Crafty Green Poet

Tigers in Red Weather by Ruth Padel

2009-07-13T11:38:00.000+01:00

Ruth Padel, who is best known as a poet, in Tigers in Red Weather travels through the countries where tigers live and those where they have recently become extinct. She meets the people who are involved in tiger conservation and discusses the situation around poaching, trade, deforestation and other issues threatening the future of the tiger. She also overcomes her own trepidation about adventurous hiking to climb into tiger territories to see the areas for herself.

This is a passionate and vividly described adventure but ultimately feels like a depressing exploration of one of our most beloved animal's last days.

Tigers in Red Weather by Ruth Padel, published by Abacus, £8.99.

Dunfermline Glen

2009-07-12T22:01:00.003+01:00

We took my parents across to Dunfermline in Fife today, including a walk round the lovely gardens of Pittencrieff Gardens (Dunfermline Glen). There is a lovely stream running through a steep valley, formal gardens and more open spaces, with lovely views across to the Pentland Hills and Edinburgh.

Weekend Walk

2009-07-11T21:19:00.005+01:00

the punk piglets, Gorgie Farm

My parents are visiting this weekend. Today we took them to Gorgie Farm then had a short walk along the Water of Leith then along the Union Canal. The weather was gorgeous.

Swifts and rocket

2009-07-10T08:07:00.004+01:00

The swift nest boxes have arrived! The contractor who was doing roof repairs for us (and who finished much earlier than expected!) is coming back on Monday to put the nest boxes up on the chimney as this is the only appropriate place that can be reached without scaffolding. (We live in a three storey tenement). I expect its too late for this year but next year I look forward to having our own swifts joining in with the local group that enjoy flying round here. If you're in the UK and you want to buy swift nest boxes, there is a good list of suppliers on the London Swift website.

I was in the garden today and noticed that the rocket I planted a little while ago was ready to pick, so that will go in the salad when my parents visit tonight! We'll have to wait a little longer for the lettuce and basil and something tells me we'll never see the chives.....

Water of Leith

2009-07-09T14:34:00.006+01:00

Comma butterfly (above and below)
common spotted orchids (below)

all seen along the Water of Leith. Click on any of the photos for a larger view.

Ladybirds

2009-07-07T19:39:00.007+01:00

As I mentioned in a recent post, there seem to be a lot of ladybirds around this year. They're such a lovely bright design, I thought i would use them to practice glass painting (on reused plastic!). So above is the real life inspiration (click on it to make it bigger!), below is the finished piece, I may make it into a mobile, if I can make enough of them!

Some Forthcoming Events

2009-07-06T19:38:00.002+01:00

If you're in Edinburgh, you may be interested in a couple of things happening locally.

THE RIVER RAMBLE 2009 is a sponsored walk along the Water of Leith Walkway on Sunday 19th July. It will start in Balerno at 10.30 am near the High School and finish on one of the boats at The Shore in Leith, the distance is a little over 12 miles, or if you prefer a shorter challenge walk from Balerno to Slateford (5 miles) or from Balerno to Stockbridge (9 miles) There is free entry for sponsored walkers or if you prefer you can register for £10 per walker or £20 for a family and not collect sponsorship. (entry includes lunch, water and a map) All proceeds are to help the Water of Leith Conservation Trust Charity No SC000015 Follow the ‘silver thread in a ribbon of green’ through the heart of Edinburgh and help to raise money to protect it.For more information call 0131 455 7367 or click here. http://www.waterofleith.org.uk/ramble/.

The Friday before that there will be a River Clean Up, meet outside the Visitor Centre at 10am. You can find out more on their website. I'll be there!

Meanwhile, on the same day as the River Ramble, Gorgie Farm holds its Open Day from 11-4. You can find out more on the Farm website. If you want to snuggle one of the rabbits, this is your chance, as Cuddle Corner will be open all day!

Open air poetry

2009-07-05T12:23:00.004+01:00

It's summer, a perfect time for outdoor poetry readings. Here are some of my favourite places to listen to or perform poetry, along with some potentially great venues for poetry, where previously I've only ever heard music:

Meadows Festival - this is probably the best known of Edinburgh's several community festivals, happening in June. I performed on the main music stage at this festival several years ago. The year after that I co-ordinated the book tent, where various storytellers and poets read and performed, but that only happened the once, due to a lack of funding. This years Meadows Festival had plenty of music but no poetry....

Traquair House, just outside Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders has a wonderfully beautiful ancient orchard, full of apple trees dripping with lichens. It is a venue for music during Traquair Fair, every August (but not this year!). They have a stage in one corner and a tent selling Traquair House ales in the other, and if its sunny, its the most wonderful place for a concert, potentially also for a poetry reading.

Edinburgh Botanic Gardens - is used as a venue for various poetry and storytelling events,

Glasgow Botanic Gardens has a dedicated poetry garden and hosts Bard in the Botanics

Edinburgh Tree Festival - another community festival, happening next weekend, this takes place in Inverleith Park, just near the Botanics. They have a stage for music and poetry.

as seen on Shamrock

2009-07-03T17:49:00.000+01:00

heat haze -
dragonflies silhouette
against the sky

previously published on Shamrock

The World and other Places by Jeanette Winterson

2009-07-02T18:32:00.000+01:00

This is a book of short stories by Jeanette Winterson, best known for her novels such as Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, Written on the Body etc. The first story here, 24 Hour Dog is wonderful, a perfect, heartbreaking story, in which the narrator takes home a new puppy:

He was a new beginning and every new beginning returns the world. In him, the rainforests were pristine and the sea had not been blunted. He was a map of clear outlines and unnamed hope. he was time before or time after. Time now had not spoilt him. In the space between chaos and shape there was another chance.

All the other stories, though not quite reaching the same high standard are well worth reading and contain Winterson's trademark thought provoking content.

The World and Other Places by Jeanette Winterson, published by Vintage.

Bird update

2009-07-01T21:15:00.003+01:00

grey gravel

city centre carpark -

a sudden goldfinch.

(Yes! The songs I had heard were goldfinches and now I've seen them there too!
And the latest on the swifts is that, after some uncertainty over whether there was a good site for a nestbox on our roof, the news is that there is, so I'm off to buy a nestbox! It's been exciting to watch the 15 or so local swifts flying round rapidly and raucously all evening!)

Swift update

2009-06-30T15:34:00.001+01:00

We are due to have roof repairs and I wrote to the council about the protocols for swifts and roof repairs. As many readers of this blog know, swifts are my favourite birds. They nest in roofs in this area, though there is no evidence of them living in our roof so far. Edited highlights of the council's reply follow:

'The decline in Swift populations is alarming and they have recently been added to the Amber list of "Birds of Conservation Concern" (see: http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-219495 )
The main issue for Swifts seems to be the loss of urban breeding sites, particularly where tenement blocks are being refurbished, and my understanding is that refurbishment works must ensure that a building's roof is watertight and airtight before a Building Warrant can be issued. This results in a very strong incentive for builders to block up any existing crevices and gaps, resulting in nest sites being lost.

All roofing and building contractors should be aware that it is an offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 to intentionally or recklessly take, damage or destroy the eggs, young or nest of a swift whilst it is being built or in use. So if there are birds nesting in your building then the builders are required to wait until the breeding season has passed.

One of the ways we are trying to help Swifts in Edinburgh is to encourage developers of appropriate new builds to incorporate artificial nest sites (Swift bricks) into their designs.

The Scottish Ornithologist's Club carry out a survey for Swifts in Edinburgh every few years (the last report is available at: www.the-soc.org.uk/docs/edinburgh-swift-survey.pdf ).'

You can read more about Swifts at: www.swift-conservation.org/

We are very pleased to have a roofing contractor who is happy to fit swift nest boxes when he works on the roof.

Poetry pocket

2009-06-29T16:00:00.000+01:00

This is an experiment in double sided collage. I collected all the natural materials (bark, feathers and elm fruits) from the Water of Leith over the last couple of weeks. The plastic is reused from packaging that came in a gift - pretty tough to sew the two pieces together.... The paper is all reused office waste. The words are descriptive of the woodland along the Water of Leith. They suggest rather than form a poem. The whole thing shifts about a bit, so it changes as you handle it.....

Rainforest thoughts

2009-06-28T18:19:00.004+01:00

In the film The Emerald Forest (1985) - the forest dwellers were concerned that the edge of their forest kept coming closer to their homes.....

In the film, Birdwatchers (2009) - the former forest dwellers reclaim their ancestral homes on what is now endless farmland.....

Sometimes it can feel quite difficult to stay optimistic....... However, we can take action to help the rainforests across the world, one of the most effective methods is to get involved with campaigning with Ecological Internet, who have a very good record of success in preserving rainforests. You can find out more and join in their campaigns on their Rainforest Portal, here.

Misty Corstorphine Hill

2009-06-27T21:11:00.002+01:00

quiet birdsong

on the misty hillside

a fox appears

Baraboo

2009-06-26T23:13:00.003+01:00

Baraboo is the directorial debut of Mary Sweeney, the longtime editor for David Lynch. It's on again at the Edinburgh Film Festival tomorrow, 5.45pm at Filmhouse and I think there are tickets left. It's a beautifully shot film, full of trees and birdsong, that quietly follows the lives of the people who live and work in and around a motel and gas station in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It's full of subtle observation, humour and hidden pain and is a truly beautiful cinematic experience.

Birdwatchers - the Film

2009-06-26T22:53:00.005+01:00

Another fine film in the Edinburgh International Film Festival is Birdwatchers, Marco Bechis' drama about the Gurani people of Brazil. The story centres on a family who live in a reservation and make money by posing for tourists but are rocked by a series of suicides and decide to reclaim their ancestral home. This home was once rich rainforest but is now farmland with a very unsympathetic owner, who wants the Indians off 'his' land. The film is beautiful, disturbing and depressing, though there are moments of humour, but overall it is not an optimistic film..... Birdwatchers was released in France and Brazil last year and is being released in a number of European countries over the next few months. Not sure about the USA.....

In some senses the film reminded me of The Emerald Forest, the 1985 film which was one of my early influences in developing my environmental awareness.

Survival International is campaigning for the rights of the Guarani people, you can find out more here.

For those of you who asked, Crimson Wing, which I reviewed a few days ago should be getting worldwide release, including a Swahili version to be released in Tanzania.

Poetry at the Edinburgh Film Festival

2009-06-26T15:43:00.005+01:00

I've just come back from seeing an excellent documentary on the Russian poet Boris Ryzhy, sometimes referred to as the last Soviet poet, who tragically committed suicide at the age of 26 in 2001. The documentary (called simply Boris Ryzhy) is beautifully made, with beautiful meditative scenes of industrial cityscapes covered in snow interwoven with birch woodland and archive footage of Ryzhy reading and smoking. One of the best features of the film was that Ryzhny's poetry was read over large sections of it. You can find out more about Ryzhy and the film and read some of his poetry on his website.

The Crimson Wing

2009-06-25T21:11:00.003+01:00

The Crimson Wing is the first feature length film produced by the newly launched Disneynature. It's a stunning look at the life of one of the most fascinating, bizarre and characterful birds, the lesser flamingo. The sheer number of flamingos stuns the viewer as does their hardiness at living in one of the most naturally inhospotable environments in the world, Lake Natron, a hot salt lake in Tanzania. The narration is intriguing, full of information about the birds and their lifestyle, though it does tend a little to the oversentimental, as does the soundtrack. I just saw this film today at teh Edinburgh International Film Festival. It's on again tomorrow at 6.15pm and then will be released into selected UK cinemas on 25 September.

The flamingos on Lake Natron, as much other wildlife in Africa, are threatened by development in the area. A proposal for a soda ash plant on the shores of Lake Natron was recently overturned by local people, but the Birdlife International Think Pink campaign still goes on (though the information on this website may be a little out of date).

Forthcoming workshops and performances

2009-06-24T18:53:00.000+01:00

Writing Workshop at Gorgie City Farm, including a guided tour of the farm.
2-4pm, Friday 14 August
£10 / £5 concessions.
For adults who want to start writing or to learn more.
Please book though the Farm Education Office - 0131 623 7031 or email education@gorgiecityfarm.org.uk.

Workshop on Ghazal poetry at The Salisbury Centre, Edinburgh
2-4pm, Saturday 31 October 2009.
To book please visit their website.

For more information, please email me: Juliet.M.WilsonATgmailDOTcom.

********************************************
Currently no performances planned though I hope to appear at Kin in the Voodoo Rooms sometime in the near future.

A poetic miscellany

2009-06-23T15:21:00.000+01:00

steady drizzle -

twenty house martins chase

low flying insects

I also posted this haiku on Summer Haiku. To see how the birds might look, you can watch a lovely video of swallows (related to martins) over at Elizabeth's Luchair blog - here.

I've got five haiku in the latest issue of Haiku Scotland (which unfortunately isn't available online!) and one appeared recently at Beer Haiku Daily, which you can read here.

I also have a poem The Family Her String Quartet over on Aireings, magazine, which you can read here.

Fungi and More Ducklings

2009-06-23T06:02:00.003+01:00

It seems like the wrong time of year, but all these photos were taken last Monday as I walked along the Water of Leith. I don't know the species of fungi, but they all photgraphed well, I think! Now that Crafty Green Boyfriend has a new camera, I get to keep the old one all to myself ...

Yesterday's walk along the Water of Leith had a lot of young birds, I saw a family of five wrens, a young grey wagtail, young chaffinches and blue tits. The highlight though was a group of 8 mallard ducklings sliding down the weir. Due to the vagaries of Blogger, I've had to put the photo in another post here so that you can click on the photo to see more detail (and even then you have to look carefully to see the ducklings!). And yes, we need to get the red crate out of the water...

There are more duck photos at The Duck Blog here (scroll down!) and at Oh! Books, Paper, Real Life here.

The Ducklings

2009-06-23T05:49:00.000+01:00

If you click on this photo, you should be able to see the ducklings sliding down the weir, some of them have already reached the bottom. Mother duck looks on from the top...

Mug Monday

2009-06-22T07:11:00.000+01:00

Well following on from Plate Friday we now have Mug Monday, hosted by Acorn Moon and Weaver of Grass. Here are three of my favourites. The one on the right comes from the same second hand crockery set as the plate I posted in the earlier post. The rabbit mug was a gift I bought for Crafty Green Boyfriend, and typically, one of the few mugs bought new and one of the few to be cracked (we don't drink from it any more)! The middle mug was a gift from my parents many years ago.

Mini Beasts and Ducklings

2009-06-21T13:42:00.001+01:00

mallard with ducklings

Yesterday we walked round Blackford Pond. There was no sign of all the toads that had been sitting on the bottom of the pond last time we were there. However there were lots of mallards, some with ducklings, also a couple of greylag geese, moorhens (see new banner photo) and black headed gulls and lots of jackdaws, which are very noisily nesting in the trees around the pond, the adolescent birds seeming to be very demanding! We also wandered round Blackford Hill and into the Hermitage of Braid. Lots of buttercups, yellow flag irises, dog roses and many other species of flowers, which were home to lots of insects, including ladybirds (more than I've seen for a while) and the creatures below that Crafty Green Boyfriend took great delight in capturing with his new camera.

a type of soldier beetle (above)

a type of scorpion fly (below)

a ladybird larva

There were lots of bees everywhere too, which was very reassuring. Several types of bumble bees, some of them with very prominent knees! For some beautiful photos of bumble bees, visit Stonehead at: http://stonehead.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/bumble-bees-at-work/