Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
Having woken up from a night of weird, news-related dreams, I thought I’d look for something more cheery to post, working within Becky’s guidelines (must be square pictures featuring triangles, squares, arches or other geometric forms). So here’s my mix of contrasting patterns and architectural features that have clean, traditional or funky styles – and, of course, with a smattering of flowers along the way. Continue reading “January Squares With A Geometric Theme”
I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me if I start with a digression.
While I welcome the Royal Horticulture Society spreading its presence in the North of England, I wonder if I am alone in seeing signs of failure to understand and fully celebrate life in the north, especially when I visit the young, still-developing RHS Bridgewater.
Perhaps the RHS’s powers-that-be are too far away or too used to a life of plenty to appreciate the creativity and fun in us – our type of fullness. An old Punch cartoon showing a BBC documentary film crew on location in the north comes to mind (even with the watermark you’ll get the gist).
Continue reading “Hebden Bridge’s Tiny Gardens: Pocket Planting as Folkart”
Today’s images are linked by featuring edges of various types. I never saw the wonderfully scenic, 300 year old Sycamore Gap tree which has been felled this week by vandals with a chainsaw, but I recently encountered the word ‘solastalgia’ which expresses the shock of the thousands of people who loved this tree. Along similar lines to nostalgia, solastalgia is the distress we feel when much-loved surroundings are altered and we are powerless to do anything about it. It’s a form of homesickness where we are at home, but sick because our home is no longer the same.
In contrast, my fallen tree with splintered edges is an unsung one. I fully feel the outrage about Sycamore Gap, but while it was leading the headlines, the UK’s State of Nature Report 2023 was quietly published, with little attention paid to its reminder that ‘the UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.’ Continue reading “On The Edge: I’m Offering A Mixed Bag And Being Nowty”
One of many events cancelled this year was Hebden Bridge’s quirky, colourful street parade, Handmade Parade, named because the participants make the puppets, costumes and parade art over three weeks of workshops. I hope my pictures give some of the flavour of a special day. Continue reading “The Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade: A Photo Gallery”
Susan Rushton 