Scilly Sketches

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Hannah

Here are some more drawings from my Scilly Isles sketchbook. The first is Little Owl taking a nap in the tent. The second is a sparrow on Bryher. The sparrows on the Scillies get their own entry in the guidebooks. They are very tame and curious. On our campsite we were able to feed them from our hands. As you can imagine Little Owl thought this was amazing. Below the sparrow is Little Owl in sandcastle building mode. The final drawing is the view looking out from Bryher across to Church Quay and Tresco in the distance. The silhouetted trees on the skyline are the Monteray Pines at the abbey on Tresco.

Today Little Owl and I went into toun to play with some of Little Owl’s friends. On our way to catch the bus home the heavens opened. It literally poured down. From a bus shelter nearby an old gent shouted, “Quick, get the bairn under here!” Holidays are good but home is pretty good too.

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Pia’s Competition no.6

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Hannah

Pia’s competition continues! Here is the latest photo. Dad, you can give your answer now.

Little Owl and I were listening to the Reith Lectures this morning as we did the washing up. As you may already know this year’s lecture was being delivered by the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She brought tears to my eyes when she spoke of why she is committed to non-violence. She separated herself from the ideological stance of other proponents of non-violence such as Ghandi and Martin Luther King. She explained that for Burma non-violent regime change is the only thing that makes sense in order to break the historical cycle of  violent regime change and violent governance. She floored me with her clarity and dignity. Well done BBC. Totally brilliant.

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Return

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Hannah

We returned yesterday from our wonderful summer holidays in the Scilly Isles. Here’s a couple of pics from my sketchbook. I’ll post some more up over the week as I’ve got loads. The first picture shows the view from Bryher (the island we stayed on) over the channel to Tresco (the nearest island). The second picture is of my mum and Little Owl building a sandcastle. We did a lot of that!

You really feel like you are on holiday in the Scillies. Apart from being on an island there are hardly any proper roads and most people get around by tractor or quad bike. The beaches are all white sand and turquoise water. The vegetation feels like it has landed from another planet because of the climate. There are enormous succulents growing at right angles out of cottage walls covered in amazing flowers. The wild flowers over the cliffs are also a real treat. What I especially loved was the sense of being in a place full of story. There are wrecks throughout the Scilly Isles and the locals used to race each other to passing ships in special rowing boats, called gigs, to get work piloting the ships through the trecherous waters. Of course there are also stories of wreckers and smuggling too. I enjoyed finding out about the bronze age settlements and burial sites throughout the islands. On Bryher a mirror and sword were found in a burial site on Watch Hill. Visitors can see the sword and mirror for themselves at the museum on St Mary’s. I loved the beautiful but strange patterns carved on them.

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Pia’s Competition No. 3, 4 & 5

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Hannah


We are off on our summer holidays this evening. Little Owl will be bathed and put to bed in the car and then we’ll begin our slow migration south. Hence I am releasing the next three instalments of Pia’s competition now as we will not have access to a computer for most of the time…so plenty of time to think about it! My clue for the first one is an entrance to a new life. I’m not giving a clue for the second. For the third, like so many forests this one will soon be extinct. Phew, I don’t make it easy do I?!

Little Owl has been sat on her camping chair by the front door wearing her wellies and clasping her stacking cups and a bag of books. I think she’s ready to go. Just to persuade Big Dreamer not to bring his precious chilli plants now. I promise to return with fistfuls of sketches and loads of stories.

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Six silent fishes

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Hannah

Little Owl and I have had a lovely couple of days with our good friend Steady Hands. We took Steady Hands for a walk in the woods and found an injured magpie in a cage. He looked like he was being well-cared for until he is strong enough to fend for himself again. We didn’t get too close as we didn’t want to frighten him. I suspect his carer is our brusque but big-hearted next door neighbour.

Little Owl must be part magpie. We have been getting our things together ready for our summer holidays to the Scilly Isles. My system is to lay everything out in the spare bedroom first. The danger is that, as I lay things out, Little Owl wanders off with an item that has caught her eye. Later on I find little treasure stashes of holiday items around the house. I hope I find them all before we go!

Also, here is my latest haiku.

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Pia’s Competition No.2

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Hannah

Here is the second instalment of Pia’s competition. It’s a bit of holiday fun to remind her of Scotland but you can join in too. Where is this in Edinburgh? It’s quite a tricky one so I’ll give you a little clue…The Illusionist.

This morning I discovered something truly horrific. There had been a massacre in the garden. Overnight the slugs had munched through my pea plants. They had got through netting, tree branches, camouflage, and slug pellets. There is literally nothing left. I have eight pea plants hidden in another spot in the garden (I won’t mention where in case the slugs are listening in). Little Owl and I held a brief moment of silence in memory of our fallen comrades.

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Living with an international assassin

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Hannah

We have spent the day in the garden digging, planting and watering. All the doors and windows were flung open and Little Owl toddled in and out getting progressively grubbier. Living on a farm the warm weather brings flies and with open doors they come inside. Little Owl is quite disconcerted. She is also unable to make out the difference between a fly, a spider, and a bee so ends up shouting all three names at them. Big Dreamer believes himself to be an international assassin of flies. He contorts himself into crazy positions then delivers his ‘death flick’. The atmosphere in the kitchen quickly reaches fever pitch as Little Owl shouts “Daddy, fly-spider-bee!” and Big Dreamer swirls his arms like a character from a japanese martial arts film. Unfortunately, today I was caught in the cross-fire and the ‘death flick’ was delivered to me instead. The pair of them were swiftly banished back outside.

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Ascension Day

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Hannah

It has been a glorious day today. Little Owl and I have spent most of the day outside in the sunshine, apart from when we were making doughnuts! Apparently today is Ascension Day and associated with this day is the eating of doughnuts and the drinking of ivy beer. I don’t know how accurate this is but we decided to embrace it. Big Dreamer was unable to find any of the appropriate ivy to make beer from so we opted for nettle beer instead. Little Owl and I were in charge of doughnut making. I may do a bit more preparation next year. A small child who likes to get stuck in, a pan of hot oil, and trying to insert jam into hot doughnuts didn’t mix well. Although I have to say that Big Dreamer’s plum jam came into its own. He’d had complaints on the farm that it wouldn’t stay on a knife long enough to taste it. This liquidy quality was a massive plus for doughnut making. So we are sitting in the sun with sugary mouths, jammy hands, and burpy bellies.

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Slow growing grass

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Hannah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s windy but warm here now. Little Owl and I spotted a pair of Yellowhammers flitting around the farmyard. I’ve been told on the farm that the grass is growing slowly for this time of year. What a brilliant thing to know! Things aren’t growing slowly on the river bank though. The whole place is alive with noise and smells. It’s almost possible to feel everything stretching upwards. There are bluebells and forget-me-nots and buttercups. I’ve drawn two wild flowers we’ve seen down there today for you here. I’d not seen them before and they weren’t in my books. The leafy one is White Comfrey. I’m told the leaves can be steamed like spinach and are also a good activator for compost heaps. I’ll keep you posted on both those tips. The single bells are called Water Avens. They are a lovely musky pinky-red colour. They burst open to produce burrs which stick to passing creatures to spread their seeds. I’d got so used to passing things thinking ‘oh no, it won’t be anything special’ but I now live somewhere where those special things are.

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Pia’s Competition No.1

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Hannah

It’s a glorious evening in the Borders this evening. I sat on the back steps surveying our knee-high grass (all that rain!) and listening to a blackbird singing its heart out from a cherry tree in the main farm garden. Today Little Owl and I went into ‘toun’ to say goodbye to one of my favourite friends from college. Pia is returning to her native Switzerland for the summer and I’ll miss her lots. So that she doesn’t forget us here in Scotland I have decided to start a photograph competition for her. For any of you who know Edinburgh please feel free to join in! The aim of the game is that for each week of Pia’s absence I will post an image from the streets of Edinburgh and I’d like you to tell me where you think it is. The person who gets the most correct answers will get a little prize. What do you think? A bit of holiday fun anyway. So, to start us off…

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