Chickens and herons and cream jugs

When I want some fresh air I can go up the road to my friend Felicity's garden and talk to her chickens, who are very interesting and very pretty, and don't they know it.

I think here the hens are dancing.... bit of dosey doh going on methinks..

Otherwise I can go down to the river and

admire the herons - who can't be better described

than by Mary Oliver:

'On the leafy banks

an old Chinese poet

hunched in the white gown of his wings'

was waiting.

The water

was the kind of dark silk

that has silver lines

shot through it

when it is touched by the wind'

and

'The preacher

made his difficult landing,

his skirts up around his knees'

When I am not out, I am often
in the workshop bashing away
with a hammer and generally
making a lot of lovely noise

without annoying anyone..

My next project in silversmithing is a cream jug - this is one of the very early stages, when I am raising and doing a bit of planishing - long way to go.

Bluebells at last

As I don't have a garden, I have to go out and find places to visit, and content myself with a jug of daffodils indoors...

Peacocks, rhododendrons, a tree that looks as if washing is hanging on lines.....

A visit to a bluebell wood has got to be one of the highlights of spring - at Harcourt Arboretum a short walk for those who are not too mobile (me!) brings a great reward. You are accompanied by peacocks and colour abounds. I did have to go home and write a poem, as you do, but won't bore you with it here - just enjoy the colours and better still - go out and see them.

Like a duck to water

Yesterday I came across these ducklings being taken down to the river by their mother. They stopped off at Waitrose on the way, crossed the car park escorted by me, and over a road, then down to the river - it was quite a trek for those tiny feet (theirs, not mine).

Leaving Bath

Before leaving Bath, I had another look round, remembering when my son and daughter went to school there a long time ago - a scarily long time ago! It was interesting to see the fiddle-playing tightrope walker from Giffords Circus was there (see earlier post).

Sunny Bath

Weekend in Bath - very happy party celebrations on Saturday night after having spent the day exploring Bath after long absence, and going to wonderful Edwina Bridgeman exhibition. She reminds me of the fun of making moving toys, although these are static they have the same concept of using found materials and lateral thinking - one of my favourites was the couple sitting on a sofa that was an old open spectacles case with soft lining. There were lovely angels like flowers. I found it difficult to resist the temptation to go and raid skips....

Spring is sprung

Such a lovely sunny day the other day, got in the car and drove out to the Cotswolds. Ended up in a Cotswold village that begged me to wander round and enjoy the snowdrops. So I did. These seem to be huddling under a tree reminiscent of J.K. Rowling's tree.

Unable, however, to get away from Pride and Prejudice and a Certain Actor who came out of a lake, I was amused by the sign to the little walk that I chose! The sun took the chill out of the air and there was a definite hint of spring. At last.

I see that flying ducks on the wall (or in this case, roof) appear to be back in fashion down here.

Went home via the nostalgic sweetie shop in Burford.

Running rings round the Ashmolean

9th March. Great trip to the Ashmolean with some of my 'silver' (as in metal, not hair) group to be given a talk, in particular on the collection of rings (some 800 were given by C. D. E. Fortnum in 1897) and some posy rings from Dame Joan Evans. I hasten to add not all were on display! We also discussed a Malcolm Appleby bowl, which had been engraved with swan heads and necks, and a Michael Lloyd oak and apple vase in embossed and chased silver. The ring display was amazing, and we were taken into an 'inner sanctum' to put on rubber gloves - not for washing up, but so that we could handle some of the priceless rings - and were told about how the design of rings evolved over the centuries. It was so interesting I recommend a visit online to the Ashmolean site if you are unable to visit the museum in person.