Category: Serendipity

#193 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, SerendipityLeave a comment

Nearly one year on from the house move and the work room is ready for business. Business for Hugo and Lola means an empty sofa each. For me it means clear desk space.

At 10:00 we were all ready for the first Zoom of the day. The dogs were already asleep on their chosen sofas and I had the lap top set in such a position that my head and shoulders could be at the meeting but my hands could be doing ‘other stuff’

Disaster struck, nothing I could do on any platform could get me into the meeting. This is the first time in over two years that Zoom has failed me. I have often wished it to fail but I’m sure I am not alone in that. With my vote handed over to some one who was actually in the room. I set about using the free two hours doing actual work for the organisation. This meant that the ‘other’ stuff had to wait until the evening.

And the dogs could take themselves off mute, or asleep as they call it.

For full disclosure, having shown you a tidy workroom. I have to admit that there is still a load of stuff that needs sorting in the garage, still. When working on the new shelves for the work room I needed to store some old shelves in the garage. I didnt have enough woman moments to make a space in the garage. I decided to deploy a South London trick and put the shelves outside the front of the house with a ‘free, help yourself’ sign and a message on our local residents Facebook page. Recycling at its finest, they were gone within two hours. To return to the failed Zoom meeting, the slight discombobulation of the fixed event of the morning becoming unfixed seemed to expand time for the whole day. I had already saved my self an hour and a half of travel by not attending in person and I worked solidly through the meeting time and stayed in touch with Whatsapp. Loads of extra jobs got done. The only casualty of the day was the ‘other stuff’ that my hands would have been doing while I was in the meeting. That remains unfinished even though I was still at it until the last dog walk of the day.

#191 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

Just a little blog today about a moment, just a moment. My screaming stone is a good enough illustration.

Genes are a lottery and all of my life I have looked a lot like my mum. Obviously there are other peoples features packed into my face and my temperament comes from my dad, but on the whole it is her who looks back at me in a mirror. Until yesterday. I am now older than my mother ever was. The face that looked back at me yesterday was my grandmothers! That was quite a shock!

#190 theoldmortuary ponders

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A lifetime ago in the early days of lockdowns a Hix Fix cocktail was brightening up the end of the first month of the pandemic. Facebook Time Hop flashed up this gem of a picture from April 2020. Cherry liqueur and Champagne seems an odd thing to drink in our own garden for no particular reason but I think it demonstrates an optimistic approach to Lockdown Life, we were probably celebrating a day of gardening.

Free of Lockdowns labouring is no longer rewarded with champagne. Building three shelf units and moving everything in the studio/ work room yesterday was rewarded far more appropriately with tea.

Moving art ‘stuff’ is a dirty job, the dirt is just more colourful. Tea alone was not enough of a reward and the sun was out so a swim was also scheduled.

Hurst Point ©Coach Andy

This massive boat sailed past with three tugs making the water extra choppy. The sense of scale in this photograph does not reflect how wierd this really feels when we are in the water. It is like a twenty storey office block is floating past extremely close to us.

The informal sundial was very nearly accurate.

Enlivened by the swim, work continued on the storage/ shelf units and room reorganisation. There is every chance the job will be finished today.

Although not worthy of a blog of its own something happened for the last time this week. I’m not sure if technology or the Pandemic is the cause. One of my earliest memories is of going to banks with my parents or grandparents while they organised their financial affairs. My nose pressed against wood or leather panelling as a grown up did business way above my head in both the physical and literal sense.

Cheque books,Standing Orders, Direct Debits, Cash machines and posted bank statements meant I never really needed to take my own children to a bank and I will never take my grandchildren. The savings account I have had since I was a small person transitioned this week from a passbook to an App. I popped in to have the book updated, the last of my, not on-line banking. With a few taps on a computer my passbook was turned from the physical evidence of savings to a relic. The old passbook will be sent to me in the post. No longer something to be proud of, or grateful for, just a piece of history. Physically the same but in every way a shrivelled husk of what it used to be.

#189 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging, Serendipity, Van LifeLeave a comment

Yesterday the blog drove life, rather than lagged behind it. Some friends were reading the blog on their way to shop at Ikea. Realising that we would all be there at the same time they Whatsapped us and we all had breakfast together. Then we parted, them to browse and buy things they didn’t need and us to click and collect with no chance of temptation. With our van loaded with multiple Kallax units we drove off to the South West Coastal Path to walk a little chunk of it. We really did pack a lot into one Ikea trip. Despite the sunshine the sea mist was not kind to us at all so there are no glorious seascapes to share.

Wildflowers had their moment in the spotlight. As did small portions of Atlantic Rainforest.

We had a really comfortable few hours in the sun, walking in a new area. We stopped for lunch at the intersection of three footpaths and took some time reading about the walk we were doing.

If you can read the text you can see that beautiful, white, Park Cattle were predicted.

We met Brown Cattle with horns. Brown cattle who had been absolutely pissed off by teenage boys running at them and screeching on the very very steep rough pasture where we met them. Brown cattle who took one look at us and decided that they would graze and wetly defaecate on the only narrow track that was available to us. Just because they could and because as representatives of the human race we had to pay the price of too much testosterone in teenage boys.

The cattle had safety in numbers so we sat down again to enjoy the non view and give them the chance to wander back off. We also had our own slight testosterone problem. At the sight of the cattle blocking our path Hugo was pumping himself up to be the Alpha male of our pack and started practicing his latent herding manoeuvres, while firmly on the lead. Despite a wait of nearly twenty minutes the cattle were going nowhere and even if they did leave, the footpath had become a stinky puddle of post lunch poo. Our choices were limited; retrace our steps, possibly the simplest, but 3 miles distance, solution to get to a point 500 yards away. Take an unknown footpath for a similar distance in a different direction or scramble up an almost 90 degree, gorse covered slope. Obviously we chose the gorse covered slope!

The details of the scramble will remain hazy. All was well that ended well. There was a huge fallen tree at the top of the slope, the perfect place to stop, take a sip of water, gather our thoughts and allow our pumping hearts to return to a normal rhythm. We could also observe, 500 yards beneath us the brown cattle still quietly grazing and pooping on the footpath. They had an air of solidarity and victory about them.

#186 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Food ( but this is not a food blog), Serendipity, Van LifeLeave a comment

This is what procrastination looks like. I’ve been trying to buy some popular shelving from Ikea, I dithered about yesterday and didn’t check the website until later in the afternoon. All the units I wanted were available in the colour I wanted but I had missed the deadline for click and collect. Suddenly a trip to Ikea had turned into a spontaneous overnight camping trip as we ‘made the most’ out of a trip to Exeter and wild- camped overnight on the seafront at Exmouth. Close enough to Ikea to get there when it opens on Sunday morning.

In all my Ikea life such a plan would never have been hatched before. Our most regular Ikea was always Croydon and before that Bristol and Thurrock, none of these destinations scream wild camping wonderfulness. But Exmouth really is rather fabulous for an overnight spot of Van life.

In an effort to put International in our life while I still have no passport we are eating our way around the world while remaining in Plymouth. Before we even thought about Ikea or camping trips we went to Canada for lunch. Kickin Caribou on Mutley Plain serves Poutine and other Canadian treats.

We had the window seat and had an unusually vivid street scene to enjoy while we tucked into chips, curd cheese and gravy. Yesterday was St Georges Day and one of the biggest charity events that Plymouth hosts. The St Luke’s Mens Day Out, passed by our window seat. The link below explains the great ethos behind the event. The route of the walk takes in some amazing scenery and passes plenty of pubs. It is a thoroughly wonderful event. There are some unplanned additional events related to these pubs. My following comments are tongue in cheek and not representational of the organisers plans.

Men’s Day Out: The power of hundreds of men on the move

The clue is in the statement ‘ there are plenty of pubs on the route’

Many of the men choose to walk in fancy dress, some of them drink far too much. Some of them fight. Lets just say that history does not suggest that Crusaders or the Flintstones ever got involved in street fighting or T Shirt pulling but there were pockets of such behaviour along the route. The walk started at 10am, when we decided to leave for our unplanned Ikea adventure at 5 pm there were still the walking wounded shuffling their way along the route. There may be a few sore heads this morning alongside the many more sore feet. Most importantly a lot of money was raised.

#177 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, blogging, Serendipity1 Comment

I have a little store of pre-prepared pages that I can take out with me when I know I am going out for a natter and some creativity. Sometimes, like this, one just an outline of some shapes. The destination of these watercolour doodles is never certain. I had a vague theme in mind but doodles like daily blogs tend to have a mind of their own. I suppose in art I am the opposite of a perfectionist, this may also be my my life planning style too. I like to allow enough space in life and in my creations for serendipity, for happy accidents, for the joy of whimsy. In common with perfectionists and every other living thing I also suffer from the bad things life can throw at an individual. I have found, however, serendipity, happy accidents , whimsy, and the love and friendship of some wonderful people and animals pulls me out of the mire of life in the most beautiful ways. Enjoy your long weekend wherever you are.

#175 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, YardeningLeave a comment

This is the most common view for writing a blog. Out of screen are a cup of tea, a notebook, a pile of clean washing, a Filofax ( oh yes I said Filofax ) and a lap top. All fairly normal dining room table flotsam and jetsam in a world that features working from home, Zoom meetings and family that live thousands of miles away. We are in mid April now and ten months into living in a house with a yard and not a garden. Container gardening is our new way of creating a green space. In the dark months of winter the plants in this view are decorated with fairy lights in an attempt to bring light into our lives through the french windows. Container growing has been largely a success, one moving casualty and one new plant that didnt make it through the winter. This morning I was struck by the random colour pairings that container planting creates. I had a bit of a spring move around earlier in the week. We have been much more succesful growing tulips in containers. Purple Sage and fancy tulips are not something we would have planned, but this pairing is lovely.

I can only assume that our yard has less wildlife than our country garden. One of our autumn pumpkins has just about survived the winter, in our garden pumpkins were devoured before firework night most years. A beautiful, almost black tulip bent forward after heavy rain causing this wonderful colour combination. Yardening is going to suit us very well.

#172 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Home Towns, SerendipityLeave a comment

Serendipity plays a huge part in these daily blogs. Serendipity gave us some free time on Saturday when we were close to our London home villages of Dulwich Village and Crystal Palace. Proper journalists are writing about Crystal Palace this weekend because it has been voted the best place in London to live. We do not disagree, and for us Dulwich Village is a close second. Below are two links to proper writers singing the praises of CP.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/crystal-palace-london-best-place-to-live-uk-pp7pxvcmc#

https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/where-to-live/crystal-palace-area-guide-anna-jacobs-design-influencer-b951887.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1649438147

The funny thing is that the dogs love being back ‘home’ too. So this blog is a little bit about a dogs view and a little bit about things the journalists didn’t mention.

Starting with Dulwich. Morning is not morning without coffee and a cheese straw from Gails.

The cheese straw is a snack for dogs and humans. It gives us all strength and energy for visiting interiors shops.

Before a walk to the Dulwich Picture Gallery where the dogs can really appreciate Contemporary sculpture from Peter Randall-Page, titled Walking the Dog. The dogs and us have a good bit of history with this place the dogs love the sniffs and @theoldmortuary has exhibited here too.

Hugo with an artistic poo.
Lola with an artistic poo

On our way out we found a lovely complicated image.

Painted scaffolding boards behind an over wintering Beech hedge.

Next stop Crystal Palace.

More interiors shopping, Crystal Palace is known for its Independent imaginative shops and a thriving antiques and second hand trading vibe. We found some antique ceramic finger plates and some lovely coat hooks that look like Tom Daley executing a perfect Olympic dive. All for a fraction of the cost if we bought new or from on-line retailers. The pictures below are fancy glass in bright sunshine.

Second interiors shop of the day and both dogs were still enthusiastic.

Crystal Palace shopping was fueled by a Roti Brothers Vegetarian burger and their signature Rosemary Chips. Sitting beneath some fabulous street art.

Hugo and Lola basked while humans refuelled.

Our whistle stop tour of old haunts over, there was just enough time to collect some Portuguese baked goods and continue on with our journey

But not before recognising that the original village still makes a mark in this street names of this South London suburb.

#168, theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

For the last few weeks I have been involved in a Wordle Whatsapp group. It involves a group of people connected with a fiftieth birthday party that I went to in Pangbourne. It must be a sign of age that the only significant thing I don’t remember from the party is talking about Wordle. Perhaps even more important is that it appears to be an early morning WordleWhatsapp so I wake up already under pressure from the really early birds.

Now my early mornings have so many possible starts. Dog Walk? Blog? Wordle? Shower? Breakfast? Book? Staying awake beyond midnight gives me the chance to Wordle or Blog before most people are about, but me and midnight are not as well acquainted as we used to be since I swapped NHS life for that of Museums and Art.

All the interiors or fashion magazines mention Wordle Green as a key colour this year.

I’m not convinced, myself, that I could wear Wordle Green or live with too much of it. But some of my favourite colours are greens. When the sun is out in April it makes greens especially vivid. So taking my queue from recent style magazines I’m going to feature some almost Wordle Greens for the end of this pondering

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Plymouth to Gunnislake railway journey. Bright shafts of sunlight hit overgrown hedges along the track . April 2021
Inherited 1970’s coloured glass tumblers sitting in the sun waiting to be packed for a house move. April 2021
Easter painting from our Grandchild in Hong Kong . April 2021
Seaweed in the tidal pool at Firestone Bay. April 2021
Old door near the Cremyl Ferry. Stonehouse Peninsular. April 2021

All the dates on these pictures predate Wordle Green by a year. If only I were published by the New York Times, the hot new colour on the block could have been…

@theoldmortuary Green. There’s a thought!

#165 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Coffee Hunters, SerendipityLeave a comment

Quite the command on my early morning walk. Our usual, quiet, morning walk was enlivened by the arrival of many vendors for the monthly food and craft market. This coffee shop got our business later in the day. The sun was super bright, but the temperature was only just above zero. Beyond a dog walk I was also up early to catch some mussels in the sharply angled sunshine.

Mission accomplished.