#480 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Beach Life, SerendipityLeave a comment

This was the early morning dog walk. Cold, crisp and with a wind blowing in from the east. I had a lot of warm clothes on and a hot black coffee in my hands.

My coffee of choice was the India Kirshnagiri and I was fully enjoying the Dark Berry, Cherry Liquor and Pomegranate flavours which were taking my mind off the fact that just one short hour later, the Bobbers and I would be plunging into those very same waters for pleasure. There really is no accounting for the ways some people get their kicks. The rewards are hot drinks, biscuits and for some of us a hottie.

But back to the coffee, Cherry Liquor is one of the flavours I can still identify after Covid has wrecked my sense of taste and smell. The coffee had all the pleasures of an actual Cherry Liquor without any of the calories. It kept my mind off the water temperature.

#479 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Beach LifeLeave a comment

My Dad was an eternal optomist. I neve knew his glass to be anything less than half full. Not that his life was always easy, but he could always find a way around difficulties or find something to be grateful for. One of his favourite moments in life was when he could declare something positive out of mediocrity or worse. Yesterday he would have declared that we had all got the best out of the day.

We took a late trip out to the beach when the tide was out. For the most part it had been a grey day but as we started the descent to the coast the sun appeared from a crack over the horizon. Giving us our first ever sighting of the Eddystone Lighthouse.

Set on a perilous outcrop 12 miles offshore it protects seafarers from harm on a notorious spot for shipwrecks. The weather conditions have never been right for us to see it on our regular visits to this beach. So without anything else we had added value to our day. But the sun prevailed.

When the cafe had an Internet fail there could have been grumpy faces but some hidden cash bought everyone a late afternoon snack, to fuel our afternoon wanderings in the unexpected sunshine.

My Dad would have said ” I think we have had the best of the day” It was his great grand daughters first time on a beach. She was a lucky girl to have such a perfect moment.

#478 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn fashionLeave a comment

This week has been a series of sartorial failures. Culminating in a pair of bright pink leggings that I thought were rather cheery in the depth of winter. I may never have worn them in the presence of people who might given an honest opinion. Apparently they are never to be worn outside the house again. In the harsh reality of bright February sunshine they do look a little odd. A mixture of Elizabethan leggings as worn by my father in Shakespearian plays in the 40’s and 50’s and comedy undergarments. Just to cleanse your minds of pink legs I will share some pink Dahlias from The Dahlia Society.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnCSKecPpdT/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

The rest of the weeks failures were not so much poor choices as poor timekeeping. I dressed in the morning for specific tasks, Dog Walking and Bobbing but then failed to have enough time to change before other tasks needed to be achieved. One day was spent in a rugged fisherman’s sweater and another layered up with thermal underwear. Both of these selections turned me into a sweaty mess when I was caught inside buildings with central heating. I will spare you any accompanying images and carry on the flower theme. Tulips and a hyacynth on the kitchen table.

It is one thing to live through the darkness of winter dressed warmly, quite another to emerge blinking into the sunlight in bright pink, badly fitting leggings!

#477 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn abstract photography, SerendipityLeave a comment

This morning was a bobbing morning and a small grandchild morning but not a blogging morning. The swim was sharp and crisp in a bright winter sunshine. Everything felt clean and fresh. We were not at an equilibrium, the outside air was 2 degrees cooler than the water temperature. I am still swimming in skin rather than a wetsuit so there is no faffing about really. Just in, then out to get colder and then in and the water feels warmer, not tropical exactly but just a little less cold.

In other news Drawn to the Valley had a Creative Table event at Ocean Studios yesterday.

Extra excitement was caused by the delivery of two old print machines. One was not quite unpacked but here is the badge of the one already installed.

#476 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Peninsular Life, Serendipity1 Comment
Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach- W. Stanhope-Fores 1885. The Box, Plymouth

The Museum where I work has had a spring refresh, lovely new exhibitions for people to enjoy in early 2023. I have loved this painting since I was a young and not because I lived anywhere near the West Country. I must have seen it when a Newlyn School Exhibition came to London in the seventies. This painting is part of the Plymouth Permanent Collection. Obviously it goes off on its travels around the world, but for now it is hanging on the wall of its home gallery. Home is the link to the other picture in this blog. Unlike Fish Sale this one is completely unknown to me and the artist who painted it is not credited. The painting is of the Sir John Hawkins Boatyard in about 1830 The boatyard was demolished in 1962 and I walk on the same location most days. The boats are much smaller and somewhere in the background is the plot of land our house would be built on later in the same century.

The church in the picture was damaged and later demolished in the second world war but the grey building on the horizon still exists. I don’t think I have ever lived in the background of an oil painting before. I buy coffee and bread from behind the boat with the flags. The boats I look out while enjoying my coffee are not quite so fancy. The built environment is hugely changed, but the winter sunsets for all who worked in those dockyards would have been a lot like this.

#475 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn ponderingLeave a comment

There is something odd going on in our house. The indoor plants are expressing a preference to living in the west facing rooms this winter. The shortness of days is one factor but the same phenomena did not happen last year. The plants in the east facing rooms started begging for attention in December, despite being looked after entirely appropriately. They started displaying teenage angst, flopping a bit, not really communicating and generally not being themselves. As they have managed to persuade us that they would be better off elsewhere the bathroom and dining room have slowly gathered more plants. A particular favourite spot is an odd shaped window where a door used to be.

It is getting rather crowded. This week’s big move was a cheese plant that had been moved into the bathroom a couple of weeks ago. His spirits were not perked up at all in our bright bathroom but less than 12 hours in the favoured window seat he was a very happy chap. The only real difference between the dining room and the bathroom is the proximity to the coffee machine.

Our coffee machine self-cleans before every brew. We collect the water in a small jug and use it to water plants when it has cooled. The water is always brown with residual coffee, this has to be the reason for the plants happiness. How long will it take before all the green members of this family persuade us to let them move to the dining room, where all the drinks are caffeinated. Soon enough they will be giddy and over-stimulated.

Exactly like teenagers.

#474 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn pondering1 Comment

Earlier this week this quote dropped into one of my Social Media accounts. It irritated me from the minute it arrived because it seems so passive aggressive in tone. Also it hit a small nerve because I know that sometimes I am not capable of forgiving and forgetting. I am not a seething bundle of angst, just rather too practical. Forgiveness is fine but surely forgetting is counterintuitive.

Earlier this week while we were decorating the kitchen we kept banging our heads on some pendant lights that are normally over a table.

The table was moved to enable us to paint the wall. Time and time again we banged our heads on the light as we walked past. Clearly we had forgiven ourselves for being so daft but also forgotten and did it repeatedly. Had we remembered and recovered it would have been a much better day.

So I came up with a quote that works so much better for me.

And for special occasions…

Clearly the last quote is not the behaviour of a fully perfect human and would not have been appropriate for the pendant light. However deleting the quote at the top of this blog, and considering other options was all the revenge I needed to recover from something unwanted dropping into my mind.

Sometimes I will forgive and forget. Other times I will remember and recover. Occasionally revenge works. It can be delicious if used appropriately, sparingly and safely.

Not everything that drops into Social Media is bad.

This fabulous quote from Jacinda Ardern made my empathetic heart sing. It will sit in my thoughts very comfortably for a while.

#473 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Art for sale1 Comment

Gallery walls and thieves. Hannah @theoldmortuary has finished the gallery wall and the inspiration for a weekends work has been hung. I bought her three original prints for her birthday from Debs Bobber, one of our cold water swimming friends. As soon as they were unwrapped their new home was planned and this weekend the plane was executed. Debs Bobber, real name Debra Parkinson is currently working on a theme of thievery. In this series a mythical creature steals the gold finial that tops Smeatons Tower, the iconic Lighthouse that stands on Plymouth Hoe.

©Debra Parkinson
©Debra Parkinson

Of course the gallery wall is just the beginning of the kitchen, dining room refurbish but it is always good to get the essentials done first!

#472 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn PaintingsLeave a comment

Cue the Rolling Stones, Paint it Black. Although to be accurate the Rolling stones would have to be singing. Paint it Farrow and Ball ‘Railings’ which is not the same thing at all. Our art collection deserves a Gallery Wall and that is the project for this weekend.

In between painting the wall F&B Railings we discovered a, new to us,park with spectacular views.

Now the dogs are not the biggest of fans of DIY but a new park is something they can fully invest in.

The views seemed to be immaterial to them but an hour or so of scampering for them and Vitamin D harvesting for us was a great break in the day.

#471 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Bobbing1 Comment
©Debs Bobber

Yesterday was a Turquoise day. It was also a day when the sea and the air were both at 11 degrees. Not that equilibrium of temperature made it any easier to get into the chilly water. Cold tentacles of icy water found their way into swimsuits or around the creases of our necks and knees.

©Debs Bobber

The weather was hugely changeable which may have created these fantastic turquoise pictures. In the picture below you can see a rain shower approaching.

These little weather patches were loaded with drenching powerful rain that devastated us while we fully dressed but were of no consequence while we were bobbing about. Earlier in the day I had stood drippily in a new art installation, learning the influences and historical events that fed the artists creativity. Of the forty or so people there I was the only one who had been under one of those cloud bursts. Excellent preparation for the afternoon Bob.

An afternoon Bob that featured 4 very different shades of Turquoise.