Cygnets

When do Cygnets become Swans? When their feathers turn white. We saw this one swimming up the canal yesterday. It had its wings slightly up and the wind was pushing it along like a small sailing boat. Every couple of seconds it’s legs sculled the water, giving it a little buoyant push along. When it saw me trying to get my camera out of my pocket it headed towards me. But sadly I had no food for it. If we walk that way again I will take some food along with me. As we walked along we saw two more and two adults. I don’t see too much wildlife in the city so this was a pleasure.

Splat!

This time of year is custard pie or cream pie time….. Oh yes it is? Oh no it isn’t!

What I mean is that usually it would be time for Pantomimes (pantos) in theatres across the land. Last year we were rehearsing Aladdin in our local village hall. We went on to perform it in February of this year. 180 people in a small room for for performances! Impossible now.

Sadly so many theatres are closed and shuttered. There is great concern that they will never open again. Instead of fun there is tragedy.

I hope custard pies are back soon! SPLAT!

Turning a blurry photo into an abstract.

With oone filter. I used this to show how you can change a photo using just one filter. In this case the cat was transformed into an apparent oil painting abstract by using the second style filter in the Photodirector app. This smears out the details into swirls and patterns. It also makes the edges of the areas of colour more obvious.

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Geminid Meteor Shower

Tried to draw a meteor shower…

I tried to view the shower a few years ago. We drove miles, but we’re stuck under a cloud base that was miles across. I gave up after forty miles. Tonight it’s the same, cloud everywhere. But if you get the chance try and see it for yourself!

The Geminid meteor shower is tonight. (morning of 14th December 2020). I looked up the information on Wikipedia I’m afraid as I don’t know enough about them:

The Geminids are a prolific meteor shower caused by the object 3200 Phaethon,[4] which is thought to be a Palladian asteroid[5] with a “rock comet” orbit.[6] This would make the Geminids, together with the Quadrantids, the only major meteor showers not originating from a comet. The meteors from this shower are slow moving, can be seen in December and usually peak around December 6–14, with the date of highest intensity being the morning of December 14. The shower is thought to be intensifying every year and recent showers have seen 120–160 meteors per hour under optimal conditions, generally around 02:00 to 03:00 local time. Geminids were first observed in 1862,[1] much more recently than other showers such as the Perseids (36 AD) and Leonids (902 AD).

My indoor boy cat

While I’m caring for an abandoned cat I must also continue to care for my other two. They have both been patient with me but I do feel guilty especially for my boy cat who loves to be loved. I think he’s a little jealous of our interloper and because he’s smaller than outdoor boy he sometimes takes it out on his sister. There’s been a lot more chasing and play fighting than before. That they have been so calm about the new cat comes, I think, from living with eighteen other cats (I took them in as rescue cats). I think they will all integrate, just wondering what we will do if we go away on holiday.

Watching ‘It’s a wonderful life’

A sstrange and eventually wonderful story of a man who loses everything including his family and identity. He is transported to a world where he no longer exists. Everything he ever influenced has been changed.

Like a Christmas Carol it tugs at the heart strings. If you have never seen it, find it. X

Stars James Stewart as George Bailey, black and white film.

At the waiting room gallery

Photo taken by a friend at the waiting room gallery a few months ago BV, (before virus). He’s reading, I’m tapping away on my phone. The surroundings makes it look like an old painting. Although it’s in a gallery I think it looks like a domestic scene. I love the atmospheric look of it.

Sunny for a while

Light at this time of year is always low. Striking across the ground rather than high above it. This is because the Earths Northern hemisphere tips away from the Sun. So much so that the North Pole dips into darkness in the winter months. Shadows are long now and when you do get into sunshine the light can be blinding from the Sun on the horizon. You can look for images of the suns track across the sky at different times of the year. It basically arcs round from East to West but tipped at an angle dipping more South as winter progresses, then from the winter solstice around the 21st of December, it starts to slowly work its way back up the sky until its almost overhead on Midsummer day at midday, then the cycle starts all over again.