Peanuts Please!

so a hand full went out of the window,

which pleased the fox,

and one of the magpies, which kept a discreet distance,

then time for a curl up and a doze, as I was typing the blog Mr. Tony called from Thailand, we chatted away, he mentioned in passing that there were so few people out there now, Diana was at work, for myself I had a few things to do, firstly drive to the BP station and fill the car with diesel for our trip at the weekend to Bournemouth, also I called into a few of the shops in Downham that sell fresh fruit and vegetables, I was looking for some cobnuts and chestnuts, but no success,

next stop Waitrose, no queues today, I called in for some Cinzano and spiced rum, and by a lucky happenstance found that they were selling Kentish cobnuts, so I just had to buy half a kilo of those,

I parked behind the cinema next, to draw out some cash for next week in the bank which was opposite,

I parked near to Kingfisheries in Croydon Road, 

I had a look at some of the stock, Mr. Grumpy, the oscar, (Astronotus ocellatus), well he looked grumpy to me!

some bright decorations for the aquarium,

and some new aquariums for sale, in white, black,

and wood finishes,

plus plenty of aquarium ornaments,

some brighter than others!

lots of filters and foods as well, everything you need for the aquatic hobby,

my last stop of the day, Beckenham Building Supplies, to pick up a butane cylinder for our gas heater, for next weeks trip to the beach hut, it might be cold,

arriving home it was time to fit the new heater/thermostat into the aquarium, in fact all I had to do was drop it in and plug it in, hopefully it will last longer than the last one! in the afternoon, I spent some time on the telephone, calling Steve, Duncan and George,

after my evening meal and one form A Touch of Frost, Diana called, so off to the bus stop and home, where it was feet up for the last of the chestnuts as we watched one from Midsomer Murders and one from New Tricks, then for us we were off to bed.

Calais, In Northern France,

once was a destination for lace manufacturers,

to escape economic and social difficulties, English textile artists and engineers immigrated in the late 19th Century, often establishing clandestine operations that defied patent laws by bringing specialty machines and practices to the region, all photographs © Nespoon,

in no time the town became a thriving business manufacturing lace employing around 40,000 residents,

with this in mind Warsaw-based artist Nespoon, celebrates that rich history through an oversized textile that envelops the façade of a factory, 

 the public artwork features delicate mesh and floral elements that cover the side of the Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode, the city’s fashion and lace museum. Nespoon chose this particular motif, which dates back to 1894, from the institution’s archive before spray painting its intricate details onto the building,

you can find more of the artist’s textile-based pieces on Behance and Instagram, what a fascinating story and artwork.

This Post Might Be Of Interest,

to anyone that is involved in videoconferencing from home,

thanks to Studio Ghibli, you can hide piles of laundry and errant messes while videoconferencing from home with one of 400 stills from classic animations, above When Marnie Was There,

again from When Marnie Was There,

the renowned Japanese animation studio recently released an online archive of images— which boasts iconic frames from films like Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo and Spirited Away and Isao Takahata’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya available—for free download, above The Wind Rise,

another from The Wind Rises, if you use this one remember Basil Fawlty and whatever you d'not mention the war!

above from The Borrower Arrietty, you can explore the entire archive and watch for upcoming projects, which include a new Miyazaki-directed film, on the studio’s site, if only I knew what video conferencing was!

If You Enjoy Drinking From Fine Glasses,

and happen to be a camera buff,

these could appeal to you,

Canon has teamed up with a craftswoman to create drinking glasses inspired by the camera lens and made from the traditional Edo Kiriko craft of cut glass,

two varieties of the “Lens Glasses” are being produced. One is modeled after light while the other is modeled after the sound of a shutter, both invisible yet essential elements of the camera, I am not quiet sure of the description, but there it is,

the glasses, priced between 13,000 yen, at todays rate £95.90 or $123.00, and 18,000, at todays rate £132.82 or $170.36, are being made by Noriyu Yamada, a young, certified artisan who works at glass studio Saihou, 

Edo Kiriko, the method of cut glass used to produce these glasses, is an offshoot of Satsuma Kiriko, a type of cut glass craft that dates back to the mid-1800s, 

when the craft was almost completely wiped out due to several wars that ravaged the Southern region of Japan, artisans traveled north to Edo (current day Tokyo) where the craft was rekindled,

the glasses will be available for order in December and will take roughly 3 months to ship. Right now, you can request to be notified when they’re ready to take orders,

and here is 36-year old artisan Noriyu Yamada, who joined glass studio Saihou in 2007, all I can say is 'Cheers!'.

We Had 2 Visitors First Thing In The Morning,

the male fox,

and one of the cubs,

this one without a damaged leg, Diana was off to work, I spent the day hovering and watering the plants, I should have mentioned the day started off on Sunday with a major disaster, Saturday evening was cold, and regrettably the heater in the aquarium did not switch on, we lost all of the fish and shrimps, it was so sad, they all had grown to a nice size and were getting on so well, we are not going to replace them for a couple of weeks, firstly I will pop down to the shop to buy a new heater/thermostat, also next week we will be away for a weeks holiday to sunny Bournemouth, we have rented a beech hut there for then next 6 months, so when ever Diana gets some time off of work we can pop down for a few days, or a week or so, also we have booked a fishing trip in a small boat for next week, a first UK boat fishing trip for Diana, so excitement all round! 

Diana was home in the early evening so it was feet up for Enola Holmes, at first we did not know what to expect, especially as we had watched Jeremy Brett play Sherlock so many times, but as it happens the two Sherlock brothers do not receive a lot of screen time, but Enola does and was great at it, hopefully this will pave the way for a sequel, we enjoyed the film that much, we rounded off the evening with one from New Tricks, the episode where Jack retires, and so did we, as the program finished we were off to bed.

I Can Imagine This Scenario,

being played out in a number of homes,

photograph Erik McClean/Unsplash, Christian Uriel, a 30-year-old man in Mexico moved in with his mother after loosing his job, Christian’s mother explained that he had come to live with her at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, She was happy to help him, but after four months of him just sitting on the couch and playing video games all day, her maternal instinct started to whither, to make matters worse, the 30-year-old man didn’t help with anything and expected everything to be served to him, as Mexico started recovering after the lockdown and businesses started re-opening, the woman asked her son to look for a job, so he could contribute to the family budget, but he completely ignored her and continued on as a couch potato, what to do? his mother admitted that in an act of desperation she called her sister and together they threw Christian out of the house, pouring water on him and hitting him with brooms, Mexican newspaper El Comercio reported that Christian Uriel complained that he was offended that his mother threw him out and by the way she did it and that’s why he filed a complaint against her, yes that is correct, he allegedly reported his own mother to the authorities for kicking him out of the house, last Wednesday, Mexican media reported that the  30-year-old man denounced his own mother and aunt to the before the Mexican Prosecutor’s Office, accusing them of assault and harassments, the court has yet to make a ruling in this case, it is only a guess, but as some counties start to come out of lockdown, I can see this happening to a few other households, or maybe I am wrong?

 

Luckily,

apart from the fact that I need new hair, teeth, have to wear glasses to read, and need to loose a lot of wrinkles,

I am pretty much OK, but it must have felt so bad when as a youngster, Mikishi confided in a classmate that she dreamt of becoming a model, only to have her secret shared with other colleagues who would later mock her for it. Even the friend she had trusted laughed at her, asking her if she looked in the mirror lately, “I hated my face so much that I didn’t want people to see my face, so I didn’t like walking outside or getting on the train. That’s why I even had my parents pick me up from school by car,” Mikishi said. “Also, my mentality was very unstable, and I would suddenly burst into tears during class. I thought I couldn’t go on living living like that, and when I graduated I was prepared to break the ties with my friends. I confessed to my mother that I wanted to have plastic surgery as soon as I graduated.” Mikishi told Japanese magazine SPA! that she decided that she wanted to undergo plastic surgery in high-school, after seeing how serious of an issue appearance was to her daughter, Mikishi’s mother agreed to pay for whatever procedure she wanted done, as long as she consulted a doctor first. The very first day after graduating high-school, Mikishi went under the knife for a full eye incision, ptosis reshaping and a procedure on the outer corners of her eyes, now several procedures and 4 million yen ($40,000), she has a totally different look, if you want to keep up with Mikishi, have a look here and here, how fortunate that she has such understanding parents, now where do I get hair, teeth, eyes corrected and a heavy duty face lift?

Using Models As Your Canvas Is Not New,

but I have never seen body art as good as this,

these are the work of artist John Poppleton, who combines his love of painting and his knowledge of photography to create stunning landscapes that glow under black light, all photographs © John Poppleton, 

above, 'Tree Tops', “Like most artists over the ages I feel the female form is just more pleasing to look at in art,” Poppleton said. “I could use the excuse that it’s because I’m a man attracted to the opposite sex but even female body painters prefer to paint on women over men.”

'Lanterns And A Castle', the idea came to Poppleton early one morning in 2010, when he happened to be sitting in a hotel bed,

'Northern Lights on Mother & Daughter', He was a professional photographer at the time, “stuck in wedding and portrait photography for more than 20 years,” by his own admission. But that morning his lifelong fascination of black lights, the human body, and the world around him “unexpectedly collided.”

'Lightning Rod', the results are stunning,

'Rain Forest Waterfall', you can see more of his work on his Facebook page, and better still look at some of his videos here, what fabulous paintings.

After A 6 Day Week,

it was Diana's day off,

to the Elm Tree we went,

for our Sunday lunch,

'Cheers!', with a pre-meal sherry,

and almost a little sip for Diana,

who chose garlic prawns for her starter,

pate for myself,

we both decided on roast beef,

and there was lots of it, in fact we were so full we went with out a dessert,

another pose outside,

then to the bus stop and home, where it was feet up for another couple from the sci-fi box,

starting with The Astral Factor, in which the killer whilst in jail learns a neat trick, by using his mind he can become invisible and kill the 5 women that testified against him, will he succeed? you will have to watch and see!

we followed that with The Galaxy Invader, the films are getting more up to date as we pass the halfway stage in the box of 50 movies, this one made in 1985, just a pity the special effects were not up to much, the story line was better than most though, with the alien being harassed by the humans the aliens normally kill,

 

in the evening we tucked into some of the chestnuts as we watched Daybreakers, a vampire film with a slight difference, there are not enough humans to supply 95% of the population, who are vampires, with human blood, oh dear what to do? we rounded off the evening with one from Poirot, then for us we were off to bed.