My November 2013 In Pictures.

Days and weeks can pass, and I have nothing to write, nothing to share, but even when I'm silent I'm still working with my camera, recording a mood, capturing a moment.  So rather than keep the photos to myself, this is an introduction to the first of my monthly picture posts.

To see My November 2013 In Pictures, click on the link below:-
http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/68580634542/my-november-2013-in-pictures

The picture above shows the autumn colours of the Japanese Maple in my garden in Hythe, Hampshire, at 09:18 on Sunday 10th November 2013. Commonly named the Coral-Bark Maple and also know as Acer Palmatum Senkaki, or Sango Kaku.  Click on the link below to find out more.
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=31

Wet Walnuts.

The first of the new crop of walnuts arrived at our local market at the end of last month and I bought a bagful.  I do like a wet walnut; they're only available for a few weeks in autumn, so I always buy a few when I see them.  If you've never eaten a wet walnut, you're in for a treat; they look like regular walnuts, the outside shell is hard and dry, but the nut inside is fresh and yielding (wet), with a delicate just picked flavour, milky and sweet.  Mmmm....

The pictures show a handful of wet walnuts, fresh from the local market, photographed on Tuesday 29th October 2013 and eaten shortly afterwards!

Click on the link below to read about Walnuts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut

Go! Rhinos.

On my way to the Hythe ferry in Town Quay, Southampton, sometime in mid-July, I saw a rhino named Rika.  It turned out to be one of 36 rhino sculptures, individually decorated works of art, on display throughout the city to celebrate the rhino and mark the 40th anniversary of Marwell Wildlife, a Hampshire zoo.

Since that day in July, I've visited the Go! Rhinos website, studied the free trail map, walked the rhino trail, walked the trail again, seen most of the rhino sculptures and photographed all that I've seen.  They were on display for 10 weeks from July to the end of September and, as with all art, some I liked, some I didn't, but I enjoyed looking at them, searching them out, taking photos, map reading and walking.  It was a lovely event and a great way to explore Southampton.

The picture shows Rika the rhino, by Peer 1 Hosting, on display at Town Quay, Southampton, Hampshire at 14:23 on Saturday 14th September 2013.

Click on the links below to see more of my rhino sculpture photos.

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/63359227057/my-photos-of-the-rhino-sculptures-public-art-event

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/63359857122/more-of-my-photos-of-the-rhino-sculptures-public

Click on the links below to visit the Go! Rhinos website and to read about Rika the rhino artists.

http://gorhinos.co.uk/

http://gorhinos.co.uk/the-peers-painting-rika-for-peer-1-hosting/

The rhinos will be on display at Marwell Zoo from 10th to 14th October 2013 for one last time before they are sold at a charity auction.  Click on the link below to visit the Marwell Zoo website.

http://www.marwell.org.uk/

NB:  I've just discovered that Go! Rhinos is a sister event to four other 'Wild In Art' 2013 projects - Stand Tall for Giraffes in Colchester; GoGoGorillas! in Norwich; Gromit Unleashed in Bristol; and The Great Gorillas Project in Paignton.  Click on the link below to take a look.

http://www.wildinart.co.uk/events

Dame Janet Baker.

I can't let August slip by without saluting the birthday of my all-time favourite mezzo-soprano, the magnificent Janet Baker, born on 21st August 1933.  Belated Happy Birthday Dame Janet, your voice is sublime, it thrills me to the core and envelops me, body and soul.

To hear Dame Janet Baker singing the aria 'Dopo Notte' from Handel's Ariodante, with the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Raymond Leppard (my favourite recording and one from my own collection), click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR_QDDtRjY8

To read more about Dame Janet Baker, click on the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Baker

To read my previous blog 'Mezzo-Sopranos: Dame Janet Baker', click on the link below.

http://susanvale.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/mezzo-sopranos-dame-janet-baker.html

Shoe Confessions.

I don't know why my new shoes are faux snakeskin.  I can't quite believe that I bought them, but as soon as I tried them on some alchemy occurred and I had to have them.  They were a perfect fit, physically and metaphorically.  I've had them for over a month now and must have worn them half a dozen times, which is unusual (see My New Shoes blog, link below).  I like the idea of them, I like the look of them, they're immensely comfortable and I love wearing them.  Somehow they make me happy.

The picture shows my new faux snakeskin shoes 'Travo', bought from my favourite shoe shop, Tracey Neuls, Marylebone Lane, London, and photographed in a Japanese-style rock garden setting on my balcony in Hythe, Hampshire at 10:48 on Friday 19th July 2013.

To visit the Tracey Neuls website, click on the link below:-

http://www.traceyneuls.com/

To read 'My New Shoes' blog, click on the link below:-

http://susanvale.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/my-new-shoes.html

Black Swan.

A black swan!  That's what I saw when I looked out of my window.  There it was, sitting on the water in front of the promenade.  I grabbed my binoculars to get a better look and, yes, it was a black swan.  It wasn't a goose, or a big duck, it was definitely a swan. There were four white swans close by and this one looked the same, only black, with a distinctive red bill. I snatched a few photos, but I was too far away to get a detailed shot, so I decided to make a run for it and belted over to the prom, clutching my camera and hoping it wouldn't take flight before I could get there.

Five minutes later I was standing on the prom, breathless and beaming.  The black swan was still there, fishing for weed in the shallows, and I watched it and photographed it for a good twenty minutes before it ambled off and set sail for deeper water.  It swam about in the bay all morning before it took flight, revealing the most wonderful white flight feathers.  My goodness it was beautiful.  I'd never seen a black swan, and to be so close, to watch it, to photograph it, to spend the morning with it, to see it take flight.... well, it was astonishing, and certainly made my day.

My online research tells me that black swans are native to Australia, they can be seen in New Zealand and there is a well-known colony in Dawlish, Devon, the south west of England. There seems to be differing views as to when they were first introduced to Dawlish and by whom, but a black swan has been the towns emblem for more than forty years, so it's been a while. Who knows why a black swan stopped off in Hythe, Hampshire for a few hours on a bank holiday Monday morning..... I'm just very glad it did.

The picture shows the black swan on Southampton Water, at Hythe, Hampshire on Monday 26th August 2013 at 11:13.

Click on the link below to see more photos of the black swan at Hythe, Hampshire:-

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/59481900979/a-black-swan-on-southampton-water-at-hythe

To read more about black swans, click on the link below:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Swan

To read about the Dawlish black swans, click on the links below:-

http://www.dawlish.gov.uk/swans.php

http://www.dawlish.com/article/details/9

The Birds.

I see lots of water birds come and go, some stay to feed, some just fly over, some are solitary, some come in pairs and some in flocks, there are waders and divers, large and small, some are frequent visitors, some are not, I don't know where they come from and I don't know where there go to, but I'm always happy to see them.  This brings me to the Cormorant; I believed them to be a rarity in these parts, as I'd only seen one or two, and then one day I walked round the corner, to the rear of my house, and there they were, twenty or thirty, lined up on the railings of a boatyard pier on Southampton Water!

I don't see many pigeons, but there are a few, they clatter about in the trees and occasionally perch on my pergola, but generally they keep their distance, so it was surprising to find a pigeon egg nestling in a large pot of bamboo on my balcony.  I hadn't heard anything, I hadn't seen anything, but there it was, early one morning, a single pigeon egg, and it certainly hadn't been there the night before.  The curious thing is that there were no pigeons to be seen, before or since, just a solitary abandoned egg.  Birds are very mysterious....

The picture at the top shows a Cormorant drying its wings and perched on an old pier stump (to the front of my house) on Southampton Water, at Hythe, Hampshire on Tuesday 25th June 2013 at 15:38.

The picture at the bottom shows the pigeon egg (41x29mm) in the pot of bamboo on my balcony in Hythe, Hampshire at 08:44 on Sunday 26th May 2013.

To read about Cormorants, click on the link below:-

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/cormorant/index.aspx

To read about Woodpigeons, click on the link below:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Wood_Pigeon

Duck Days.

During my contemplative days staring out of the windows (see my previous blog Late Tulips dated Sunday 30th June 2013), I spotted a couple of different varieties of duck.  A pair of handsome Shelducks visited one early morning at the end of May, fed for a while, flew off and haven't been seen since.  A lone Mallard arrived in early June, patrolled the area and seemed for all the world as though he were searching for his mate; he swam back and forth, round and about, up and down, stood on the sea wall for an age, looking this way and that, but to no avail, and off he went.  A few days later he returned, this time with his mate - hoorah!  He's been back regularly since then, sometimes alone, sometimes with his mate, he doesn't stay for long, but it's always good to see him.

The picture at the top shows the Mallard on the sea wall, overlooking Southampton Water, at Hythe, Hampshire, on Monday 3rd June 2013 at 09:22.

The picture at the bottom shows the pair of Shelducks on Hythe foreshore, Southampton Water, Hampshire, at 07:47 on Sunday 26th May 2013.

To read about Mallards, click on the link below:-

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/m/mallard/index.aspx

To read about Shelducks, click on the link below:-

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/shelduck/index.aspx

Late Tulips.

I haven't said much in the last couple of months (see my previous blog Last Valentine dated Sunday 23rd June 2013), but I've certainly done lots of standing and staring - into space and out of the windows.  I can't say that the quiet contemplation resulted in any flashes of inspiration or fundamental insights, but I did have my camera to hand and photographed whatever was happening outside, so the only thing I can say with any certainty is that life goes on.....

I won't overwhelm you with endless pictures of cruise ships, warships, spectacular sunsets or dramatic stormy skies (and there were lots of them!), but I will show you the tulips.  Planted last September in pots on my balcony, they emerged in March this year and flowered magnificently during April and May; two varieties, Double Early "Foxtrot" in pink and Lily Flowering "Sapporo" in creamy white.

The picture above shows the tulips on my balcony in Hythe, Hampshire at 14:49 on Thursday 16th May 2013.

The picture below shows a close-up of the Double Early Tulip "Foxtrot" on my balcony in Hythe, Hampshire, three days earlier, on Monday 13th May 2013 at 14:31.

To see more photos of the tulips on my balcony, click on the link below:-

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/54265987676/tulips-on-my-balcony-in-hythe-hampshire-photos

Last Valentine.

It's been two months since my father died and I'm lost for words.  I want to say something, I want to say something about my Dad, and I think I can do no better than to share the card I made, of a card he made.  The inscription inside is an excerpt from my family memories, a personal obituary, read out at his funeral, and explains the history of the Last Valentine.

The picture at the top shows the front of the card I made, featuring a photo of the Last Valentine from my Dad to my Mum, the pictures below show the inside inscription and the back of the card.

NB: My father had been ill for almost a year with a skin cancer (squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal passages - a particularly aggressive and disfiguring cancer).  Surgery took his nose and radiotherapy took most of the sight from his right eye, damaged his left eye, his mouth, his tongue and his hearing, but did nothing to stop the cancer, and the tumours continued to grow.  It was horrible and awful, but he never complained and his first thought was always for others.  He died peacefully in a Leicestershire hospice (LOROS) on 24th April 2013.  He was a very nice man and I miss him.  Arthur Anthony Vale (Tony Vale) 22.07.22 to 24.04.13. RIP