Category: Serendipity

#1202 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Words2 Comments

Yesterdays ‘love’ blog was one of the least popular for a long time.  Just 15 readers registered on the WordPress stats page.

#1201 theoldmortuary ponders.

Perhaps most regular readers were out loving life rather than reading my words, which is much the better option.

This morning brought me a Wazz baffle from The Londonist. One of my favourite reads.

Wazzbaffles have long intrigued me. I worked in the City of London for a long while and Wazzbaffles were quite the thing  as an architectural feature. Similarly, opposite our home in Cornwall, the local church has wazzbaffles in the architectural corners between the church and the local pub.

Wazzbaffles were a large part of a conversation I had a few weeks ago with a group of friends who had never realised that historic parts of most old towns and villages have these things.

The point of today’s blog is twofold. I can natter on about a weird little fact and hopefully whoever I was talking to will see this and realise that I wasn’t talking nonsense. Because I have forgotten exactly who I was talking to a few weeks ago.

Low stats and forgetting the exact members of a conversation three weeks ago are linked.

I mever know, exactly, who reads my blogs and that is actually a huge part of the joy. In real life I sometimes forget who I have had which conversation with. I take no joy in this and see forgetfulness as an irritation and a disservice to my friends.

But how lucky am I to have so many conversations in different formats  that they get jumbled, misaligned and partially forgotten.  Even more lucky because I consider myself to be not the most outgoing person in any room.

Anyway non-outgoing me is dipping my nattering toes into Substack. Every now and then I will ponder my ponders. Nothing much to see there yet but here is the link.

https://open.substack.com/pub/theoldmortuary/p/longform-pondering?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2zszs8 no

P.S

I love the description and the inappropriate location of the Mount Pleasant Wazzbaffle.

‘ Swollen and lichenous ‘

Wordporn at its best. Have a good weekend.

#1198 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment
Devonport Park Bandstand.

What a difference a week makes. Last week I was happy to have created an image that shows rainfall on a February Day. Yesterday someone was brutally attacked, at night near the bandstand and this location is currently swathed in police tape.

I immediately feel differently about an inanimate object that was created for pleasure, and wished I had represented the bandstand more joyfully. I suppose rain and bad people are inevitable in life. The impact of negativity always seems to leave a disproportionate mark on landscape and our minds. When the police tape is gone I will go and take another photo and make sure I create something that reflects the joy that this structure deserves.

P.s A brighter outlook

#1196 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn history, Serendipity1 Comment
St Andrews Ashburton.

Sunday morning and a gift of church bells, should you choose to watch the video above.

Today’s ponder was seeded in my head by the smallest of coincidences. Saturday found us on a back street walk at Ashburton, a market town on the edge of Dartmoor. We were pulled in the direction of the church by the bells ringing. On the way I caught sight of this blue plaque.

When we arrived in the churchyard we saw a small crowd of beautifully dressed wedding guests having a cheeky last minute smoke before going into the church.

Something Sir Walter, despite being entirely responsible, would never have seen during his stay in Ashburton. Smoking tobacco was only an upper class habit in England until the late 19th century and did not become commonly used by all of society until the end of the Industrial Revolution.

And with a delicious coincidence, there is a mural of Sir Walter actually pondering, overlooking the pub where he spent his last night of freedom. Before being locked up for twelve years in the Tower of London.

His ponders must have been far more consequential than mine ever are.

Not pissing off James 1st might have been a good thing to ponder. And after 12 years in jail and 3 years of freedom, not pissing off James 1st a second time would have been a prudent ponder in my humble opinion.

#1195 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn abstract photography, Bobbing, Serendipity1 Comment

Picture yourself in a boat on an Ocean.

With tangerine trees and marmalade skies.

My apologies to The Beatles for lyric altering.

Mid-February and a Friday Bob brings the gift of Marmalade.

Gill’s marmalade is fabulous and we have been given a pot, or two every year since Covid lockdowns.

Inspirational Bobbers

A chilly bob warmed up by the thought of marmalade and butter on hot toast.

And for me the challenge of creating a marmalade sky to accompany this blog.

You can just about see the tangerine trees on the end of the island.

Here is Gill the Marmalade Goddess and Lola as you have never seen her before; as a doggy hot water bottle for intrepid February Bobbers.

Let’s get the weekend started.

#1193 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Nature, SerendipityLeave a comment

I have been pondering my digital footprint and to a degree my ultimate digital ghost. Mostly because of articles that I have read or heard in the media. To be honest I am quite baffled by the thinking. The blog is probably the deliberate ,majority of my footprint and ghost, but what do I know. What is done is probably done. Nature put my thoughts into perspective a little.

My digital and real-life shadow appears on the surprisingly small root system of a fallen oak tree. Discovered this morning on a dog walk. Maybe 300 years old, this tree was taken down by a recent storm. The old tree left a surprisingly shallow footprint.

Like me the tree has children.

So close their roots probably touched.

Do trees grieve a brutal loss in a storm? Do they have ghosts or worry about their footprint, real or digital.

Funny things to ponder on a lovely day in February. I sense my digital footprint is actually quite shallow. So no need to overthink things on a sunny day.

Is this timeline random?

I have no intention of creating a similar one , my girth and corresponding contemporary facts will forever  remain a mystery. Or maybe it would be fun to try.

#1190 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

A greige Sunday with two colourless dog walks at either end of the day. But our evening walk was brightened by still water between the current fish market looking over to the old location which is now a thriving area of bars and nightclubs.

This is one of our favourite circular walks around all the commercial harbours. Almost never in the dark but there are plenty of lights and it is a safe enough area.

Here is another still water shot from November.

Fishing boat on the nightclub side.
Bars on the Nightclub side.

Clearly I love still water and colour beats greige any day.

#1189 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Devon, dog walks, SerendipityLeave a comment
Totnes Castle

Being taken by surprise by February 1st gave us a curious Saturday morning of shuffling things around. The afternoon was rather greige so we set off to a favourite town. We arrived a bit late to visit the castle but by walking there we were propelled towards the back streets which I have not explored for more than 20 years when I worked here. The main streets were bustling with the tail end of a busy Saturday market.

17th or 18th Century Door Knocker

Rusty women became a little bit of a theme.

Encased in an air vent.

Our theme was just to enjoy walking the back streets looking at many centuries worth of lovely cottages on interlinked lanes and passages that spread like cobwebs from the Castle.

The castle dominates the town from its prominent hill as it was designed to do.

All our wandering was at dog pace. The peemails left by centuries of dogs always fascinate them in historic urban areas. But they are small dogs and we had been doing walking jobs with them all morning. The cafes in the High Street were calling the dogs but were all still buzzing at 4:00 or buzzed and already closed. But in a back street, we found this glorious turquoise paradise. Busy but not too busy.

We were on 10,000 human steps. Goodness knows how many dog steps. This cafe was one that Lola was not prepared to pass the door of.  So happy was she to sit down and share a cheese scone that she agreed to a photogenic photograph.

In other news a small bunny came home with us

#1188 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, weather1 Comment
Sunset in Devonport Park.

When I wrote yesterday’s blog I had no idea it was the last one of January. Somehow I missed the anticipation of the end of the longest month.

Which is a sign, I suppose, that taking a more positive attitude to Winter is having some effect.

On a positive note we are 2/3 done with the official winter months.

I know I am not alone with my slightly dismal attitude. People wouldn’t write books and articles about positive winter attitudes if  winter was all ticketty boo for the majority.

A SouthWest English winter does not look like this.

Fictional/Fantasy Devonport Park

What can I say about switching my mindset from endurance to tolerance?

Seasons are a bit like work colleagues or club members or any other group of humans. There is always one that has to be tolerated, made allowances for and most importantly celebrated when they leave.

So good morning February let’s get this winter malarkey over with.

I may even sign your leaving card with a cheery message wishing you well with your future in the Southern Hemisphere. I will watch and make sure you leave.

#1186 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

Here I am awaiting a little Pride and Prejudice ( Sort of).

Jane Austen, it has been a while.My reading schedule is impossibly full so revisiting the reading of my youth is unlikely.

I was briefly youthful this afternoon, as I explained to comfortably seated theatregoers that I was 19. My seat number, not my age. But in that moment I identified as 19. At 19 I was much more familiar with the works of dear Jane. I have always wondered why she didn’t write a novel called ‘Judgement’

Review of the play from a proper reviewer below. I was too busy enjoying it. Not that I enjoyed it as much as others. Proper Austenites got every clever joke milliseconds before me.  I am an unashamed laugh out loud kind of woman but I was in the presence of people laughing and whooping to a whole new Tena Lady level of mirth.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/nov/03/pride-and-prejudice-sort-of-review-silliness-and-sensibility?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was hugely entertained. So I am doing what the poster on the stage suggested.

#1185 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Good Fortune, Serendipity1 Comment
Kung Hei Fat Choi

Chinese New Year. The Year of the Snake. The sun is up and I can share fabulous red themed photographs on the blog.

One of my most serendipitous photos was taken a few steps further west from our local tidal pool. One December day I found a man practising his moves overlooking Plymouth Sound.

December 2017

This seems the perfect day to show off his skills and my good fortune on witnessing this.

May your Wednesday be full of colour and not too many actual snakes.