Don’t come the raw prawn with me

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Today I wanted to be here ‘in case the sh*t hits the fan’. Mum had a fall today and was taken away in an ambulance. She should be in a nursing home they’ll say. Well ‘don’t come the raw prawn with me’ cause we all know she just ‘won’t cop that’!

That old chestnut

People hint to mum that she should think about going to a nursing home. I’m sure ‘that old chestnut’ will be ‘back on the cards again’. I know she ‘wouldn’t have a bar of it’. Thing is oldies sometimes have no say in it. That really ‘makes mum’s blood boil’. See mum is such a private person. She loves her garden and her own space. The whole idea of being in hospital just ‘does her head in’ let alone a nursing home. She’d be ‘out of there in a flash’ if she could.

Stick to your guns

I was hanging by the computer ‘playing the waiting game’. My ‘heart was in my mouth’ when a call ‘came out of nowhere’. It was a real ‘blessing in disguise’. A stranger calls. She shares of how her nan broke her hip in her 90’s and was sent home after she recovered from a hip replacement. Her nan was ‘happy as Larry’. This stranger says “make sure you tell your mum to ‘stick to her guns'”.

It’s been a while since I wrote a piece on phrases and idioms. I hope these ones help you in understanding this uncertain space. A space where the very thing that draws family together can also pull them apart. We all want what’s best for mum but we all have different opinions.

Phrase/Saying

  • Be here in case the sh*t hits the fan – be close by in case something bad happens
  • Playing the waiting game – Not sure what to do so watch and wait
  • Heart in your mouth – Anxious
  • Came out of nowhere – Unexpected
  • Blessing in disguise – Something unexpected or unfortunate that results in something good happening
  • Does your head in – Makes you angry or frustrated
  • Out of there in a flash – Leave in a hurry
  • That old chestnut – Repeating the same old story so it becomes boring
  • Back on the cards – Discuss something that had been spoken of previously
  • Wouldn’t have a bar of it – (Australian saying) Won’t tolerate or put up with it
  • Make your blood boil – Make you very angry
  • Don’t come the raw prawn with me – (Australian saying) Don’t pretend you don’t know
  • Won’t cop that – Won’t take that. Not happy about that
  • Happy as Larry – (Australian saying) Very happy
  • Stick to your guns – Don’t give in

#Poetry – Wet and wild doggy day

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Happy barks resound across a damp and soggy noon

Dogs just glad to be let out, their barks create a tune. Some high some low. Some fast some slow. A baritone or two, create a chorus on the grass that’s loud and fun and true.

They march through giant puddles and with each resounding bark, they wag their tails, run and splash, in this wet and sodden park. 

DEE GRANT 2021

Photo by Jack Geoghegan on Pexels.com

Inspired after listening to all the dogs at the local park today. It has been raining heavy for over a week. There are floods in Greater Sydney and up and down the State of NSW. A house was even swept away. Today a break in the weather so lots of dogs and their owners out and about.

#Poetry – Sucker for an MRI

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The MRI sends blasts of sound, a magnetic force spinning round. With headphones on I greet it’s song. It’s weird loud sounds to soldier on. A veteran now I know it’s way, and settle in for my stay. Bleep bleep bleep and a…boom boom boom, still another 40 minutes ’til I leave this room.

8 things to know are below.

Here I am again. I’m an MRI veteran so thought I’d share how I go about things in this space.

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As the tide of information dissipates thumbnail sketches appear like cocktails at a resort

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After many years of university study, words become scrawl. Scrawl becomes a treasure trove of inspiration. Text turns into it’s own motif. The greater the need to focus the more text becomes a rhythm. A rhythmic sea of text that appears and disappears like waves on the beach.

Unexpected words from a speaker cause a flurry of scrawl barely readable. Then, as the tide of information dissipates, thumbnail sketches appear like cocktails at a resort. 

Discerning the message – Dee Grant – 2002

Drawn at a professional development weekend on teaching ethics. Discerning the Message was drawn on a Best Western notepad while listening to a keynote speaker.

BY DEE GRANT

Art Yoga – Warm Up

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BY DEE GRANT(with audio) I have a great treat to get your mind thinking outside the box. This sketching warm up exercise is about giving a bit of a yoga stretch for your mind. Are you ready?

Equipment

  • Pencil
  • A4 pieces of paper (4 pieces)
  • Pencil sharpener
  • Capsicum (I am using a capsicum. Capsicums have an interesting shape)

1st sketch

  1. Sketch the vegetable how you normally would. (5-10 min)
Sketch as you normally would

2nd sketch

  1. Sketch the vegetable again but this time without lifting the pencil off the page.
  2. Without lifting the pencil off the page, draw an outline of the vegetable so it takes up most of the page. (3 minutes)
Outline without taking the pencil off the paper

How did you go?

OK, lets challenge your brain a bit.

3rd sketch

  1. This time put the pencil in the hand you don’t normally use, your least dominant hand. You know what comes next!
  2. Without lifting the pencil off the page, draw an outline of the vegetable so it takes up most of the page. (3 minutes)

I’m always intrigued by this exercise. There is a totally different feel to each work. It’s almost like it was drawn by another person.

Use your other hand

Game to take it one step further?

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