Postcard from the treetops

One advantage of living on a hillside is the view of the sky. The only time I like cold weather is when it's sunny as well; and when planes leave interesting vapour trails perfectly framed in my roof light then winter doesn't seem so bad.

The temperature is in deep freeze at the moment. The forecast is for a warmer tomorrow, but that means clouds and rain as well. Boo. I wonder where the plane which veered to the right was going? It's heading south, so the destination may have been warmer than Birmingham...

Christmas Card 2011

In previous years I've posted an outdoors Christmas picture. This year I'll share the minimum effort decorations going on in my hallway. Today there has been ice, sleet and hail outside. Do you blame me for staying indoors?

I did venture into Birmingham earlier in the week to find that this year the visiting German market has got bigger but is selling fewer things, that I've already missed the best bargains in the supposedly post-Christmas sales and that the bull is ticking off several trends at once (onesies and knitwear that could be either festive or channelling The Killing) in his new outfit.

Have a lovely Christmas.

K x

Postcard from underwater III

For someone who isn't keen on fish, I seem to spend a lot of time at aquariums. It always strikes me as weird that somewhere as far from the coast as Birmingham has such a large Sea Life Centre and even weirder that when I have visitors they want to go there.

It has improved since my last visit a couple of years ago. There are now otters (aaahhh!) and a 4-D cinema. In which the fourth dimension is...guess what...water!

The otters were cute but moved too fast for my camera. I had to stand still for a long time to get a shot in which it appeared the fish were kissing. Now I know how the paparazzi feel.

Postcard from the pond

Autumn's colours are already fading. A walk through Highbury Park this afternoon proved that the leaves are falling, not just turning. A mob of ducks gathered at the other end of the pond where a toddler had food for them and I was left with this reflection. Bonfires were smoking in back gardens and squirrels were dashing up trees and dislodging more leaf litter. Somehow it's less antisocial when nature behaves in a loutish manner.

Postcard from the library

Well, not so much the library as the building site of what will be Birmingham's central library. It's not quite ready for the books yet. Given the issues with funding for libraries elsewhere in the country, it's great to see Brum investing in the concept with a whizzy new building. Also good to see is that it won't be another concrete hulk and will instead be a little bit bling. Nice.

I know I'm not the only Birmingham writer to use the central library resources for research as well as sometimes working at a desk there. So I'm hoping facilities at the new building will be everything we need. That's not much: desk, light, chair. The fancy exterior and cutting edge technological fit out is all very nice; but my biggest wish for the new building is that the escalators don't squeak. The noise from the current ones is ear bleedingly distracting.

I was lucky enough to be visiting the new building on a tour which included a chance to see some of the treasures which will move into the building once it's complete. Among the inspirational items for a writer included a First Folio of Shakespeare's plays and Caxton's first printed book. One item which will remind me of the old library though was a German speaking picture book. You can see an example demonstrated here then imagine those sounds on a constant loop coming from the escalator. Now do you understand why I can't wait for the new building to be ready?

Postcard from The Big Draw

The Big Draw is a campaign whose aim is to get everyone drawing. They claim "Drawing helps us to think, invent and communicate – regardless of age and ability." Filling a wall with Etch-a-Sketches is guaranteed to tempt passers by at the MAC to have a go. Critical design fault though: you can't shake the frames to erase previous 'scribbles'. Which means that only the highest placed had room for new 'drawing' and those of us who are not so tall couldn't reach them.

What would you guess to be the most common 'sketch' made? Yup, names. Why pass up an opportunity to tag your graffiti?

Postcard from Martineau Gardens

I'm fond of late summer/early autumn for a number of reasons, including fruitfulness. When I visited Martineau Gardens in Edgbaston harvest was in progress in the veg plots while laden boughs in the orchard begged to be scrumped. Grapes dangled from their vine and enticed with the promise of a nice glass of red. Although, I have to admit to doubts about how Brum-grown wine would turn out.

Not that my local produce can be faulted in any other way. I've been fortunate to have been gifted some cucumbers from a friend's garden about a mile away and some tomatoes from the allotments next door - can't get more locally sourced than that. Well, I could; if I did any gardening of my own. As someone who has managed to kill a houseplant in the last week though, I think it safest to admire plants from afar. Until they're ready for my plate of course.