Sunflowers in September

 The sunflowers in the garden have grown quite tall.

They  are reaching for the sky

We've never grown any as tall as these. 

 

We took the seeds from last year's sunflowers which were a darker chocolate brown colour.

There are three plants and each has flowers of a different hue.

They are popular with the bees.

Yesterday we saw a little group of young goldfinches checking them out as they flew into the nearby Tamarisk tree.  We've been putting sunflower seeds in the feeders for ages as the goldfinches seem to prefer them to niger seed and the ground feeding birds benefit from the seeds dropped as the finches crack them in half.

 

The colours are Autumnal and as the plants sway in the breeze today there is a definite change in the air.

All for now.  Next post Harper Street and the 1950s house at Middleport Pottery.

Reincarnated Rubbish

 We saw an interesting exhibition at the Brampton Museum in Newcastle-Under-Lyme over the weekend.

The artist Val Hunt used recycled objects to create the pieces which depict extinct and endangered species. 

As a creative recycler she uses all sort of objects in her work.  Things like foil trays, old computer parts,  metal drinks cans and discarded babies' dummies.

Below are some of the exhibits that caught my eye.

Caspian the War Horse was made from skip wood, three hundred and sixty Coventry Evening Telegraphs, drinks cans and charity shop wool.  The Caspian breed of horse is critically endangered.

 

Cuckoo, Barn Owl, Lapwing, House Sparrow and Nightingale (all endangered)  This exhibit is called 'A Conference of Endangered Birds discussing their future'.

Puffin (endangered)

 

Anomalocaris (extinct) - a large predator of the Cambrian era.  Made with Coke cans.

 

Sabre Tooth Tiger (extinct) made from drinks cans

Ichthyosaur (below) and Opthalmosaurus (above)

both reptiles and both extinct.

Blue finned Tuna fish (endangered)

 

Giant Tortoise (endangered)

Leather-back turtle (endangered)

 

Chameleon (endangered) made from bottle tops

Terror Bird or Phorusrhacids (extinct) made with drinks, cans, skip wood, paper flyers and posters from the Edinburgh Fringe.

Terror bird again

Hats and Headwear

 

My favourite hat - the Helter-Skelter hat.

After looking at the exhibition and the rest of the museum we had tea and cake in the museum's Little Vintage Tea room.

 

I didn't take a photo inside but this is the outside seating area. 

Radical Horizons at Chatsworth

Yesterday we were on our way to visit a friend we hadn't seen since last Autumn and we had stopped to break the journey at Baslow in Derbyshire. A short walk from the centre of Baslow takes you on to the Chatsworth Estate.

Below is the Kissing Gate which takes you into the estate. Inspired by Mrs Jill Cannon and made by Mathers Engineering of Tibshelf it enables wheelchair access to the grounds.  

 

At present Chatsworth is hosting sculptures from The Art of the Burning Man which is held annually in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA.

 

There are twelve sculptures in all and I was hoping to see three or four of the sculptures nearest to the entrance we used.  I wasn't sure how far I could walk but I did quite well.  My little step counter said I'd done 5,500 steps by the time we got back to the car park.

 

There are so many lovely trees in the park but worryingly drifts of crisp, brown leaves were scattered across the grass in some areas.

 

Above and below the first sculpture we came across is Relevé by Rebekah Waites.  It is based on the legend of the Nine Ladies stone circle, a Bronze Age site not far from Chatsworth.  The sculpture celebrates the rebellious spirit of art, dance and music.

It was constructed by youth volunteers and school groups from the local community. 

 

 

The sculpture will be burned at the end of the exhibition in a celebration of 'letting go' of the exhibition which is a tradition of the Burning Man exhibition.

Above and below Lodestar by Randy Polumbo.

Lodestar is made from a second World War military plane.  It has, according to the description, 'blossomed into a contemplative flower and gathering place for pollinators'.

 

It is decorated  with hand blown glass flowers.

Above and below Coralee by Dana Albany and Flash Hopkins.

 

Dana Albany worked with children from the local community to build the Mermaid at Chatsworth.

It is based on the tale of the mermaid's pool which can be found just below Kinder Scout in the High Peaks.

It is made from objects found by the local children and also objects donated by the workers on the Chatsworth estate.

Below is the last sculpture of the four we managed to get to in the time we had.

This one is called Le Attrata and is by Margaret Long and Orion Fredericks.

 

Three moths sit on top of steel spires or flames. There are glowing chrysalises around the sculpture.

I sat on one of the seats incorporated into the sculpture to look up at the moths.

This sculpture was quite popular with visitors mainly because they could sit for a while and take it all in.

 

It was time to make our way back to the car and carry on with our journey.  We saw four out of eight sculptures and are going to go back in a week or two to approach the others from the opposite side of the estate, hopefully we'll see a few more.

As we walked back we spotted the deer under the trees.  

They were happily grazing and not too bothered by the visitors.

 

 

 

Books and other stuff

 Books - you wait for ages and then three come at once.

I had an e-mail to say that 'Godmersham Park' by Gill Hornby was available so on Monday I popped into the library to pick it up.  I couldn't find it on the reserved shelves.  The librarian couldn't find it either, she checked the main shelves, peered behind other shelves and under the counter.  She made a couple of phone calls but no luck, it had disappeared.  'Leave it with me' she said, 'I'll sort it out'.  On the library website I was back to being second in the queue for Godmersham Park.   A couple of days later I had an e-mail to say that the other two books were ready to be collected.  I popped in again and they were there, thank goodness.  Yesterday I had an e-mail to say 'Godmersham Park' was ready to be collected.  I popped into the library today and yes, it was there.  I think I've visited the library more times this week than I have done over the last two years when casual visits changed due to Covid and lockdown. Perhaps soon I will get back to browsing the shelves.  I just hope I can read all three books before they are due to be returned as they are all requested by other readers so can't be renewed.

I loved these cycles we spotted recently.  

They were outside Time - The Vintage Hub in Uttoxeter.

It's good to be getting out and about a bit again although only  locally.

A week ago we visited Leek and had a walk around.  We parked near the Quaker or Society of Friends Meeting House.

We walked past the building and down the alleyway at the side of the meeting house wall.  It was built in 1697. It closed in 1848 due to the decline in the number of worshippers.  It was re-opened in 1880 but was later leased to the William Morris Labour Church.  It was re-opened as a Quaker Meeting House in 1939.

The wall was made up of half brick and half stone.

Around the corner looking up towards St Edward's Church.  The meeting house is on the right behind the wall.  The garden looked lovely, I'd love to have seen inside but both building and garden were behind locked gates.

The houses across the road from the meeting house.  I think it is quite an attractive row.

 

The blue plaque in on the building to the right in the photo above.

In the market place there was a busy Antiques and Collectors Fair.

There were lots of interesting items for sale.

Some of them at eye watering prices.  We had a wander around in the sunshine.

 

Wednesday morning we walked at Trentham Gardens.  I haven't been able to walk right around the lake yet but seem to be able to walk further each time we visit.  We seem to have missed the best of the wildflowers this year but there were still some showing colour. 

We still haven't spotted any of the two hundred water voles that were released around the lake earlier this year. (story here) I expect they have left the lake and made their way to the River Trent which is not far from the lake.  I've seen on one or two of the wildlife groups I follow on Facebook that some people have spotted them.  I did manage to take a photo of an elderly crow who didn't seem to mind us passing by or taking a photo or two.

We saw quite a few Lords and Ladies under the trees.  Their bright Autumn berries easily catching the eye.  This plant is also called Cuckoo Pint, which is what I remember it being called as a child.  It is also known as Devils and Angels, Adam and Eve and Snakes Head.
 

  I'll share photos of  our garden in a later post as this one is getting a bit long.

 

At the moment we have lots of sunflowers.

 

All for now.