Category: Serendipity

#64 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

Nothing in my blogging life is predictable. Some days I struggle to find some words and pictures. Other days several little stories knock on my brain anxious to be let in, cogitated and then set free into the blogsphere. Today the typewriter story won the day but the others will get their moment in the sun.

I have long wanted a manual typewriter to type titles and my name on watercolours. I was quite specific on my needs, a hard type that might also slightly emboss and fairly rudimental. By a happy coincidence I met a blogging typewriter fanatic at the blogging course in Spitalfields. Michelle Geffken writes Paper Blogging.

https://www.paperblogging.com/

She was generous with her time and knowledge and after reading her blog I felt ready to dip my toe into actually buying a small typewriter. Ebay furnished me with an Olympic Splendid 99.It arrived yesterday, it is very cute. But hidden in its original leather carrying case was a whole little adventure. The original owners Margery H Butterworth and W H Butterworth had typed their address on the Final Test and Inspection Report. My little typewriter was delivered to them in 1960 in Singapore. The power of Google can show me the house it was delivered to.

©William Teo

28 Chiltern Drive, Braddell Heights, Singapore 13

Googling Margery H Butterworth and W H Butterworth also dug out a little gem. It turns out that in 1965 they wrote a paper on Green Elephant Grass in Tropical Foraging.

Is it too bigger leap of my imagination to think that it would have been typed on my new acquisition in the early sixties. My efforts with this typewriter had better be equally interesting. For now I’ve just dusted it and cleared out some very dry tropical leaves!

First typing, and a question, does anyone know of a typewriter servicing engineer. Those I’ve found on line are very fully booked.

Have a fabulous Saturday, I may be spending some moments typing.

P. S I tried a quick sketch of baubles with added typing. With a little practice this is going to work.

#62 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Advent, Devils Point, Serendipity, Street Art1 Comment

Good morning Miss Spearmint. We had a long walk this morning which ended up near to our swimming beach. Miss Spearmint had taken up residence to digest her fishy breakfast so there were very few swimmers and everyone was advised not to swim or interact with her. Recently a marine mammal charity has set up a swimmers/walkers whatsapp group for the whole of Plymouth Sound which pinpoints where she is swimming,or hauled out so that people can avoid interacting with her. On the whole it seems to be working.Unfotunately though Miss Spearmint does still crave the company of humans which is not good for her.

Before Miss Spearmint hijacked this blog I was going to natter on about retail counters. Not the sort that are so busy in the general run up to Christmas but one that no longer exists.

I found this sign this morning on the earlier part of my walk as I explored an undeveloped area of the Royal William Yard. This picture has everything that I love. Rust, peeling paint and mystery. A mystery that could be revealed if only we had the ledger that holds the codes for 15.SI.

Really close to this beautiful door is some very contemporary deliberate graffiti which brings a little colour to the blog which Miss Spearmint and a faded door have failed to do. I will end on a bright note!

#61 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Advent, Bobbing, SerendipityLeave a comment

Storm Barra delivered a Sea Heart this morning.

An unusually high tide made these liquid hearts on the rocks that litter our swimming beach. The steps further along also got a little magical drenching.

And for now the sun is out. On days like this, wrapped up in lovely warm clothes I wonder why I choose to whip my everythings off and swim in this exact location. But when I’m in it it is the best feeling in the world.

#60 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Advent, SerendipityLeave a comment
©XC Weather

The calm before the storm. There is another named storm on its way. This is todays weather forecast. Last nights dog walk was a very peaceful affair.

Nativity and resin cows peacefully twinkling in a landscape with no wind.

Overnight the mood of the weather has switched from benign to malign and there was just a small window of opportunity to walk the dogs today. Serendipity and the forecast sent me out to the beach at the exact same time as some friends. So todays blog has four doggy companions enjoying Tranquility Bay before they are confined to the house by Storm Barra

So far so tranquil, lets see how peaceful tomorrow looks.

#58 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn abstract photography, Advent, SerendipityLeave a comment

Evening dog walks are getting a lot more twinkly. I love this completely contemporary festive home. Nothing tacky about this house

This festive property takes a more traditional approach, and diligence to lightbulb placement. At home we have gone for something a little less ostentatious.

Our home window is a work in progress, the next stage is baubles in every shade of garish. Lime green and pink anyone?

#57 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Hugo and Lola, SerendipityLeave a comment

It is not all about dog walks in lovely places and comfortable places to sleep. Sometimes Hugo and Lola believe that they are doing actual work. Here they are on car duty while we have a wee and grab a coffee.

Yesterday was pretty full on for them. Early morning house guarding duty while we went, with other bobbers, for what turned out to be the most disappointing ‘ bob’ of recent times. It was a really low tide so there was a good bit of rock scrambling before we even hit the water and then it was all a bit sea weedy for a while until we hit water deep enough to swim in. The dogs, of course, had to offer counselling and support when we returned.

After the car journey there were more dog responsibilities. Urban Squirrel watching.

And minor hangover care after a Christmas party.

#54 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment
Gratuitous sunset shot

When I was a teenager growing up in North East Essex, absolutely not the ‘cool’ or ‘trashy’ Essex of modern urban myths, I thought I lived in the Boondocks.

© dictionary.cambridge.org

With only a few people of my own age,and even fewer of them that I actually knew, I imagined I was having the dullest adolescence ever. My internal imaginary life was vivid and full of colour, teenage passion and adventure. Real life not so much.

Travel, maturity, and now a lived experience of a Killer Pandemic, has made me recalibrate my thoughts on my adolescence and life in general. Some of my travel has taken me to actual Boondocks, making me realise my teenage years were actually giddy with opportunity. Only a few of which I took.

During the Pandemic many of us have lived a bit of a Boondocky existence, for various periods of local or national lockdowns.Venturing out only to take exercise or undertake essential tasks. People who actually live a Boondock life have possibly been the least affected.

© Spitalfieldslife – The Gentle Author

Writing a daily blog since November 2019 has stretched my mind in all sorts of curious ways. If I were ever to find myself in an actual boondock or when I find myself in a mental boondock, I am obliged, to myself,to find something to ponder, this has been a valuable and enriching experience. Not one I am keen to give up any time soon.

Detail from stained glass window. Plymouth Synagogue

1st of December 2021, welcome December. Who knows quite how you will shape up pandemicwise or in general, something to ponder on, I’m sure.

#52 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Advent, Bobbing, SerendipityLeave a comment

New handrails to the sea. There have been some refurbished steps through the rocks into the sea for a couple of months. Yesterday the steps were fitted with new and much improved hand rails. Despite only being a small walk from our usual beach this access point can sometimes be safer if the sea is rough at high tide. The new handrails make it an even safer option. Yesterday Spearmint the seal also chose the safer option for her morning swim.

Flipping things even further a diver had to get out of the sea in order to take underwater photos of her.

For all of us winter swimming has properly started now. The cold water buzz is back.

#49 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Advent, SerendipityLeave a comment

Illumination in the countdown to Christmas.  Rain, Petrol and a rusty gulley. Whats not to love! Rain was the predominant weather today and would have featured somehow. The plan was to write a bobbing blog with accompanying rain seascapes. Nature thwarted me. We met at high tide, which coincided with dreadful rain. We procrastinated a good bit. The thought of a plunge into cold water while being drenched by cold rain was not enticing. The precipitation was persistent but eventually we shrugged off our warm dry clothes to a certain fate of getting damp while we swam, not a great help when trying to dress. Beyond getting out and dry I had also planned some gorgeously grey shots of Plymouth Sound. When my hands had warned up enough to take a post swim photo the weather decided to put on its party face.

Not what I had planned at all but useful as another Illumination shot on the countdown to Christmas.

And there’s more.

You just can’t trust the weather, I’m sure to get gloom sometime soon

#48 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Advent, SerendipityLeave a comment

There are two static cranes preserved at the Royal William Yard a nod to the former industrial/naval history of this location. As we get nearer to Christmas the area is getting a little bit busier in the early evening as we go for our twilight walk. As part of my countdown to Christmas all I need to do is walk to the other side of the crane.

A burst of cerise lighting lights up the cab. To be fair the cab is lit up all year round but now the days are so short the illumination is a key location on my evening stroll. By complete contrast our morning outing was illuminated with some gorgeous sunshine.

And a visit from a local celebrity.

Short days, filled with variety.