#635 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, Serendipity4 Comments

@theoldmortuary we have been without Dads for quite a long while. So it was a surprise to us that today was Fathers Day. We were at a party recently when people were excitedly discussing their grown up children visiting at the weekend.

” How lovely” we said ” Why are they coming this weekend”

“Fathers Day!”, said with incredulity, was the chorus.

It says a lot about targeted advertising that we are no longer made sad by being bombarded by advertisers trying to sell us gifts for our deceased parents. Post Covid it seems that people are making more effort to mark these days, not with gifts but with visits. Family time is more precious when it has been denied or not easy for 2-3 years.

Now we get to witness ‘ Fathering’ from a different direction. Our three granddaughters have two excellent Dads, their mothers are excellent too, but that is for another day.

Fathers Day is, for us, a day of celebrating a job well done, by the next generation.

However my photo archive has failed me. To illustrate this blog I wanted pictures of Seahorses, creatures where the Dad really does the hard graft of actually giving birth. They are not so good at barbeques or reading books but, giving birth! That is quite a good task to lift.

All my photograph archive held, was a horse by the sea.

Or an Apron in a shop window.

© Cream Cornwall

Spitalfields Life

Link above to another Fathers Day blog. So beautifully written that I had to share.

#634 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn abstract photography, art, Royal William Yard5 Comments

Describe one of your favorite moments.

The entrance gate to The Royal William Yard

A coincidence that this title should be the prompt for a blog today. I have many favourite moments, one of them happened just then when I reinstated the ‘U’ back into favourite, where it surely belongs to give the word its true flavour.

Favourite moments usually come thick and fast most days. The first mug of caffeinated tea, swiftly followed by the first caffeinated coffee start the favourite-moment ball rolling every morning.

Getting preconsidered tasks done ticks the box.

As does wrangling unplanned tasks into an already busy day

The writing or publishing of a blog, that zings, is favourite too. Insider fact. A blog that zings for me does not always zing for the stats. The curious world of algorithms at play, I assume.

The little sketch above was a favourite moment. Christmas stocks up my painting supplies,sometimes, with new things. Christmas 2022 brought alcohol inks, rubber shaper brushes and Yupo paper. I felt the urge to give them a go yesterday and sketched the gate that I walk through most days for our dog walks. The combination of three new things was a little trepidatious but went well for a first. A series of happy accidents and some angst created a recognisable image. It even looks safe enough to walk under.

Our early evening also featured a favourite thing. Bobbers together in Firestone Bay celebrating a significant birthday.

Favourite moments are everywhere.

#633 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging, Serendipity2 Comments

English Summer Sunshine is a fabulous thing. When sunshine is as predictable and reliable as our current spell of good weather, even busy days slip by as is if smoothed by some sort of magical ingredient. My busy day was punctuated with a visit from my daughter and grandaughter. Will I ever get used to that casual remark ” We are just popping in” . After 4 years of being a virtual or zooming Nana to small people half a world away. Now I am a real hands on Nana to an 8 month old recently relocated from London. When Nona gets home from work now she sometimes gets a sticky welcome to accompany the first post work cup of tea. I’m sure we would both be charmed regardless of the weather but an hour in late afternoon sun with a small person is a great post work recovery mechanism.

Sunshine also smooths the sadder aspects of life. Yesterday Hannah heard that a colleague and mentor had died.

https://www.bsecho.org/Public/News/Articles/2023/2023-06/202306-Mark-Monaghan.aspx

For her he was the reason she moved to London to become better at her job. For me he was a man I met at conferences and barbeques. He danced and laughed, at both, with great enthusiasm. Talking about him in evening sunshine over a bowl of mussels was a good way for us to mark his passing.

#632 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn blogging, SerendipityLeave a comment

A very late blog with the working title of, the morning after the night before.

Nothing bad happened but long summer evenings segue into early summer mornings with barely a gap to natter. This bollard clearly had had quite the night. In two minutes the pedestrians passing by didn’t even notice his predicament.

South West Coastal Path walkers.
Royal Marines heading for a PT session.

Mr Bollard was just chilling in the long grass.

Anyway enough of Mr Bollard, I was at a lovely summer party last night and then up at the crack of dawn to walk the dogs before going off to do some research in the most idyllic settings imaginable.

Life has eaten up my time today. The few minutes when I could have blogged I dead-headed our lavender bushes. Surely one of the most fragrant jobs on earth.

Normal service will resume tomorrow.

Ps. I have only just realised that the coastal path walkers were part of a celebratory walk for the 50th Anniversary of the South West Coastal Path being formed. Two teams walked the entire North and South Paths meeting at The Royal William Yard which is where the Headquarters are.

© Lynette Selbie

#631 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, pondering, Serendipity2 Comments
©theoldmortuary – Wembury WIP

Summer months are often the busiest for artists. I am dedicating these long daylight hours to getting as much actual creating done as possible. But there are also a lot of exhibitions and these require a degree of organisation. The pandemic gave us Zoom which means not every meeting needs to be in person but yesterday despite the heat I was glad to have two meetings in opposite environments, 10 miles apart, in the Tamar Valley. The first one on Dartmoor was at The Garden House. A beautiful garden where I have enjoyed some tranquil drawing days.

Home

©The Garden House

No sketching for me, I was there for a scheduling meeting. It was very hot but I was thrilled to find some very wooly sheep hunkered down in the shade of a stone wall, taking life very easy as I left The Garden House ready for meeting number 2 in Plymouth.

In complete contrast to the rural location of the first meeting the second one was in a city with all the additional heat and bustle of a busy urban environment.

Cooling off came with the familiar sound of an ice cream van, parked up and ready to offer chilled relief in the sunshine.

Texture and context in life is everything. Yesterday was a good example of both. And now back to the brushes.

#630 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Coffee Hunters, Street Art1 Comment
© My dog Sighs

Car repairs can take you to the most interesting places. Regular readers of this blog will know that I like to hunt out Street Art. I am also a bit dismissive of the lack of good street art in Plymouth. But coffee and the car drew me to Sawrey Street in Millbay yesterday. With an hour or two to waste we fueled up on coffee and comestibles at YaYa’s

YaYa’s had appeared on an invoice for a gardening event I was helping to plan. As the committee sat around discussing the expenses there was an appreciative mumble of cake reminiscing. YaYa’s apparently make exceedingly good cakes.

From personal experience I can also say they make a great take out coffee for a street wander. Historically Sawrey Street was part of a network of streets that made up the notorious Plymouth red light district. Technology, regeneration and new residential blocks have changed things in this area which has a daytime economy of light industrial use. There are a lot of building sites and artists are encouraged to add Graffiti to the security hoardings that encircle emerging new hotels and apartment blocks.

What I had not realised is that notable British Street artists have been commissioned to place art in the small streets and alleys of Millbay.

©Words on Walls Anita Christie

The area still has echoes of notoriety and I probably wouldn’t poke around in these tiny back streets at night but that is often where the best Street Art exists. I am just amazed that I have never thought to look here before.

Puffin © Fark. Fk

The curious thing about Street Art in Plymouth is that for the most part it stays pristine. Nobody over-sprays a tag or adds a sticker or a stencil of their own. Plymouth does not do Palimpsest Street Art. The worst that probably happens on these works is a drunken pee and they probably do witness whatever remains of the illicit night time economy in this once notorious area.

© Isobel Stretton Art

#629 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Beach Life, SerendipityLeave a comment

A day that started calmly with a yoga class just carried on being tranquil. Leaving the park we found some lovely old and blistered painted gates.

Park Yoga Plymouth

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The picture at the top of the blog was created using an image of the cracked paint superimposed on my foot imprint left on my yoga mat.

Even the weeds created a lovely colour contrast.

And the cracks, as they always do, charmed me.

The day continued in tranquil mode when we went for a swim at Tranquility Bay. It was perhaps less than tranquil because two men had set up a barbeque on the steps leading into the sea and were having a two man Ibiza style party with a sound system. But our swim was fabulous. The following photographs show all the activity that happened in a one hour stay at Tranquility Bay

The Ibiza barbeque party took a turn towards the mellow when Pavane by Gabriele Faure replaced European House Music. Accompanied by the exact same dance that had accompanied the dance music. The scores of regular swimmers good- naturedly accepted the aural and visual embellishments to their regular swimming zone. Both created a memorable afternoon of unplanned entertainment.

Pavane below to ease you into the week.

#628 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, YogaLeave a comment

Making an impression, or indeed, the farting yogi!

Sunday morning found me in a park with about 100 other people doing outdoor yoga with an organisation called Park Yoga, a partner organisation of Park Run. Park Run fills parks all over the country with runners on Sunday mornings, doing sweaty intense laps to various standards. Park Yoga is about being stationary, and today sweaty, to various standards.

Outdoor yoga in fabulous weather is quite the thing no need to visualise warm sun on my face. Imagining my foot sinking into the ground was beautifully illustrated by my yoga mat.

I may have overdone the inversion poses and maybe had a little incidental wind issue. Thank goodness for being out in the open air. The ripple of giggles around me the only sign that anything untoward had happened.Inversion poses also flipped familiar jewellery constantly in my face. I so rarely actually see it.

Yoga is good for mind and body and doing it outdoors really does enhance the experience. My summer Sunday mornings sorted.

Park Yoga Plymouth

#637 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment
© Jo Beer Van Morrison

A proper summer evening in Stonehouse last night. Art, music, soft summer rain and petrichor.

Stonehouse is a city neighbourhood by the sea. The area has been bathed in hot, constant ,early summer sunshine for weeks. Which is why the soft summer rain of last night added to the experience of art and music as the evening took in an art exhibition and live music at opposite ends of Stonehouse, as we did the evening dog walk. Petrichor, subtle but there never the less was the gentle fragrance of the evening. First stop Leadworks in Rendle Street to visit an art exhibition raising money for ShelterBox.

ShelterBox exists to ensure no one is without shelter after disaster. We often work in places that others don’t, making sure that we reach families who need support to take the next step in resuming their livelihoods.

With a brilliant piece of placement the first picture to greet visitors was a painting by Rosie Cunningham. Unintentionally, the whole summer exhibition experience was revealed.

Detail from Big Bird is Watching by Rosie Cunningham.

In the summer months artists and artistically minded people gather in halls, spaces and museums all over England to view summer exhibitions. The artistically minded wear carefully curated summer clothes, maybe a little quirky, women have statement necklaces or hand bags. Men, bold shirts or interesting glasses. In order to stand out from the quirky crowd,the actual artists dial up the sartorial code to Full Flamingo. Quirky for certain but with something extra, dungarees perhaps or a battered satchel. Private Views or one off events like last night are the best place to see this colourful phenomenon.

The dogs are well used to this sort of event having sniffed their way around the galleries and art spaces of London when they were younger. Lola though felt particularly welcome last night, in Stonehouse, with bespoke graffiti.

Soon enough we were off to the far south of the Stonehouse Peninsular for live music at the Arch in the Royal William Yard.

Another summer uniform, shorts, skirts, t-shirts and flip flops to listen to fabulous music in a beautiful spot. Which brings us back to the gorgeous portrait of Van Morrison by Jo Beer at the top of the picture.

Pretty as a Picture ©Annie McMahon

Open on 10 June. Daytime hours.

#636 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

This blog will be a bit about bobbing, but not,I hope, too boringly repetitive.  The old mortuary ponders USP is essentially about the repetitive nature of every day life, so there is a reason for boring you all sometime.

The point of the above picture is the laugh out loud moment I had when this photo was shared to my Google Phone. So laugh out loud that it took some time  for me to compose myself to explain to the bobbers.

On receiving the photo, my phone, using all of its considerable AI asked me if I would like it to remove the people from the image. The idea that bobbers  could be so disposable just cracked me up. Just to be contrary I cropped the marina out of the picture.

Today, because of the East wind we changed location again to the steps at the end of Pound Street just off Cremyl Street. It turns out that this location was incredibly sociable and we met a lovely woman from the Rhederlaagse Meren Dippers who offered us a dipping/bobbing holiday based at their beautiful lake north of Amsterdam.

https://www.rhederlaagsemeren.com/

Here we are posing with our bobbing sweatshirts.

And posing with new friends.

You never know, a bobbing holiday to dip with the dippers might be quite fun.