For some reason I haven't posted here in ages, but I don't really want to drop out of the habit, so here's an attempt to catch up.

Not even going to try to post about World Events. Times too interesting.

I read a copy of Neil Gaiman's M is for Magic which had been hanging around, to try to decide if I wanted to keep any of my Neil Gaiman books, now ( Read more... )

Um.  Things that have happened. right then.

The car window that was fixed has broken again due to internal conflicts with the door opening mechanism whatsit.  I did ask when I picked up the car from the garage and they told me the door and window had quarrelled, whether they were likely to do so again? They promised not.  They were wrong ( Read more... )

It’s hard to work out,with art, what is ‘good enough’ to show online, to give to people as a gift,  and most of all, to sell.  I am still struggling to work it out. If I paint something, and show it in one place - on tumblr, say, or on Deviantart - and it doesn’t get many people interested, in terms of likes or reblogs or whatever metric you use is ( Read more... )

Last week I went to a life drawing session.  The model was a large round very naked gentleman, and I must say, it took me a little while to adjust to drawing someone so very naked.  But I think I did learn some things from it. You just have to keep drawing and drawing and hope that eventually you've made all the mistakes.

Its quite hard to draw ( Read more... )

On yesterday's walk, I saw a green woodpecker!  Most unusual that: I see woodpeckers reasonably often, but usually it's the great spotted woodpecker.  It makes a nice change to see a green one.   And also I saw a hare, which always makes my day.  Hares are not very rare, but you don't often see them here because there's so much cover and they are ( Read more... )

It is hot. I walked in Deerpark wood, hoping to avoid too much sun and flies. Most of the year, Deerpark wood is a walk that definitely requires wellies, because there are so many small streams running everywhere through it that it gets quite muddy, particularly where riders have taken horses through, but on a day like this, there is little mud ( Read more... )

On Friday evening after we got back from canoeing, the most enormous storm came up.  It had been the clearest, hottest blue-sky day, and then suddenly, rain was beating down, thunder grumbling all around and lightning everywhere: really everywhere, all around.   Very spectacular. Poor Brythen was most upset, but Rosie wasn't, nor Henning or Yama.   ( Read more... )

Promises the Libdem election leaflet of one Matthew W ( Read more... )

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Just watched this, and my reaction was IT’S  SIT DOWN BY JAMES!!!!  I feel I’ve somehow obscurely misused my nerd credit.   Flashback to listening to the radio in Oxford in... 1990? 1991? Something like that ( Read more... )

On top of a fence post,
all covered in green
I photographed lichens
That evolved before the Eocene.


( Read more... )