January Small Stone# Nine

Midweek. What to do to make Humpday pass well? On Sunday I walked at Bowling Green Marsh and the weather was dismal, damp and mizzely. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of resting migratory birds, but I didn’t have my camera and I had my hands full with the dogs. This was the best I could do with my phone camera. DSC_0008

These out of focus sweeties are widgeon. Today, the sky was brilliant blue, so I checked the tide tables and convinced a hobbit that he needed to drive me. I promised him treats – he’s a bird lover, he prefers birds of prey really but has never been there.  I still only had my phone camera, but this was the view. DSC_0033I ran him down the lane, into the hide and then to the viewing platform. Pretty good for a lunchtime jaunt eh?

 

Budleigh Salterton on New Years Day

I don’t know why I ‘ve never shown you Budleigh Salterton before. It’s a small town next along the coast to the east of Exmouth. A very sedate little place, expensive to live in, unspoilt and beautiful. It has the best ice cream shop – The Creamery, there is usually a big queue, and several restaurants and cafes. Notable is the Cozy Teapot, a heavenly little place with old fashioned bone china cups and delicious scones. Here are a few shots from the beach.

January Small Stone# Seven

I’ve been preoccupied with writing an assignment for my creative writing course for a while. It’s been a tough one and I have been getting increasingly tense for the last week as the deadline crept closer. When I started this particular story I enjoyed it, it amused me, but as time went on I was drawn deeper into the character, to the point where I was unable to be objective. I’ve been working on it for too long, the season meant that I had extra time and I’ve used it badly. I’ve read lots of short stories – as I’m supposed to, and that’s been great, but the story has been stop-start. As a result, now that I have finally submitted the blinking thing, I am thoroughly bored by it.

Goodbye assignment two. Hello new section and new writing – I welcome you!

January Small Stone# Six

Red vested love bird

 tweets declaring territory

scatters flyers its size twenty times

widgeon’s scarved with orange rise,

 with wings a choir of sopranos

and a solo plover wades haughtily by

January mist over Riversmeet

tide covers a murking of mud

fading web prints rushing away

taken by sizzling foam

twitchers with tripoded lenses

gaggle off to identify geese

arriving as guests of the Clyst.

CBBH Photo Challenge: Reflection

Marianne at East of Malaga says ‘It’s that time of year when many of us reflect over the past year and begin to look forward to whatever the coming year will bring’ and challenges us to post our reflection images for the CBBH Blog Hop

We also get to highlight two blogs that we have visited and enjoyed, so that others can hop over too.

My first is Celestine whose blog, Reading Pleasure has a wealth of poetry and Haiku. She writes prolifically of romance and passion. A real treat.

Next is Marina a very talented artist. Her work is vibrant, I’ve never seen such bright watercolours. Check out her Christmas trees, Dreamscapes, and Marwax, the most beautiful candles.