40 Thousand Pairs of Eyes
The exhibition was his award winning terracotta figures
40 thousand Faces looking forward at you.
The piece had a strength and an emotion which has never been beaten and I remember standing for hour and hour just feeling the power of those tiny faces
The figures do plead " what are we doing?"
" what shall we do?"
Power that, I remember kept me standing and watching for a couple of hours on a blustery Yorkshire afternoon
Facebook thoughtfully sent me this final photo this morning. It was taken years ago when I was cloudwatching on the top of Gop Hill. The Scottish terrier isn't George , it was Maddie .
Maddie was a delightfully opinionated lady who mistrusted and disliked most of the living world around her. She was grumpy and stoic and in her own way quite magnificent and this selfi showed a rare burst of affection from a lady who preferred her own company.
Like the Gormley figures, Maddie was nothing but honest
I miss her straightforwardness
Thank you John and Nigel for yesterday x
Judy
My sister Janet, Judy and Trendy Carol manning my tea tent on one of my open days
My last surviving Aunt on my father's side of the family is poorly.
Her name is Judy
She suffered a severe stroke just before Christmas and is slowly recovering.
We, the extended family have just had the ok to visit her.
And today amid the overwhelming cacophony of a general ward, I did just that.
I arrived just as my cousin and his wife did.
We've known each other since we were children and we've never seen our aunt so quiet, so still and so far away vulnerable.
We looked at each other carefully as she only half acknowledged us
My aunt was sleepy. A side effect of stroke
The physiotherapist helpers were waiting to wake her enough to transfer her into a chair.
The noise of the ward was deafening and a knew any meaningful dialogue was impossible.
I told her I would return tomorrow and I will do just that
And I then did , what I've never done to her ever before.
As she closed her eyes to sleep
I leant down and kissed her very tenderly on the forehead
The Bitch Chair
Animals teach you how important touch is
When they want body contact, no matter what reason they have for seeking it , they simply find it. Unlike food and water, contact is shared and is often a mutual thing.
Humans mix touch with all too many social taboos. I thought this the other day when a man I know from the village congratulated me on finally getting the cottage changed into my name.
As he wished me well, I sensed that he suddenly didn't quite know what to do with his hands and so I reached out and half held half shook his right hand as we laughed.
His mind wanted that contact but his head couldn't allow the physicality of the gesture to happen and as that physical warmth occurred something needy and kind and human flowed between us
Like I said, animals can teach us many simple things
The Horse
Lunch in trendy Shorditch, drinks in Lewisham, Tate Britain by the Thames and homemade soup and Bread in Catford!
The William Blake exhibition reinforced to me that he was a troubled man and I was thrilled to find my favourite painting of his , the tiny ( literally) paint on copper...The Horse.
I had a lovely time.
Cruise Singer
I know someone who is the spit of Jane McDonald
( for those that don't know Jane McDonald is a friendly Yorkshire type who made it famous as a cruise liner singer in a reality tv show)
The person I know is also a broad, Yorkshire woman who ooozes Bonne viveur like sweat and everytime I see her she tries to set me up with a date with her local practice nurse
" He's had his heart broken so is just ripe for you!" She gushed breathlessly the other day
" He has a beard AND EVERYTHING!!!"
( I wondered briefly what EVERYTHING could mean?)
"Jane" had previously found out I was single after picking up on the indentation left by my wedding ring on my left hand.
It was a true Miss Marple moment, and because she liked me, she's made it her mission to get me back into the dating game
"Shall I give him your number ?" Jane asked only a couple of days ago " He's ever so sweet.....teeth like Donny Osmond?"
I felt I had been transported into the medical Fiddler On The Roof
I'd make a grand Tevye!!!
Breakfast
Automatic pilot
Without remembering I make my bucket of coffee and eggs, avocado on sourdough
I Bake my own sourdough.
I can't blog properly in the early mornings.
I drive with the windows open until I reach the A55
By the time I get to work at 7.25 I can almost smile
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