Lois Wakeman Posts

26 February 2008

One of the pleasures of Sunday afternoons in my pottery is listening to Open Book – one of Radio 4’s better literary efforts. Presented by the wonderfully husky Mariella Frostrup (please will she come and read me some bedtime stories?), it often features reviews of books or authors…

12 February 2008

Today was the day when I decided to “Carpe Diem” – after weeks of crouching over the computer at work, we went to Wheddon Cross on Exmoor to see the Snowdrop Valley on a glorious sunny day. And I was so glad we did. It was quite early…

21 November 2007

Number 3 in an occasional series: 1 was staplers, and 2 was caravans. I was amused to see in the latest fURNITURE@work catalogue™ that office chairs obviously have very high opinions of themselves – well, some at least. In the lead, we have some very noble cities: Torino, Rome, Milano, Quebec, Athlone,…

3 November 2007

This beech avenue is part of a grand estate, rather than a humble farm track like the one at Bindon. After an exploratory visit to find a good viewpoint, this photo was snatched in a few minutes just as the winter sun was setting, balancing my tripod on…

24 August 2007

Although it has been warmer and sunnier these past two days than since early May, there is a definite feel of Autumn in the air – indefinable, but unmistakeable. My neighbour George, down the hill, has been sending billows of fragrant woodsmoke into the air each evening, and…

20 August 2007

Part II in an occasional series on the names of things, inspired by Gary Larson. Part I: Staplers A few weeks ago, I spent a lot of time in traffic jams on the M6, and to pass the time, collected some names of caravans. Since then, I have added…

11 July 2007

  With thanks to the late, great Gary Larson, whose Far Side cartoon “The names that dogs call themselves” inspired this post. We have been managing with the same box of 5,000 desk staples for about the past 12 years, so the purchase of a new box was…

5 June 2007

Holyford Woods is a local nature reserve, near Seaton. In early summer 2007, it had acres and acres of massed foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) that had sprung up after a large area of woodland was clear-felled – a quite remarkable sight. Even more surprising to think that all the…

3 May 2007

Yesterday, cabin fever overtook me after too many days staring at the computer screen, and I thought “blow this for a game of soldiers”. I took the day off, and we went to Dartmoor on a gloriously sunny day. I chose a new place to visit, near Meldon.…

20 October 2006

Just a few minutes walk from my home is the Undercliff: an almost primeval wilderness of steep land formed by landslips between Lyme Regis and Axmouth. This morning was the first sunny day we’ve had for ages, so I sneaked out for a quick walk before I started…