Old writing 7 years ago….

Posted on January 29, 2019January 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Birds, Birdsong, Blog, Blogging, Cat, Dawn, Life, Mars, Morning, Sky, Sunrise 2012Leave a comment

This popped up in my Facebook memories today. I have removed my partners name….

Another Sunday morning, my partner went off about 15 minutes ago, and me and Molly cat are here waiting for the sun to rise. The sky had gone from coal black to a dark shade of Paynes Grey, in fact in the few minutes since I sat down it has lightened considerably….. The cat is happily lying on the desk next to the computer, turning over to have her tummy tickled, she doesnt like being ignored and keeps trying to sit on my drawing tablet that also acts as my mouse! that knocks the text off so I have to reposition the cursor every couple of minutes…The blackbirds were singing in the garden at 6.30, hubby went out to listen and one carried on while the other Pink, pinked its alarm call… the song continues high and beautiful, shapely whistles that vary over different combinations of notes…. I am staying up in case my partners bus does not arrive,. One last look at the sky, only slightly lighter, blue grey, no glimmer of sun yet and overcast with lowish cirrus? clouds…thank goodness for the prospect of a warm bed and a book if hubby does not come back. (It has happened in the past when the bus driver forgot to get up!).

(I think the photos were taken a bit later on the same day.)

House sparrows

Posted on January 25, 2019January 25, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Birds, Blogging, Design, Digital art, House sparrows, Stained glass2 Comments

We saw some house sparrows in a hedge today “little brown jobbies” as I heard someone call them.

They were perched above us as I pulled the car into a car park. I wanted to get my phone to take a picture but its was on the back seat and the handle was caught in the rear door.

I carefully got out of the car, quietly shut my door and dragged my bag out. I got the phone, it was switched off! Help I had to switch it on and wait for it to warm up. Then a quick look. Four of the sparrows were still there…..

Camera on, click, click, click, (I took three incase of camera shake). Used the zoom option which pixelated them a bit but it was better than trying to creep towards them.

So when I got home I checked what I got. Not bad. I liked all the twigs and branches criss crossing and protecting the birds.

I decided to use the rainbow flood fill option in sketcher to make the sky more interesting. Like stained glass.

In the meantime I have a bad sore throat and feel rough.

I might not be around for a few days.

Canada geese

Posted on January 6, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Birds, Geese, Lake, Walk, Water, Westport lakeLeave a comment

img_20190106_004721 I’ve seen a lot of Canada Geese on the lake this weekend. They fly to Britain to overwinter where they can rest and survive over the winter .

I think they are smart looking birds with their black, white and brown markings.

They are certainly pushy when it comes to feeding them. When I was feeding the ducks yesterday the Canada Geese grabbed a fair share of the food. They are certainly bold!

I love the way you can go for a walk and see lots of birds at the lake. We saw small birds as well, Robins, a blackbird and a couple of wrens. Not close enough to get photos, but still close enough to see them.

Afternoon walk

Posted on January 5, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Birds, Cold winter, Photos, Staffordshire, Staffordshire wildlife, Stoke-on trent, Westport lakeLeave a comment

It was grey and cold, but after visiting a hobby shop for train track for my partners model railway we decided to get a warm cup of coffee then go for a walk.

The local lake (actually a canal reservoir) is around a mile in circumference and nice and flat. We picked up some duck food and strolled around in the cold..

The light was fading but the birds were still around and raced across the lake to get the food we were throwing out for them. My hands were getting progressively colder as I fed them and then took photos of their antics. The images were a bit blurry, but I also took pictures of the trees. Their empty branches and twigs reached up like fingers to the sky. I’ve taken too many photos as usual but I was able to make some interesting patterns from them. Glad to be home and warm again.

Feathers

Posted on August 3, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Birds, Feathers, Flight, Ink, Quill, WritingLeave a comment

IMG_20180803_213823_977

I guess you can make a bit of art out of anything. This was an attempt to draw a peacock feather. I thought of how feathers have been used for centuries to make quill pens?

How many million words were created and written from ink and a feathered quill?

Then I thought about what ink is made of. I used to use something called quink ink. When you use it with water it splits from black into blue and brown colours. I would paint pictures with it. This was years ago, it may have changed now. Ink used to be made of things like oak galls. It is interesting that before paper was used in the west vellum was the surface people wrote on. Many of the laws set down in this country’s parliament was written down with quill pens onto vellum. Other countries used ink and brushes, and I think you can see the different characteristics of the shape of letters depending on what mark making tool was used.

Feathers have been used for so many things. Pillows, duvets, feathered dusters, cushions, even burnt under peoples noses to revive them when they fainted.

It is interesting that dinosaurs sometimes had feathers and birds evolved from them, so feathers have been around for millions of years.

Last year

Posted on June 19, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Birds, Colour, Flowers, Garden, Hanging baskets, Photography, PotteryLeave a comment

Last year IMG_20180619_141557_656

Last year the garden was lovely, full of flowers. This ceramic head I made 20 years or so ago was full of nasturtiums and lobelia. It sits on the wall by the back door, its glazed in st Nicholas glaze if I remember rightly. Greeny grey in colour. It was hand built with a flat back and I used wet hand towels to support the face while it was drying out ready for firing.

The space inside it is not very big, so plants that can survive drought conditions are best planted in it.

We are getting our hanging baskets this week and I will try and plant some pots up with begonias, pelagoniums, bizzie lizzies and fuschias to cheer the walls around them up.

I would like to do some more pottery heads, maybe green men masks to make the yard more interesting.

Meanwhile in the main garden the trees are getting out of control. We had some work done earlier in the year but the remaining trees and shrubs have gone rampant because they now have more light.

Still if it works and we get more birds like a chaffinch and a couple of robins, plus nesting blue tits who’s chicks have now fledged , I guess I don’t mind too much!

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Birds