Realms of Gold

A rainbow against a clear blue sky… with a dog at the end of the rainbow. A small part of today’s #dailynature , even if I’m not really paying attention right now.

People keep sending me invites to things there’s absolutely no chance I’ll attend. A black-tie dinner in London? Me? I don’t do much that you can’t wear wellies for, or more than 5 miles from home. Last time I attended black-tie in London there was serious prize money and postnominals involved!

One minute I'm reading "My Antonia" by Willa Cather, the next I'm driving through Nevada on Google Street View. I just spent an hour driving along this road! I always find myself exploring landscapes from books i'm reading, films, etc. Never been to Nebraska for real... South Dakota my closest.

Furtling about in the archives, I stumbled across this forgotten photo that might be my new favourite photo of myself. Iceland, probably 1980-something. Before Health & Safety, and before Sólheimajökull was a tourist destination

What day is it? Tuesday? OK here’s a Tuesday morning #shelfie from an area that I don’t think I’ve posted lately: the southern corner of the living room, vaguely classified as “classics”… and a few more rocks (Greenland gneiss, Ecuador and Iceland lava/tephra.)

Good afternoon from Marbury. Afternoon walk in the sunshine.

OK, for symmetry following yesterday's post, here's the south west wall. Apologies for the wallpaper, which we inherited from a former owner of the house. #shelfie

The north east wall of my studio-study, caught randomly. Can you spot the model railway? Clue: #shelfie

Small moments of calm. In the supermarket car park after shopping, before driving home, eating the treat you bought for yourself! #smallmomentsofcalm

Country walk, with rainbow.

My latest masterpiece. I don’t have a day job, so don’t bother telling me not to give it up.

Very sad to hear of the death of Prof. Andrew Goudie, the eminent geomorphologist. I first met Andrew when I was a student, and he was a huge character throughout the whole of my career; extremely helpful and supportive over the course of more than 4 decades. www.geog.ox.ac.uk/news/memoria...

Wow! Barn Owl checking me out as I take the dog for an evening stroll around the village.

I do enjoy drawing little maps!

“Much have I travelled in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen…” John Keats. This is where my “Realms of Gold” handle comes from.

Good afternoon from Nantwich. I’m in the car, waiting for the rain to stop.

Good morning from Marbury. It’s starting to look less like summer.

Good morning from Marbury. My sky today. Small sails, the saying goes. Mares’ tails.

Good morning from Marbury. My early-morning sky either the Moon and Jupiter close together.

This used to be one of my favourite teaching exercises. At the start of one week I would ask whether it mattered if Antarctica was real or imaginary, and the students voted. I then gave the class, and asked the same question the following week. They voted again, often very differently! see alt text

A Sunday afternoon Haiku from the vault.

At this time of year our early-morning walks stretch the definition of “morning”. Starry sky over a dark horizon. Looking south-ish from 53 degrees N about 5.30am. The constellation Orion and the star Sirius (I think!).

Shieldbug Saturday. Rescued a lot of these this afternoon!

Good morning from Marbury. I really should try to post a bit more consistently but keep finding myself preoccupied with stuff!

Yes, I used to teach hydrology through the medium of dance.

A change from sunsets and countryside. A trip into Whitchurch to get the car’s tyres sorted.

Good morning from Marbury. In my early-morning #sky today: the #moon

Good morning from Marbury. For a change today we have a photo of the setting moon rather than the rising sun.

Good evening, for a change, from Marbury, with a nice sunset.

This morning’s sky could almost have been courtesy of Mark Rothko.

Good morning (somewhat belatedly in case anyone is paying attention) from Marbury. My early-morning #sky today.

Ha ha here's an example of why I don't trust the tech to do automatic updates on my behalf!

The “art and wellbeing” session in the village hall today included learning to do cartoony illustrations of dogs. Debbie did a brilliant cat but didn’t get a photo of it so here are some of my dogs!

Good morning from… well, it’s actually not Marbury. A rare excursion off patch and over the border into Wales.

Just now? Me? Making an apple crumble, as a kind neighbour gave us (lots of) apples. #foodsky #cooking

Life today. Good morning from Marbury. And good luck.

Cooper the cat having a thoughtful little moment. He looks as though he’s remembering something. #catsky #cats We named him after Gary Cooper. The actor.

Eliot poetry? Check…. Mervyn Peake? Check…. Teach yourself language book? Czech….

A Monday afternoon #shelfie. These are some of the books on the shelves closest to where I usually sit when I’m “doing nothing”. I think it’s important to spend enough time doing nothing.

A Sunday afternoon #shelfie from one of my living room book cases. #books #library #booksky

Me? Right now? I’m mowing the Great West Lawn.

40 years ago today I was setting up camp in Greenland for what turned out to be a very challenging expedition: lost luggage, stolen equipment, early bad weather... diary makes grim reading but it turned out OK. I don't think this photo is that day, but I think it's that trip, based on borrowed hat!

Yesterday afternoon I took a moment to watch the clouds.

I couldn’t decide between two of today’s sunrise pictures, so I’m posting them both! Personally I prefer the lighter sunrise skies with more grey and blue… the big orange skies are a bit showy for me! Good morning from Marbury, anyway. Choose the morning you prefer!