First Frogspawn 2016

Friday 05th February 2016 - Much earlier than the last two years and no surprise after this mild winter. They have been croaking away through the night since 5th January, clearly audible between the sounds of wind and passing traffic, low and persistent before being replaced by the busy flutterings of sparrows under the roof-tiles as the sun comes up ! Then there was disruption by the the brief hard frost two weeks ago that seemed to dampen their ardour, then numbers building up in recent days, 11 at last count, with two seen 'piggy-backing' on the path as the children went to school yesterday and then the first actual frogspawn seen by my daughter Alice this afternoon.

 (* See previous first spawning dates in the same pond)

26th February 2015

23rd February 2014

21st January 2013

19th February 2012

11th February 2011

Cold sharp morning sunshine.

Beautiful winter morning and although its probably the coldest week so far there is clearly more light earlier and later in the day and the air has a clarity as it sheds the gloomy light of November and December. Ice on the pond and on the  leaf filled paddling pool and the children are happy inside in-front of a morning weekend fire. Woken this morning by the sparrows that live in our roof, stamping and fluttering about and chirping, so full of character and energy. I don't really know what they're doing in the loft as it's in a rather inaccessible corner and I rather like their presence but I fear they're making inroads into the space, perhaps they're building things, is it too early for nesting ? As predicted the cold has disrupted the early over amorous frogs, seen in the pond a couple of weeks ago but I'm sure the cold won't last and the spring will be upon us soon. Enjoying the cold cycle to work each day,  into the rising sun, low over the hedges and farms, the steaming cows and lines of starlings collecting along the telegraph wires as they coordinate their day's activities after a night in the reeds. On the other side of the world friends Facebook from the end of summer in New Zealand and the T-shirt wearing weather in the Falklands.

Covehithe

A wonderful walk at Covehithe on the gravel beach that separates the sea from the salt marsh and the flocks of seagulls wheeling in the low winter sun. The beach littered with sea-worn masonry, plant bulbs and uprooted trees torn from the cliff tops as the coast is remorselessly eaten away by the tides. A beautiful stretch of raw Norfolk coast, with the small village at ongoing peril and just along the coast from the teashops of Southwold.

wikipedia.org - In 1910 Peter Ditchfield wrote:^[7]

'At Covehithe, on the Suffolk coast, there has been the greatest loss of land. In 1887 sixty feet was claimed by the sea, and in ten years (1878-87) the loss was at the rate of over eighteen feet a year. In 1895 another heavy loss occurred between Southwold and Covehithe and a new cove formed.'

Winter Shadow Drawing

Drawing plants and their shadows in Norfolk - enjoying the pause in the holiday storm between Christmas and New Year. Wonderful walks around Claxton and Strumpshaw, opposite sides of the Yare river but in so many ways different landscapes and of course for me with different family associations. The hedgerows are uncharacteristically alive, with daffodils actually blooming in this most strange of winters and the birds are louder that unusual, territorial and confused blackbirds blurting out of the bushes. The greenery is reassuringly flattened by wind and rain and the dried stems of cow-parsley stand beautifully silhouetted against the sky along the damp lanes, wet tarmac shining white in the low winter sun.

Buckenham Again

In they drift, from across the broad-bottomed Yare valley and beyond. My solid ground, their purview, my perspective partial. Is their rhythm in their influx, cause and effect that were I to look long enough I would perceive? I know the shape of things; the first opening chapters of aggregation, the caesuric interlude, the third phase of swirling, screaming biomass, the final act of downrush then all dusky, chattered coda.  But tonight, as ever, I doubt the completion of the story; tonight my fears say the narrative will be broken. I have ruined it with my clumsy stroll up the platform; I have come too late, gone too early, been an interloper. Exiled, I should not have come here.

But I cannot break this, nor yet can I impose sense on it, just be in it once again, now in sound, now in crepuscular drizzle. To see all would be to be wise of the sense of it, but to not see it does not mean there is none. Let it be. Let it always be. And breathe.

Lost and Found Exhibition

'Lost and Found' exhibition opened in Bath earlier tonight and I spent a terrific evening talking to interesting people about ideas, memory, collecting, totems and other things. Also talked about the collection of found specimens and the difficulties of their preservation and display, always great to talk to new people about ideas and I drove home trying to clarify what I am doing with my artwork, useful to draw a line sometimes and reflect. Thanks to everyone who came along and if you find yourself in or near Bath then please come and have a look. 44AD Gallery is just next to the Cathedral in the centre of town and the show is free and open until 4pm this Sunday.

Art Workshop - Casting Otter Tracks

Step in Stone - A great day running my art workshop at the Somerset Earth Science Centre, at Moons Hill Quarry, casting otter paw prints, looking at otter scat, getting shoes stuck in mud, casting natural history samples in clay and plaster and dismantling owl pellets - great fun had by all.