Friday, July 29, 2011

east devon way



An evening walk along part of the east devon way; the dirt lane seen in the above photos which meanders across the heathlands around Newton Poppleford and Ayelsbeare. At around 8 in the evening the place is deserted and quiet, apart from the singing of birds. Nice easy levelish walking with good views of the sea, Woodbury common and the hills around Sidmouth.

Despite it seeming to rain plenty lately the ground is very dry here and all the small streams are without water and the rivers down to a trickle. Spring was unusually dry, with it not really raining for about three months and what rain we have had doesn't seem to sink in. It's been very good weather for apple trees apparently with a bumper crop ripening two months early.

On the way back with it getting dark now, or dimsy as it's known, (maybe as in ' it's getting dim see') we encounter a large hare sitting on the path ahead. He moves off into the field and down the hill only to appear again a hundred yards on, sitting on the path again. Once more he jumps through a gap in the hedge and I see him taking large, easy bouncing strides down the hill. Again and for a final time he appears sitting on the path ahead and then moves off. Hares are a rare sight around here, or most places for that matter and you can go many years without meeting one or even never see them at all, so a special encounter indeed.

The evening darkens further and we make our way back along the scented lanes down past the wheat fields to Newton Pop for the bus.

30 comments:

john said...

As usual I have been very slow at putting photos up lately though I have taken plenty. I find it difficult to actually keep up with them all, so what I have done is put some recent ones up instead, so these photos were taken last week, which is almost up to date isn't it?

In amongst the backlog are two trips to Okehampton castle, a long walk on Dartmoor to find a stone circle, a trip on a very rainy day to a derelict mill etc etc, it does go on and on.

P2P said...

are the pink flowers clovers? they were my favorite as a kid, being very common in finland, too.

I have myself been working full time for over a month now, which is eating out of my time to photograph. so, be happy to have your hands full on images.

I'm hoping to save some money and buy a wide angle lens soon. I have enough currency on my hands for camera gear maybe once a year. last summer I bought samyang's fisheye lens and have been quite happy with it especially when shooting indoors or in wide natural areas. now, this has caught my eye (and apparently one can find it online for aprox. 350 euros):

http://www.lenstip.com/297.1-Lens_review-Samyang_35_mm_f_1.4_AS_UMC__Introduction.html

Anonymous said...

Beautiful.

- Aangirfan

john said...

Hi P2P Yes the flowers in the field are clover, being used here as a green manure but very pretty as a field and they will keep the bees happy too. We don't usually see fields of clover here.

The lens looks interesting P2P. I have enjoyed your photos taken with the fish eye lens. The only other lens I have is the Nikkor MF 50 mm f/1.8 which is lovely and sharp with plenty of bokeh fun. So many lovely lenses but some are very expensive indeed. I have also seen some good results of wildlife photography utilising digital zooms.

Hope the work's going well P2P

cheers

john said...

Hey thanks there aangirfan! Glad you're enjoying the photos.

john said...

and the flowers are Scabious in photo five.

reem said...

I like the third and the fourth photos ،they're brilliant,i guess you're very lucky to enjoy all thus beautifull places around you,to hug the nature and feel the freedom in your life ,this's amazing.

The light orange sky seems nice at this time ,also the purple flowers .

The weather here is cool at night but it's a litlle hot at day ،my visit to Syria is going well ،i've tried to post some paintings but the internet server was very slow,i'll try again next week through faster server.

I think you're enjoying the summer days in Devon very much ،i'm so glad for you ،actually i'm enjoying too during your photos ،i always wait for them ,to feel the beauty in our life and to hug the nature even it was on the internet,mybe this seems silly for many people but it is not for me so thanks for these photos John

nobody said...

'Dimsy'? Like the borogoves?
Or were they all outgrabe?
Surely there were slithy toves,
Out gimbling East Devon Wabe?

No?

john said...

Choukran Reem and thanks very much

There are lots of fields and trees and it is as good to walk in as I hope it looks in the photos. All those little hills, fields and trees really are a pleasure.

It is nice and warm here at the moment and it has even been warm at night, which is quite unusual here in summer now for some reason. It makes a change to be able to sit outside at night without shivering.

I am glad that your visit to Syria is going well Reem and hope that you are finding the time to paint and look forward to seeing some more on your blog.

Cheers Reem and all the best to you.

john said...

Actually yes nobody, mimsy - dimsy, it's possible that's where it comes from. The borogroves, as can be seen in the photos, are quite mimsy and then there is always the possibility of meeting a jubjub bird around any corner. You never really know.

It's summer here and that affects the english in a strange way, people start smiling and enjoying themselves. It's not normal by any stretch.

As for me, I'm somehow off to be a rock star for the weekend. When I was a teenager learning to play the guitar I'd never've thought that one day when I was old and had given up I would be playing gigs at festivals. You have to careful of what you wish for when you're young.

Are you driving a van illegally yet? Hope all going well, cheers for now.

john said...

Oh well that's that knackered. The Maid, being the authority on all things proper Devon says it's actually Dimpsy with a P. So there we go.

nobody said...

Curse that maid for ruining my pome! Otherwise have fun at the gig John. Don't forget to bring lots of pairs of your undies to throw at the women. No questions mate, it worked a treat for Tom Jones and he's very hip and 'in-groovy' with what all those young people like.

PS. Remember- when the gig is over and all the gear is back in the truck and you're ready to leave, you should always do a quick pick up of all the spare undies on the floor and hanging off the light fittings etc. You can re-use them on the next gig or otherwise just keep them as emergency undies (kind of thing) in case you need to throw them at women on the street, or in the supermarket, or wherever.

Hmm, thinks... "Sustainable Rockstar". That could work couldn't it? Rock mag headline: John Frampton - Making the World a Better Place, One Pair of Undies at a Time.

This could be big mate. With solid marketing like this we'll make Ronan Parkes look like a schoolboy. I'll get back to you.

john said...

Well I'm back and luckily I already have a large collection of Tom Jones stuff which I was throwing at the crowd so that all worked out fine nobody. Cornwall was good but I was disappointed by the lack of footpaths as there was only one in the whole area I visited so ten miles of beautiful river walk remained hidden, quite possibly for generations.

Anyway it seems that quite a bit has been happening since I've been away and as we say here; it's all kicking off bigstyle. It's Tuesday and we're going to be in for some night by the look of it.

Last night the police backed off not only because they were outnumbered and caught on the hop but also to show the politicians what the towns look like without the police operating because they are facing big cuts. Morale in the Met can't be very good.

Bizarrely Peter Powers is right now being interviewed on radio 5. Usually bad things happen when he's around and I've not heard anything of him for a good while.

john said...

Black bloc are also conspicuous by their absence, not ready to go? suspicious. Individual anarchists may very well be there as well as AP's. I don't think it would be that hard to get riots going with the state of things as they are.

It is traditional rioting season in the UK though the timing is interesting coming as it did with the huge stock market meltdown.
That millionaire MP's had to come back from holidays in Tuscany and the like highlights the vast gulf in equality here. It was pleasing to see the good public giving out of touch bullingdon idiots like Boris Johnson a hard time. Politicians are rightly seen as rich people who can rip the public off and, do what they like and get away with it, different laws apply.

john said...

It's looking pretty mad here.

Tactics have evolved. In the old days riots were confined to localised areas, now they are free roaming, going to do shops and areas and then moving on.

john said...

I'm expecting the police to go in heavy tonight but we'll see. It's already big but this could escalate very rapidly if the guns come out and who knows where that would end. It's a very dangerous situation.

There was no police last night and some like the Turkish community had to defend their own properties.

john said...
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john said...

They keep calling them rioters on the bbc but they're looters and these crews are organised.

john said...

Last night the bbc were using the terms 'protesters' 'rioters' 'looters' and even 'demonstrators' interchangeably.

Quiet in London tonight, they're not daft. The youth of the country have just helped themselves to a bailout.

nobody said...

Hullo John, how's Devon? Quiet I expect.

I also wonder at the City of London proper. You know, the Temple Bar and all that - where the villains are. Quiet there too? No one torching Tavistock House I take it? Never mind.

john said...

Cheers nobody. Yes all quiet here as far as I know. The City remained untouched. Some local branches of banks were targeted, probably more for money than anything else. In other major towns the shopping centres became targets but the high street chains were being protected in a way that small businesses weren't.

Having your capital city rapidly descending into chaos and seeming like a war zone while you are on holiday isn't a good look for a govt. It'll do wonders for tourism.

Interesting that a small amount of organised and mobile people can do enormous damage to a country so quickly. But no, the obvious political and financial targets remained untouched, though many interviewed recently are perfectly aware of issues such as the bankers bonuses, cuts in local services, the corruption of the police and politicians, all of these and more have come up.

john said...

Rather strangely I have just seen on Statcounter that in Australia I have a page that ranks #1 for the query: Oil Painting Morris Dancers. It's probably good that I don't look at Statcounter too often.

john said...

In Finland I have a page ranked #4 for the google search 'fascist yogi'

P2P said...

john,

some week or so ago I wrote to my facebook bio "fascist yogi" and I guess it is possible that some of my "fiends" have googled the term, and after having had visited my blog in the past I guess your blog (having a link to mine) gets very high up in their ranks. or something like that.

I love it when I see on the google analytics that people find my blog with such search words as "sacrificing a goat," "how to pick up a russian stripper" and "how to sell my soul to walk again."

john said...

Aha! Cheers P2P that'll be it. I've been wondering how to pick up a russian stripper for a while now so I'll pop over to yours for some tips, thanks for that. If anybody wants a painting of morris dancers I'll knock one up for you.

My other longstanding popular searches are Atomic Bomb Explosion 1952, painting of atomic bomb and Michael Maier emblems. the atomic bomb searches are always interesting, so many people were hitting it I went back and rewrote it to make it better.

nobody said...

Ha Ha!

Well, all I can say is: never use any words on your blog that are connected to sex. And you should certainly never use the words 'israeli cock'. Oh dear, did I just use them? The dreaded summoning spell! Mind you, they're in the comments so perhaps you'll be okay?

(If nothing else it'll increase your hits from Israel by a factor of ten. More than 90% of my hits from Israel are driven by 'israeli cock').

Otherwise, speaking of popular things and the re-writing thereof, one of mine that has consistently dragged people in is the one I wrote How should Buddhists view Usury? It seems people arrive there mostly via images (in this case 'dharma wheel' and 'eightfold mudra') but unlike everyone else, they stop and read the article. Me, I think it speaks well of Buddhists that they should have attention spans longer than 5 seconds. Because God knows almost no one else does.

Anyway, near top of my list of things to do when I wake from my torpor is to rewrite that usury piece. Rereading it it's clear to me that I left out quite a few obvious things that will obviously occur to people and otherwise enable them to think, 'Yeah, but...'

And we can't have that.

Anyway, I find the whole google thing endlessly fascinating. Do you not find that there are search keywords that seem to come and go? Some like 'morton downey jr' will swamp me for a week or so and then there'll be nothing for ages. And then swamped again. It's almost as if google enters me into a list of result candidates on some kind of rotating basis. Some days I'll be result number one and on others I won't be within ten pages.

Have you guys noticed or is it just me?

john said...

nobody would you please stop saying 'israeli cock' as I would hate genuine 'israeli cock' searchers to end up here where they will only find disappointment.

Personally I find the whole 'israeli cock' search focuses rather too narrowly for my tastes. Surely cock's cock isn't it? I can't fathom why anyone needs to see 'isaeli cock' as opposed to any other form of cock. Maybe an 'israeli cockhunter' could step in and explain the difference in 'israeli cock' action and the cock action of other nationalities.

Do they have 'false flag cock'? where they blame their 'cock action' on somebody else? I know the americans have a 'stealth cock' in their large arsenal. Anyway ust a few things I thought I'd run up the flagpole for you to consider. I hope very much that this will be the end of the whole 'israeli cock' saga.

john said...

Oh and nobody, searches do seem to find stuff written in the comments. A good time ago somebody found my blog because I had spelt an unusual word wrong in the comments and they had also spelt the word this way and that's how they found my blog.

I don't know about turning up on google results or how they figure it out. I would think that google being google all the search rankings are heavily tinkered with so the idea of a rotating list could well be possible. Who knows how they figure it out? I haven't really noticed the ranking changing.

And yes it does speak well of the Buddhists that they have a longer than five second attention span.

nobody said...

Sorry, shan't mention it again. As for the why, I expect it's because they're racists.

Anyway, I vote we raise the tone of this conversation on account of Reem being here. She's so lovely she makes the rest of us look very sordid. Sorry Reem!

john said...

Agreed nobody and apologies Reem if you have been reading this. I have attempted to keep my sometimes wayward language under control here on the blog but standards do slide sometimes unfortunately. I'll all have to try a bit harder I think but I'll let you all know if I have any interesting hits on statcounter.

Well onwards. I must try and get some of my castle photos up soon. Or something else.