Almost Spring

After months of rain that brought devastating floods to the Somerset Levels there is a change in the weather due to the jet stream finally moving back to the north of the UK.
At last I can walk in the woods without being bogged down in mud and wellington boots.  A favourite place in the spring is the woods near Palace Fields which usually is carpeted with a variety of wildflowers.  Not the case this year yet, these primroses were just a few brightening the evening light.
More wild flowers from wandering in previous years are here

Changes to Website

Since my photo hosting site SmugMug released its new release in 2013 I've been updating my site.
You can see the new version at www.carolineshipsey.co.uk

Valentine's Day 2013

After deciding there were other and better ways to make occasional posts I've come back to the blog, it's an uncomplicated place to do a little writing, post a photo or to and link to other sites of interest to me.

The first 6 week of this year have continued to live up to the title of this blog and this morning is no exception, it's another Blog from the Fog day.

Catching up on the weather so far, it continues to be wet, wet, wet!  Everywhere I walk is absolutely sodden and the sky is mostly grey day after day.  In the middle of January we had some snow which fell thick and fast, then hung around for almost a week.   You can see some of my images over at my website www.carolineshipsey.co.uk.

There are signs of spring despite the weather - snowdrops in my garden have been coming up for about 2 weeks now and there are plenty in the hedgerows.  Catkins and pussy willow can also be seen in hedges and in woodland.   If we are to have a better summer this year the Gulf stream needs to move back north a bit and let our normal weather pattern return.

Goodbye from the Blog

It's time to say goodbye from this blog.

Since I started it times have changed and there are so many other ways of sharing odd bits of news and photos apart from my website. I find it difficult to decide which to use G+ or occasionally 500px. So if you want to keep in touch bookmark those and my website  www.carolineshipsey.co.uk. and do keep in touch - byeeee:)

Winter Has Definitely Arrived

What a surprise when I woke up this morning to see the garden covered in snow and huge snowflakes still falling! Not great weather for driving or walking but as usual the dogs won and we walked from home to Stockhill.

The snow was still falling and the wind bitter but dogs never seems to care. I struggled for shelter from the snow so I could capture this early winter wonderland. The Beech trees are still hanging on to some of their leaves, so it was a very unusual site to have snow laden trees with their yellow and golden leaves.

 I walked for about 90 minutes and by then the snow had stopped and the skies were clearing. By about 11 am the snow was thawing and blue skies provided a beautiful backdrop to the now bright white hills. Given that at least 2 inches of snow had fallen the thaw has produced huge puddles across the roads and saturated the ground even more.

Farewell Swans of Wells

 

Last night was the culmination of the Swans of Wells event with a gala dinner held in the Bishop's Palace and the auction of all the swans.
 I watched the auction on i-bidder.com eager to see just how much money some of my favourites would sell for. Two swans in particular had won the hearts of the people of Wells - Guinivere, who has graced the moat at the entrance to the Bishops Palace, and Hot Fuzz at the Police station. Sculptor Ian Marlow created the beautiful nest of leaves for Guinivere, who symbolized the theme of the project.  The film Hot Fuzz was filmed in Wells, many locals performed as extras and familiar locations appear throughout the film.

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!! GUINIVERE and HOT FUZZ TO REMAIN IN WELLS!!!





From the Swans of Wells website:-
 Swans have been synonymous with Wells in Somerset for centuries, where resident swans patrol the stunning 13th century Bishop's Palace, which has been home to the Bishop of Bath and Wells for over 800 years.

 The swans of Wells have the unusual habit of ringing a bell by the Palace drawbridge to ask for food. This unusual spectacle started 200 years ago, when the daughter of an 19th century Bishop taught her favourite swan to ring the gatehouse bell for scraps of food, a technique that has been passed down the swan generations! 

 Swans of Wells 2012 is a major tourism initiative for Somerset, which has featured the public display of sixty, magnificently decorated, 5ft swan sculptures, one for each of the sixty years of the Queen's reign. 

 The flock was displayed in locations around Wells and the surrounding Somerset countryside for 3 months this summer, from June to September 2012. This eye-catching, high profile event brought thousands of visitors to the streets of England's smallest city and a smile to the faces of all who saw them. 

 The swans were sponsored by businesses, individuals and organisations and decorated by a team of talented artists and craftspeople from across the West Country and beyond, who transformed the impressive, avian canvasses into beautiful works of contemporary art.

Mendip Ploughing Match at Yoxter

God Speed the Plough
Let the wealthy and great,
roll in splendour and state,
I envy them not I declare it

I eat my own lamb
My own chickens and ham
I shear my own fleece and I wear it

I have lawns I have bowers
I have fruits I have flowers
The lark is my early alarm

So Jolly boys now
Here’s God speed the plough
Long life and success to the farmer.

 

By some miracle the weather was kind to us and there wasn't too much mud to spoil proceedings.  This was the 143rd meeting of the Mendip Ploughing Society and it was well supported with almost 90 entries.  I didn't see any hedging and there were only 2 entrants in the stone walling.   Entrant in ploughing came from Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and even Wales.  The horse ploughing had just 2 entrants but as usual they attracted a great deal of admiration.   Thanks to the ladies for an excellent lunch as usual!

 

This is one of my favourite events in our local calendar, great for photography and meeting friends.  If you've never been to a ploughing match I thoroughly recommend it as a gentle way to enjoy a day in the countryside amongst real country folk.

You can see more photos from the day and previous years here.

Swans of Wells - Swan Song

"Swan song" is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement.
 The Swans of Wells gave their final performance on 15th and 16th September when they were all gathered in the Bishop's Palace for a special public viewing prior to being auctioned on 29th September.
The auction will be live online, and you can bid on the Swans at this website. 


 

Apology to SmugMug!

A couple of days ago I received a small package in the post from the US which, much to my surprise, had come from SmugMug.  It contained some rather nice goodies which are quite useful to me.

Also now that I've had a really good opportunity to evaluate the alternatives to SmugMug I know I wont be leaving them after all!  So I'm sorry for my previous post, I know the owners of SmugMug are real people who do care about their customers and SmugMug still is the best place to host photos on the net despite their changes to the pricing structure.

Me with my Smuggy hat!

SmugMug, I'm really pissed off with you

For 6 years I've hosted my photos with a company called SmugMug - not something that would probably interest most people who view them, after all they're just enjoying the piccies. But from January 2013 that will change because a massive price increase has been imposed on users of the Pro Account and I don't intend to pay it.

If you want to read about it you can do so here

And then watch the update video here if you can put up with all the ' we die a little inside' stuff.

I've always promoted and recommended SmugMug to everyone I know who has asked about where to host their photos but I can't do this any more. Sorry folks and Goodbye SmugMug.

Sidmouth Folk Week

Overnight and early morning there was some heavy squally rain, but my early morning walk was mostly in the dry. I took photos of the sea crashing against the Prom, still red from the recent cliff falls, and in the Byes of the wildflower meadow.

Eventually played a few tunes in the Radway Inn and saw lots of familiar faces and old friends. I'm enjoying having time to be sociable and chat with people and walk the dogs properly.

I watched the traditional procession of invited dance sides at 2.30 with Mike, Jenny and Eileen, then as the tide was low walked the dogs down on the beach.

There were just too many people in the Radway when I eventually managed to get there at around 8.30 after having an evening meal with Jane and Paul, but the music was wonderful.

Another good day, nothing outstanding to report other than enjoying the festival atmosphere and relaxing.

Well the week just flew by, I walked miles played tunes, chatted with friends and relaxed, what more could I ask for:)

When is a Dew Pond not a Dew Pond?

Answer:-

When it has been restored like this - what an eyesore!

A massive fence way beyond the edge of the pond, barbed wire and railway sleepers - very in keeping with an AONB!

A Perfect Day

Woke up early and saw the sun rising, mist lying on the fields.

Sheep still snoozing in the field across the road as the sun rises, The warmth must feel good now they been shorn.

Walked the dogs near Deer Leap. Saw a Roe buck grazing about 50 yards away from me, dogs oblivious to him and vice versa.

Tiny calves still sleeping, wake and scramble up for the protection of their mothers.



There wasn't a cloud n the sky from sunrise to sunset and the mid afternoon was blisteringly hot. Not my kind of weather for photography but a beautiful summer's day to be enjoyed.

At dusk as I walked home from bell ringing the air was filled with the sweet smell of freshly cut fields, and hay from those cut the day before. In the distance I could hear the sound of tractors and mowing machines taking advantage of the dry weather, and the feeling of contentment with life was overwhelming.

The Not So Great British Summer

This is what the summer looks like here at Priddy - dismal, day after day. Not much different to November except that is humid and relatively mild, though not remotely summery.

This photo was taken around 9am and things still looked the same at 5.30pm!

Dusty

This photo was taken on 10th June 2011 at Lanacre Bridge on Exmoor, just a few days before Dusty was stricken by whatever it was that caused her death. She was enjoying lying in the sun and having the occasional roll in the grass.

Orchids at Last

I thought we weren't going to see any this year but here there are in all their usual magnificance.

Swans of Wells - Update

The good news is that most swans now have much bigger signage asking children not to climb on them.  The bad news is that several swans have been taken in for repair, though I don't know whether this is due to damage from people or the weather, which continues to give us a soaking.

This type of arts project has happened in other cities in the UK - Gorillas in Bristol a couple of years ago and Sheep? in Bath, and if they were as successful as Swans of Wells then more places should try out this approach.  It certainly has people moving around the city as they look for the swans, takes them into places they probably would never go, and brings the names of local businesses as sponsors to our attention.

Search for the Swans of Wells by number on my site using the 'Search this site' box at the top of all pages

Swans of Wells - Save Our Swans

Since I last wrote, my fears about damage to the Swans of Wells exhibits have sadly been realised. The vandalism that I've observed wasn't being inflicted by teenagers but by children accompanied by their parents.

After speaking to one father it seems that the attitude is one of 'Well if My kids see others climbing all over the swans, they want to do it, and why should I stop them? '
I pleaded with him that the children could damage and devalue the swans, which have been sponsored (paid for!) by local individuals and businesses, and will be auctioned for local charities. His response - the swans are 'too child friendly' and should have been mad stronger and more child resistant! Oh and that the stone plinths should have rounded edges and so less potentially dangerous to children.



The most vulnerable swans are those in the Market place and around the Bishop's Palace and Moat. Unless they are protected in some way then come the summer holidays one can only imagine the extent of damage they'll suffer.

I'm so disappointed that some parents apparently believe that if something is in a public area it's fair game for using as playground equipment.



In fairness, this child was actually being very careful!

Swans of Wells

Swans of Wells is a really great arts project that will be on the streets of Wells throughout the summer. It's colourful, fun and at the end of it in September will raise, hopefully, a huge amount of money for local charities.

All the swans have been sponsored by local businesses and individuals and imageinatively decorated by some very talented artists. I'm loving it, such fun to go around finding and photographing each one.

Both visitors and locals alike are really engaging with the spirit of the exhibition, equipped with their Trail Maps and seeking out as many as possible.

I've dedicated a gallery to my photos and this will be a project that continues throughout the summer. My plan is to record each swan and some of the detail, and then to include images of people interacting with them. It's great fun watching kids especially though they are inclined to try and climb on the swans which is to be seriously discouraged!

You can see my photos at

www.swansofwells.com is the website where you can find out much more about the project.

A Diamond Weekend

The Jubilee celebrations are now over and despite the weather it's been a memorable four days.
It would have been amazing to be in London to see the River Pageant, Concert and the open carriage ride back to Buckingham Palace, along with about a million other people. TV coverage has been superb though, and thoroughly recreated the wonderful atmosphere for us at home.

This was my third Jubilee - in 1977 I remember going to Pen Hill when the beacon was lit. there were hundreds of people there and we sang Rule Britania and Land of Hope and Glory.

In 2002 I was living on Skye, saw the Queen when she came to Portree and cried buckets while watching the TV coverage - I was so homesick!

2012 - Wow! I just wanted to soak up every bit of the pageantry, music, colour, history - it has been a brilliant celebration that even pouring rain couldn't spoil. Our Queen has reigned for 60 years and at 86 is an amazing lady. She has such a beautiful smile and looks so smart and elegant, it's difficult not to feel affection and respect for her.

It's been a really great weekend that I'll remember for a long, long time.