To sit and do nothing is to know where you are

An abundance of plants to identify, some remain without a name that I can give them.
Many man made objects, no longer in their intended use - lie around creating a collage of archeology.
The repetitive cheep of a small common bird imitating the exotic call of the cicada.
A crow yelps and pigeons flap their wings like a clap that punctuates the air.
A spring blackbird harmoniously sings, a wood pigeon cuts through with its distinctive mantra.

My thoughts drift to my domestic practicalities, completely transported to future conversations and mental to do lists.

Brought back here by the rattle shake of the magpie and I refocus on what's before me,
the bleached wood of old buddleia roots and stems stretch out across the hardcore - dug out, hacked down, and abandoned into this wasteland.
More than enough wood to fuel a week of rocket stove cooking.

Adelade Place

Absorbing the warm sun as I sit in this walled garden,

Peaceful and content to be still with millions of organisms' activity around me,

In a secluded corner of this plot I am free to be alone with what is here,

No one notices me, no one is overseeing, no one is watching my inactivity,

No one judges my desire to rest here in this deserted space,

I am free to be amongst the rubbish and the weeds, undisturbed,

I watch unused waste uselessly waiting to be used,

I breath with the weeds which continue to live and grow,

I sit in the presence of this moment.

Viaduct Walk

This video is an experiment. This post was intended just as a sound recording but as there is only the option for video or pictures I decided to put some images with the recording to make a video. The pictures are not of me walking on the Royate Hill viaduct as on the sound but are pictures of me walking on the Bristol - Bath Railway path last summer. So this is just a starting point like everything on this blog - an idea for me to develop.

Wasteland

Digging, crumbling, red rich earth.
Elastic leaves of vibrant green abundance.
Self-determined self-disciplined roots, white tubers - casting out bendy lasoos- laying claim to the soil, making home in this moist loam.
And in exchange for a place to stay - a gift of nitrogen is generously given.
My energy moves in - displacing these weeds - an action of effort, forcing diaspora of the ruderal.
They will return, I will return, we will make this play again. We will collaborate in a new action, and remembering our favourite motifs perform 'Weeding' again.

Soundmap

This is a soundmap of where I was sitting on a bench on the Bristol to Bath Railway Path overlooking Royate Hill Allotments.

I wrote down the sounds I could hear and mapped their distance in relation to me.

It was impossible to note down all the sounds particularly all the birds singing - there were just so many overlapping one another. I haven't managed to record in words and letters an accurate description of the bird song. There wasn't enough space on my page to map all the bicycle sounds and spoken words I heard passing just beside me.

But what this map does show is the density of movement and sound from both human and non-human activity in the area I chose to sit.

A Walk/ A Collection/ An Exploration

Enjoy....
http://www.killercoke.org/crimes.htm
http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2008/kaladeraunethical.html


Cleavers/Sticky Willy/GooseGrass/PurifyingTonic




Jack-By-The-Hedge/GarlicMustard




BristolOnions/Chives




Cellandine/AnAlternativeToPreparationH(apparently)




Ivy/WatercolourPaintsExperiment




HazelCatkin

Royate Hill Alder

Dark smooth pathways - a layer of stone specks.
Deep cracks - sharp edges - rough gashes - a worn dent - rounded edges,
intersected by hairlines of bright green.
A fold like kneaded dough - pressed through by a limb - regular tiny drill holes.
A moist sticky cake mixture - set solid in an instant - as the cool breeze blew it cold.
Shapes of land masses, coastlines as they appear on an aerial view.
Strips of moulded clay manipulated and placed.
Raw wounds expose pink tissue - allowing the passing of time to scab over.
An irregular corrugated surface - interconnecting routes and dead ends.