Walking along the river bank we found a large fallen tree that stretched out into the river and I had the idea to balance a small stack of pebbles on the trunk.
To begin with I took an easy option and built it close to the edge as you can see in the first of today's pictures. Taken from a different angle it actually looks like quite a stable and really easy stack but from this angle you can see just how precariously the stones are perched and I have tried to get them angled to reflect the line of the tree as it stretches out behind.
For the next two pictures I wanted to do something a bit different and so I framed the small stacks with the ferns and built them against a darker background with the moss and the spaces between the rocks, I think it works quite well.
So far these have been fairly simple stacks and so we decided to ramp up the pressure and so I suggested building a stack on the end of the tree. This involved standing on some fairly slippery rocks out in the river and it was eldest son as you can see who drew the short straw (to be fair he volunteered). He had to catch each stone one handed as I threw them from the river bank as he held onto the tree and then he carefully balanced them one by one.
You can see the sliver of daylight beneath the bottom stone and in the final image you can see just how finely balanced they are. I am really pleased with our day's work and the pictures that resulted from it.
After this we took things a bit further and for that you will have to come back tomorrow, I promise it will be worth it...
