Category: Serendipity

#391 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn London, SerendipityLeave a comment

Two days in the shadow of Christ Church, Spitalfields. It being November the shadows are very sharp. Two days in the company of some great writers who were also pretty sharp, an eclectic mix of writers honing their skills towards better blogging. In the hands of The Gentle Author, a blog is a thing of beauty. A distilation and clarification of facts and images, conjured into easily digestible, beautifully readable essays that educate, delight and inform. We were there to be shaped and eased into creating blogs that people wish to read To aid us we supped at the The Townhouse, a well fed brain is more absorbent. Our hosts Fiona and Clifford fed us very well, in their small but fascinating Art Gallery, at the back of one of my favourite shops in London. As luck would have it there was a painting of Christ Church on the gallery wall so you can get an idea of the bottom half of the church. Something I could not have easily achieved due to the plethora of electric scooters and skate boarders who arrived at the exact same time as I was taking the photograph. Writing a blog can be a risky business!

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© Marc Gooderham ❤ Sold

Our writing sessions took place at 5a Fournier Street.

What went on behind closed doors is cloaked in quiet confidentiality to allow freedom of expression and wild creativity.

Our group brought great diversity of life experience, gathered together in a 17th Century sitting room.

I leant a great quote from one of the course members. It would have been appropriate, for certain, in the era of this bedroom but continues to resonate in the 21st Century.

“Shit, or get off the pot”

Which is a good place to end this piece but in my archive I have quite a cute photo from the exact same location nearly 10 years ago. I had gone to the cafe in the basement to enjoy tea and cake.

Hugo trying to become a stock item in a Huguenot House.

#383 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Bobbing, SerendipityLeave a comment

Farewell Gilly Bobber. The bobbers gathered for a goodbye gathering for a bobber who is moving to West Sussex. Gilly has been a musical addition to our bobbing gang for some time. She wears a raspberry beret and cocktail length swimming gloves. Which always promotes the other bobbers into a Prince tribute act.

A good selection of bobbers gathered today to see her off the premises.

Bobbing and bobbers are one of the great positives to have come out of the Covid years. Time to use a fabulous quote from Mark Twain to send Gilly on her way.

Goodbye Gilly from our home bobbing safe harbour.

#382 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Home, SerendipityLeave a comment

This is the time of year, the lull of winter before Christmas,when journalists seek words from Scandinavian countries to ease the pain of cold, wet weather and shorter days. We’ve had a couple of days of walks, talks and rainy days. I can recommend days spent with friends doing exactly that. Cake and coffee may also have been an intrinsic part of our activities.

Talfädighet is the Scandinavian word I have chosen as the way to lead a better life in the run up to the festive season. It means talkative, it may look like a tall cupboard from Ikea but it is one of those delightful words like Hygge which will,for certain, make November more tolerable. Let’s all be more talkative.

#381 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Bobbing, SerendipityLeave a comment

This boiling sea was the setting of our final October swim. Storm Claidio was on the way. Looking over the wall into the swirling sea it would have been very easy to turn around and walk back home. But I had already waved to the swimmers in the water. Getting in, was tricky. Being in, was thrilling. Getting out, was a relief. A mug of tea and a Tunnocks Waifer biscuit was the reward.

After the event it was most definitely the most wonderful swim. The turmoil of the water made effective swimming impossible at my, rather low, skill level. Even bobbing about and talking was quite a challenge but the whole experience was fizzy, energising and a great way to see out October, still without a wetsuit. The picture below is a full-colour image of the water as we got out, not a spot of colour to be seen.

#380 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

I love an old sign that time has rendered slightly inappropriate. This one was on the side of a coffee shop and interiors store. Not intruding would be very bad for business. Another sign was just deliciously eccentric.

The coffee hounds have been anxious to get to this coffee shop all summer.

Famed for the homemade cakes and good beverages, it was the least we could do to take them on a sunny weekend, fact-finding excursion.

Reciprocity Cafe and Eco shop are housed in the old stable block of Port Eliot.

https://www.porteliot.co.uk/

A place of fabulous festivals and general good times. For now though it is a coffee destination and the supplier of very fine cake. Gooseberry cake, still warm from the oven. What better way to spend the last day of October. Knee deep in fallen leaves, if you are a dog, and finger deep in cake if you are a human.

#377 the old mortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn abstract photography, Serendipity3 Comments

Hard on the heels of yesterday’s blog of favourite photos is the last of my little digital haul. I have no idea if more domestic organising will fill our day so it seems a good idea to get the blog out early. The Peacock lived near Cadiz in Spain he roamed a nursery that was set in a derelict old house and garden that also had a cafe in the old greenhouse area. Seeds from our bread bribed him to pose so beautifully. The wonderful staircase below was also taken somewhere near Cadiz. For some reason, I want to use the word Lacuna to describe the negative space created by the spiral.

I think it is the bone-like quality of stonework.

Taking bone-like as the link this next picture is also from near Cadiz and leads us somewhere.

But in true pondering style not to a particularly related photo. Yesterday I had an existential moment, not of the particularly philosophical sort. More of a David Attenborough moment, even that makes it seem very grand. The reality is much more mundane and happened on the tyre of my car on the way to the charity shop. Like many people I often have mixed emotions when I watch wildlife documentaries. In awe of the camera work and yet slightly concerned for the mental well-being of Camera operators who have to sometimes witness sad events unfold without being able to intervene. Yesterday I was that camera person.

Oh the moral conundrum.

” What would David Attenborough do?”

#375 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

Today is another cupboard tidying day. Writing a daily blog can be a little like waiting for paint to dry, and between cupboard tidying there has been a little paint drying @theoldmortuary. I had rewarded myself with some new watercolours and inks following good artwork sales at a recent exhibition. One of my procrastination tactics is always to create a colour chart of new paints to the collection.

I have not actually bought 19 new colours. My order was lost in the post and the vendor very kindly added quite a few extra pans by way of an apology. Not colours I would have chosen but very lovely additions. The inks were a slightly different proposition. The trouble with artistic procrastination is the sincerity with which it is included in the creative process. I realised I did not have the correct dilution fluid for the inks but persisted with making a colourchart. Substituting gin to extend the flow of the ink.

Gin may make creativity flow, in moderation,but it does nothing for ink, in moderation or excess. Despite urgently needing to get down to some real art,my colour charts amply filled my available free time.

Procrastination 1- Creativity 0

Procrastination does not only apply to creativity, as I write, this largely non-essential blog, another cupboard lays empty. Stuff taken out, but not yet sorted into keep or charity shop piles. Blog and colour charts the enemies of productivity!

Procrastination 1- Domestic Admin O

#373 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, Serendipity1 Comment
©Angela Moritz-Smith

On reflection, I should not have been so worried about the repurposing of Battersea Power Station. It has been transformed very sympathetically into a shopping and entertainment hub. A really lovely new destination for our shopping alter egos. My beloved vision of it as a monolithic structure on my daily commute has been altered forever, but that commute has not been mine for quite a while either. My friend Angela was at Battersea the day before me and got the lovely shot that is the header for this blog. Like her, we also went in broad sunlight but the wind ravaged any chances of a reflection.

My reflection shot was taken on the backside of an Airstream food truck.

Inside was a brick-lovers dream. The architecture more fitting for a modern Cathedral than a Power Station.

There was even some carefully preserved flaking paint.

Our trip to Battersea trip was brief bit informative. Definitely somewhere to be revisited. I even managed to buy a favourite brand of coffee. The one that used to keep me going on long on- call shifts in the City of London. All I stay awake for now is small grandchildren, Black Sheep works for that too!

Serendipity and Facebook gave me a lovely coincidence. 10 years ago exactly I was finishing two paintings in my garden in London.

Two pictures that represent either end of my journey today. Nana and Nona duties completed in London we are heading home to the West Country. Not that this is the last blog inspired by our visit to London and the South East. Some retrospective pondering will happen next week I’m sure. For now I will leave you with a turbine room, full of shops and some glass bricks. Another of my mid century passions.

#372 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Anecdotes, SerendipityLeave a comment
Tallow Pot

A great day out yesterday with a few more blogs to come but this is the tale of a tallow pot. Our travels took us to Weald and Downland Museum at Singleton in West Sussex. I was last there more than 30 years ago with my parents and small son. The Museum preserves ancient buildings and the crafts and skills that are needed for their continuous care.

My dad was an engineer but his great love was carpentry. Despite living in Essex the museum, briefly, became one of his favourite places to visit.

I had forgotten that, but the smells and tools of the Carpentry work shop brought decades old memories and grief sharply to mind. How strange that it would be a stinky old tallow pot that would be my trigger.

With apologies to anyone unfamiliar with a really popular TV programme, this blog goes off on a tangent now. I suppose the link is the curious importance we give to things that are linked to people we have loved and lost. FYI I do not treasure my dads old tallow pot, that really would be a tribute too far. A quick sniff yesterday was a fabulous treat though.

The repair shop is filmed at Weald and Downland Museum. I believe the programme can be seen around the world. The premise of the programme is that an ensemble of very talented craftspeople have the skills to fix almost anything the public can bring to the picturesque barn.One of the original buildings in the museum grounds, the ban has been set up as a multi- functional work-shop studio. Inevitably for good T.V the objects chosen for refurbishment are often associated with someone who has died or that have a good back story. It is a rather gentle, slow programme and the talents of the craftspeople are genuinely impressive. Coincidentally they were filming yesterday so we could not visit the barn too closely.

But we got a very cheery wave from the main presenter, Jay, just moments before we took this photo.

Harpooned a bit by decades old grief, we had the most glorious day out, grief really is a part of normal life for many people, it is not always unwelcome. Happy memories are life affirming.

#367 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Art for sale, SerendipityLeave a comment
©Sue Rigg Instagram @sdrigg38

Our days in Wimbledon are a blur of activity and stasis. Our adult timetable rescheduled to the needs and desires of a two-week-old baby. Her timetable runs on four hourly shifts, adult activity continues on our 24-hour night and day schedule. The two do not run in an entirely compatible format and the one that shifts is the adult one. Slowly we are gaining more adult achievements. Walks to coffee shops, supermarket visits, a farmers market and yesterday an art exhibition. Charging my phone is one of the adult activities that sometimes gets out of synchronisation, so my apologies to Worple Art Group, I didn’t capture every artist in my hour long visit of a fabulous exhibition.

©Jeanette Carr

There was a good crowd of visitors when we called in and some of the artists were there to talk with. The great thing about visiting a group art exhibition that is completely unknown is the anticipation of what you might see. Not all Art groups are capable of putting on a great show but the Worple Group were showing some really interesting work. The group consists of 20 artists of which 14 were exhibiting.

©Kevin Williams

Kevin was the artist I spent most time talking to, although being an artist in Wimbledon, just 6 miles from central London is a very different proposition from the rural/ urban mix of the Tamar Valley where I live and create art. He expressed the same changes and challenges of being an artist in the Covid and post-Covid world as The Tamar Valley Artists have experienced in Devon and Cornwall.

From being a plein-aire artist he was forced to paint indoors. His subject matter became what he dug out of his garden.

©Kevin Williams
©Kevin Williams

We are a very small family, our other portion of family live in Hong Kong so the painting below caught my eye too.

©Mark F Lodge

Far too soon the needs of our small family member and my lack of a camera battery drove us out into the streets of Wimbledon but I will be sure to be back in time for the next exhibition.