Thanks Denise

Over the past couple of weeks I have received a huge amount of help from Denise to give my website a fresh new look and also this blog. My photo storage and website are courtesy of SmugMug which is THE only place for discerning photographers to display their work. There is a great forum where anyone can get all the help they need to customize their site form many helpful and knowledgeable people. I'm off to Sidmouth Folk Festival and will hopefully return with lots of new pics to share.

Even More Rain ..........

So far today it has been raining solidly since I woke at around 5.30am this morning. There is flooding on many roads around here and it has been foggy since lunchtime. I've just checked the local 24 hour weather forecast which says that visibilty is good and by 10pm will be very good.

Seeking Inspiration

The great British summer is continuing with rain, thunder and lightening and strong winds. Looking around at gardens in other villages ours looks very sad, battered by the rain and seasonally behind it seems - so much for living on the Mendips.

Although the garden is small and plain I chose plants that I hoped would provide me with subjects to photograph throughout the summer - colorful, interesting forms and variety but its mostly green and rain sodden. OK I'm being a bit gloomy here, there has been some beautiful light and clouds, but they are so fleeting by the time I've gathered the camera bag and got in the car to drive out somewhere we are back in the rain again.

So what is the point of writing this today, well I'm desperate to find a totally absorbing project to commit to photographically. Having a new dog in the family has provided another doggie photo collection, you can see the happy bunch here. Fellow dog lovers will be interested in my never ending stream of dog photos but there has to be more. So I'm floundering, my first love is the landscape and country ways of life but I need the proverbial kick in the butt to move on to pastures new.

Rain, Rain

Well,its Glastonbury Festival this weekend so its inevitable that there would be rain - lots of it, as there has been this afternoon and evening. Equally inevitable are the television pictures of mud plastered festival goers enjoying themselves.

Rosie, has been with us now for a month and has settled in really well. Apart from some tummy upsets she has been no trouble at all. She is showing signs of feeling her feet a little now though and is not quite so responsive as when she first arrived. Time to do some really consistent training I think as she is just at the age where she could become quite a delinquent.

Photographically, this is a dead time for me, I'm uninspired and lacking creativity, really need something to kick start me. Book projects, print sales, commissioned work - none of these hold the slightest attraction at the moment, it actually feels burdensome to think about.

Goldfinches at last !!

Success with attracting Goldfinches has finally arrived following placing a feeder in the front garden, such a thrill to see them and they were actually quite bold. The Siskins are also very busy on all feeders, especially the black Niger Seed. I managed a few photos but only from inside the house and although the camera is at the ready I haven't seen them since.

Seasonal Change ?

After the warm, springlike weather of last week the weekend weather became quite wintery, with a couple of inches of snow on Sunday morning. Its started to fall following a clap of thunder and lightening flash at about 6 am on Sunday morning and by 8 am the Sun was shining on the crisp layer that now extended from the Mendips right across the Levels to Glastonbury and beyond. I walked at Deer Leap, typically, the wind was biting and the snow was crisp. The dogs always love snow, it makes them very playful, rolling and snuffling in it, catching snowballs and generally chasing each other around.

There was some talk in the news of this weather being yet another indicator of the seasonal changes brought about by global warming. However, Edith Holden's Diary of an Edwardian Country Lady written on 1906, records snow even later in April, accompanied by similar bitterly cold winds.

The Elusive Goldfinch

The birds coming into the feeders hanging on the patio have been a great source of pleasure throughout the winter, though the variety hasn't been great. Generally there are Blue Tits, Great Tits, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Sparrows, Starlings, Robins, the occasional Blackbird, and newcomers Siskin and Lesser Red Poll. The latter two have appeared since adding the black niger seed feeder. I had hoped that this would also attract Goldfinches but so far, after a week there is no sign of them, this is quite disappointing but I'm ever hopeful.

The results of the 2008 RSPB garden bird survey are here