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May 19th, 2018

19/5/2018

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I was determined to photograph our resident deer who, in the day, inhabits the thickets around the edge of the meadow. I was lucky. As I reached the corner she bounded out of the hawthorn bushes.
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Life in the pond - geese and fish

15/5/2018

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It was another lovely day and I spent a good hour sitting by the pond being entertained by nature. First up where the geese. The goslings are now quite big and full of energy. I noticed something I hadn't seen before. As they were paddling across the pond first one then all of them would duck beneath the water and swim under the water for a couple of meters before surfacing. I wondered whether they were exercising their wings ready for flying.  I didn't have my camera so I wasn't able to record this behaviour but I will watch out for it again.
Its now Saturday 19th. It's a warm and sunny day and I was standing next to the pond when the big carp surfaced and patrolled the edge of the water lily's
Every so often I would hear a plop and see ripples moving out from where a fish had broken the surface. I decided to feed the fish some bread. I wasn't disappointed within about 30 seconds the pieces of bread I had tossed in the pond were surrounded by small fish - probably roach and rudd. Even big pieces of bread didn't last long. I was hoping to spot one of the large carp. I walked to the other side of the pond and saw a dark shape - like a submarine in the water. It was one of the carp but I didn't manage to catch him on camera. I will try again.
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Seeds on the wind

13/5/2018

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Another magical afternoon in my garden. As I was cutting the grass a deer plunged from the thicket by the railway and bounded around the curve of cut grass to another thicket at the bottom of the field.I thought I'd be clever ad sneak up on him by walking towards where he was with the wind blowing towards me. He let me get within 20m before he jumped over the broken fence and plunged into the woods.
​​I suddenly noticed a blizzard of white seeds dancing in the air. I tracked the source of the seeds to the three 'cat willow' trees in my garden. I later discovered that the seeds germinated in hours and I now realise that they are the source of all the willow saplings that sprout up around my garden and in the meadow. These few trees have given birth to literally hundreds of willows that I have chopped down.

Depending on the direction of the wind they float into the paddock or onto the lake. On the lake they float on the surface and accumulate around the edge which is where I often find willows growing. 

I assume these wind blown seeds germinate everywhere but notice that where they seem to grow and flourish is at the margins of the garden - by the lake or along the fence line where they are protected from my mower - until they become too big to ignore and I cut them with a saw. But such is the power of regeneration that they sprout many new shoots unless I can remove the roots.

I am glad I had the time to watch the dancing seeds for a while. It inspired me to make a little movie which I set to a piece of music by Hans Zimmer called 'Light'. 
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Blossoms

9/5/2018

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For about 3 weeks every year the trees in our garden share their blossom reflecting the vision of the garden's creator. The large pink flowers of wild cherry, the pale delicate flowers of apple and plum and the dazzling white of the hawthorn. This year they all emerged in the last few days of April and the first few days of May but when I looked at the cherry trees today much of their blossom had already withered or been blown away. A sad end to one of the most beautiful sites my garden has to offer but to appreciate the beauty of the cherry tree is to live a good life.

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Fences

8/5/2018

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I have always been intrigued by walls and fences - perhaps because they are often the most prominent man made feature in rural landscapes. I'm sure my fascination with walls stems from my days as a geologist since they provide valuable clues as what lies beneath the soil. I have very few walls but I do have lots of fences and the demise of one of them and the construction of its replacement, provided the inspiration for a new era of my involvement in my garden that eventually led to this blog.

The fences around my garden are a mixed bag. We have weatherboard some of which are new and some are old and we have one very dilapidated panel that is on my list of jobs to do. We have unglamorous wire fences along the back of the paddock. sawn wood field fence and  a fence with split chestnut rails - my pride and joy which you can see in te header photo.

The trouble with fences is, over a long period of time, they succumb to the weather and beetle damage and eventually fall down. Here are a few of my fences.
Ode to my fence (from a post I made in March on my #creativeHE blog)

This might seem like a strange title but it represents the outcome of a #creativeHE hands-on 'Creativity in the Making' conversation that I have been co-facilitating  with John Rae over the last two weeks (March 6-20th). The basic idea for this conversation was to invite participants to make something and to create a narrative about their making process to try and tease out how creatvity featured in the process. Alongside this practical making, John and I, assisted by Joy Whitton tried to encourage participants to think about the process of making and share their own perspectives. What has emerged (and is still emerging as a write this) is an interesting and rich set of perspectives. At the time of the conversation one of my fences was being taken down and a new one built so I used it as the subject of my making. The artefacts I made are in the form of a narrative and a film which I posted on YouTube. Its a good example of how my garden inspires me to make and create and to think about it from an ecological perspective.
ode_to_my_fence.pdf
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​Goose and Fox

8/5/2018

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Watching animals go about their own daily life can be quite entertaining sometimes. While I was making breakfast I saw the fox sidle up to the geese in a very disinterested way hoping to nick one of the goslings. But one of the adults reared up.. flapped their wings and the fox beat a hasty and undignified retreat. It looks like she might have a den with some cubs behind the paddock on the railway line as she is making regular journeys across the garden to active rabbit warren. My wife caught her with a baby rabbit in her mouth so she must be waiting by the entrance to catch those who have yet to learn the rules.
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Its been the hottest May Bank Holiday ever peaking at nearly 28C. For the last four days we have had an azure blue sky with no clouds/ Its still very warm but the first clouds have reappeared signalling a change is on the way.
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Gentle reminder

4/5/2018

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​This weekend is very special to me.. it’s the 19th anniversary of the death of my first wife. I remember her all the time but particularly when I’m in the garden – she loved the garden and often sat in it to drink her mid-morning coffee. Every year at this time she sends me a gentle reminder, as the for-get-me-knots sprout up all over the garden and woods. They are so pretty and modest yet so resilient and hardy – very much like her. I feel her spirit lives on in this natural cycle of renewal which will go on forever.
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Inspired to paint

1/5/2018

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​In December 2017 I was involved in  #creativeHE conversation  and wrote this on my blog.

I got side tracked today - actually I enjoyed it and it ended up being well worth it. My wife has decided we need some art work on our bare walls. I have been saying for years I will paint something but never got round to it (50 years ago! I painted a lot and had hoped to go to art college when I left school): I sensed that this time I was going to have to go along with it. So I began to search for inspiration and turned to one of my favourite artists David Hockney. I came across a wonderful documentary in which Andrew Marr (himself a masterful practitioner) interviewed David Hockney about his work just before his major exhibition at the Royal Academy - The Art of Seeing.  And for the second day in succession I was 'enchanted'

​Here is a man with great artistic talent, intelligence and a work ethic that few of us can match who never stops thinking about his work, who sees the extraordinary in the ordinary, who is a craftsman who makes poetry with his images. His observations and narrative illuminate his practices. They reveal his journey and how his past experiences and what he values are brought to bear in his present work "The Yorkshire landscape is painted by someone who has lived in LA for 30 years". He reveals how he feeds off the environment in which he places himself ​ "I am affected by the space.. it thrills me".  His mind is shaped by his environment and he in turn represents his environment is ways that have never been seen before
I enjoyed watching Hockney paint in his field environment. It gave me a sense of how he immerses himself in the landscape he is painting and how he sees and feels and then makes his mark using his tools and his medium. I was intrigued and I kept searching YouTube for more clips of him painting. I was infected by his quiet enthusiasm for digital painting on the ipad - he made it look easy, which I guess is the mark of a good teacher - someone who eases the challenge of learning. I thought I'd like to try and paint something and I looked up how he used his ipad to paint. Then I found a lovely clip by Jeannie Mellersh who showed me that one of the ways we can understand someone's practice is to try and emulate their practice. In the video clip she explains and demonstrates how she used her ipad to paint his April 28th picture. "I've been looking at David Hockney's exhibition in London showing his I ipad paintings I've recently bought an ipad in order to understand how he painted one say this one on April the 28th [Angie is looking at the catalogue] I have attempted to recreate it on my iPad"  This practical down to earth demonstration really helped me understand her practice and david's practice as an ipad painting craft.
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I was so inspired by Jeanie's demonstration that I borrowed my wife's ipad, downloaded a paint app and had a go for myself. Its a finger digital painting of my garden and I enjoyed making it so much that I am going to invest in some digital brushes. On a small scale this is an example of being inspired to do something I'd never done before and it came from two people sharing their practice. The advanced practitioner shared his passion and revealed the beauty in the landscapes I sometimes take for granted. The competent practitioner showed me how simple it was to learn the techniques and that gave me the confidence and will to try for myself. The result was satisfying and it felt creative to me (but not necessarily anyone else although my wife felt it was). I can now see the potential in the medium for doing more. I am not a complete beginner, I have drawn and painted off and on throughout my life but not in the last 18 years. I guess this proves to me that, in some areas of practice, we can be creative and productive with relatively little knowledge and skill but to get good at it we have to practise, practise, practise..

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After the rain

1/5/2018

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​It rained heavily today until late afternoon. Having been cooped up with my accounts all day I decided to go for a walk. I had pulled a muscle in my back so I walked slowly and quietly around the patch. I spotted a kestrel on the transmission wires in the paddock and tried to get up close to take a photo but he flew away before I could get near him.  As I reached the far side of the paddock I startled a deer who was lying in the long grass. He bounded away to the far fence, too fast to get a photo, and hopped through the rails before ducking under the gate into the woods. I decided to stalk him through the woods but, not surprisingly, he was better at hiding than I was a finding.  Because of the rain there was a lot of surface water, the spring line was almost on the path adjacent to he paddock and on the south side the water was actually flowing and forming large pools, something that doesn’t happen very often. There was a thick green carpet of new ground cover everywhere with occasional patches of blue and white bells and other flowers. Emerging from the woods I spotted a fox with a large bushy tail and nose to the ground tracking down rabbits I guess. I spent some time by the lake watching the goslings paddle across the pond. Not a bad wildlife tally for a 30 minute walk in my garden. 
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    Garden Notes
    My garden keeps me busy. Although it can inflict pain from time to time it also gives me the exercise I need to keep fit. More than anything else it gives me a lot of pleasure and happiness. It enables me to express myself creatively and draws my attention to the beauty and ecology of life. In this blog  I am telling the story of my garden and my involvement and experiences in it through photos, movies, music, paintings and other artefacts - it inspires me to create. I know that one day soon I will not be the custodian of this beautiful landscape we call our home. I must make the most of it now and preserve its presence in my memory knowing that it will carry on long after I am gone. When someone else will call it their home.

    Picture
    Useful Links
    Wildlife Garden Forum
    Surrey Wildlife Trust 
    Habitat Network
    Plant Identification UK




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