#621 theoldmortuary ponders

The usual early morning view, but photographs don’t tell the whole story.

Out on the horizon and beyond there are warships taking part in Thursday Wars. A weekly Royal Navy plus others, event when war-like scenarios take place all around Plymouth Sound. What these tranquil views can’t show is the sound of rapid fire gunshots and weaponry being practiced out at sea. Conversely they also can’t show the amazing and constantly changing fragrances that were floating in the early morning air.

On mornings like this the dogs push for a longer walk than usual, if I am enchanted by the fragrances they are overblown by the smells of late Spring. Without dogs I would have been tempted to swim, but that is scheduled for this afternoon. But our extended walk did present a long anticipated treat.

A cinema is nearly ready to open close to home, no more schlepping out to a character-less box, on an entertainment park or going to the new but disorientating cinema in the city centre.Time to enjoy films and the experience of being at the cinema.

And after the dog walk, breakfast of a spinach smoothie while doing some window-box care.

May is my favourite month.

#615 theoldmortuary ponders.

Returning from holidays means that normal routines need to be re-established. The dogs have been away at their second home. A rural idyll with more than an acre of beautiful landscape to scamper in.

This morning it was very much back to work for them. Hugo hunting seaweed and Lola wrestling sticks. Yesterday I was back bobbing in 12 degrees of Atlantic sea after 42 degrees in Bangkok. Yesterday was a birthday bob for a friend and ex colleague.

It was a significant birthday, marked as they sometimes are with hair growth in all the wrong places.

It was a fun time with catching up on all sides with old friends and making new ones. Bobbing is a very social activity. There has been a massive development, involving our favoured area to swim, Firestone Bay. It has been incorporated as an Official Swimming Zone. Which means the water has to be tested for quality and safety and that certain amenities must always be available close by.

My morning dog walk started at Firestone Bay this morning and it was as beautiful as normal. A film crew from the BBC were there to report on the successful bid to become a designated swim zone. Below is a video of the news clip that will be on National TV for most of today, unless a big news story bounces it into oblivion. The dogs were unable to keep quiet for the whole 6 minutes. And I fidgeted a bit as I didn’t expect the segment to be quite so long.

Have a good day.

#613 theoldmortuary ponders

The after-glow of a successful Open Garden event greeted me yesterday evening. Whilst on holiday in Thailand and Hong Kong I still ran the Social Media posts for a National Garden Scheme, Open Gardens event in Stonehouse. Trusty photographers sent me photos of the plants, visitors, cakes and musicians taking part in the two day event. My Social Media posting was both one step removed and half a world away. On my return last night I took a few minutes,and a cup of mint tea, to enjoy the calm of the space in post-party mood. The space was also gearing up to host a social evening of croquet and nattering in the evening sun.

The events of the weekend were a success and there has been praise and thanks to everyone who contributed their time and skills to making the event a success.

This gardener did not get an email or Whatsapp message of thanks, but they were confidently enjoying the warm afterglow of success on the tarmac path.

This rose, that clambers near the public toilet block, was full of perfume for everyone to enjoy. While the Arum lily enjoyed some evening shade.

Part of the charm of these gardens and Tennis Club is the amazing location.

Even the wild flowers put out a good effort over the weekend and yesterday evening.

As did the daisies in the club itself. Skilful mowing had allowed islands of daisies to play a part in the weekend of horticultural show-offery.

An English garden on a May evening is hard to beat. I wish I could look this good after a weekend of partying.

#548 theoldmortuary ponders

Dew Point

Not exactly a low tide blog today. But ‘ Tide and Time wait for no (wo)man.’

My personal tide has been a little on the low side, hence the somewhat late Friday Blog. I have been a blog gatherer with so much new stuff to write about and no time to do it.

Hardening off near the looks.

The last two days have been a bit mad, planned things failed to materialise and unplanned things filled the gaps.

My usual early morning blogspot was taken by early morning photography for a Tennis Club that I do a little Social Media work for.

Then every available moment to blog was filled with imperative stuff. The most exciting, was taking delivery of this seasons art cards to be sold at exhibitions.

The first card has already gone to a new home as this evening we toddled off to a party and used one as a thank you card. Rather too much Prosecco was involved and, lucky for you all, I was only briefly guilty of over- sharing. Time to, moderately, share one of this mornings pictures of an old wheelbarrow taking a rest in the corner of the Tennis Club.

Stone House Lawn Tennis Club

#530 theoldmortuary ponders

A day with no plans started in the pink and then as these days do, it filled in unexpected ways. Chores were done, the winter coats were bagged up and put up in the roof. We moved stuff into the garage in the sunshine, the smell of cooking food and intriguing music wafted from the nearby monthly food market. In winter months the market is held indoors and the sounds and smells don’t reach us. But today the market is out on the green and the smells are too good to miss.

Blue skies and only slightly wet grass made the market a lovely interlude between some very odd jobs. Including admin.

I am 48 hours late for a deadline for an art exhibition. I am not sure where the hours have gone this weekend. I was properly duped by a friend for April fools day. Thinking a friend was in a pickle and without a phone signal I was busy researching for her…

Time when I should have been applying for the art exhibition…

Totally hoodwinked, my hat is off, never have I been so gullible on April 1st. Next year I will be more alert. But for 2023, the joking world is her oyster.

This particular friend has given me a wonderful way to respond to righteous disagreements. So I forgive her and applaud her success

The sort of disagreement where someone has reached an impasse or stalemate in negotiations.

“Oh well” people will often say ” the ball is in their court”

Which suggests that one side has handed the power of resolution to the other side.

Gills’, under the breath, response to that, which I have now used a couple of times in meetings, is-

” Oh yes, but the bat is up my arse”

Immediately grabbing the, hidden, power back in one deft sentence.

Onwards into another week, closer to Spring or Autumn, depending on your hemisphere.

#524 theoldmortuary ponders

Bobbing has not had many mentions in March. Today was my third dip of the month and the most photogenic by a very long way. The sea temperature has risen a bit to 9.4 after last week’s 8 degrees. Just a brisk there and back in the bay this morning followed by some excellent quality chatting and a Tim Hortons coffee to warm me up. I think I have cracked swimming year-round without a wet suit. Last year I gave up my wetsuit in April and made myself feel very poorly. I then went back to wearing the wet suit and didn’t get out of it until late May. Anxious not to go down a similar path again, I have cut down on my time in the water but stayed just in a swimsuit since last May. There have been two dippings without the swimsuit and I decided a skinny dip a month is the new target for 2023. These events may not make it into the blog.

The sunshine today is gorgeous, as demonstrated by the plant convalescence corner in our dining room.

I’m not sure these plants will ever move to other places in the house. They exude happiness from every leaf and frond.

Happiness also exuded from the dogs when their afternoon adventure took them to just the other side of the water from home, for a walk, and they got Mount Wise park to themselves and could do chasing and wild running on a grassy hillside, unbothered or interrupted by any other dogs or humans.

Their human companions were not so lively. Our morning swim was fabulous but sometimes swimming in these cold temperatures produces severe lethargy a few hours later. Even caffeine in the afternoon didn’t give us the required fizz to do anything more than a circuit of the park with a few stops to admire the view. It was important to make the most of the day though, the weather forecast for the rest of the week is dire.These blue skies and blue seas are unlikely to be back until April.

©Debs Bobber

#517 theoldmortuary ponders

The first day of Spring washed in on a wave of persistent, penetrative rain.

Drips were the tiny gems of the day hanging around waiting to catch the sunbeams that resolutely failed to arrive.

Raindrops when gathered together turn into puddles. So one puddle two ways is the endpoint of this blog. It is a puddle we have been to before, but the alternative, a variety of shots of room settings at Ikea is one step too far for a blog that has no problem celebrating the mundane. IKEA is almost a global experience, all around the world people were sat in IKEA cafes, at the exact same time as me, pondering on their various domestic needs. Ours were simple and we managed the, almost impossible, task of getting out with only one extra item. A tool to fish spaghetti out of bowls or saucepans.

The first day of Spring, raindrops, puddles and IKEA.

#505 theoldmortuary ponders

A big day yesterday. After 5 years with my trusty smart phone it was time to move on. Just like me the phone was getting a little cranky. It had not had the best of starts. Almost on day one I had dropped it and the back had crazed like a windscreen. But as luck would have it the silicone cover I had ordered arrived on the same day and the injury was largely unseen and forgotten until recently, when things started to get a little loose. Charging became a bit hit and miss and sometimes the touch sensitivity was just a little off. Under normal circumstances I would have just upgraded, but Huawei no longer sell phones in Europe. So here I am, the first blog on a new phone. A lot to learn so only small pondering. The top picture was generated by Google Photos and shows the location of an International Womens Day gathering that I attended yesterday. There was a lot of cake.

There were also fabulous books, clothes and bric a brac to exchange.I returned home with less than I took, which is a positive, and full of good food and lovely anecdotes from everyone I met there. Donations were made to the Disasters Relief Fund and the total raised will be divided between the ongoing work in Turkey and Ukraine.

And so, first time to push the publish button on my new phone.

#489 theoldmortuary ponders.

I have been having a bit of a fiddle superimposing photographs with watercolour washes. This is not the look I was aiming for, even in digital art happy accidents happen. I love the coppery tones that a splash of watercolour brings to this sunrise. Suddenly a real photograph becomes fantastical. More like a stormy sunset but facing in the wrong direction. This is absolute serendipity, I could never have planned this but accidents happen.

#463 theoldmortuary ponders

©theoldmortuary

Yesterday I pondered on the difficulty of painting a sea picture in January. Compared to May, for instance. Two months both 31 days long and yet nothing alike. January for me is a month to be filled with stuff to do. Which is just as well as January features 31 days of the, mentally, longest days of the year, so plenty can be done, but not necessarily thrillingly done. January is a month to be endured and got through. Lightness and brightness are savoured and celebrated like small victories.

January is the under-painting for the rest of the year. The last Friday of January is a double joy day. The end point of the official working week and the last Friday of the longest month.

Shuang Xi ( Double Joy)

Happy last Friday in January.

P. S The header image was created in 3 stages.

An original snippet of a water colour. Added to

A back lit photo of beach pickings. Added to
Shuang Xi ( Double Happiness)