That’s stunning..so much detail!
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I prefer what she has been doing with oils. Pastels are pretty much crayons… I keep telling her that she should have been a Marine (@Deacon211). 
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OK it is starting to go to her head… Not only is she now an ‘award winning artist’ she was asked if she had any more paintings for an upcoming exhibition. Which she dropped off yesterday, one of a cat that I quite liked.
Meanwhile, she has been churning out a painting a week. The latest is experimenting with different paper/canvas.
This time I have managed to get a couple of before an after shots.
Step 1: Choose subject and draw an outline.
Bonus points if you can guess the most important thing in that photo!
Step 2: Paint
It is easy according to her, but IMHO her approach to painting is:
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That is awesome!
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My simpit is no more. She who must be obeyed has always said we need new carpets upstairs. The time has come, tomorrow. So my office, I only use it as a simpit has been stripped.
@VictorK2 would have loved this story. Did you know very briefly he was a Royal Marine but it was not to be. He was very proud of this achievent. Few are selected to even be considered
So what am I patting myself on the back for? Certainly not my simpit. Instead its a dog walk and a historic throw back to my youth before I entered aviation. I played a tiny part in the war against terror. We called it something else during the ten years I was directly deployed on this task with the Intelligence Corps. It was at this time I was dubbed Scoop. Since 1975 I was taught how to fight but more importantly how to fall over. For 26 years in total I sweated on the combat matts being beaten up by every one of my soldiers who wanted to have a go at “sir”. (Once I became an officer in year ten my name was changed to “Psycho”.)
I took loving Zeus for a walk.
Stepping out of the house I saw a small fluffy white doggie and owner. Zeus loves other dogs which he shows by charging them at Mach 2 while barking loudly. Intimidatng for the other lead holder. I turned around calling Zeus to heel. I then let the lead extend as we moved away from the other dog. Quickly the other doggie disapeared down a little track. That should keep him clear of us so I turned around, extended the lead some more and walked to the end of the lane we live in. My attention wandered looking at the view which is spectacular. TBC instantly.
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At this point the other doggie returned. Zeus knew his job was to make a new best friend so he lit the burners and charged, barking loudly. I was at an angle of 45 degrees with my legs pumping hard. Not hard enough. I went down. Training kicked in without me thinking about it and I mostly broke my fall. I let go of Zeus. As a 71 year old in a months time I expected broken pelvis or more. I performed an almost textbook landing, even a three pointer. My slap with both forearms almost saved me. My three point contact however was my chin, my nose and my glasses. I was soon aware that my nose felt like it was broken. My chin was sore and my glasses had ejected from tge crash. I also heard the other owner screaming as my 60kg monster bore down on him. The two dogs met, wagged tails and became pals. I appologised to the other lead holder and introduced myself. He said “your bleeding” which was an understatement. Face v gravel at about six knots accelerating is not nice. Zeus had been invited to walk around the Lord of the Manors garden (all 3 000 acres), a chance I did not wish to miss as it would be a repeat offer if we did not disgrace ourselves. I had put a white shirt on for the occasion. That now had gravel stain and blood all over it. I recovered myself and Zeus to our home and performed trivial first aid. Fliss my wife was away. I put a T shirt on and then took Zeus for his promised walk in the grounds of the aristocracy. I never looked in the mirror.
I feel I deserve a pat on the back for delivering Zeus his promised walkies.
I didnt break anything. Training from years ago worked. Most injuries are from contact with my glasses which amazingly survived. But I looked but with more blood:
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Oh wow, that looks tough!
Good job on powering through and still walking the dog! Be careful and watch out for weird symptoms the next few days.
And uhm, where can I get a tank-grade glasses frame?
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ouch… but well done on the landing I have seen far worse injuries from far less impacts 
but please be careful between you and @schurem with his surgery we dont need any more drama here at the moment 
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Seconded, I can’t find anyone making a civilian version of the military birth control glasses.
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Oh that looks painful. Heal well, we dont bounce as well as we used to. Glad you didn’t break anything. 
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@Jenrick Specsavers. They are expensive but…
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What is a weird symptom? This is me you are talking about. Why do you think they called me “Psycho”?
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I would have a call with the doctor ASAP to check and ask what to watch out for
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When I met Fliss, she was a mature student studying to be a nurse. She qualified but only worked as one during the Covid pandemic. She has me on bed rest and light duties. No parties till @schurum @kommimute @Freak come
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Good choice in specs, believe they are the Nathanial design… according to the eldest daughter, she is an assistant manager in specsavers 
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Headache, vertigo, changes in your state of consciousness, short term memory loss, anything that points to neurological issues.
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Knowing what he survived, a little headbutting the gravel shouldn’t have destroyed anything that wasn’t already thoroughly destroyed 
Tuck and roll old man! Have you forgotten?!
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I had some to of the best years of my career from about 2018 to 2020. One of the key things during that time, was that I would go swim almost every day at work over lunch. I got the point where I was banging out 1.25 miles in under an hour, and my health and attitude was in a great place. It’s been about 5 years since I have been in the water.
I am for once doing the smart thing and not overdoing it to start. I only did 500m’s, 400 in fins, and 100 breaststroke for the shoulders. My goal is to get back to swimming 4-5 days a week if I can, but even just 2 days a week would be such an improvement over 0 days.
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As I went down I did little thinking. I remember one foot to the right was grass so my prefered landing area,but i would never hit it in a good posture if I went for it. Then it was like landing a glider on one wheel, my nose.
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Better safe than sorry when the head is involved.
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