St Ives 3

Barbara Hepworth's workshop and studio, and a sculpture in her garden. Her house is fascinating (for more see this link). It feels as if she has just left for a few minutes and will be back soon.

St Ives 2

the narrow cobbled streets lend a sense of timelessness to the otherwise bustling town. The beautiful hanging baskets make it feel like somewhere in Provence.

St Ives 1

we spent a pleasant day in St Ives, the light has a beautiful, clear quality, laying bare the cluttered, hemmed in streets leading down to and surrounding the harbour. Below is a little pastel of St Ives by Bryan Pearce. One can begin to understand his unusual use of perspective when one sees the gentle curve of the rows of houses as they run towards the harbour (this is not the best example of this effect in his work but it is very characteristic of his idiosyncratic style. For more see link).


or in celebration of our transatlantic links, this painting by Effie Fortune in 1923 (see link and comment)

goldfinch flock

a flock of goldfinches. These little birds tend to flock together in autumn and winter. We also saw a grass snake (distinctive yellow collar on a grey green body, see link) on the river bank. They are good swimmers. Unfortunately, we were too slow to photograph it as it sped off into the undergrowth to escape canine attentions.

the bad news

is that I came second in my class (rough coated dogs), and Harriet came first in her class (smooth coated bitches). This cannot possibly be right, and reflects deep seated prejudice against me, personally. I am going to hold a poll on the whole world wide web about who is the handsomest best dog and it is clearly me. Here I am giving H some advice about ringcraft, don't bite the judges, don't snap at the other contestants, don't sit down and refuse to walk around, that sort of thing. I would like to point out that she came nowhere in the champions' class.


Just to help I have uploaded a picture of us both, showing me in front.

down at Morewellham 3

This is a small darter dragonfly, resting on some cotoneaster berries, although I am not sure what it is doing (they don't eat berries).

down at Morewellham 2

This is the Tamar, flowing down towards Plymouth, the house is in Devon, and the other bank is Cornwall; these wooded valleys are a remnant of the much more extensive broad leafed woods that covered this part of the world after the last ice age.

down at Morewellham

we spent yesterday afternoon at Morewellham Quay, just across the Tamar valley from where we live. It used to be a very busy commercial port exporting minerals from local mines all over the world and also to France. The afternoon was not a complete success (see above) but it was a lovely sunny day. They even have some surviving Victorians walking around although they look very young to me. For more information try this link to their site.

I love your blog

thanks to Tara for giving Spot another award; please visit her blog (click on the award) if only to see how much one can do with a simple blog. We are meant to send the award to another seven blogs but we just don't meet that many dogs. Mind you anything to the power seven is going to get very big very quickly. We often visit Laura's blog just to look at the insects in her garden and to feel glad we live on this wet coast rather than that one. Spike, my next door neighbour, has a profile but no pages on his blog; is he one of those dogs who can't do his letters properly?

water mint

commonest of all our native mints, of which there seem to be far too many, used as an early form of air freshener by chucking bundles of the leaves on the floor.

By the way Spot thinks short selling should be made a capital offence.

slow progress down at mill

slowly but surely (see earlier pics) the ruins of the old mill are disappearing as a new house emerges like an exoskeleton around it. The lower photograph shows the old leat (it looks Victorian) emerging from underneath the old mill. It shows how much goes on underneath our feet.

more bees knees

another variant bee, type unknown, resting on old flower head of knapweed.

rooks over Rezare

There is a line in a poem by Ted Hughes about rooks circling like the sweep of a broom, not that I can find any reference to it.They are just visible in this photo as the black speckles. I think they do it for the fun and pure joy of it.

brimstone at the trough

a male brimstone butterfly, refuelling on knapweed. I find the detail in the wing fascinating, it looks so exactly like a leaf.

canine snigging

doing a Spot of snigging, while those who should be snigging plod wearily home

blue bees and angelica

a striking blue and black bee, feeding on wild angelica. I am not sure what sort of bee it is but there are a lot of them in the woods at present. Angelica seems to attract a very wide range of flying insects. There also appears to be a minute winged insect sitting on the bee's left wing.

lynher valley white water surfing

here we are shooting down the Lynher, which is usually quite a quiet river. Even Harriet had a go, and then tried drowning


and had to be rescued by her heroic brother (me, Spot that is).



Afterwards the girls posed for a photo; mum is wearing her swimming costume, and Hari is just quivering in the background.

bien pensees (no accents?)

On photography


I have learnt to look without seeing,
Always through glass,
Distanced, but not darkly.
Peppered by the sprinkled words of conversations unheard
Surrounded by the actors caught
Frozen in my photographs.

Always absent but there; behind, not in,
Dot and pixellated
Photon by photon
Until one drowns
In the waves of
Every moment of the moment caught,
On, not forgettable.

Oh for the light amnesia,
And warmth of memory's gentle caress,
For the organic software that does
Blur, edit or elide,
And kindly sharpens only that beyond the sight
Of photographs.



Spot

(through a glass "darkly":-The phrase is interpreted to mean that humans have an imperfect perception of reality). And dogs?

wild angelica

luscious wild angelica, about to erupt forth into a froth of small white flowers flushed with purple and much loved by insects of all sorts. Culpeper (Nicholas, that is) recommends angelica for all epidemical diseases, which is just about everything so give it a try (usually to be found crystallized on top of expensive cakes).

and a visitor from space

landing now.

Maybe the black dog days are over.

good luck from Launceston Lilian

Lilian, the narrow gauge steam engine, puffing into Launceston Station wishing everyone who needs it good luck (for more pics of Lilian and her friend try this link)

and the shop, note kindly placed drinking water for dogs, a very civilised station.

art 3 lanes

cornish lane based on an earlier photo (see link)

art 2 sunsets

based on an earlier image (link)

art

Spot's blog

Welcome to Spot's blog. The blog contains over a 1000 images of the parish of Stoke Climsland, including flora and fauna. The images are archived by date (month and year). Use the labels (listed on the left of this page) to look at areas of particular interest. The link to Google map (see the list of links) will show you where many of the photos were taken.

a fond farewell

After a lot of thought Spot and I have decided to call a close to this blog. We have been blogging for almost three years now and there are over a 1000 pages of photographs in the blog. We are finding it difficult to find new things to photograph, or to find anything interesting to say, so rather than blog for the sake of it we will call it a day now. We will leave the blog up for anyone who wants to look at photographs of local flora and fauna (eg through the links to local sites). We will add the occasional page if anything really interesting crosses our path. Thanks to the many people who have visited the blog since November 2005 and left comments; you all feel like friends.

Love

Spot and Co

centaury

common centaury growing in the meadows. This is a very variable plant, and these robust florid specimens look very different from their more slender cousins in the woods

red admiral

a red admiral feeding on hemp agrimony in the early morning sun. It is hot and humid, and thunderstorms are on their way here. Knowing England this is the end of summer.

silver washed fritillary

a silver washed fritillary (female), the largest of our native fritillary butterflies, feeding on brambles. It is called silver washed because unlike other fritillaries which have spotted underwings, the underwings have a streaked or washed appearance.

despondency

Spot and I are feeling very despondent for reasons that can be understood by studying the difference between these two meadows. The bottom meadow is in France and is full of wild flowers, the top meadow is nearby and has little in it other than thistles and trefoil. The total lack of species diversity in our home meadows makes them a biological desert. Why oh why is the agricultural pound valued so much more than the life pound? Just a little bit of husbandry (care) creates an environment where wild life and flora can flourish without detracting from our ability to feed ourselves. The French appear much more sympathetic to the rhythm and demands of Nature and practice a traditional agriculture that sustains the wild. We try to be optimistic and open and to share the joy of life here but the land is being suffocated by greed and idleness.

fast jets of the avian world

like the Red Arrows, a group of swifts hurtle past, screaming at each other. I saw plenty of swifts in France but these are the first I have seen here this year. Where have they been? Notice team leader at top left. This bird maintained the same relative position as the group flew across and around the sky.

back to reality:- caterpillars in Cornwall

looking remarkably like a twig this caterpillar is climbing back to safety in the canopy of a wild cherry tree on a silken thread. The detail of the imitation is fascinating, even down to what look life leaf buds.

colour in France 16

and finally, a self portrait of the artist at work. Spot is happy to allow his photographer to have a day in the sun now that he is out of the kennels. The studio in Rodes belongs to our friend Shelagh Hickman, an original and colourful artist. Please visit her web site.