What a Difference a Day Makes!

Full sun & blue sky yesterday - after days upon days of heavy unrelenting cloud & drizzle, we get a glorious November sunny day! (ok today was back to the drizzle - but least us folk in Devon have seen the beauty of blue sky & bright sunshine!)



Blue skies galore!

See my shadow?

Ok we have a REALLY serious rat problem now - they're all over the garden & all over & under the bird feeders - they're such rascals too & are getting away with blue murder!

Though Mummy blackbird didn't seem too fussed about it!

Sparrow - unfortunately in shadow - but love how his underside lit up in the sun!

Glowing feet & look at those claws! Was he a cat in his previous life? lol

Sparrow camera shy - but lovely against the vivid blue sky

Buzzard - so hard to photograph - he/she was far away so not a very clear shot! :(

Blue tit enjoying the last rays of the golden sunshine of the day

Fieldfare from a great distance, they're very timid birds, so quite hard to get close to

Golden plovers demonstrating why they've been given that name! Catching the sunlight

Lovely golden sunshine which ran shadows across the land towards a glowing yellow field:

Some colour in the hedgerows - rose hips

Gorse - remember, when the gorse is in season, so is kissing!

Dock leaves in the evening sunshine & oak leaves lit up too

On my walk in the field where I saw a big flock of fieldfares & redwings, plus golden plovers

The last leaves on the oak trees in the woods - amazing how they've disappeared so fast!

Beginnings of yesterdays sunset

Same sunset - taken in dusk!

End to a perfect day really! :) x

The Sky was on Fire!

Sunset from last night:



















Lovely blue skied day today but very very cold - I can't enjoy is it as I need to get back to work in the studio - oh oh oh woe is me . . . :( x

Pressure, pressure, under so much pressure

I have 2 exhibition deadlines looming!

One is looming closer then the other - as in this coming Saturday. It's some Open North Devon Art event where 10 artists influenced by North Devon are chosen out of a panel of art type people for an exhibition at the Barnstable museum & they're looking for new artists, right up my street or down my lane, BUT oh it's so hard - I need 4 cracking paintings - just isn't happening!

The second is the New Work New Year show at Broomhill - where my North Devon Arts experience all started & really hasn't got me very far, but I'll keep plodding along & that's slightly better, the deadline for that is 6th December - I need 8 paintings for both shows combined - God 8, you know I hadn't counted them, god, that's worse - 8 cracking paintings!

So today I discovered I actually have no room, I have the total of around 15 canvases on the go - some I start then put away & come back to, others I acrylic over first & then wait until they've dried, others I give a thin layer of oil & let that dry over night so I can apply a second. Yes, all organised, all thought out. Hmmm - ME ORGANISED? You have the wrong person surely!!!!

I have actually run out of room! I lean finished paintings against everything - one I leaned against the wall & the second one I started off then I splattered paint over the first finished one *rolls eyes* I had nowhere to stand my jar of white spirit so I placed it on top of the third step of my small ladder, yep, I spilled it, it went up the wall & over a painting & to top it up I tripped over my floor covering & one of my paintings now as a print of my hand right in the middle! I get totally covered in paint usually, it's over my face, it's in my hair, over my hands & I wipe off the residue of oil paint on my brush on my trousered thigh (yep painting clothes) & when I come to take them off after a day of studio I find the paint has gone right through onto my legs & I look like I have a huge bruises - which I do ironically anyway as I'm so clumsy!

So I'm annoyed, frustrated, agitated, resemble a paint pot, stressed, under pressure, stiff, achy & now ranting on my blog!!!

Och well as Tucker would say, least there was a stunning red sunset tonight - red sky at night, shepherds delight???? PLEASE!!!!!! As the weather has been appalling!!!!

Emy x

Autumn Sunsets

one cold sunset during the week - there was no colour - just gold & bleakness!

This was on the same night I went deer stalking! The sky turned pink!

This was Friday nights sunset - rather sublime & again everything glowed pink

Incredibly windy today & a bit of sun here & there between the hail storms, so there might be a chance of a sunset tonight who knows - I'm just off out to take a few more photos of Ratty & family! x

Deer Stalking & Ratty & Friends

Deer stalking? No no THAT deer stalking - deer stalking of a non death kind! Although I blew my cover from having a serious coughing fit! lol She saw me, the Roe knows! Or knew let's say! I haven't seen her since, not surprising, as I was a mere 300 yards from her & making this terrible choking noise!!!!

Cough cough, hack hack, choke, choke

Oh **** rumbled!

This little lady has a passion for standing on hedges - ok it gives her a better look out - but she sticks out like a sore thumb!

So to show you our 'ratty' slight problem - here are the rats I took photos of this morning who have a system of small tunnels & homes underneath both bird tables - I wasn't standing very far away but they knew I was there as they kept sniffing the air - that's Stella McCartney perfume you can smell I said to them! lol




Rat burrows in the hedge - I don't mind them in the hedge - rats LIVE in the hedge - if they stayed there I wouldn't have a problem, but they live under the bird table & yep live & let live & it's my fault they're here (well my dad who feeds the birds on the ground) but the sad fact of life, if they were wood mice or the enchanting bank voles I'd have no problem, but as they're rats I do - such a shame - it's just rats spread disease & hate myself for even admitting it as actually in truth they are totally adorable!!!!

Last week I saw my first moth since the end of Summer & no idea what it was - but it was lovely & I gave it a stroke & wished it the very best of luck!

Size matters! The moth alongside the daddy long leg or Crane fly!

And to end this first post (second for the day - wow - I'm flying! *wink*) let me leave you with our 'only' pets at the cottage - we used to have 30 plus but Mr Heron flew in & gobbled them all up - but 3 babies were left & my they've grown & this was a rare sighting to see all 3 together in the pond - no they have no names - would anyone like to name them? GH, B, A & C? I read your comments & send you hugs & kisses back every time xxxxx


xxxxxx

Rattus norvegicus - HELP!

We're being taken over.

Oh yes.

Oh no! As in omg oh no!

Brown rat or common rat or wharf rat - they're everywhere - in the sheds chewing through the box where we keep the bird food, they've been at it for years & one day they'll succeed. They're in the wood shed - yep - there IS something nasty in the woodshed & they're grazing on the lawn like a flock of sheep - I counted 7 this morning - only because we throw out food for the birds on the grass.

Now really they're not a nuisance yet & they've never got into the cottage & I like rats, but this is just silly, they're taking advantage of us now, I don't mind just one or 2 but these guys multiply - a female can have up to 5 litters a year & can produce 14 offspring each time but the usual number is 7 & rats are survivors - they SURVIVE to adulthood - they're not like cod fish eggs that get eaten as soon as they're hatched - these guys are clever at the age of one day!

I've just been watching some now on the steps outside - they've devised this fun game - see who can jump the most steps up & the most steps down - it's hilarious to watch - they're actually enjoying themselves! These are adult rats - comfortable, secure in the knowledge that there are not many predators to hunt them (the stoats have moved off & the other creatures stay away from humans) & they know they're going to be fed every morning without fail!

Life is a rat!

Tap dancing along the Tamar

Well walking across a wind swept bridge over looking Tamar lakes & the dam - rather impressive for Cornwall, yeah, Cornwall - though the county of Devon a stones throw from the entrance. There's higher Tamar lakes & lower, but the lower road was flooded, so we took the high road & not the low! (there's a song in there somewhere!) Very freezing cold, windswept day but will definitely be back when the sun shines!








Holmleigh garden centre on the Devon/Cornwall border - 2 miles from Cornwall's first big town Launceston - the word bleak springs to mind, I don't think I've ever seen Launceston in the sunshine! It's a rather large garden centre & it now has highland cattle!








These were taken the weekend before last - still stunning Autumnal colour, even on a dull day! The wind has all but blown the last of the leaves away - it stays green for so long & even through October it's green & then suddenly the leaves change & they're gone! I find this time of year very sad myself - after a Summer of colour & then sudden rust & decay, then all gone, the trees are naked against the cold frost air of Winter - I actually feel sorry for them!








And our dear Roe, still here, even after the pheasant shooters & fox hunters of last weekend. I saw her again today standing on the hedge under the ash tree, I did take some photos, will post them here when they're off the camera! x

love La Lune

Oh yes & it was full the night of Bude:









Not much else to report only saw the darn pheasant shooters AND the fox hunt yesterday - if I could shoot people of my choice, I'd shoot them gladly!

More photos tomorrow x

Sunset over the Atlantic

Let the photos speak for themselves:



































Let the photos speak for themselves:

Wild at Sea

Black Headed Gull - but now white with his/her winter plumage:





If you're a seagull - but a carrion crow?

Taken at Crookhaven Beach, Bude:





And the Rocks on the beach were pretty impressive, wish I knew the names for the stones:










The next post will be the sunset & what a stunner it was!

Why I love the Sea

Oh yes!

5 reasons - though come to think of it there should be 5 more!

Reason number 1:

It's mans last great wilderness, we can pollute it & kill the life yes - but not all of it - it cannot be managed however hard we try & we can't control it!

Reason number 2:

It's the colour blue - my favourite colour - ok the colour is reflected from the sky, but still!

Reason number 3:

Every part of the sea is special, every cliff face, every wave is unique, so every photo I take is different - you can't get the same photo - the light is different, the wind blows in different directions - basically the sea in any which way is an individual so kind of links up with reason number 1 there lol

Reason number 4:

It's my one subject I love out of ALL to paint - I use the sand mixed with paint from the very beaches I walk across to view the sea - it has my usual straight horizon line that are depicted in my paintings so often - although the photos below are not straight only because the wind was so strong, could not keep the camera straight!

Reason number 5:

Living in London, all I had was the Channel or the North Sea further up - but here in Devon I have the rolling waves of the Atlantic, I have the gliding Gannets over the waves & the crying kittiwakes - the sea wildlife is so important & the coast of North Devon is incredibly important place, rich in it's life & diversity of all things wild!

This is Crookhaven beach in Bude, Cornwall - clean? Well no not really - but still beautiful!

Dear Roe . . .

Yesterday I tried my hardest to get out for a walk before it clouded over, but I was not successful! I couldn't get the Autumnal colours as even they looked dull in the gloom.

I wanted to see if I could see the Roe deer, but I got distracted by the 100 plus strong flock of finches & forgot all about the Roe. I continued my walk past the trees when I looked back to see the finches, so walked back the way I came to the side hedge & then remembered the deer & so peeped over the hedge & there she stood grazing at the opposite hedge! Now I know why I wanted this new camera so badly, the 18x zoom came into it's own - not the clearest of pictures but then I was hiding behind the hedge, no tripod & the light was dreadful!

She knew there was someone there

Yeah a pheasant!

And then Oooooo there is someone watching me!

The cottage in the background, the Roe bottom centre - literally wildlife on our doorstep!

What she looking at all the time???

Oh there are two!!!!

So after my chance encounter, after they had ran off across the fields & into the woods again I continued with my walk:

Still Red Campion blooming in the hedgerows

Male pheasant auditioning for Strictly Come Dancing - didn't he do well???

Bramble leaves turning in the hedgerows

A hole in the bark - woodpecker perhaps???

Lichen on the gate - clean air here in Devon!

Coat tit in the trees - very hard to photograph any bird!

Then I came home & within 30 minutes the heavens opened & it's been on & off raining ever since!

My mum over the last few weekends has been making puddings - pavlovas & this was her latest one last night - it was fantastic!

This was it rising in the oven!

To how it looked loaded with fruit & cream - mmmmm yum!

There's still lots left - so more tonight & then tomorrow I reckon a diet!!!!!

Emy xxxxx

November Sunset

Ok so maybe zoomed in a bit close, but it was worth it! Taken from the new house, the Old Smithy:




Because I was taking it through the window I got a reflective glare so ended up with 2 suns!

A weeks worth of photographs

Oh yes, well, few days perhaps - I usually take around 240 but this week last was only 144, I'm slipping! But then it takes me less to sort through!

Soon I'll be organised again - will take me a while, but I'll get there & I have already received an email from a friend who's over the moon that I've started my blog & left that other place behind! Onwards & upwards that's what he always says - backwards I said to him, back to my blog - but then he said yeah but you have to go backwards a little in order to move forward! I asked him have you been drinking? lol I got a ha ha ha reply, "naturally darling!"

Roe deer this morning taken from the bathroom window

She was a long way off to full zoom on this one - hence the poor quality

Robin - very territorial this time of year!

Pied Wagtail on his usual perch catching insects

Carrion Crow

Crows in Torrington car park on the grassy verge - these are Carrion Crows

Buzzard on the hedge - so far away - so annoying - looks like an osprey here!

Who's been eating all my pond fish? Mr heron!

A buttercup still growing in November in the garden!

Taken from Great Torrington car park - very wintry scene!

I also took photos of the sunsets we've been having over the last week or so & will upload them in a different post in a second!

Winter Skies - Brrrrr get the wood burner lit!

Wow 3 posts in one day - this is getting obsessive ;-)













The last two are a reflection of the setting sun against the window pane - made a rather interesting abstract image I thought! :)

The Stoats Have It All!

Well they did this Summer in the garden!



Enjoy & have a good chuckle! :-)

Emy goes Birding

Well I don't have to go very far, this out into my garden, surrounded by fields, with my camera & hey presto birds on my doorstep!

It's been a good turn out so far, finches by the hundred - Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, the odd chirp of a Bullfinch & plenty of Yellow hammers! We have a resident Kestrel, a pair of buzzards & I've just seen a large heron sitting on the pine tree!

Yellow Hammer on the Lilac tree

Yellow hammer on the kitchen roof

I have never got to close to a Yellow hammer before!

Starling - the first one seen this Autumn on the nuts!

Kestrel in flight!

Kestrel on the telegraph pole

Chaffinch on the kitchen roof

Blue tit looking ever so cute

A banana shaped House Sparrow!

Blue tit on the nuts

I'm going to use this blog now for the wildlife in my garden & the clouds, sunsets & beautiful scenery of Devon through the seasons. I take so many photos of everything, this little blog will be bombarded soon!

As for my other blogs, I'll keep the Animals are our Equals going & my painting blog will have to wait in the wings - I've done a whole set of new paintings but alas I haven't photographed them yet!

So I am back here now & back to stay for good!

Emy xxxxx