Memory of Dolphin Island

Posted on December 2, 2020December 2, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged 1960's, Arthur C Clarke, Author, Book, Children's book, Dolphins, Flipper, Memories, Reliving, TV14 Comments

About fifty years ago I used to watch ‘Flipper’ on the TV. A 1960’s show it was all about the adventures of a dolphin called Flipper. I didn’t know then that there was more than one dolphin and I think I remember reading they were not well looked after during filming?

I remember finding a book in the library called ‘Dolphin Island’ by Arthur C Clarke. It had the effect of waking an interest in science in me. I remembered a boy being shipwrecked and rescued by dolphins. He ends up on a Pacific Island and goes through several more adventures until the inevitable happy ending.

Recently someone mentioned the book so I decided to order a second hand copy. What I got was bitter sweet memories. The book was a lot shorter than I remembered. I read it in a couple of nights. The adventures that had been in it are now seen through older eyes. Where I had been on the edge of my seat, the tension was no longer there. It was still interesting, and I would love to know if there is any chance of finding a dolphin language. But I don’t think I will re-read it. This is an old fashioned Children’s Book. Give me 2001 a space odessey any day.

Which way?

Posted on December 1, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cauldon canal, Etruria, Industrial museum, Life, Museum, Pathway, Stoke-on-Trent, Trent and mersey canal, WalkingLeave a comment

A slightly confusing sign if you don’t know where the museum is. Turns out both footpaths lead to the same place, just by different routes. I don’t suppose it matters, but I think they should at least put an arrow on it for one way or the other. This is at the Etruria Industrial Museum, at Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

Reflected

Posted on December 1, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, August, Back door, Drawing, Glass, Memory, Pandemic, Picture, Reflection, Sketch, WindowLeave a comment

Drawing from August 2020? my reflection and my little sketchbook in the patterned swirls of glass in the back door. So often is it that I’m holding my phone that I thought that was what the black square was when I looked at it again. Black pen and coloured pencils to get the effect of glass. I have a lot of sketches from over the period of the pandemic. I was already drawing a lot before it arrived, but I hope my skills have improved over that time.

Talking about dolphins…

Posted on December 1, 2020December 4, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged cetaceans, Digital drawing, Dolphins, Environment, Life, Nature, Ocean, orca, Sketchfu, whalesLeave a comment

Just to be awkward.. an Orca I drew at the sketchfu website. Simple tools so its a bit blurry. I’m not sure, but I think Orcas (killer whales) may eat Dolphins?

I know they are very intelligent. Often swim in pods (groups) and use various techniques to catch fish. one of their skills is to collaborate in a group to blow thousands of bubbles, their actions create a “bubble net” that enclose a school of fish and then they grab the fish that have been surrounded.

I also know thwy are Mammals and evolved on land before returning to the water, hence they have blow holes to breathe through the tops of their heads. Their front fins are formed adapted like paddles, but the bone structure is similar to that of a hand. I think I remember that they even have vestigial leg bones attached to their pelvises?

Orcas, Dolphins, and other whales are all part of a family of mammals called Cetaceans. They are some of the most intelligent animals on the planet, and humans have almost driven some of them to extinction or actually hunted some of them to extinction. I still think Whaling should be banned.

Another zoom

Posted on December 1, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Abstract, Faces, Fun, Life, Photo, Photodirector, Picture, Time, ZoomLeave a comment

Don’t quite know why a screen full of faces intruiges me? I think it’s the combination of colours. And by using texture filters I can disguise the participants. It’s mainly abstract now although you can tell there are people there just about. Photodirector effects is what I used.

nasturtiums

Posted on December 1, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Flowers, Food, Gardening, Nasturtium, orangey, peppery, Plant, Salad, summer memory, Tasty2 Comments

I love the way they defy rain, it looks like the water droplets are being resisted by oil. And yet the leaves are not oily. The flowers (now long gone) and the seedpods are edible, I know. Not sure about the leaves. If you eat a ripe flower it tastes something like orange and pepper mixed. Beautiful as a decoration for salads or floated in a summer punch.

Why can’t summer stay all year round? I guess because sometimes you need the wind and the snow to let you know you are still alive and not just dreaming. Halcion days, something like that, does halcion mean kingfisher ( I have a vague memory).

Im sitting here typing in my front bedroom in a teeshirt, jumper, trousers and thick dressing gown and still shivering. Trying to save on gas and electricity. Not too cold in the rest of the house, but up here it doesn’t warm up easily. Anyway, I will dream of a nasturtium flower floating in a gin and tonic with ice… Nice!

splodges…

Posted on December 1, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Fun, Happy, Ink, Pain, Pattern, Poem, Poetry, Splash, SplodgeLeave a comment

A few weeks ago I was happier,

painting splodges for a college project,

letting colour flow

and wrap itself into my mind

warping patterns

playing with inking rollers

freedom.

Then I was sick

nothing serious,

not covid

not anything really

just pain

continuing.

I have an appointment tomorrow

to check my pain

sort it out

Make it go away…

please.

then I shall sleep,

not wake hourly

gripped by a twisted cramp.

please.

Side window

Posted on December 1, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ariel roots, December garden, Gardening, Glass, Indoor gardening, Life, Orchid medium, Orchids, Photo, Repotting, Transparent pots, View, WebsLeave a comment

On a cold sunny morning I like looking through the side windows of the house. This one is surrounded by orchids. Three plants live there, all different sizes. One recently stopped flowering after sending out a second flower spike. One keeps growing but hasn’t flowered again and the last was one we got in the summer and the flowers on it are fading. I think they all need repotting. They sit in clear pots as the roots like to get light to them, I have some orchid medium but last time I potted them on I think I used too much of it and crammed the roots of one of them in too tightly….

Theres a glass frog and another glass piece hanging from the curtain rail. Then the window glass is dusty and covered in cobwebs outside. It’s hard to clean as there is a large shrub in the way outside. Also there is a nesting box which families of Blue Tits use over the spring and summer. So it gets left, and the dappled light from the trees outside give it an atmospheric, olde worlde look. Which is why I like to take photos of it.

Moon photos

Posted on December 1, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Auto exposure, Celestial, Experiment, Glare, Learning, Manual exposure, Moon, Photos, Reducing exposure, SkyLeave a comment

My camera phone won’t get a good picture of the moon because it won’t zoom in enough. So I can’t get details. In this case I wanted to get less glare. On auto (final picture), all the foreground is lit and the moon glares out, plus the photo was taken through the kitchen window that needs cleaning. The other three were all taken on manual, again the camera doesn’t have the magnification to show details, but at least the glare is reduced. The first two show the moon peeping out from behind the neighbours roof. One is a slightly lower exposure than the other, at least they are slightly atmospheric. The third one is a fuzzy blob, but you can tell its a round object. It’s had the glare cut out….. Maybe time to get a telescope?

My cats

Posted on December 1, 2020December 1, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Black and white photo, Happy, Indoor cats, Living room, Photo, Relaxing, Sitting, Tuxedo cats2 Comments

Brother and sister

I love them, my boy cat (back) and girl cat (front).

I adjusted this photo to black and white because there were too many colours and I thought it would be better with a filter to make the image more coherent. These are both small cats, the girl has a smaller head but a bigger body (she likes her nosh), boy is a healthy weight, not too big. Both are happy and are learning to integrate with the boy cat from outside, even though he’s bigger than both of them, they boss him!

Mallaband-Brown

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