Mangetout...?

I have just had a wonderful weekend exhibiting Pilotage, a collaboration with Ian McMillan for the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival. At our book signing for Pilotage: collected works (my half hour of fame; it felt so good...), Ian performed his short poem inspired by the fragment of a danger sign we found washed up on the beach near Sizewell. But how, we were asked, did we know it was part of a danger sign? Mightn't it instead be a sign for MANGETOUT from a greengrocer's? The questioner had a point. We felt we had no choice but to add a new piece to our installation in the Dovecote at Snape Maltings where people could add their own ideas.
Here are some of their suggestions:
blancmange, mange, change, endangered, flange, lone ranger, Pangbourne, climate change, orange, pangea, hanger, mangelwurzel, phalange, angel, free-range, hanger-on, bangbang, anger, sea-change, Angela Merkel, deranged, sange, stranger, manger, ranger, tangerine, dangerous, rearrange, angel dust, estrangement...
Any more?

A good place for a nuclear power station...

I was devastated to see the coastal erosion at Thorpeness today. A single tide early on Saturday morning carried away literally thousands of tonnes of shingle in the strong northeasterly winds, leaving several houses vulnerable.

My favourite footpath to the north end of the beach was severed, leaving a sheer 2.5 meter drop, and the sea defences (installed under the shingle just a couple of years ago) were suddenly stripped bare.

Sizewell, the site of existing and proposed nuclear power stations, is less than 2 miles away...

 

Sweet NOthings on the beach

Just returned from the best swim of the year: beach to myself (apart from the usual mad dog) and a warm steely sea...
And no rubbish on the beach - just one sweet NOthing.
That's the way I like it.

Hooked on the beach

My dog, Rolf, loves to help me collect rubbish on the beach. But today nearly ended in disaster as we found he had a fishing hook embedded in his fur as he emerged from the sea after his usual dip. Moreover, as I tried to remove it, I realised there was a second hook concealed inside the seaweed which nearly embedded itself in my finger. Luckily he escaped unscathed despite trying to pull the hook free with his mouth and was soon back on top form collecting bollards.
But fishing debris on the beach is a huge hazard to wildlife and us... Anglers: more care please!

'All Summer Long'

You can capture that 'all summer long' feeling of Coca-Cola 35 years after the event, as I did walking along the beach today when this coke can washed up at my feet. I can think of a few choice words I could invent to send to Coca-Cola that would capture my feelings about their ancient debris washing in on the tide...
Send your suggestions to "All summer long", The Coca-Cola Company, Slough, Berks SL1 2NW.

[click on images for close-up]

death by plastic

Today's news provides graphic evidence of the harm plastics in our oceans cause to marine life: a sperm whale has washed up in southern Spain with 17kg of plastics in its stomach. Thick transparent plastic sheeting, 9m of rope, hosepipe, plastic flower pots, a clothes hanger, an ice-cream tub and bits of mattress were among the items which caused the whale's death.
Read more here.

a good place for a nuclear power station

On a rare sunny day last week, I took these photos of recent erosion of the cliffs just north of Thorpeness.
What's round the corner?
Sizewell C...

Filling my boots

Since moving to our woodland home 11 years ago, we have done everything we can to provide a good habitat for wildlife. Some wildlife (the barn owl and grass snakes) is more welcome than others (abundant moles and daily herds of fallow deer) - but where should we draw the line?

This dilemma came into sharp focus earlier today when, rummaging in the bedroom cupboard for my snow boots, I discovered that they were somewhat heavier than I expected... I soon realised why. The boots were filled to the brim with grain with just a discreet layer of torn tissue paper concealing the cache.

This is not the first incident - some Christmas biscuits, bought as a present and hidden in our cupboard, was nibbled before Christmas and our dog got the blame. And, just yesterday, I discovered some soap in our bathroom - a fragrant clove and orange - with distinct incisor marks.

But this newest discovery certainly takes the biscuit. This mouse and its friends must have laboured for days to create this hoard - there was nearly a kilo of grain in my boots! Regardless of their careful attempts to conceal it, the cache is now gone: I needed to wear the boots (despite their newly nibbled filigree edges...).

I find myself admiring these mice for their enterprise (where did they bring the grain from? it's not what we feed our chickens...) and laughing at their audacity. Part of me really wants to keep accommodating them here in my cupboard. But really enough is enough... So our idle cats are now being encouraged to take up residence in our room (and cupboard) and, if this doesn't keep our rodent friends away, then (regrettably) maybe a spot of feline 'self-catering' might...

Plastics beyond oil

I keep imagining a future beyond oil... a life without plastics and yet where plastic fragments of our Oil Age lives continue to wash up on the shore. I often think about what future generations will make of these objects (what they might think they are and how they might use them) - and what they might think about us...
I recently had the chance to explore some of these ideas with art, photography and textile students at a local high school. Here are some of the ideas I liked best:

empty pill blister packs = ocean migration modules for ants

plastic dustbin = personal flotation device in event of flooding      
or
      plastic dustbin = privacy module for couples in multiple occupancy one room living units

traffic cone =  high status head-dress as wearer unable to do anything practical whilst wearing one

You can send your own ideas to me here.