Birds – Page 5 – Frames of Reference

To The Horizon

As a birthday treat Sue took me for a walk on the Dengie Peninsula on the far eastern shore of Essex. She had her eyes on the horizon. We arrived via Burnham-on-Crouch, a pretty Georgian estuary town but with the saddest fish & chips and a clown to scare the children. His car was parked next to ours. We made our escape towards Southminster, but we got ensnared by the Burnham Loop where we revolved time and again around the endless fenlands (afeared lest we contract Dengie Fever from the mosquito-infested swamps) until finally we saw the error of our ways (a misplaced signpost) and we were at last expelled to Tillingham and ultimately onwards to Bradwell-on-Sea. Continue reading “To The Horizon”

A February / March Garden

Sarcococca

A fantastic shrub that just missed out on being in the January blog. It started flowering 1st February and filled the garden with the most delicious scent. The black berries are the product of last winter’s flowers. It’s a small evergreen plant that does best in shade or semi shade, remains small, and is another contender for Most Useful All-Round Plant. Continue reading “A February / March Garden”

Albatross

Beatrice Forshall working on a picture of an albatross surrounded by plastic debris she’s collected from the beach; a salutary warning against the the proliferation of throwaway plastic in our modern-day world. It’s an image made in response to Midway: A Message From The Gyre, a film that shows the toxic consequences of too much discarded plastic in the seas. Continue reading “Albatross”

#ShowTheLove

A short film for Valentine’s Day. And for every day.

The Climate Coalition / Show The Love / World Wide Fund for Nature

A January Garden

Frost laden spiderwebs

I think this is a Tomorrow’s World April Fool’s hoax and they’re made out of string… Continue reading “A January Garden”

Cucurrucucú Paloma

I first heard this song on the radio a dozen years ago and I was captivated by it. It’s been echoing in my head ever since. It sounded extraordinary and more beautiful than anything I’d ever heard before. I was sure they said it was by Tomás Méndez but I couldn’t find him on iTunes or anywhere. Then by chance I found this video a few days ago and I can’t stop playing it. I’ve now got the album too so I can sing along when I’m alone in the car, and I sound just like Caetano Veloso! Continue reading “Cucurrucucú Paloma”

A November Garden

The garden has been quietly putting itself to bed for the winter. I’m a bit reluctant to tidy too much away, as dead stems provide shelter for a plant’s crown as well as a winter home for mini-beasts. Even hibernating snails are worth mollycoddling (though once I would have thought myself nuts) as they provide food for Medge the Hedge, who, incidentally, hasn’t gone into hibernation yet. Since buying a HotBin composter last year I’ve had significantly fewer slugs and snails, but that’s for another blog. Continue reading “A November Garden”

Manningtree

Manningtree was another daytrip destination in the early 1980s. We came on the train with our bikes from Liverpool Street to explore the country lanes around Dedham and Flatford, but we didn’t see much of Manningtree apart from the station. It was the gateway to Constable country. Continue reading “Manningtree”

Parrot Prints

Fanny Shorter brought us some of her new parrot prints. These beautifully detailed life-size screenprints are presently perched in our print room. Continue reading “Parrot Prints”

Levington

The Ship at Levington last April, newly refurbished and reopened just a couple of months earlier, it was a good place for lunch before a walk along the north shore of the River Orwell. Continue reading “Levington”