#764 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

What is the texture of Christmas?

Once grief plays a part in Christmas it is a bittersweet gathering where absences are as much a part of the festivities as are the real world participants. The trick to making those sadnesses more bearable is to see them for what they are, a deep reflection of love that has been lost. Then those memories can sit more comfortably with the messy, overwhelming, joyous, communal event that this Christmas is.

Christmas was celebrated in our home with four families gathering from different parts of the world. Small cousins squeezed together in a hallway when normally thousands of miles separate them.

There will always be thousands of miles between some of our family members but they make their presence felt in different ways.

Merry Christmas.

#763 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity2 Comments

Merry Christmas blogreaders. We have celebrated our first Polish Christmas on the 24 th and are, I suppose,well-established seasonal over-eaters one day earlier than is normal. So many calories so little time. The last wrapping is done and the vegetables for the next big meal are prepped and ready to rumble. Pigs need wrapping in blankets. Let’s see where the day takes us.

#762 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

I used to travel the tube often enough that ‘ Poems on the underground’ were a daily treat. Now I am an infrequent ‘tuber’ any underground poem is a treat.

Not every featured poem hooks me in but this one was rather marvelous.

The poems change monthly and I only discovered today that there is a website where you can read the poems that have been chosen for the current month.

https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/culture-and-heritage/poems-on-the-underground

Poems on the Underground was launched in 1986, following an idea from the American writer Judith Chernaik, to bring poetry to a wider audience.

Discovering this website is a small pre-Christmas gift to myself. Certainly serendipitous. You may be seeing more poetry in these blogs. I am hopelessly lazy about reading and enjoying poetry since I left London.  My daily commute made me complacent that poetry would just drop into my lap more or less daily. I realised today what I have been missing.

#761 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Travels1 Comment

And so it begins. The dogs are on a mini-break in Cornwall and our train has just crossed Brunel’s rail bridge taking us on an adventure into the rest of the world. Home-made coffee in hand, thank goodness, as the buffet car has failed to make an appearance for this train. There are plans for today but we are also allowing serendipity to guide us. How exciting.

#760 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn StonehouseLeave a comment

Storm Pia arrived on the longest night of the year in Stonehouse . She wasn’t particularly expected in this neck of the woods but must have had a change of heart and blew up trouble for Cornwall and the Tamar Valley. She had a powerful strength about her.

20 mile an hour winds with gusts of 48mph made our chimneys and fire- places scream like banshees. There is a lovely security in living in a house that is 150 years old and has seen many a storm and survived a very close brush with German World War ll bombs. Pia was able to do her psychedelic worst and we could just feel snug indoors.

I always feel a huge sense of relief once the longest night has passed. However grim the winter gets we are heading towards the light and that can only be a good thing.

#759 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Words1 Comment
Winter Solstice ©theoldmortuary

Yule is associated with the Winter Solstice, so in the northern hemisphere, this Sabbat is celebrated around December 21st.

©theoldmortuary

Yule Traditions and Symbols

When the days got shorter and colder, candles and bonfires were lit, and everyone gathered to lure the sun back. Everyone brought food and enjoyed the feast during the festival. They danced, sang, and decorated their homes. These traditions are very similar to what we call Christmas.



©theoldmortuary

“…This is the solstice, the still point
of the sun, its cusp and midnight,
the year’s threshold
and unlocking, where the past
lets go and becomes the future; – Margaret Atwood

#758 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Stonehouse1 Comment

Unexpected twinkle. Yesterday I took the car for a thorough wash and brush up. I realise that sometimes celebrating serendipity is perhaps a little improbable but this little diamond heart was laying on the floor of the garage where the hand-wash men work their magic.

Blogging requires me to use a tracking system for my photos so I have a level of proof of my serendipitous finds.

Car cleaning was predicted to take an hour so the dogs and I went for a wander in the backstreets nearby. Somewhat unkindly I looked at this building and thought that there was not much chance of this particular Phoenix rising any time soon.

Only to discover that this Phoenix had led quite a fabulous life in the past.

Not only fabulous but curiously thought provoking . It’s one thing to be a good skater capable of winning competitions but getting the prize home, a live chicken or pig, would seriously impede celebration.

Until yesterday I was unaware Plymouth was an International Mecca for roller skating. My local district, Stonehouse had 3 rinks. 9 in total for the city of Plymouth. Books have been written about it.

Link below to more info.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2008/11/13/plymouth_skating_feature.shtml#:~:text=And%20it%20planted%20the%20seed,the%20time%20to%20write%20it.%22

Rather an interesting hour while my car was getting twinkly.

#757 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Royal William Yard, SerendipityLeave a comment

And so the December  days get shorter and darker but the white cows have gotten a whole lot brighter. These cows are a nod to the original function  of the area of the Royal William Yard where they can be found. Historically cows were delivered here to be slaughtered  and then packed onto Royal Navy Ships. The dogs are thrilled that the cows are unbelievable colours, so much less scary. Before the curious cows cropped up, this blog was going to be about the comforting colours that can be found in an open fire. I could not have predicted cows in shades of pink and orange. I am ignoring the green one. I searched for old photos that made me feel warm, just by looking at them. I hope they make you feel snug. Apart from the green cow of course.

This pink and orange was at a festival in Hong Kong.

This shot was a pocket image when I was wearing orange linen.

These are feathers I found at Borough Market and the one below is an abstract painting of Plymouth Barbican in the festive season.

And the red monks below were walking in a park in Seoul.

The vivid wall below was at Tate Modern a few years ago.

And finally Tulips .

Below, the cows in less gaudy times.

#756 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity2 Comments

Busy waters @theoldmortuary HQ. The first of our Christmas family have arrived. Who knows when I will snatch blogging moments for the next couple of weeks. Contact will be maintained but when I can slip into the blogspace is going to be more serendipitous than usual.

I love this image of an iconic British phone box. Familiar as a symbol but represented in a neglected and dilapidated space. The half hour or so when I research and write the blog are a daily piece of quietude. Inside the blogspace is a meditative and peaceful zone. The inside of these old phone boxes were a similar sanctuary where we would communicate with unseen people just as I am now. Even in busy waters.

#755 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Food ( but this is not a food blog), Serendipity3 Comments
A beady-eyed owl

Quinces have been an unusual favourite fruit for some time, probably since I was about 5 and aware that my grandparents were often to be found,in the autumn, cooking the very fragrant fruit in a load of different ways. The tree of a neighbour always provided a glut of the lumpy apple shaped fruit. How thrilled was I when my beady eyes alighted on the word Quince on a trip to the local coffee shop.

Then, as if by magic, a newspaper recipe also included Quince.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/dec/17/nigel-slater-recipes-for-goose-fat-chicken-and-quince-custart-tarts

I’ve tried growing a Quince tree in both London and Cornwall. An epic failure on both counts. But recent success at making my own Quince Jelly makes me think I should try again in my backyard in Devon. Maybe it will be the third time lucky.