Since my last post back in December I’ve added more artwork, furniture and decorations to my [current working title] “workspace”. It’s a wonderful place to work in this time of year, with the light as pretty as it is.

Jen & I went for a walk around Islands Thorns Inclosure and Amberwood. A timely three hour walk became a boggy four. We felt thankful for our wellies.

I laughed at this for a good 5 mins.

I spent a lot of time decorating my spare room over the summer and it’s fair to say I’ve caught the DIY bug. It’s slowly taking shape; I hope to buy more plants and artwork.

Jen treated me to a wonderful weekend break in South Devon for my birthday. We stayed in Dawlish then visited Exeter (and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum) and Montacute House in Somerset on the way back.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with lino & coloured inks. The inspiration for this piece came from the work of Michael Craig Martin & Gary Hume.

Jen & I took a walk along (part of) the Avon Valley footpath. As we sadly found out, much of it was flooded and impossible to navigate by foot.

Yesterday I tried wakeboarding at the New Forest Water Park. As someone with pretty awful balance I thought it would be much harder than it was but in the end I wasn’t so bad. I had a really fun time.

Photo Credit: Nicole Cook

Everything looks so visually appealing this time of year, bathed in this light. Rarely does the photo capture the experience, but raises questions nonetheless.

I wanted to make this pork & pineapple hotpot one last time before Spring. When the Sun’s still low this time of year the light catches the edge of my bowl like this, which makes for some interesting textures & colours.

I’m a big fan of Christopher Anderson’s books. I have all of his recent Stanley Barker releases (Cop, Approximate Joy, Pia, Son) and now Marion.

Photographing from a truly privileged perspective, in a letter to his wife, the subject, he writes “The fact that they [the pictures] exist as photographs is really beside the point. The camera always seemed like an excuse to enjoy the simple pleasure of looking at you… secondary to the experience itself.”

Better “oh well” than “what if?”,
To the see the open day roar and the night sky dim,
To feel her shiver as you touch her skin,
To risk it all on such terrible odds,
On this day we have no Gods.

Today I ran the Bournemouth Supersonic 10k. I was quite pleased to get a sub 1 hour time of 56:44. Had a little in the tank for the last ~2km.

If there’s a road that leads to the past,
Will I have to forget what I’ve learned?
If I’m to start again on some unfamiliar plateau,
Can I at least plant a flower for my untold sorrow?
Can I at least pack up my solitary friend,
And tell him we’ll meet again before the end?

Memories they can’t be boughten,
They can’t be won at carnivals for free,
Well it took me years to get those souvenirs,
And I don’t know how they slipped away from me
John Prine, Souvenirs

The music stopped with a flutter of her eyelids,
But nobody on the dancefloor minded,
She spoke in song; We told our truths in dance,
And I was a fool for ever thinking I stood a chance.

Life is long if you know how to use it,
Even if most of us forget to before we lose it,
Average of me today and yesterday,
Isn’t who I am tomorrow,
I’ve got all this time to play with,
And not as much time to borrow.

Converted using filmlab, a library I’m working on.

Queen’s Park, circa 2010

Found a stick for Ellie’s tomato plant.

I really enjoyed the slow pace of this walk, searching for the right one.

This goes well with everything, but especially two day old rice. Fried some peppers, an egg with soy sauce then broke it all up with the rice and a tablespoon of Gochujang and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Gave it a nice sweet, spicy flavour with a sticky texture. Looked even tastier in this light.