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| Shadow- pencil drawing |
This phrase might be familiar to you. Contrary to the commentary in the film, Nottinghill it is still in my lexicon and gets used at appropriate times. As you know, we are still in lockdown over here in the UK and we all await news today of the type of lockdown to expect in the coming weeks direct from the horses mouth - Boris the horse, that is.
Yesterday was a bit of an oooops for starters. My friend and I set out in the late afternoon for our bike ride. It was the hottest day of the year so far - 26c. We cycled along the Grand Union Canal to the old railway track and then joined the Grand Union again til we got to Willen Lake. Nobody in the world would see the hordes gathered there and imagine we were a country in isolation. People we picnicking, sauntering in large groups, cycling and generally filling up space. Social distancing or physical distancing didn't exist at Willen.
The next oooops was realising that if we didn't push hard, we wouldn't get back for Iftar. I was hungry and I hadn't eaten since lunch time so my friend must have been ready to eat his knuckles or perhaps a horse called Boris. Fortunately, I am now quite familiar with the cycle paths and although they all seem the same when you first encounter them, I now know which settlement leads to the next and so to home. This was a 15 mile jaunt in all.
We made it in time to have our fusion meal of fish and chips - hummous - dates - you get the picture.. These mixtures really do blend well and not just because we were famished. On the way back home we passed a number of takeaways that were doing a brisk business. Barbecued smells wafted from back gardens and these added to my own urgency to eat. When your mind is on food it becomes an obsession, everything and anything draws your attention to your empty stomach. In fact, I could have eaten Boris.
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| homemade hummous |
This morning while I was in the living room drinking coffee a bloody great crow - a 747 sized crow to be honest was in my garden. I think I now know why my fat balls of bird food had previously been decimated and the bird feeder left on the ground. When bird feeder had previously been pulled off the fence, I thought it was the neighbour's cats. I was wrong.
It was the crow. He was at the wire that hooked the feeder to the fence and not the food. Clever crow. This time he had been foiled. It wouldn't budge. Instead he left with a lock of my hair that was still in the garden from my recent hair cut. Just think, my hair will be part of his nest. I like that idea. Next time I see the bird feeder on the floor, I'll just have a quick oops a daisy and try my luck at fixing it back more firmly. I promise not to curse the local cats.
I am still drawing - I watch Grayson's Art Club and do his project each week. The first week it was a portrait. This week was animals. I did Shadow - I am sure you remember her. After all, it was you who found her brother and her under a car outside Dairy Farm. Am I drawing any differently? I don't think so. I am just doing it faster and more intuitively. Drawing is fun.
As you know, I am still trying to brush up my Arabic. It is getting better but I am certainly not brilliant. I have started to learn the script. Funnily enough, my friend seems to be picking up more English than I am Arabic. The other day he knocked something over and said oops a daisy. It came out so naturally. If naturally English phrases were part of a national test for residency - he would pass with flying colours.
I realise how much Cutting Edge and English File is lacking in language. I can see a future for me filling in the gaps teaching EFL learners when to drop in an appropriate "Oh bugger". What do you reckon, Marms? Is there a future in it?
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| VE Day from my front door |
Keep the selfies coming, you handsome chap..
Love and hugs
XXX
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