Variegation

holly leaf
Originally uploaded by wherethewolvesare.

I trust everyone had a happy christmas and I hope everyone has a peaceful new year.

We took the decorations down yesterday, this variegated holly leaf is from the wreath we had on the door. I particularly liked the burnt umber tips to each spike.

Variegation in plants is an interesting thing. Usually, it's not that a mutant seedling arises with variegated leaves but that a single branch, on an otherwise normal plant, grows with variegated leaves. If this branch is spotted by a sharp-eyed observer, a cutting can be taken and grown into an entirely variegated plant, and ad infinitum until everyone has one in their garden! The gardener has to be equally observant, as normal branches can appear on the variegated plant and cause the whole plant to revert to normality (however unimpressive that might be) unless they are swiftly cut out.

In terms of natural selection, a variegated plant is less 'fit' as it has less chlorophyll in it's leaves and, hence, less ability to make food (by photosynthesis) than a normal plant. Science lesson over.

Now what I'd really like is a normal, un-variegated spider plant, if such a thing exists.

Ducks in biro

mallards
Originally uploaded by wherethewolvesare.

At the end of our road there are open fields, and when we get a wet spell, like this last week, they can get pretty boggy with some patches of standing water. I like this because it's the nearest I'm going to get to waterside living for the forseeable future and it always attracts some mallards within a couple of days. Winter ducks on the doorstep - my idea of heaven (I'm easily pleased!). The previous best is four but this weeks' two were just fine.

A technical note - this line and wash sketch was drawn with noneother than a 20p black Bic biro. It gives a nice even line and it would appear to be water resistant too. Expect to see more like it.

Before the storms

drain near tadcaster
Originally uploaded by wherethewolvesare.

Although it seems a long time ago, what with all the stormy weather since, Saturday was a lovely winters' day. A cold, clear day and a watery light you only seem to get in winter. Out in the fields near Tadcaster, this little coot was minding its' own business in a drain.

Sshhh!

gulls at parlington
Originally uploaded by wherethewolvesare.

A quiet scene from a quiet week. The distant calls of black-headed and common gulls were the only sounds. Their numbers are building steadily in the roadside fields each day. The seasons move on a pace!

Kite flying

Red kites - they're ace! A six foot span of auburn majesty, tail twisting and flicking as if to show that an apparently effortless flight really does need a bit of skill and precision.

This kite lifted my spirits on the way to work. Cheers, I needed that.

The first frost

thorpe arch
Originally uploaded by wherethewolvesare.

We've had the first taste of winter this week, just a small one but definitely there, with the first frost of the year closely followed by a second a couple of days later.
We were out at Thorpe Arch at the weekend. A slightly odd place, a small village but with a trading estate (we were looking for a bed for Nathan), a prison, a large British Library building and the Leeds United training ground! Best bit though is the fields surrounding all this. We saw a very nice wintry mixed flock of starlings, lapwings and golden plovers (another first of the season for me). The goldies' bellies flashed bright white as the flock went up, spooked by a kestrel or probably less.

The wanderer returns

I will do my honest best to blog more regularly, I promise. But fear not, dear heart, I have not been idle. Just preferring to sketch than sit at a computer, I've been enjoying the simple pleasure of drawing what is around me. None of the scenes sketched are more than a mile and a half from home. Quietly watching the seasons change, from late summer to this wonderfully mild autumn. I implore you to do the same