her interest. The USP of my blog. Just waiting for something however small to spark a few words