USA seems to have a couple of hot spots, even though the President was confident it wouldn't be a problem there. Italy has an outbreak which appears to be spreading and UK is bracing itself for more cases over the next three weeks.
Nasty.
We've not really been hit with a new virus like this for some time and as with all new little darlings, they bring with them some deaths and quite a few people very ill.
Let's hope we remain free of this angel for a bit longer and it takes us into the warmer weather which must come at some point.
In days of yore, washing of hands was a skill taught to all children, and mothers would chime the standard phrase, "have you washed your hands?!" knowing full well, their little angels hadn't and were now scurrying back to do it.
A quick lick of the cold tap and a cursory flick onto the trousers and they were off to do something more interesting instead.......but at least the initial training was there.
I've watched people in public toilets coming out of the loo and just standing in front of a mirror primping their hair or adjusting their make-up.
Hand washing? Nope, not on their radar.
As yet, I've not heard the singing of "Happy Birthday.." (something that is long enough to wash your hands) by the chaperoned children and many mothers are still too skimpy on the hygiene of hands.
I learnt a valuable trick on board a cruise liner;
- wash your hands with the soap provided
- dry your hands thoroughly
- apply sterilising hand gel
- open door with a paper tissue and dispose of the tissue in a bin.
For me, wearing lipstick helps too. I don't want to smudge it so I keep away from my face as much as possible.
Anyway, enough of that, let's turn to my other passion (well one of them), gardening and all things Nature.
The pots I planted after Christmas have come into their own and have given me colour all winter. Even when it got really windy, they withstood the intense whipping of the winds around the corner of the house.
As you will notice in the foreground, my pelagonium is also in flower. Being indoors it has had a false start to the warmer weather and with continual feeding has embraced the concept of May-time very early.
I don't believe one ever stops learning about painting or drawing. I also believe the one thing that stops many people trying is their fear of not being a Rembrandt straight away.
I've been studying these skills for years and I still feel about as good a Rembrandt as a ten year old's best offerings, but its never stopped me learning and slowly, over the years, I have begun to notice improvements.
Some of my work I cannot share here; they are birthday cards for friends and haven't necessarily been sent yet. But here are three I can share;
an imaginary place we were invited to produce, illustrating our use of perspective.
a classroom exercise of water colour, utilising our ability to over paint the density of the
subject so as to create realism
classroom exercise to show a combination of the three skills above.
Can I just apologise for the change in type part way through? For some reason, its fine in edit mode but as soon as I publish it goes into odd sizes. No idea why and am unable to clear it, sorry.