Sunday 25 March 2012

Sunday 25.03.2012

And here`s another:
"Current thinking on rendering the curriculm broader and more relevant infantilizes children rather than achieving its aim of assisting their personal development."

I did say I hadn`t quite finished it. More quotes may follow.

Sunday 25.03.2012

Early out, well earlyish, just one cup of tea first, but already so warm could have been first thing on a June morning. Birdsong to the right, left and centre, woodpecker, lapwing, lark and flocks of what one ornithologically-challenged observer described as "those little green and yellow things".
And so down south for family biz and then back to Edinburgh for 24 hours in that fairest of cities. Holidays. Don`t you just love `em.

Also,more or less finished Frank Furedi`s Wasted: Why Education isn`t Educating
Took a while to get in to (and it begs about a million questions a paragraph) but hitting the nitty gritty now and it`s well worth a read.
Here`s a quote to get you started:
"while the potential of education to solve society`s problems is overestimated, its capacity to inspire children to engage with intellectually challenging issues is underestimated."

Friday 23 March 2012

Friday 23.03.2012

Some days simply made for walking and today was one of them: fresh breeze with high cloud and sunshine, makes you pull your shoulders back and get going. Did this afternoon anyway.
Larks and lambs - and wonderful great muck heaps waiting to be spread (unfortunately not on our garden).


Could it be that the world is divided into those who think muck heaps are wonderful and those who don`t?

Anyway - the Spring madness infected the dogs who ran all the way round the woods, then later simply ran round in circles for the sheer joy of it.

Haven`t put the snowsuit away yet but can`t be long now: still light at seven tonight when I put the poultry away and clocks go on tomorrow........can that really be it for winter?

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Tuesday 20.03.2012





Couldn`t stop taking pics of the sky tonight: constantly shifting cloudscapes in the breezy conditions made for a dramatic backdrop as we walked up the road.




Once in the woods, the noise of the wind was replaced by the evening chorus reverberating through the trees and we just kept walking, dogs no keener to return than me as darkness fell. The wind chased us back down the hill eventually, with the very last of the light still glowing on the horizon.

Happy Equinox.

Thursday 15 March 2012

Thursday 15.03.2012

Another seasonal marker is managing an evening walk after work even when you don`t get home until after 6.

Scents and sounds and sights: a stubble field ploughed into rich brown, damp-earth-smelling furrows; blue sky patched with clouds - pinks and greys and whites; evening birdsong at full throttle;lights dotted about the hills in the distance as it got darker; the sight of smoke from the house chimney making us hurry home in the evening chill.

And out there at the moment - Venus and Juniper, in rare conjunction, "dancing with the stars". Worth a look.

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Wednesday 14.03.2012

Chilly, overcast tail-end-of-winter sort of day when we set off late morning: warm, spring sunshine and larks a-larking by the time we came back an hour or so later.

On Sunday it was the call of the lawnmower: today catkins....and the first wearing of flip-flops. By such markers are the seasons measured.

Sunday 11 March 2012

Sunday 11.03.2012

Spring morning irresistible - warm sun, chippy wind, birds a-singing and a-winging all over the place and first lawnmower heard.

We strolled gently, after all the panting exertions of yesterday.

And on our return: the demonstration of an equation they never taught at school:
man + tractor-that`s working-after-sitting-in-field-all-winter + pleasant day on which to do a little harrowing = relative contentment.

Saturday 10.03.2012

Overcast and chilly wind but after work and a gridlocked supermarket (on a Saturday afternoon - aaargh) it was hugely reviving to get above the tree line and up on to Oxen Craig, dogs and I gulping down lungfuls of the clean air.



The Grampians and Cairngorms shrouded in a hazy blue to the West











though the sun pierced through the cloud over the sea in the other direction as we were on our way down








and then we were back in the forest: out of the wind, soft and shadowy,interesting shapes, rich textures


and almost eerily quiet.

Friday 9 March 2012

Friday 09.03.2012

After a day of "shoures soote" and a warm "yonge sonne" ** (albeit still early March)the son et lumiere this evening,in perfect Spring conditions (chilly but still, a dampness in the air after the rain) was all bird calls (the peewits are back)and dramatic light and shade as the sun shone through and then sank below the clouds.



** Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer (1340(?)–1400)
WHAN that Aprille with his shoures soote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,
And smale fowles maken melodye,
That slepen al the night with open ye,
(So priketh hem nature in hir corages:
Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,


And in other news - an overdue reminder that Triangle Theory (see link)has transmogrified into Buried Sleeper - and the CD is out!
www.facebook.com/BuriedSleeper

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Wednesday 07.03.2012

Perishing in the wind going up the hill; warm spring sunshine in the woods. Beautiful light too.









Similar on Tuesday morning when, after trips south on family duties, had time to take a jaunt along Edinburgh`s waterfront at Granton.
Walking-quite-fast really was the only option or hypothermia would quickly have set in but the cobwebs were well and truly banished on both occasions.

Saturday 3 March 2012

Saturday 03.03.2012

Aaaargh. Cold. Very cold. Clouds with pretty silver linings as the sun set but by heck we had to scuttle to try and warm up a bit. Maybe still a bit premature for evening strolls.

Friday 2 March 2012

Friday 02.03.2012

Thick, white damp cloud enveloped us this morning, bright spring sunshine dried everything up this afternoon and later, despite the by then grey sky and cold wind, there were rumours of the long light nights to come as we walked the woods with the birds into full throttle evensong. Steady as she goes though:March "in like a lamb" and all that.