• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

What was your fasting blood glucose? (full on chat)

good afternoon all

4.3 today

we're back from this morning's shopping expedition (safely as far as we know ), and we've delivered mum's stuff to her and had our village walk whilst the sun was in evidence
We managed to pick up Katy's worming tablet from the vet whilst we were out too, the system works by phoning the vet to book, then phoning when you arrive, then they come open the door and hand you the pill box
if you have a pet to see the vet they have put a big cage by the doorstep and you pop your pet in it phone them and then leave, they come and take them in and you pick them up in the reverse pattern. They put the pet in the cage then phone/text you to come back to get them.

Hope your day is treating you well

@gennepher - an impressive and different work today
@Muddy Cyclist - first of the new series today, really love it, especially the lacy flowers and the light (my commiserations on the 'muddy' , it's my bete noir since I started doing watercolour to wit the sky of no 1 below ).

Today's art catch up
no 1 - another try with the Windsor and Newton student sketch box, to see whether I would be able to deal better with this paint on the new paper, Nope, still a big drying shift.
I've been doing some research and because this box is around 50 years old I'm wonderiing if the unidentified blue is 'Prussian Blue' (apparently used to be popular but was less stable than the latest versions), which has a big drying shift (drying lighter and greener!) size about 6 x 9 inches



no 2 - 9 x 6 in. not done with the Windsor and Newton paints
I'm quite cheered with how the glass bottle came out
 
SaskiaKC said:
@Krystyna23040 Best wishes to your blackbird couple. Your post brought to mind the blackbird songs I know, courtesy of Paul McCartney, Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon.
Click to expand...
Great song, another we perform, solo guitar voice and Cajon with a little Recorder thrown in during instrumental. Based on a bourree, not very difficult to play, lots of tutorials on YouTube. Get Fritz out and have ago.

Blackbird" was inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's Bourrée in E minor, a well-known lute piece, often played on the classical guitar. As teenagers, he and George Harrison tried to learn Bourrée as a "show off" piece. The Bourrée is distinguished by melody and bass notes played simultaneously on the upper and lower strings. McCartney adapted a segment of the Bourrée (reharmonised into the original's relative major key of G) as the opening of "Blackbird", and carried the musical idea throughout the song.
 
Love the still life, I see what you mean with the seascape, still good though.
To mix my various sky cloud colours I use French Ultramarine, Burnt Umber and some times add a little Cadmium Red, various mixes for lighter and darker cloud effects. Always first on wet paper and chaotic control then when dry a darker mix and so on. Dab out for cloud with damp kitchen roll.
OR spray and tilt the paper and let it run with some control.
 
Painting for today's challenge to myself.
Crab apple blossom outside my potting shed...
Done between 3 different painting apps.

Took about an hour and a half...

 
@geefull thank you for two beautiful paintings. The snowdrops in the bottle are almost touchable. I love the colours of the seascape. I might not be able to go tomthe seaside but you bring it to me.
 
If your paint box is around 50 years old, there is a chance your paints have lead in them. I have an old paint box which has lead in the paint. And I have some old half pans which have lead in them. If it is Prussian Blue and if it does have lead in it, it will behave differently to current watercolours. And just as a by the by, if you have some old books, say a hundred years old, you could do watercolours using the blank end papers, with old lead paints and they would look like old paintings. Very effective.

Actually I like number 1 painting very much. I love the way you have done the sea, and the sky too...

And if they are lead paints, don't lick the brush to get a sharp painting tip on it..

I love the glass bottle. I cannot paint glass for the life of me...a beautiful sketch.
 
Last edited:
gennepher said:
Painting for today's challenge to myself.
Crab apple blossom outside my potting shed...
Done between 3 different painting apps.

Took about an hour and a half...

View attachment 40406
Click to expand...
Really like that. Very much reminds me of last garden and surrounding orchards at this time of year. An hour and half well spent - a triumph. Thank you so much for sharing.
 
Last edited:
ianpspurs said:
Really like that. Very much reminds me of last garden and surrounding orchards at this time of year. An hour and half well spent - a triumph. Thank you so much for sharing.
Click to expand...
Thank you @ianpspurs
My garden is full of apple blossom, pear blossom, crab apple blossom, lilac blossom, and cherry blossom at the moment! Not seen this much blossom in a long time.
Glad you liked it.
 
jjraak said:
so..."how much wood can a wood chu......."

brilliant, even though you do refer to him as your first husband to keep him on his toes,

i can see why you kept him on...

a man who can turn his hand to anything, and thinks out side the box, top fella.
Click to expand...
He is a 'top fella' but of course I have to keep him on his toes.
 
Krystyna23040 said:
The Paul McCartney blackbird song always pops into my head whenever.I see or hear a blackbird. Then just the first 2 or 3 lines get replayed in my head over and over again for ages.
Click to expand...

I grew up knowing "Bye Bye Blackbird," one of my father's favorite pop songs. So when Paul's "Blackbird" came along, I was predisposed to love it too. Although it is a good song in its own right!
 


Love the pics,

and it's so great to see that thinking outside that box, to make the less normal seem normal

fair play to your vets,( if only they were in government)
finding a way to still look after our pets,
while keeping all safe.

if only the clowns in charge of the UK, could even BEGIN to think about THAT level of planning

How to keep our more vulnerable & elderly safe as well as their carers, would be nice right now.

Why DO they have to be constantly shamed into doing SOMETHING ?

before they even begin thinking about the parts of the herd, they clearly haven't considered it worthwhile to
even bother including in their so called 'Planning'..doctors, nurses, patients, carers, etc etc..

evil and incompetent beyond belief.

ship them out, and bring in the VETS....
 

These are beautiful. Thank you for posting them.
I love all of your seascapes, and I really like the water on this one, and the sky. Their moods seem to match, like weather.
And the still life is lovely. Very restful.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…