Attention, Brits out there - Orphan Black starts on BBC3 on Friday. I strongly recommend it, though honesty compels me to say it doesn't really start to fly until Episode 4 onwards, maybe Episode 5. Perhaps the right approach is to amass episodes and have a marathon. Basic premise? There are clones, someone is killing them - who and why?

http://www.locatetv.com/tv/orphan-black/8019695

Watch, enjoy, then you can talk to me and quinara and rabid1st about it.

The guard on my train home this evening was American - but this did not stop him informing us that it was a) the anniversary of the Battle of Worcester in 1651 and b) the anniversary of Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658. He then attempted a rather painful segue to "and this is the train to Worcester, arrriving at xpm, but we're all in better shape than Oliver." Weak, I feel. He needs to work on his material.

Been out hunting butterflies this afternoon for the Big Butterfly Count. It was never going to be anything but frustrating given how windy it is, but I cheated by going to Warburg nature reserve, and spotted 10 species, including one not on the Butterfly Count people's ID Guide.

I give you the Silver-Washed Fritillary: ( Read more...Collapse )

Went to Otmoor RSPB Reserve near Oxford on Sunday and got a clear sound and sight of two turtle doves, one calling (the chap on the bare branch) and one listening. They are getting rarer by the day, so let's hope these two hook up and make many little turtle doves.

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p.s. The good news is that they are not endangered worldwide - only here.

So, Doctor Who... what did we think, children?

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p.s. revdorothyl - thanks for the wine!

Blimey - I tucked myself up for a two hour nap this morning after an early morning walk - and when I came back 10 wickets had fallen and they were all off tucking into their lunch. So much for sitting down to watch the cricket this afternoon. I shall have to go out and actually do something instead.

*swigs Diet coke, looks at sunshine outside*

ETA: An hour later, and it's all over.

Did you miss me?

I have sampled the delights of Cedar Rapids in Iowa, St Louis in Missouri, Nashville and Gatlinburg in Tennessee, the Great Smoky Mountains NP, Charleston in South Carolina, and Savannah and Atlanta, both in Georgia. I have been bitten by spiders, amazed by black bears, seen a coyote skulking across a field, and a grey fox trotting through a cemetery. And photographed birds - many, many birds.

I will do a 'my travels' post soon, but for today I would just like to record how happy I am to be home in time for the bluebells. I got in this morning, slept a couple of hours, visited Tesco for basic supplies - and then went for a woodland traipse, staggering a little with tiredness, and resting on the hilly bits.

And I'm glad I did, because the bluebells are staggering this year: ( Read more...Collapse )

Easter is a while back now, but here is more of Buxton. Away from the picturesque we also had the delights of its culinary traditions:( Read more...Collapse )

The only sign of St George's Day imagery I've seen today was an advert of a bacon sandwich, cut into a squares, with leaking tomato ketchup forming the red cross. Oh, and the Google picture.

How about you?

Love today's picture of the day in the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/picture/2013/apr/19/mae-west-pleasure-man

Mae West, the centre of attention in a courtroom in 1926, after starring in a play "awash in female impersonators and homosexuality". She looks the picture of cool, doesn't she?

In other news, I went to the Ice Age Art exhibition at the British Museum this evening after work. It had a real ambience about it. Part of it was just that the objects were so old, but also they were small, and the decoration was hard to make out, and you had to really concentrate and FOCUS. It created a room full of really focused people, and an atmosphere of modern awe at what our ancestors could do.

There were lots of small things - either carved into objects, or with pictures incised on them - half of it you feel you understand (I wish good hunting, I wish for many children) the other half you have no real idea. So, lots of carved animals, lots of carved women, spear throwers, a flute, mystery objects made of antler that archaeologists have theories about, plates of bone that seem to have been sewn on to people's clothing, with abstract decoration. All European, and all from a time before we'd planted a single bean.

Marvel.