Category: Serendipity

#1343 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Words1 Comment
Morning mist and sticky heat. The Tidal Pool at Devils Point.

The sea mist was genuinely as dense as this first thing this morning, the borrowed light simply a reflection of the early morning sun, obscured, by mist, behind me. But the heat of the morning was uncomfortably sticky under the naturally occurring parasol. I have pondered a bit about the mystical, mythological stories linked to this area. Mostly because of my what3words discovery of yesterday.

My most regular spot for getting into the sea has this as it’s what3words location.

Allows.Wizard.Rival

I am quite charmed to think that there is a benign Sea Wizard allowing me to dump my troubles(rivals) into the sea each time I dip.

For no particular reason I checked the what3words location where I was standing to take this mornings pool picture.

Lush. Wonderfully. String. Not particularly relevant at first glance, but the drone shot clearly shows the wonderfully lush lawns of a local tennis club, and then for me there is a string. I am lucky enough to often work inside that club and also be there for entirely enjoyable reasons.

I love the simple pleasure of finding a what3words location that resonates personally

#1342 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Devils Point, SerendipityLeave a comment

The Hamoaze from The Royal William Yard.

Looking out to Cornwall from the Royal William Yard last night we could see the tides and currents that give Devils Point its name. 7 currents converge here.They are really easy to see with the naked eye. All but invisible with a simple phone camera, but by just adding a bit of extra colour I can show the complexity of these waters.

Sir Francis Drake made Devils Point famous by making a pact with the witches and demons of the area to create a storm that would incapacitate the Spanish Armada. Other versions are available.

There must be something about the waters around here. I tend to take my demons with me when I swim nearby and then cast them off as I enter the chilly waters. It works every time.

Demon Casting at the tidal pool.

What3words even allows me a small mantra to call up my own wizard for dealing with rivals/demons at my most regular swimming spot.

Something rather devilish about these parts

#1341 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, SerendipityLeave a comment

What bothers you and why?

It has been a blisteringly hot week. I have always been a lover of hot weather but as I have aged my tolerance is reducing. I have a new understanding of seeking out shade, a light breeze, avoiding the hottest parts of the day and sun hats. Sleeping at home daily has become like the giddy first nights of a holiday trying to adjust to flimsy bed coverings.

Abroad I love the abstract shapes that sheets form after a night of fitful sleep in a foreign climate.

This week I have had abstraction at home.

Which I agree does not look all that exciting, but by reducing the detail and adding some colour my bed looks like a sculpture.

Something I might never had discovered if my tolerance for heat had not diminished. So maybe I am not so bothered after all.

Is that why the Italians in particular are so brilliant at creating folds of fabric from marble. Bright Sunlight and folds of bed linen every morning  before they even get up.

#1340 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Firestone Bay, SerendipityLeave a comment
Sunset swim with techno

Sunday and the heatwave continued. After a sweaty day in the countryside we returned home for a late evening swim  in a bay filled with the beats of the last DJ set at the Drakes Island festival. This morning the sunrise and dawn chorus are in the exact same spot with a cool breeze and cooler water.

All the same colours, just spread out differently

#1359 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Stonehouse1 Comment
Hot paving slabs.

It has been a giddy weekend of live music.

Off to our local theatre to see The Tina Turner Musical. We also have tickets for Hamilton.

Then a very hot day in our yard listening to, and feeling through our bones a Drum and Bass festival which was being held on Drakes Island.

Drakes Island from Stonehouse Lawn Tennis Club. ©theoldmortuary

Then to finish off, live music from the Barracks. Who wouldn’t want to listen to a tribute band playing The Killers and Kings of Leon and any other band of that genre and era until 1:30 am. It was too hot to sleep, so roll with it in a comfy chair with a cup of tea. I have had worse experiences at actual festivals.

All punctuated with swimming in the sea. Very cool.

#1358 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

When your back yard feels like this at 9 am and the sea is just 5 minutes away it would be silly not to swap.

Of course even at 9 am the swim zone is busy, but the steps to this aquatic spot are a little bit concealed.

I can’t say we had this to ourselves, maybe 20 or so people found their way here in the hour or so it took for two separate swims and dog care in the shade.  Seeking shade at 10am is the behaviour of holidays, not quite normal for our tiny part of Devon. Long may it last.

#1356 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment
Thinking ©theoldmortuary

I was never sure where today’s blog was going and even now, with one sentence done, I am not fully certain. This is a talking and painting sketch. If the hair were grey and the face less youthful it could be me in a pondering moment. I deliberately chose the colour palate of the Studio floor.

Because I was planning to superimpose a photograph of the floor onto the sketch.

But plans, as we all know,are sometimes upended. While painting my peaceful woman I learned that the studio space I was painting in will close in six weeks time. After painting in and around these buildings in the Royal William Yard for 30 years my odd little sketch might be my last painting in these buildings. Suddenly I thought I had better make this sketch a little more significant. I have always wanted to paint an enigmatic woman in the style of Vladimir Tretchikoff

Chinese Girl ©Vladimir Tretchikoff

So I did some digital tweaking and added some blue to her face and legs.

Knees not boobs.

But that was all a bit flimsy so I traced over my quick sketch and then did some mark making in response to the actual sketch and with some reference to Tretchikoff ‘s fabulously ornate collar. Tricksy on someone who is naked. I also wanted just a scintilla of sadness. The loss of creative spaces is a somewhat sad and mournful moment.

Digital Tweakery ©theoldmortuary

Digital tweakery gives so much choice. But I think I am going with the darkest one. Do you agree?

Portrait in the style of Tretchikoff ©theoldmortuary

Then an afternoon of more painting. Maybe she is finished now and less gloomy.

#1355 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

Quite a giddy day today. An early trip out in a city that has free parking for three hours in some places. I registered my car number plate. Logged that my parking was up at 11:55 and went about my trivial business. Only to find this ‘Have a nice Day’ tucked under my windscreen. Who knows what has gone wrong but that is for me to sort out but, the very obvious ‘Please Recycle’ that amused me. Should I find some other hapless parker to receive my fine?

The bag itself had not been sealed so I have a small snack sized bag to refill with biscuits or a small piece of fruit. The possibilities seem endless. If only the recycle sign on food wrappers was quite so obvious.

Giddy has been the word of my last 24 hours. Yesterday I broke my own rule of not drinking caffeinated drinks beyond 12 noon. Gloriously tasty coffee fueled my natterings with someone I met recently who grew up in the same small market town that I did. We went to the same Primary and Secondary Schools. She is a little older than me but we know so many people in common and used the same book shops, coffee bars and clothes shops. Buying our first Levi’s in the same shop in Sandpit Lane. Two hours of nostalgia and the swapping of names familiar to both of us. I checked a map on my return and felt happy that Faggot Yard, a location on my bus route home still existed, we had mentioned that. How funny that two women  so deeply embedded in the Essex countryside for 20 years should have floated off from the place of their genetic history and laid anchor after our working lives are over in the port city of Plymouth. We were both aware that our choices of careers would probably not allow us to stay in Essex for ever but also that parts of us will always regret that. What a joy to have met so far from home.

The insomnia caused by my coffee intake, entirely deserved, was full of a lovingly recalled nostalgia.

And now to appeal against that parking fine and find something really jazzy for that recycled bag to do.

#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.

#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.