easily distracted by shiny things…
Posted in crafty things, culture, inspiration on Aug 1st, 2010
Photo © Polly Morgan
The other day I went to see an exhibition of artwork by Polly Morgan at the Haunch of Venison. The exhibition is called “Psychopomps”, after the mythical creatures that conduct souls into the after-life.
This piece is “Atrial Flutter”, and it’s a human ribcage and spine, suspended from balloons.
Photo © Polly Morgan
Inside the ribcage [...]
Yesterday we went to a Live Crafts food & craft fair at Mapledurham House. The highlights of the day for us turned out to be the food fair, and the birds of prey.
Ben Potter had brought along owls, eagles, a kite and a vulture. Sadly we missed most of the actual displays, but Bramley the barn [...]
Posted in culture, exhibitions, inspiration, writing on Apr 29th, 2010
Hopefully you can all see this embedded video of the finches at the Barbican in London - an installation by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. We went on a little trip yesterday evening, and had an absolutely magical time watching and listening to a room full of little birds and musical instruments.
The video is of a previous incarnation [...]
I’m just dropping in for a flying visit to upload the photos from the first part of our honeymoon - you can see them all here.
Yesterday we had a Falconry session in the morning, and an Encounter With Owls in the afternoon. This enormous chap was featured in both. His name’s Woolly, and he’s an [...]
To make the most of the fact that I happened to be off sick on the one day in the last fortnight when it wasn’t chucking it down with rain the entire time, I went for a very short walk with the camera - just down to the edge of the lake and back.
Paul’s taken [...]
Here’s another bird picture, by way of an apology for my lack of posting. I seem to have been super busy lately, and I’ll have loads of new plans to tell you about very soon.
In the meantime, my baby blackbird is growing up!
Here he is, fresh from the bird bath.
I’ve been trying to catch a snapshot of a pair of goldfinches for ages, but they never seem to sit still for long enough. This afternoon I established my position as bird paparazzo extraordinaire when I saw this little fellow on the fence, grabbed the camera, spun around and caught him just seconds before he [...]
Being based out in the garden, I’ve noticed that first thing in the morning is a really great time for birdwatching. The weather’s much cooler, especially at the moment, it’s nice and quiet, and there aren’t too many people around.
This young fellow was sitting on my fence for ages, happily singing away.
I’ve labelled him on [...]
At the risk of sounding like a miserable old so-and-so, I am really not enjoying this heatwave! My Shed is like a sauna, and switching on the fan only serves to move the too-hot air around a bit.
I went outside to stand in a shady spot in the garden, and caught sight of these magpies [...]
Red Kites are pretty common where I live. Thanks to their reintroduction into the area around the M40, I see them circling above my neighbourhood every day.
I’ve seen the kites being mobbed by gangs of crows before now - especially at the time of year when there are eggs and chicks for the crows to [...]