It must be spring soon?

Posted on February 15, 2020February 15, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Crocuses, Environment, Flooding, Heat, Life, Rode hall, Snow drop walk, Snowdrops, Spring, Staffordshire, Summer, Time, Warmth, Water, WeatherLeave a comment

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Buds are bursting on the bushes, leaves are slowly unfurling. Each tiny leaflet a herald of coming spring. A few crocuses and snowdrops are out. Rode Halls snowdrop walk, which is an annual event round here, is advertised on Facebook. Life moves on. The water from the storms is soaking the ground, and where there are trees and gardens the water is sucked up to swell the buds. Where there is concrete and bricks it washes down and floods out from the rivers.

The weather is on a knife edge, will it get to hot again this summer? Will we have floods or drought? Will warmth spread through the land gently or will we have fires on heaths and moors and in woods and forests. Our climate is in balance no more. It is up to us to do something to help it fall back into that balance of nature that is gentlest for the world. If we try hard I hope we can.?

Swan water

Posted on February 8, 2020February 8, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blue, Fun, Lake, Layout app, Pattern, Photo, Swans, Swimming, Twelve, Water, Westport lake, WhiteLeave a comment

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Twelve Swans a swimming, paddling, gliding, multiplied by four in my layout app. From light to dark blue, srartling white feathers, getting all your swans in a row, photo….

Sea and Sky

Posted on January 23, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Coast, Duplicated, Fun, groynes, Life, Mirrored, Photo, Sea, Sky, Water2 Comments

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Surreal image of sea and sky. I choose things that will make a good picture when they are duplicated and put together in a pattern. The waves were breaking in the distance and the sand was thinly covered with a film of water. The groynes are wearing out but still stop the sand drifting. I like the triangles on poles at either end of them (only one in the original photo) I think this makes a plesant composition…

The lake

Posted on December 29, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Busy, Fun, Leek, Light railway, Near Leek, Rudyard, Rudyard lake, Staffordshire, Train, Visit, WaterLeave a comment

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A view of late summer. Riding on the Rudyard lake light railway train, along the length of the lake. I saw this sailing boat over the other side. Too far away and slightly misty to get a clear view. I love the romance of the scene. Its a long, thin lake. Sheltered by hills on either side. Actually a reservoir for the canal system. I don’t think it ever gets stormy on there. No tides, no rise and fall of water, unless there is a period of drought. A lovely, if busy, place to visit.

It’s out in the hills on a little side road, we have cycled there down steep gradients when I was a lot younger. One road to it is very narrow, with passing places. The other is on the far side of the town of Leek and means an extra twenty to thirty minutes travelling to get there.

One day I will take paints and a canvas to capture the views.

Fish

Posted on December 19, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Fish, Glimmer, Glint, Poem, Poetry, Stream, WaterLeave a comment

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Shimmering silver and gold,

Flicker in the sunshine,

catching erratic mayflies.

Slipping down the stream,

glinting and glimmering,

Sun and shade stripes of branches,

camouflaged and hidden

above the pebbled bed.

Leaping and jumping

flying fish for a second

mid air,

then like raindrops falling,

back into the crystal clear,

cold, brisk, water…

Rains falling heavily

Posted on December 10, 2019December 10, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cardinal points of the compass, Life, Rain, Storm, Temperate climate, Water, WeatherLeave a comment

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We’ve been waiting all day for the rain and it’s arrived after dark, in torrents. The wind has been blowing strongly, bending trees over, waving branches, bits of twig falling on the road. There is almost a stream of water rushing past the back door. The noise of the rain drumming against the window.

In the UK we don’t have long months of cold rain or months of sunshine. We are at a position in the world where weather comes at us from all different directions. From the East we get freezing winds and snow, from the South, warm winds and heat, from the West, Atlantic storms, or high pressure keeping frost and calm weather over us, and from the North, Arctic winds and snow. And then all of that mixes up and scrambles things even more. Makes for an interesting life!

Cat time

Posted on December 6, 2019December 6, 2019 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Cat, Cat logic, Drink, Fun, Micro poem, Poem, Poetry, Water6 Comments

Time to drink?

Drink from a bowl? No,

Drink from a cup? No

Drink from a dish? No

The bath, it has to be the bath.

She sits and waits,

For me to put the plug in

Fill the bath slightly,

So she can drink…

Geese in progress

Posted on December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Based on a Minton tile, Geese, Mural, Painting, Tired, Water, Work in progressLeave a comment

The mural is about half finished. There is a lot to do still, more details on the geese. Splashing water, not added yet, I’ve been trying to get the background done first. Then outlining the patches of water. The little goslings need a stronger yellow. Then the reeds and leaves need finishing. I’m getting tired.

At Etruria today

Posted on November 28, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Damp, Dark, Etruria, Grey day, Leaves, Poem, Poetry, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Trent and mersey canal, Water, WetLeave a comment

Grey day on the canal,

Leaves float,

Cygnets shelter from the rain.

Boats huddle near the bridge,

Wrapped in old tarpaulins.

Smoke drifts up from stoves

that sit below the water levels.

Tea kettles boil and whistle,

Stained hands make a brew,

wiping off excess oil on grubby teacloths.

Leaves create mosaics of moist greens and browns.

Trees splinter into the sky,

Bursting like fireworks

But wet black,

No sparkle

Just grey, wet, dank…

And beautiful.

Sunset over the mere

Posted on November 26, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Fish, Mere, Pike, Predator, Short story, Sunset, Very short story, WaterLeave a comment

The clouds lifted over the mere as the sun set. For about five minutes it stopped raining and the drumming on the roof eased. The mere was almost invisible in the darkening evening. The only indication of it were reflections of house lights on the waters surface.

One strange ripple broke the surface. The wake of something moved across the glassy water of the mere.

A duck was heading for its nest for the night. Snap! It was gone.

A few feathers were all that were left.

The ripples stopped as the predator sank deeper. Patrolling now up and down the bank, a snap here, a snuck there, finding food…. The Pike picked its prey carefully.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Water