alithoughts

London Snow - Robert Bridges

2012-02-09T18:08:00.002Z

London Snow

by Robert Bridges

When men were all asleep the snow came flying,

In large white flakes falling on the city brown,

Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying,

Hushing the latest traffic of the drowsy town;

Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing;

Lazily and incessantly floating down and down:

Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing;

Hiding difference, making unevenness even,

Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing.

All night it fell, and when full inches seven

It lay in the depth of its uncompacted lightness,

The clouds blew off from a high and frosty heaven;

And all woke earlier for the unaccustomed brightness

Of the winter dawning, the strange unheavenly glare:

The eye marvelled - marvelled at the dazzling whiteness;

The ear hearkened to the stillness of the solemn air;

No sound of wheel rumbling nor of foot falling,

And the busy morning cries came thin and spare.

Then boys I heard, as they went to school, calling,

They gathered up the crystal manna to freeze

Their tongues with tasting, their hands with snowballing;

Or rioted in a drift, plunging up to the knees;

Or peering up from under the white-mossed wonder!'

'O look at the trees!' they cried, 'O look at the trees!'

With lessened load a few carts creak and blunder,

Following along the white deserted way,

A country company long dispersed asunder:

When now already the sun, in pale display

Standing by Paul's high dome, spread forth below

His sparkling beams, and awoke the stir of the day.

For now doors open, and war is waged with the snow;

And trains of sombre men, past tale of number,

Tread long brown paths, as toward their toil they go:

But even for them awhile no cares encumber

Their minds diverted; the daily word is unspoken,

The daily thoughts of labour and sorrow slumber

At the sight of the beauty that greets them, for the charm they have broken.

A poem which came to the mind of one of my walking companions today as we trudged through old snow towards Rockingham. From poems about woods, to snowy woods, and on to snow in London . . .

Stopping by woods on a snowy evening - Robert Frost

2012-02-03T09:29:00.003Z

Another poem about woodands - and very appropriate for today - snow on the ground.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Kipling - The Way through the Woods

2012-02-02T22:22:00.006Z

They shut the road through the woods

Seventy years ago.
Weather and rain have undone it again,
And now you would never know
There was once a road through the woods
Before they planted the trees.
It is underneath the coppice and heath,
And the thin anemones.
Only the keeper sees
That, where the ring-dove broods,
And the badgers roll at ease,
There was once a road through the woods.

Yet, if you enter the woods
Of a summer evening late,
When the night-air cools on the trout-ringed pools
Where the otter whistles his mate.
(They fear not men in the woods,
Because they see so few)
You will hear the beat of a horse's feet,
And the swish of a skirt in the dew,
Steadily cantering through
The misty solitudes,
As though they perfectly knew
The old lost road through the woods. . . .
But there is no road through the woods.

I'm posting this because we walked through the woods, and couldn't remember who wrote the poem. I thought it was de la Mare - it has something of the feel of

Walter de la Mare - The Listeners -

"Is there anybody there?" said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grass
Of the forest's ferny floor;
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller's head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
"Is there anybody there?" he said.
But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still.
But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller's call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry,
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
'Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:--
"Tell them I came, and no one answered,
That I kept my word," he said.
Never the least stir made the listeners,
Though every word he spake
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake:
Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone,
And how the silence surged softly backward,
When the plunging hoofs were gone.

and

Robert Frost - The Road not taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Some people have refused honours

2012-01-28T08:38:00.000Z

Here's a list from the Guardian. Includes Henry Moore, LS Lowry and others.

Curmudgeonly egalitarian speaks out . . New Year Honours - Why?

2012-01-01T17:30:00.003Z

I'm quoting George Orwell here, from 1944 - and still we have the system.

"Looking through the photographs in the New Year's Honours List, I am struck (as usual) by the quite exceptional ugliness and vulgarity of the faces displayed there. It seems to be almost the rule that the kind of person who earns the right to call himself Lord Percy de Falcontowers should look at best like an overfed publican and at worst like a tax-collector with a duodenal ulcer... "...When you remember that nearly the whole of the rest of the world has dropped it, it does seem strange to see this flummery still continuing in England, a country in which the very notion of aristocracy perished hundreds of years ago. The race-difference on which aristocratic rule is usually founded had disappeared from England by the end of the Middle Ages, and the concept of "blue blood" as something valuable in itself, and independent of money, was vanishing in the age of Elizabeth. Since then we have been a plutocracy plain and simple. Yet we still make spasmodic efforts to dress ourselves in the colours of medieval feudalism. "Think of the Herald's Office solemnly faking pedigrees and inventing coats of arms with mermaids and unicorns couchant, regardant and what-not, for company directors in bowler hats and striped trousers! What I like best is the careful grading by which the honours are always dished out in direct proportion to the amount of mischief done: baronies for Big Business, baronetcies for fashionable surgeons, knighthoods for tame professors. But do these people imagine that by calling themselves lords, knights and so forth they somehow come to have something in common with the medieval aristocracy? Does Sir Walter Citrine, say, feel himself to be rather the same kind of person as Childe Roland (Childe Citrine to the dark tower came!), or is Lord Nuffield under the impression that we shall mistake him for a crusader in chain-armour? "However, this honours-list business has one severely practical aspect, and that is that a title is a first-class alias. Mr X can practically cancel his past by turning himself into Lord Y. Some of the ministerial appointments that have been made during this war would hardly have been possible without some such disguise. As Tom Paine put it: "These people change their names so often that it is as hard to know them as it is to know thieves.""

- 'As I Please', Tribune, 07/01/44.

The whole caboodle makes me cringe and I hate it when people I respect accept honours - the latest being David Hockney, who receives the Order of Merit. OK, not a knighthood, but why does he need it - we surely know how good his work is, and he has made plenty of money. I love his early drawings and his prints of California and Yorkshire. And I admire his capacity for work.

I may be an egalitarian curmudgeon - well, not maybe - I am, of course.

Well, bugger my boots, I hadn't remembered he'd refused a knighthood in 1990.
Graun article

Great use of Twitter

2011-12-27T14:03:00.001Z

I love this idea.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-16332930

Redwing on the holly

2011-12-18T14:42:00.000Z

But no camera to hand, and couldn't bear to move while it was there in view. Lovely creature, like a thrush, but smaller, and with red under the wings, clearly visible when it fluttered to keep its balance and grab the berries on the ends of branches. Not many berries left, though. I checked the other bush, and almost missed the goldfinches on the feeder.

Higgs-Boson joke

2011-12-18T10:26:00.002Z

at several hands' distance via facebook

Higgs Boson walks into a Catholic Church. Priest says 'What are you doing here?'. Higgs replied 'You can't have Mass without me'

Pendle Hill story

2011-12-15T15:32:00.000Z

I'm noting this link - as a rationalist, I think one thing - as an enthusiast of dark stories . . .

A link to synch with idiosyncracy

2011-12-13T15:29:00.001Z

Too good to miss - too long to copy - click on title or click here - the vagaries of English orthographical diversity.

More family stuff - baby brother is 60!

2011-12-13T12:40:00.002Z

A few pics from the party at the White Hart in Duffield last weekend. I didn't get any decent ones when it was dark and dance-time.

Poetry and Science

2011-12-10T09:15:00.001Z

Excellent short article by Ruth Padel.

My thoughts for what they're worth -

Seeing the full moon in a clear sky on a cold night like last night can take the mind on a journey both poetic and scientific. I think the urges to understand and to express mystery have the same source - our endless curiosity and need to communicate and speculate.

Visit to Leeds, and Abbey House Museum

2011-12-08T18:05:00.001Z

An afternoon with Rose in the (Kirkstall) Abbey House Museum, where the toys kept her occupied for a good two hours on a wet and blustery afternoon.
Then I realised I hadn't taken any pics of Isaac, since he'd been at school all day, so here's one taken next morning.

Guinness cake

2011-12-02T22:28:00.000Z

I made two of these 'pre-Christmas' cakes today. Slightly altered recipe - no mixed peel, but currants instead. Not bad considering I bought the ingredients from memory.

La Belle Dame sans Merci

2011-12-01T17:21:00.002Z

I didn't know this Keats poem was based on a 1424 French poem by Alain Chartier La Belle Dame sans Mercy.

There's an interesting article on the poem and on Keats.

Full text

Festival of Christmas lights

2011-12-01T16:38:00.001Z

I spotted my first house decorated for Christmas, and illuminated, on the evening of November 30th. At the bottom of Rockingham Hill.

Eilidh goes skating

2011-11-27T15:25:00.000Z

Harry's pencil drawing of Eilidh on her new roller skates.

An anecdote about translation

2011-11-27T12:12:00.000Z

Confession time - I haven't yet read the article, but I couldn't resist passing on this little story from the comments beneath it. I don't care if it's true or not, and I'm sure there are just as many rushed and stressed Irish and Spanish people as there are laid-back English and Americans:

The Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh, and a Spanish professor were on the radio discussing translation. In order to illustrate his point about translations failing to carry the finer nuances of words, the Spanish professor asked,

"For instance, in Irish, is there any word which means the same as "mañana"?

"Indeed," replied Kavanagh,"we have several words in Irish that mean the same as "mañana". None of them, however, carry quite the same sense of urgency!"

Kiddy art - just for fun

2011-11-26T10:07:00.000Z

Leonie posted one of Eilidh's pictures on Facebook.

She claims that all she did at primary school was stick beans and macaroni on paper plates! Not so, Leo! Though this was done at home, as far as I remember.

Prison's great for lapwings

2011-11-09T11:27:00.002Z

I'm not sure what the story says about modern farming methods.

The reason the lapwings ended up in prison is the ground, which is flat with short grass, rich with other plant species, and holds plenty of insects for the growing chicks to eat. Lapwings nest on the ground, and the open, flat spaces allow them to spot would-be predators. The land has never been reseeded, fertilised or treated with chemicals.
Because it is an area where no humans tread, it is also free from people who would disturb the birds' new home, the Prison Service adds.

Good luck to them, and whoooo knows, they may do the prisoners some good?

People thinking

2011-11-06T08:22:00.003Z

Two links from the BBC website magazine - both written by people who think . . . both hidden away under A Point of View. I spotted them today, and the Self one was published in late October.
Will Self on euphemism and warfare

Mary Beard on tyrants

Goldfinch

2011-11-04T12:16:00.003Z

I know they're not rare, but until this year we've hardly ever seen any on our feeders.

Taken through the kitchen window, and enlarged from the original, so definition not all it could be, but it's a start!

Day in Leicester

2011-11-03T20:46:00.005Z

Yesterday, we hit the nearby city. After the ritual of coffee and blueberry muffin, and the essential purchase of shoes and trousers, I wandered around, amusing myself by playing with (a few) of the camera settings.

I only wish I could understand the blog settings and get things to sit on the page where I want them!

Still and all, I more or less find my way round Leicester city centre these days - it hasn't played that disorienting street swivel trick on me for a while.

And finally, lunch in the museum cafe and a browse around the dinosaur fossils exhibition.

London aquarium visit - 2

2011-11-02T09:15:00.000Z

London aquarium visit

2011-11-02T09:09:00.001Z

This drinking lark is a serious business!

I love the patterns on the rays.

St Medard(us) , Little Bytham

2011-10-30T12:06:00.005Z

The name on the church struck me as we drove through Little Bytham last Friday. I have never seen it in England before:

The church is a Grade I listed building. It is dedicated to two 6th-century French saints, St Medard and St Gildard (or Medardus and Gildardus); the dedication is unique in the UK. Virtually unknown in Britain, St Medard is still well-known in France, with at least 25 towns or villages named after him (as St Médard or St Méard).^[2] Gildard, thought to be his brother, is less well known.^[3] The villagefête is held annually on or near St Medard's feast day, 8 June.

St Médard is particularly known in France for his association with bad weather - and once, as a child, was protected from rain by an eagle which hovered over him.

His feast day is celebrated on June 8. It is believed that, as with Saint Swithun, whatever the weather on his feast day, it will continue for the forty days following, unless the weather changes on the feast of St Barnabas (11 June).

One day, soon, I shall make time to visit the village, which was once a railway junction. The East Coast mainline trains still run through on a viaduct.

and talking of weather . . . Brooklyn's had a foretaste of winter.

Halloween

2011-10-25T14:39:00.011+01:00

A lot of people in the UK (England, in particular) decry Halloween as an American import. In fact it's based on a long tradition.

From wikipedia

In Scotland and Ireland, Guising — children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins — is a traditional Halloween custom, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.
The practise of Guising at Halloween in North America is first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood.

When I first came to Corby in the early 1980s the local kids would dress up and go round neighbours' houses, saying rhymes like:

I'm an Aberdonian
I come from Aberdeen
I've come all the way to Corby
to get my Halloween

The sky is blue
the grass is green
please may I have
a Halloween?

Now they're more likely just to say 'Trick or treat' but it is really just carrying on a long tradition of children 'begging' at certain times of the year. We always had 'Penny for the Guy' and used to go carol-singing around neighbours' houses - and not for charity, either.

All generally good fun and a way for neighbours to meet local kids.

I spent Halloween 2007 in Brooklyn - it was delightful to see the elaborate decorations on certain houses, where children were obviously welcomed.

I'm afraid the home-made cats' ears didn't work very well.

The shops on one of the main avenues were nearly all open that evening and handing out candy goodies, and there was a good-natured parade with music.

One of the decorated houses

A store giving out candy

The traffic lights are not part of the costume

She looks a bit spooked? It was getting cold!

And another lovely idea - share or give a scary book!

Autumn

2011-10-23T17:02:00.002+01:00

I'm a little puzzled by autumn this year. It has a shabby feel. Leaves aren't changing as they often do to bright flames, but seem to be shrinking into dirty green then brown.
I went out to snap some autumn this afternoon, berries are good, Virginia creeper is red, but not a lot of golden. Maybe I should have patience and wait for autumn-yet-to-come?

Oh, I did spot my first pumpkins in a window!

berries

Virginia creeper looking a little wind-ravaged

some kind of seed pod

poppies flowering in late October

In our local pocket park

Another tomato post

2011-10-22T10:33:00.003+01:00

Here they sit, inside, ripening - I don't want to feel obliged to find too many green tomato recipes! The round tomatoes are from two plants. The plum ones are from another two - but not so prolific by a long way.

I heard tell there was a frost last week, but so far, though it has certainly been cold, I haven't seen frost. Maybe I should get up early?

Updated tomatoes

2011-10-12T15:54:00.002+01:00

Doggy bags - go for it.

2011-10-05T12:08:00.002+01:00

I enjoyed this article on the Beeb website.

It brought back memories of a lunch with a friend in Brooklyn at the Trattoria Mangia, where I found two large panini a little too much and they insisted I should take one away with me. I looked for someone hungry - and found one - my daughter, who'd spent the morning with her friends and hadn't eaten.

Welland Valley Art Society Autumn Exhibition until 14 October

2011-10-02T17:35:00.008+01:00

We've just been over to the private viewing and opening of the exhibition in Stamford. Harry has four paintings in the show.

Half Dome, Yosemite

Girl in a Hat

Lady with Cat

Then we spent a relaxed afternoon in the sun by the Welland.

Unfortunately, I left my camera card in the computer, so no pics of the ice-cream van, registration F7AKE, nor of all the people enjoying the weather.

A few more garden snaps

2011-10-02T12:11:00.006+01:00

This probably illustrates my haphazard approach to tomato cultivation. Plants bought from the local shop at 50p a throw. Planted in a trough, then transplanted into this 'border' - I dug in some home-made compost. Then I cleared off for three weeks or so, and tried the 'two chances' method. After strong winds, I staked them and tied them up. I eventually chopped off some leaves and pinched off unwanted flowers. Now, I'm watching the weather forecast for early frosts!

I keep chucking banana skins under the plants, hoping they will work their ripening magic - all to do with ethylene gas, I think.

The hydrangea, in a large pot, has recently been allowed more light - I've chopped down the purple clematis as it's finished flowering.

Happy pumpkin month

2011-10-01T12:21:00.004+01:00

Happy pumpkin days everyone!

Though it has felt more like mid-summer, and everywhere has been in festive holiday mood, from out-door cafes, to riverside walks and public parks, people are outside, smiling.

Trees are turning golden, but there is lots of green - my tomatoes are ripening, and I keep a weather eye on forecasts - no frost yet.

Edison on opportunity

2011-09-25T22:37:00.000+01:00

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

-Thomas Edison

A bit preachy, but it amused and informed me. Am I in 'self-improvement mode'?

Wirksworth Festival

2011-09-12T08:23:00.023+01:00

A day out in Wirksworth, Derbyshire . Pictures, music in the streets and more.

On the main street near the market square

Greenhill

What a view!

The StarDisc at the top of Stoney Wood

Various people at the StarDisc.

Clypping (embracing) of the Church

The clergy and choir sing round the church

The congregation join hands

Inside St Mary's church

The Wirksworth stone

and t'owd man

a lead miner with his pick and 'kibble'

On Wirksworth's rive gauche, or should that be the riviera - Le Mistral

and a cuppa in Linda's kitchen before leaving for home

for Harry's video.

Blackberry heaven

2011-09-09T17:24:00.003+01:00

I've been promising myself for two or three weeks that I'd go and pick some blackberries. Only a panful, but enough for a couple of crumbles, along with apple. They're bubbling gently on the stove now. Autumn - crab apples , sloes, blackberries - all there to be enjoyed.

I passed two men with metal detectors, scoping a field, saw a couple of buzzards, and finished up walking uphill back to the village, with the chance to look back over the valley in the warm sun.
Oh, and the crumble was delicious.

Silliness

2011-09-06T09:48:00.003+01:00

I'm not entirely sure why, but there's something about the sky and the colours that makes me think of tall ships, instead of . . .

. . .

In the space between
perception and reality
lies imagination

sea or sky
canvas or steel
escape or everyday

Depth of field . . .

2011-09-04T10:53:00.005+01:00

My son-in-law would be proud of me? All photos taken with 75-300mm lens.

The first one fully automatic settings - Shutter speed 1/200; Aperture 5.6. Foreground with mini-crab apples in focus, the rest blurry.

For the second picture I used the Av (aperture priority) setting at 8. Shutter speed set by camera at 1/125.

Giving greater depth of field, though foreground slightly blurred.

For the third one I set the aperture at 10, the shutter speed was 1/100. Even more depth of field.

Not entirely comparable, since I changed the shot slightly each time, but maybe I'm beginning to learn something. I like the third one best here, because you can see the whole height of the wall in the bottom left corner.

And - I should probably carry the smaller lens with me.

2011-09-03T17:15:00.001+01:00

This phalaenopsis orchid thrives on the kitchen windowsill - north-facing, never too cold or too hot.

Feeding the addictions

2011-09-03T16:42:00.007+01:00

How much coffee do they think I need?

Well . . . I guess they know me too well.

As for the other addiction, last Friday the boots held out ok in the serious all-day wet weather, though some damp came in from above. They'll get another application of wax before I go out again.

Since last week I've had two wonderful walks in dry weather wearing the shoes - comfortable.

Walking in the wet

2011-08-19T13:12:00.007+01:00

My new under-thirty-quid walking shoes are definitely dry-weather affairs. They seem to soak up the water from all directions. Not for many a moon have my feet been quite so wet.
To be fair to them, nor had the rest of me, supposedly waterproof clothing notwithstanding. Time to revamp my walking wardrobe - I've been lulled into a false sense of good weather security. Lucky that they could sunbathe and dry out today.

Back to boots when rain threatens . . .

The shoes have been sprayed, the boots have been waxed, fingers are crossed . . . who says women are obsessed with shoes?

The rain gods - are they with me or agin me?

2011-08-13T10:49:00.007+01:00

I go to hang some washing out . . . spots of rain . . . so I think maybe I'll make a start on clearing the shed . . .and I just heave a load of stuff on to the lawn, and it pours. . . back to old faithful computer, and lo! the skies are clearing. Maybe it's time for a coffee and a scone? And even better - Harry's just volunteered to make it!

At the risk of rabbiting on about nothing to a greater extent than usual - yay, I cleaned out the shed, and stuck two loads of washing out, and had scones with clotted cream at coffee time.

And I managed to take a carful of wood, plastic and metal rubbish to the recycling centre - local tip.

Another random entry:

Written as part of an article about self-editing for the aborted WD mag.

'A poem is never finished', said Paul Valéry, 'only abandoned.' This is the current abandoned version. To be fair the whole enterprise this was planned for was abandoned too!

How do you get your poem to scan?
Do you bang with a spoon on the base of a pan?
Do you count all your words or just hope that they flow
Do you edit, fuhgeddit, or let it all blow?

Do you sing words along to the tune of a song?
Do you bounce rubber balls or yourself off the walls?
Whatever you do keep it up if it works,
Make poetry fun with these physical jerks.

Do you let raw emotion roar out on the page
or force the caged tiger to swallow his rage?
Do you prune out the clichés with merciless knife
and throw out excess words that drain it of life?

Can you rhyme all the time or is rhyming too pat?
Do you scour the thesaurus, or do without that?
Sometimes you may find that a word from a book
can lead you up roads where you’d not thought to look.

March 08

The original was more fun, because the mechanism was visible.

Lynn Knight - book about Chesterfield, and a family with three adoptions

2011-08-03T08:48:00.002+01:00

I caught this on Radio 4 early this morning - I guess it was the mention of Chesterfield and in particular Whittington Moor which caught my ear. So, I've ordered it.

Lemon Sherbet and Dolly Blue.

Turns out Lynn Knight used to be an editor at Virago, too.

There's a lot of background social history of Chesterfield in the book as well.

From car boot to Mozart

2011-07-31T22:43:00.003+01:00

A varied day - sunshine blessed the car boot sale, and then we went to Stamford to see the film of Glyndebourne's performance of Don Giovanni from 2010.

Shame they had to break the atmosphere up with interviews at the beginning of the second half of the film - we went back, all ready and eager to be plunged into the story again - and lo! analysis and explanation . . . I thought these guys were supposed to know about dramatic tension.

Photos and walks

2011-07-30T14:11:00.003+01:00

I used to carry my mini-digital-Fujifilm A303 everywhere. I loved it. It was tiny, and went into pockets, handbags, bumbags without protest. It got me into the habit of snapping wildly. It slowed down - the zoom lens wouldn't move. I forced it - it lived on for a few more months. Then it stopped altogether, and neither tenderness nor violence would bring it back to life. For several months I was cameraless in the world.

Now I take my Canon dslr most places, but I tend to carry only one lens with me when out walking. Too much baggage otherwise. But I always wish I had the lens I left behind. Sod's law, and self-delusion, I suppose, along with the desire to do two things at once.

Yesterday I tried to catch a hovering tern with the telephoto. The result was, frankly, rubbish. I think it was a combination of lack of time/patience, probable need for a tripod, and not very good light. I'll post when/if I get a good result.

Going back a year and a bit

2011-07-26T11:16:00.003+01:00

In her blog Mille Fiori Favoriti Pat has featured the Brooklyn Bridge Park, which should be two thirds completed by 2013.

I walked along there in April last year, and met Leonie for a picnic lunch at the Manhattan Bridge end.

Photos with my old Fujifilm A303 camera, before it stopped working. It was not underused!

And one or two family photos from around Easter 2010 as well:

Easter Sunday at Coney Island

Toddler in confined spaces

2011-07-25T18:10:00.001+01:00

Flowers in wellies

2011-07-25T17:48:00.002+01:00

July 2011

Just to compare and congratulate the gardeners for perseverance.

Feb 2008

Esperanto -

2011-07-21T22:36:00.004+01:00

After talk about Harry's grandparents being in Paris for the conference in 1914 we have found quite a lot of postcards in Esperanto including the official one. The conference was curtailed and the delegates sent home as war was about to break out.

to be completed.

German biscuits

2011-07-17T10:30:00.004+01:00

There's a recipe if you click here. .

And all because of a conversation yesterday. They're a Scottish favourite, renamed Empire biscuits after World War I.
Two shortbread rounds, sandwiched together with jam, and iced - sometimes with a cherry on top. For a few minutes I was convinced the name was a corruption of 'Jam-on-biscuits', but the theory is that they are related to Linzertorte.

Meanwhile we ate a delicious aubergine and egg bake, and a Pavlova with raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. Many thanks to Alison and William for a lovely evening.

After the rain, the flowers

2011-07-16T14:40:00.004+01:00

For some reason,whether modesty or sheer bloodymindedness, these clematis flowers were all facing the fence - I've manhandled them and twisted them back, supported by an old clothes-line-prop.

Should we blame St Swithun?

2011-07-16T12:21:00.002+01:00

One of those traditions my mother was so fond of passing on:

St Swithin's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain na mair

Here's some of the background from a bbc page.
St Swithun (Swithin) was a Saxon bishop of Winchester, who lived in the ninth century

Swithin died on 2 July 862. According to tradition, he had asked to be buried humbly. His grave was just outside the west door of the Old Minster, so that people would walk across it and rain fall on it in accordance with Swithin's wishes.
On 15 July 971 though, Swithin's remains were dug up and moved to a shrine in the cathedral by Bishop Ethelwold. Miraculous cures were associated with the event, and Swithin's feast day is the date of the removal of his remains, not his death day.
However, the removal was also accompanied by ferocious and violent rain storms that lasted 40 days and 40 nights and are said to indicate the saint's displeasure at being moved. This is probably the origin of the legend that if it rains on Saint Swithin's feast day, the rain will continue for 40 more days.

Yesterday was fine and fair here - this morning it has been raining with intent.

Of swimming, child-minding and other things

2011-07-15T15:51:00.003+01:00

I went to the pool as Esther was doing her tri training on Monday. I swam 50 lengths in about three quarters of an hour. Mainly breast-stroke, as my crawl has become an effort again! Memo to self - regular practice, my dear.

I've loved spending time with not-so-little Joseph, climbing up slides or squatting on floors, taking him out to places where he can run around.

But, touch wood, he has settled with Karen to look after him for three days per week - sleeping, eating and playing quite happily at her house.

So here I am, back home.

On yer bike. . .

2011-07-11T09:35:00.001+01:00

for the first time for a while, just a very few miles - to Longdown Activity Farm - ideal for little people. Esther ran back, with me cycling alongside - nice gentle pace for a cyclist!

Lepe Beach

2011-07-09T19:13:00.018+01:00

My third or fourth visit to Lepe, and I didn't realise the connection to the D-Day landings in Normandy

Some of the remaining structures

The joy of sorting stones

Shame the sea is on a slope!

Marbled white butterflies in the wildflower/ conservation area, and lots of different wildflowers, then yellow poppies on the shingle

. . . more garden . . .

2011-07-03T17:27:00.000+01:00

Poppies now removed, ground hoed and cleared and a few snapdragons and geraniums planted. Not flowering at the moment, so it looks tidyish, but a little on the drab side.

garden time

2011-07-02T10:52:00.008+01:00

The poppies have attracted bees . . .

. . . but now they've gone to seed.

A bounty of blackcurrants?

Here is this year's veg (fruit?) plot.

So . . . I pulled up some poppies, transplanted some tomatoes, harvested (!) a dish of blackcurrants and pruned the bushes. They're in large pots, but I don't expect miracles. Time will tell. I checked my compost pot and it's full of worms working hard. Then I shifted containers around - a few quite large, most small and mostly full of flowering plants.

There's a noticeable difference in leaf colour between the tomatoes which I planted in the ground two weeks ago, and the ones which were in the trough until yesterday.

Travel by train

2011-07-01T18:46:00.006+01:00

. . . and are Northerners really more talkative with strangers?. . . or are my preconceptions showing?

I travelled from Southampton to London without chatting - my fault to some extent, nose in book, sitting in those 'bus seats where you only see people's backs!

I took the tube and managed to avoid eye contact in the regulation manner. Why doesn't Waterloo station display an obvious tube map? If it had, I could possibly have caught a train an hour earlier, but no matter, I wasn't in a rush this time.

Later, waiting at St Pancras, I was seated on that metal tube in the upstairs area. Why doesn't Saint Pancras have enough seats? Walking by, just off the train from Derbyshire were a couple who are friends of my brother and his wife.

On the train heading north, lots of smiles - and towards the end of the journey, the very friendly trolley man (from Nottingham area) chatted to the family at the table opposite me, asking where they were from - Switzerland.
Ah ha, so that's why I thought they were speaking German, but couldn't understand it! So I tried my rusty German out!

Ponies 1 - Donkeys 0

2011-06-29T21:25:00.003+01:00

The cutest troop of donkeys with a couple of foals were wandering along a track near Deerleap, minding their own business. Then sound of hooves thundering on the dry ground - New Forest ponies on the warpath. They chased the donkeys off, then calmly resumed grazing again.

Toddler's world

2011-06-28T11:46:00.007+01:00

hand-prints on wall . . . banana face mask . . . multiple poly-cacophonic music . . .buggy to playground . . . swing . . . climb the slide . . . down . . .slither . . . spin the wheel . . . tic - tac - toe . . .sounds great . . .fall asleep in buggy . . . sort the gravel . . .

who needs toys?

Ferns, foxgloves and fritillaries in the forest

2011-06-26T22:08:00.006+01:00

The forest, ferns, foxgloves pink and white, silver-washed fritillaries and white admirals.

I had to identify the fritillaries from online pics, but they fit the description - swooping flight, large, brilliant orange butterflies in sunlit woodland in summer. Common in the South of England, very local further North.

A silver-washed fritillary pausing briefly

The white admiral was on brambles - a surefire way of distinguishing them from the similar-at-first-glance purple emperors of Fermyn Woods.

The hottest day of the year so far. A sticky five mile walk near the New Forest Wildlife Centre, from Deerleap Car Park.

for details and map check this link

Whipsnade Zoo

2011-06-22T10:00:00.009+01:00

Great views . . .

Tuesday 21 June 2011

Spacious and set in beautiful countryside - enough of the tourist-brochure-speak already! Celebrating Joseph's first birthday on a deceptively burn-inducing day - not so much sun as wind. Just noting this until I upload one or two photos later.

blowin' in the wind

The first things we saw were the flashing colours as (trained) parrots flew free among the trees - no pics from me, it took me an hour or so to get into photo-mode.

photo-call

children's zoo

one of the less exotic species

A pigeon paddled in Berkeley Square.

2011-06-19T22:52:00.003+01:00

Thursday 16 June

Peacocks or hens...

2011-06-18T16:52:00.001+01:00

Today's unusual sight was a couple of these birds out for a stroll along the Corby Road from Gretton. Luckily for them, the motorist coming up behind them was quite happy to slow down!

No photo - I was driving too.

Eclipse eclipsed by cloud

2011-06-16T07:47:00.004+01:00

promises
a blood-red moon
strange portent
totally eclipsed
by clouds

or

a strange portent
promises
a blood-red moon
totally eclipsed
by clouds

Poppies

2011-06-15T10:51:00.003+01:00

... are spectacular this year.

A field at the top of the hill from Harringworth to Gretton.

Clutter - and what to do about slides?

2011-06-05T18:31:00.010+01:00

Why is it so hard to throw things out? Once I'm in the mood, it's easier - been going through old photographic slides from my father's stuff! I've chucked everything except for the ones with people on. Now how do I make slides visible without a viewer?

Jack in South of France from a slide - attempt 1.

Jack, my dad, in the 1970s, I think - in which case, he was in his (early?) fifties.
I did this on an improvised lightbox, with plain white paper as base - slide placed on top. You can see the texture through the slide. I used my 'normal' lens, not macro. I shall try tracing paper for my next experiment.

Then I pruned some packs of photos of my mother's - I reckon that when the person who took the photos is dead, the scenery is meaningless. And if any of the photos are works of art - if the photographer doesn't do something with them, no one else will.
Simplicity before all? In fits and starts.

Rain

2011-05-30T21:40:00.002+01:00

Of the softly dripping constant variety - just what the thirsty soil and plants needed. Then we had a brief very heavy downpour late in the evening.

Squatters?

2011-05-29T13:22:00.002+01:00

I'll add a picture of the 'neighbours' from Mill Pool Cottage

all ready to fledge in early May!

More birds...

2011-05-25T16:17:00.001+01:00

Moor-chicks, and goslings - greylag geese (?) at the boating lake. A goldfinch on the telegraph wire in front of next-door's house. Lots of martins flying around, though none has claimed the nest under our eaves so far.

Then two red kites who disappeared as soon as I thought 'camera'.

Middleton Railway

2011-05-22T19:46:00.010+01:00

Inside one of the locos in the Engine House.

It's changed from the 'everyone heaped in an open truck' days - oh - 35 years ago.

On Saturday you can ride by diesel power to Park Halt, where you have the chance to see the loco uncoupled from the carriages and routed via points to the other end of the train. On Sundays the train is pulled by steam.
We had a wander through the woods, where the bluebells were pretty well over, the odd red campion was showing, and speedwells were plentiful.

I finished the day with a cup of tea and a couple of postcards, and stocked up with mini biscuits before taking an almost hidden slip road to the M621, heading East, via the M62 and then the A1 South.

A bullfinch

2011-05-20T13:35:00.009+01:00

In Golden Acre Park, Leeds. The first I have seen for some time, and startlingly bright, with a black head. I was chuffed to get a recognisable photo of it, though small, but alas it is blurred. Too blurred to keep, and post.Two other birds - I think were green woodpeckers, though I'm more used to seeing these singly in more open ground.

So here's a pic of the fountain near the cafe area.

and a blast from the past:

Alas, he didn't have hair of such a glorious colour - more of a dirty blond at the time. ;-)

Gliding

2011-05-17T13:13:00.008+01:00

At Sibbertoft, near Husbands Bosworth, Leics.

My second time, pulled up from a winch to 1600 feet in a few seconds. The crack of the cable releasing. The glider flattens, and you grab back your stomach to watch the scenery around and below.
Views as far as the Malverns, Bradgate Park and Corby.

Coming in to land

Glider down below

...and a poem from prompts (19.6.2011)

by any reckoning

this was no weather to fly

cross-winds meant danger

to an unpowered machine

wait a week, they said

so we did

by their reckoning

it was fair weather to fly

the wind was head on

giving lift to glide

come along this evening, they said

so we did

strapped inside

glider wired to the winch

stretched, tense, taut

the machine moved

faster

steeply

stomach?

a thousand

fifteen hundred

feet

bang

the wire drops off

we float on air

no noise but wind

below us

a tapestry

stitched with silks

and woolen thread

the earth

the wings tilt to turn

nose down

or up

and round

ready to land

with a bump

so short

and now

it’s time to sing in doorways

and wait for the next time.

Easy bird-watching

2011-05-15T19:25:00.001+01:00

This guy must be the one from two years ago who lost all his head feathers - skullcap we called him, though maybe capless would have been better.
Bold as brass, and perching on the shed roof waiting for raisins.

This hen may or may not be his mate, but they certainly know where the food is.

Leicester

2011-05-14T15:24:00.000+01:00

A new shopping mall, the old Guildhall and cathedral complete with notice 'Parking for the Bishop'.
Posh restaurants and an empty pub with soft white rolls to eat.
Watching the traffic while walking across the bridge, part of New Walk.
A pause in the park - an Oval oasis.
A trip to the Art Gallery and a tiny bit of shopping.
Photos by the man in the computer shop - nice close-ups of a moth and a frog among others.
Variety - I shoulda taken my camera too.

Esther busts the Dam

2011-03-19T15:20:00.003Z

Esther came up to Rutland Water to take part in the Dambuster duathlon. An early start for all of us, brilliant weather - frost followed by sunshine.
A magnificent effort from Esther, considering her admittted lack of training, or even proper sleep beforehand. She herself was less than impressed by her times, but intends to concentrate for a while on shorter distances. A nine-month-old son can limit the time available for training!
Sarah, Andria and Mable the cocker spaniel came round to ours for lunch - not sure the cat approved.

Drayton House, sun and St Paddy

2011-03-17T14:49:00.003Z

An early start this morning - picked up at 8.15, start walking from Lowick just after 9. Across tracks and minor roads to Twywell, more paths to Slipton, pausing to see the church in a hollow, detached from the village. Then it was up the road to Drayton House, with its elegant buildings, statues and parkland. The road leads part way round the house, then down through a seriously pin-coded gate and back to Lowick.
For some reason talk turned to the enclosure acts and the verse (one of many versions)

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from the goose

We finished at 11.30, just before the sun emerged. Barry related the tale of people his home village in Ireland going to drink from St Patrick's Well - but we seem an irreligious lot.

More mist...

2011-03-16T11:01:00.000Z

blue horizons
shrink to grey
a daffodil shines

Misty

2011-03-15T12:09:00.000Z

What a contrast - not so cold, but misty, nay foggy. Certainly until past ten o'clock, when I came back from Kettering in the third car I have driven since last Friday - including my own. Oh for the totally self-repairing car.

Sunny walk near Ryhall

2011-03-14T21:59:00.006Z

Over fields, not muddy, across the Gwash twice. A few small roads, and a disused railway line whose bridge has been filled in. Lambs, llamas, rooks and a red kite. A set of scarecrows made from replica birds of prey attached to a stake in the fields, and rabbit traps baited with carrots. Daffodils, purple and white violets and an outsized cottage by the river, in Tolethorpe. Walking for a couple of miles with my coat stashed in my rucksack. Just over 8 miles.

Woodpecker and kite

2011-03-13T22:43:00.001Z

Out on the road near Pipewell, we heard a woodpecker drumming loudly, and watched a kite flying low, its wing colours picked out by the late afternoon sun.

amaryllis

2011-03-12T15:35:00.003Z

Back home to the magnificence of the amaryllis!

A week in Doward Farm

2011-03-12T09:42:00.030Z

Highlights of the week's stay on the edge of the Forest of Dean, with sixteen of us there for some of the time.

Almost everyone managed to come along, at least for the first weekend. No Gabby or Silas, or Leonie and family - NYC is a long way away.

Two or three nights of brilliantly clear starry skies - looked at through the new telescope. Excellent view of the moon's surface too.

And I can now recognise Leo and Gemini, thanks to Harry, Esther and Dan's google skies app on his phone.

Walking through the woods to (we think) King Arthur's cave.

Seeing Finn and Isaac entertaining each other.

Watching Rose making Joseph laugh for ages as they both sat on a bed.

Playing Pictionary and About Time in teams.

Making pancakes in the big kitchen on Shrove Tuesday. I gave up trying to toss them with such a weighty pan - Harry succeeded.

Charlie the pot-bellied omnivore.

The walk to Penallt Church along with Finn and Isaac. Dan and Sara took it in turns to carry Rose in the back carrier. Well done Chloé, too, for climbing up the steep path!

The views over the Wye from Symonds Yat Rock. You can't quite make out the cows like two-dimensional toys trailing shadows in the pic, as it's so small.

The walk near the Yat Rock and the masses of frogspawn that the frogs were clearly intending to increase further.

Downsides
Having to reverse the hire car on a narrow lane near Symonds Yat West!

Esther's long detour via Tintern Abbey.

Thanks to Esther's phone for all photos except the moon!
Thanks to Harry, using his telescope and Adrian's camera for the moon picture.

Manton to Brooke and back on a chill day

2011-03-03T14:54:00.011Z

Approximately 5 miles - 1 hour 30-40 mins. With Marta.

I walked this for the second time today. We parked near the pub in Manton, walked down the hill past the new section of cycle track, under the railway bridge and along beside the A6003. At first there's a good path - part of the cycle route. Then there's a shortish stretch of fairly wide green verge. A footpath crosses the main road, so we braved the traffic to reach the other side. Patience is indeed useful. This path leads across the railway line, and through some woodland. A lot of this has recently been felled, so the path is a little tricky and indistinct. We went across a field and through a gate on to the small road to Gunthorpe. Daffodils not yet out, snowdrops still there. At a junction with a choice between 'hall' and 'farm' we followed the right hand fork to the farm, and picked up the path through a gate at the end of the road. All fairly clear leading straight along a track, then fields. As we approached Bridge Farm in Brooke we were channeled into a well marked path with fencing on either side, and a myriad of stiles. Two distinct varieties of sheep here - one rather like the Lake District Herdwicks with slender legs and faces, the other more like cuddly toys with furry trousers.
In the village we walked past the church to a junction, where we turned left. There's a fair bit of road walking here up to the top of the ridge. The wind cooled us down pretty quickly, as we passed a big sign advertising rare breeds and Rutland sausage, then a farm called America Lodge, before the road surface turned to mud track.
All straightforward until you reach an information board about the deserted village of Martinsthorpe. The hall was demolished long ago and all that is left now is a chapel with bricked up windows. The walls and stones near this board are an ok, if a little cold, place to stop for a coffee from the flask.
The first time I did the walk I carried blithely along the track down the hill, and had to come back up. This time I had learned my lesson well, and we took the path to the right of the chapel - across another field, and then on to the track leading back to the A6003. You hit the road just at the junction to Manton and Rutland Water.
A great short walk, but rather muddy today.

No daffs for Dafydd?

2011-03-01T10:40:00.002Z

In 2008, on St David's day, I posted a photo of mini-daffs in a pot outside my door. None of mine are so advanced this year - though I still have snowdrops, crocuses and iris reticulata.

Yay, there are some in the next garden - obviously a more southerly aspect, or better established bulbs!

The curious case of the photos that don't print

2011-02-28T17:20:00.003Z

Funny. When I copy blog entries to word the photos come out fine. When I print the page, photos from digital camera appear, but not the ones I've posted via Picasa taken from my phone. Ho hum.

Further note - they print ok straight from blog.

Evening 1740 on 27.2.11

2011-02-28T07:50:00.001Z

photo taken on my phone....

days get longer

2011-02-27T17:49:00.001Z

Looking out from the window at 17.40 and the sky is not quite dark yet - such a change from the dark depths.
Today and yesterday we've taken a brisk stroll along the track - so I reckon my total for the week is 19 miles+ on foot.
Great view of a red kite over the houses. The track and fields are sticky muddy and the dykes are indeed filled, February style,

Paranoia ....

2011-02-25T16:38:00.004Z

I wondered if HMRC had been spying on me through my computer - not that I look much like this lovely lady, but the cup and the lap-top could easily be mine...but - is that really a nightdress she's wearing?

to walk...

2011-02-24T17:21:00.004Z

...round Pitsford Water in sunshine, and warmer than February has any right to be. Plenty of human fauna jogging, cycling and exercising the young. Birds included Canada geese, ducks, coots and a couple of cormorants posing on posts. One came up from a dive disguised as a grebe, then out to hang its wings to dry.

About seven miles - always a good walk when other ideas fail, and you don't want to be faffed with map-reading.

So that's about 13 miles this week - six miles around Easton-o-t-H, Stamford and Wothorpe on Monday.

poedoodle again

2011-02-23T10:26:00.001Z

Fairy footprint - Unknown - Breeze - Golden - Gentle smile -Bouncy

Fairy footprints in the snow
left by a creature full strange -
six toes it had and golden eyes
that shone with an unknown fire
a hairy chin and soft brown ears
breeze-blown over a gentle smile
stretched clean across a smooth green face
balanced like balloon on a bouncy neck,
it meandered for many a mile.

to continue...

2011-02-16T09:27:00.006Z

OK, that has been a long hiatus - I think the only valid excuse is that I let the habit drop, and reverted to web-surfing, and leaving comments on Guardian articles - 'disgusted of Gretton' would be a good username.

It's been quite a winter for birds - we chased the waxwing in Kettering...redwings stripped the holly berries at home, an last Friday I saw my first-ever goldcrest in the holly tree. Plus a kingfisher along the Welland near Stamford a few weeks ago.

In future - I may start a separate blog for walks - I guess it would be a handy reference.

Make our roads safer for cyclists and walkers

2009-12-03T08:08:00.005Z

From a Guardian article - link in title of this blog entry

Cyclists are more likely to end up in hospital as a result of traffic accidents than are car drivers, but the following observations are very important in this context.

Deaths and injuries per distance travelled by cyclists in the UK are more than three times those of the Netherlands and Denmark, they say. "This scale of variation between countries, and our findings of substantial seasonal variation, underline the scope for prevention of unnecessary injury."
Debra Rolfe, campaigns co-ordinator of CTC, the national cyclists organisation, said: "It's important to remember that the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risks by a factor of 20:1. Cyclists live two years longer than non-cyclists, have the health of someone 10 years younger and take 10% fewer sick days. CTC's Safety in Numbers research has shown that in places where more people cycle the risks of cycling is lower. In order to get more people cycling, we need to address the fears that deter people from cycling."

Snip-snap

2009-09-01T14:32:00.006+01:00

Near Office Lock, Leeds-Liverpool Canal
hedge-osaurus with lights, Charnwood Hotel, Blyth.

hedge-osaurus.

I must go down to the blog again

2009-08-21T18:22:00.002+01:00

Nothing since April 19th! Shocking. Reasons? Yes. Excuses? Many. Resolutions? Oh yes, to start again...but it'll have to wait until after dinner tonight.
Then, maybe I'll be able to get into position to kick myself hard enough.

Talk or action?

2009-04-19T09:53:00.002+01:00

Labour seems to be all talk and no action on green issues. Not that any of the others are likely to be much of an improvement. I think Labour lost its soul when Tony Blair cosied up to big business, but that's hardly news.

See what they haven't done here . No wonder we're all so damned cynical.

Walk - Goadby-Rolleston-Tugby-Goadby

2009-04-14T09:58:00.003+01:00

From Goadby to the Tugby-Noseley Road, then up the path to Rolleston

Ah, yes, that's it.

Rolleston Lake

Rolleston church inside the grounds of the hall.

up towards Tugby.

Words and changing usage

2009-04-11T12:20:00.005+01:00

Words are my tools ( was - My tools are words, )
and love them as I may,
the common herd makes use of them,
misuses, I might say,
were I inclined to pedantry.
‘You are’ I hear the call.
These tools you hone and store
are not locked up from pilferers
but lie in sight of all.
They die without the light
unpolished, lacking shine.
The trains of thought must run and run,
or rails, long since disused,
will dull and fade to history,
like Concorde, paper aeroplane
that’s banished from the skies
mere symbol of our past delights
profligate supersonic flights.
But words, just words is all they are,
these tools inside my kit
and if abused and then refused
they’ll wither on the line.

This came from two things. I saw the word 'illusive'. I thought it was made up, a mis-spelling of 'elusive'. But no, it exists, meaning 'illusory'. Though it was used as though it meant 'elusive'. The shifting sands of semantics caught at the moment when meaning slipped through my fingers.

Then there was a 'prompt' - paper aeroplane.

Things to do - veg plot

2009-04-10T10:48:00.001+01:00

Article from Times online