Author: hamer the framer

Elgin Blossoms

Seeing Paul Finn’s Spring Blossoms Umbria reminded me of this painting, Elgin Crescent, Spring, Cherry by Isobel Johnstone, painted from her window down by Ladbroke Grove. Something similar is happening here with the interrupted view through the branches, and the tangle of foreground and background. The streets hereabouts are bursting with blossom now; I can see magnolia and cherry and forsythia. In this little painting I can also see Pollock and Tobey and Mondrian.

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A Wee Book Of British Folklore

The postman just brought me this little catalogue of British folk heroes compiled by Jonny Hannah. Jolie Holland shares the same initials so she can sing along – Mad Tom Of Bedlam. Continue reading “A Wee Book Of British Folklore”

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Like The Clappers

A circular walk from Harlington train station to Sharpenhoe Clappers and back again. The first leg memorable for a troop of scramble-bikes echoing around the combe up to Sundon. Then onto National Trust territory protected by kissing-gates, designed to deter motor-cycles. The stretch from Sundon Hills is the loveliest chalk downland, the birdsong only occasionally drowned out by model aeroplane enthusiasts. The views north towards Ampthill and Marston Vale are panoramic. Continue reading “Like The Clappers”

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Breakfast Birds

In the time it takes to eat a bowl of porridge at the kitchen window this morning, I’ve seen a wren constantly on the hop amongst the solanum; a couple of blue tits pecking on the fence; a small flock of long-tailed tits swinging through the branches of the trees; a blackbird sounding the alarm; the fleeting shadow of a bird upside down on the eaves of the shed, gone too quick to tell, about the size of a robin but upside down? No sign of the ubiquitous magpies or pigeons. Maybe that’s why there was so much activity, and the bright sun melting the frost. So much energy. Continue reading “Breakfast Birds”

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