I have a thing for jugs! Yes I have said it, I have a thing for jugs. I can't explain it but there is something about them, especially pottery jugs that I love. I have several really nice ones that I have collected on my travels and no doubt I will pick up a few more in the future.
These shots were taken in what I think was the scullery at Erddig and I really like how the jugs look on the window sills, especially in black and white. I have made a print of the first image and framed it to display at home, it looks great.
Last week I was able to take a week off work and I decided to head off to the North Yorkshire Moors to camp overnight on the coldest night of the year so far, it got down to -5C (and possibly less as my tent had a film of ice on both sides of the flysheet when I got up) . I was the sole camper on the site which was on a working livestock farm, so apart from the noises from the cows and sheep it was very quiet and peaceful.
As you can see from these photos it was a beautiful evening but very cold, and not long after the last picture was taken I got pelted with hail while I cooked my tea.
These views are looking west from Kildale, not far from Great Ayton which was the birth place of Captain James Cook. In the village of Gt Ayton there is a memorial to Captain Cook which is actually a replica of a monument erected in his honour in Australia. It stands on the site of the cottage where he lived but which has been dismantled and rebuilt in Victoria, Australia.
I was quite clearly right to go with the new blossoms for yesterday's post as can be seen from the number of times it has been viewed here and via my facebook page Chipster63photography (together yesterdays blog plus Spring is Springing have been viewed 426 times so far) so hopefully continuing the theme with today's pictures of a beautiful Camelia will be just as popular.
There were two large bushes in the courtyard at Chirk Castle planted next to each other, one had a mass of brightly coloured flowers while the other had many buds but no flowers at all. The first three pictures above show different stages of growth as the flowers emerge and bloom.
The final picture by contrast in colour and texture is of what appeared to be sage or another herb gone to seed (although I am far from certain what it is). This wispy structure looks delicate and covered with frost when in fact it stood quite confident and tall and rather than frost it has a fine covering of tiny hairs.
I had intended to follow on from yesterday's post with some shots from the dairy at Erddig but as you can see I have taken things in a different direction. The reason being that my recent post Spring is Springing has been so popular it has stormed into top ten most viewed posts (currently it is at number 8) and so it seems that in these cold and frosty winter days there is a real taste for these signs that better weather and a change in the seasons is coming.
Today I headed off to Chirk Castle in North Wales, where there is always a spectacular display of Snowdrops at this time of year. I only took a couple of pictures of Snowdrops however as there was plenty of colour and new growth to catch the eye albeit much of it very small and only noticeable if you were looking for it (which of course I was).
Given how small everything was I relied on my 100mm Macro Lens today, it is a beautiful lens and has never let me down as I try to get great close up shots. I hope you will agree that today it has served me well.
The first two pictures are of apple blossom emerging, each little bud was no bigger than a small pea and I love the pattern of the veins in the new petals. I am reminded by the first picture a little of the plant "Audrey II" from Little Shop of Horrors.
The flowers in the third picture were so tiny and delicate, they were growing in the shelter of a wall in the castle's kitchen garden.
It has been pointed out to me that the budding leaves in the final picture look a little bit like a paintbrush, which I guess it does.
So for the past two days I haven't been able to post anything because I was away camping in the North Yorkshire Moors (in sub zero temperatures). Slightly crazy perhaps but lots of fun, a great break and plenty of photo opportunities and when I have had time to sort through for the best shots I will be posting some great winter landscapes, seascapes, seabirds and waders, surfers and more so look out for those.
For today though it is back to Erddig and these shots are from the laundry. In the first picture you can see the crank of what was clearly quite a mechanised process pressing the sheets etc for such a large household.
The second shot shows a rack of hand irons neatly lined up waiting to be used. I like how orderly this is and it reminds me of the order of the carpentry workshop in the pictures from earlier this week.
Today's shots are from the sawmill at Erddig. I don't what it is about about old machinery but I think it is really photogenic and these wheels, pulleys and cogs look really cool. I like the black and white images but the third picture looks better in colour because it brings out the rust and it gives some extra texture.
So yesterday's blog showed the orderliness of the carpenter's workshop and today I have selected some shots of some of the wood off cuts.
If you have seen my blog before then you will know that I like textures, patterns and colours in nature and I have posted pictures of wood grain previously click here or here for example.
I really like the warm colours in these bits of wood just discarded and left to decay. I also like the patterns in the grain. The third picture is of a cross section of a tree stump and in the centre there is a core of bark which has been "consumed" as the tree has grown around it.
As a schoolboy the practical subject that I enjoyed most was woodwork and while I won't pretend that I possessed any great skill I really enjoyed the smell and feel of the wood and I always found it really satisfying to finish a project. In contrast to metalwork where my most enduring memory is of a lump of metal (which was intended to be a support for a small metal dish that I was making) flew across the workshop like a bullet because I got confused and turned the wheel of the lathe in the wrong direction. I got a heck of telling off and it was lucky I didn't hurt anyone and to my surprise I wasn't actually banned from the workshop so I got to finish the dish.
Anyway I still love the atmosphere of a woodworking shop and at Erddig there is a great workshop which is still in use. It has the smell of a log fire burning in one corner mixed with the scents of sawdust and well oiled and carefully maintained tools. I love the order and precision of these tool racks and the care that has gone into preserving these tools of the trade is clear to see. I think they make great subject for a really atmospheric picture and I think they work well in both colour and black & white.
Last Saturday was particularly cold but at least it was dry so I took the opportunity to visit Erddig near Wrexham in North Wales. It is a fine stately home with a reputation that the servants of the household were highly valued and well treated by the home owners.
There are lovely formal and informal gardens at Erddig but because of the intense cold I didn't spend too much time outside. I did however see these hopeful signs of spring in these lovely catkins and crocus.and couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a few shots to share with you.
I think Chameleons are pretty cool. They don't seem to do very much and they move so slowly and purposefully. Perhaps they are the reptile equivalent of a Sloth.
I love the way they blend so well with the surroundings, I love their craggy features and their curly tail.
Yes indeed they're pretty cool
The title of today's post is taken from a song by Johnathon Richman and The Modern Lovers. It's not a particularly good song but the line fits with the experience of seeing these lovely birds in The Tropical Realm at Chester Zoo where the air was full of the sound of birdsong.
I don't know what species they are but they are really beautiful. I think the first bird is a type of starling but cant be sure, I really like the eye in the first picture. The final picture was really difficult to get because the bird was on the ground under the shrubs and in very poor light so I'm particularly pleased to have captured it and its brightly coloured plumage. Saying that an alternative title for the blog comes to mind,"Beautiful Plumage..." inspired by the Parrot Sketch from Monty Python .
Bush Dogs and Otters for your pleasure today.
I have always liked otters and it has been an ambition of mine to see them in the wild ever since I read the book Ring Of Bright Water as a child. I once caught a glimpse of one swimming in Strasbourg but it was a fleeting glimpse and doesn't really count and I hope that at some point in the near future I will spot one and have enough time to capture a shot or two. In the meantime this picture of three Giant Otters basking in the winter sun at Chester Zoo will have to do.
I also really like the Bush Dogs in the first two pictures. They nest in burrows and seem to spend a fair bit of time underground so it was a treat to see them running around and pausing to take a drink from the pool.
There is something about tortoise that I like but I can't really explain what it is because in many ways they are quite boring. I suppose I like the patterned shell and their craggy skin.
The cryptic title of today's post refers to the second picture, it was one of a series of shots taken as the tortoise stretched his neck and yawned revealing its tongue and inside its mouth. As it did this it brought to mind the scene in Star Wars Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back for those of you who need clarification) where Han Solo and crew hide from The Empire in an asteroid field. They hide briefly in a crater but soon realise they are inside a living creature ( an Exogorth) and as they escape it stretches out its neck to try and recapture them. For fans of Family Guy an alternative title for the blog was going to be "Shut Up Meg!"
I went to the zoo to look at animals, bugs and birds, not plants however in the butterfly house there were some beautiful exotic pants to attract the butterflies and I guess to provide a food source for them. Many seemed to prefer feeding on the pieces of fruit left out for them or the sugary solutions in small dishes however the plants in the pictures above did attract a few hungry creatures.
The first shot is a detail from the stamen of the flower in the second image which seems to be a lily of some description.
The third picture is of a tiny yellow flower which was the food source for the butterfly in the fourth of yesterdays images and if you look at that picture it will give you some indication of how tiny this blossom really is.
These butterflies were in the butterfly house at Chester Zoo and they were extremely lively so it was very difficult to capture an image of them with wings extended, so I focused instead on getting shots of them close up while they were feeding. I really like the eyes, they are surprisingly colourful. I am sure you will agree that these are better looking insects than the leaf-cutters I posted yesterday.
I'm not a fan of insects by any means but I enjoyed watching these Leaf-Cutter Ants doing what they do best, cutting leaves and carrying them back to the nest. They are quite amazing in their ability to carry such a large load relative to their body size and they worked in such a well ordered fashion. In spite of that however they're just not very pretty and so tomorrow I will post some pictures of some much more beautiful bugs...
