It gives me great pleasure to publish a Bungus painting entitled 'Night Surgery' and, like the 'Old Man and Dog' the back view adds intrigue. The clock, the lights and the cast pool of light are great and were I judging a competition I could waffle on for a good 15 minutes about its strong points. At least 18 out of 20 I think, but of course I didn't see any others. I feel it has an Edward Hopper feel to it, and the artist agrees.
n.b. - He is always saying it to everybody else, so I'll say it to him. "The customary 50p piece for scale would have been useful". An excellent piece of work nevertheless and congratulations.
The 'cup of tea' at Reg and Maureens was to commemorate Reg's 70th. Many Happy Returns Reg. We had a great time and it was nice to meet everybody. I deliberately hadn't given it prior publicity because Y says I blog too much about our arrangements and I thought it would be inappropriate to start on somebody else's, unless asked to do so of course. Great grub and I had a portion of Maureen's famous trifle, in spite of my non-alcohol stance. It was well worth it too!
Picture 2 is so that you can see and understand better the 'hound drain-spouts' mentioned yesterday. Nothing at all to do with today's events which have been quite normal. Blood tests,
both INR and kidney function. Then we went over to Carlton to have Y's nails serviced and I just managed to visit my favourite charity shop. Our office phone has been unsatisfactory for some time; it's really old fashioned and doesn't display the number you have rung etc.,. And...... On a shelf, just inside the door of the charity-shop was a Panasonic cordless for a fiver, exactly the same as our existing household set-up, and as you can see I've charged it up and it works perfectly. Serendipity rules !! However, I must erase all the previous owner's data. I've no idea who 'Malcom' is but he was careless about letting his phone go to a charity-shop without reformatting it. 
After that it was over to Joan's to take her out to lunch. The Treetops was our choice and all our meals were v.good. Y and I plumped fr the plaice fillet in bread crumbs and Joan had the poached salmon salad. I make no apology for going for the pensioners' menu because the portions are manageable.I am keeping a weather-eye on skies now, to find a sky which justifies the 'black over Bill's mothers' description for Jill' benefit. But of course, like policemen, when you need one, there aren't any around. If storm clouds come along with the same frequency as policemen it will be next year before I see one.
Comments..... Bungus..... I have always found Emerson most astute. Your comment about the stars "but I could lie on my back in the desert (no other light) and just look at them for hours" made me think, I wonder if he speculates as to where his tent has gone !
Jill...... Willow trees are a gorgeous green I agree, and I don't know of a major painting which features them. Sounds like Impressionist territory I would guess. Well worth a google tomorrow though ! Watch this space.
You are quite right about my sheltered life and the subject of knickers. There was a local saying the 6% proof Stella lager used to rot knicker elastic, which I thought quite clever.
Quotation time.....
"Never trust a man who speaks well of everybody"
John Churton Collins
We watched Delia but I didn't find it very inspiring. With several things I thought why not just buy them ready made? She has introduced some v. good ideas but this week wasn't a good week.
Sleep tight, catch you tomorrow. A Karen day and Y is meeting June C for lunch. Quiet day for me.
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Sleep tight, catch you tomorrow. A Karen day and Y is meeting June C for lunch. Quiet day for me.
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3 comments:
Do you mean that this painting belongs to Bungus or that he actually painted it? If the latter, I am most impressed....that is a talent I didn't know about!
Was that the last Delia last night? I sort of had that impression. The Portuguese custard tarts - the real things (there is a little cafe where the ships dock in Lisbon, they make them on the premises and serve with bowls of hot chocolate - and I bet there is no Birds Custard Powder in them)are fantastic, and not nearly so bright yellow as that - and smaller.
Thanks for publishing the picture, which is A4 portrait size. In transmission it has become squashed to a square, which makes the man appear somewhat stockier.
Impressionism would certainly suit willows, I agree. If I ever start painting again (I had a forty year gap the last time!) I might try it.
Well done that miser! I wouldn’t have the patience to attempt reformatting a phone (although I am prepared to take an hour undoing a knot in a piece of string to make it reusable but that, of course, does not need the technical know-how which is one of my weaknesses).
I don't really mean miser. Neither do I mean 'lickpenny'or 'muckworm' as thrown up by Roget who also suggests 'codger' so we'll settle for that.
I took a 'black over Bill's mother's' photo recently but it doesn’t really do the job. I’ll email it anyway.
I like your reworking of the Holmes / Watson joke ‘the tent has gone’.
The Stella Artois story is not one I have heard. Did one spit it on the underwear; and how long did one have to wait for it to work.
On similar lines, I recall being told that, in America, less Coca Cola than was drunk than was used to procure abortions.
I like the quotation. It conjures up a similar thought, ‘never believe the enthusiast’ (one of Danny’s keep-fit fanatic friends persuaded him into eating two tins of tuna a day, every day).
Jill:
I like 'Foyles War' too. I think it captures the period surprisingly accurately.
I found the first part of the new ‘Waking the Dead’ intriguing. Will there be the usual let down in the denouement?
I do like light showers for walking in or, preferably, a Scotch Mist. But, strangely, over nearly 15 years of walking Ralph, I would say that we seldom encountered heavy showers; perhaps twice a year at most.
I am tempted by the Baxter's Highlander (unless it based upon the sheep which is likely, in which case the oxtail might make a suitable alternative). And the idea of making it the basis of a stew appeals.
Why didn’t Delia think of that instead of some of her more outlandish suggestions (I didn’t see the last programme and have missed most of the series but do not feel deprived).
Yesterday I did a lambs’ liver, bacon, onion and tomato casserole (plus a bit of Bisto) which I enjoyed with potato & swede mash, calabrese and carrots.
As for G’s sheltered life, where was he in the sixties? I could give you a clue but ...
I actually painted the picture, from a photo taken in the doctors’ surgery on a one megapixel, credit card sized camera? Your kind words of praise are appreciated but I should, perhaps, point out that a number of my paintings did not turn out as envisaged!
A few years ago, I entered a TV competition to find the best amateur portrait painter. The heat I was in was held at the Lowry Centre in Salford Quays. I had no trouble with the first stage (a half hour self portrait in charcoal which I completed in ten minutes). The second stage however was a painting from life of a celebrity. In our case this was Toyah Wilcox (charming) on a swing dressed in very frilly dress. I chose to do just the face, A4 size (others did the full scene on huge canvases). It started off OK but I should have stopped after five minutes or so as it gradually deteriorated. One of the two art critic / portrait painter judges commented ‘You could use it to frighten the children’ which I thought was a touch harsh! I didn’t get through to the following day’s final round which was won by a teenage girl (I had sat next to her in the first round and feared that she had overworked her pencil drawing and might fail) who did the second and the final round in monochrome, as she did in the Grand Final in London where she won.
On this day (14th April):
1759 Death of Handel
1865 Lincoln shot
1904 Birth of John Gielgud
1907 Birth of Papa Doc Duvalier
1925 Birth of Rod Steiger
1931 Alfonso XIII of Spain deposed and exiled by Republicans
1931 1st edition of Highway Code
1940 Birth of Julie Christie
1951 Death of Ernest Bevin
1956 First videotape demonstrated in Chicago
1983 First cordless telephone in Britain
I don't like oxtail and much prefer a shower to a bath. In fact I haven't had a bath since we had the shower installed.
I saw the Masai Warrior Chief being interviewed and thought he was delightful. They ran in footwear made of old tyres didn't they? Good to get some Sports Desk news from RG - welcome aboard!!
I had hoped to get to Reg's last Sunday afternoon but ran out of time - sorry Reg, I hope you had a good time and enjoyed your birthday. Many years ago, Maureen made a sherry trifle for a housewarming party I held. I think I was the only person at the party who didn't get any of it and now I've missed out again. Poo, as Elaine would say.
This afternoon I went to the Dixies Arms for the last half hour of Elaine's shift and we got talking about chips and vinegar. As an aside the conversation was very much like the offerings on this blog as it all started with a joke about Walter Raleigh and Elizabeth I (see soon). Anyway the considered opinion was that pickled onion vinegar is the best thing to put on chips, far superior to malt vinegar apparently.
Walter Raleigh comes home from one of his voyages and has an audience with Elizabeth I. "Well, Walt", she says, "what have you got for me this time?"
"Try this, Liz", says Walt. "Just hold it in your mouth between your lips."
So Elizabeth does this whilst Raleigh sets light to it. "Now suck on it", Says Walt.
Elizabeth immediately starts coughing and says, "That's foul, what is it?"
"A potato", Walt replies.
I love the Bungus painting (as I did the earlier one with the dog). Such talent; I'm envious. Worth a 20 out of 20 in my view - 18 seems harsh! To my eye it seems to have a more impressionistic feel than Hopper's work which I think is more photo-realism, but who am I to say? I don't think we need a 50p piece as there is plenty in there to convey scale.
In Lincs we used to talk about the sky being black over Bill's onion patch which, I guess, is just a ruralisation (new word?) of the same phrase.
The rotting of knicker elastic reminds me of another joke:
A woman is standing at a bar and she is wearing skin tight jeans. so this man says to her "Blimey, how do you get into those?"
"Well", she says, "a double vodka would be a good start."
Rob
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