Here be Dragons

Back in August we stopped by Doddington Hall on our way to Lincoln with Ian, our Ex-Pat friend from Spain. There's a decent coffee shop and farm shop that sells good local produce.  There is also an incredible cycle shop (the biggest in Lincolnshire) which has its own coffee shop as well.   During the summer it also staged a sculpture exhibition.  The dragon stands outside the hall, and visitors are invited to hang strips of brightly coloured cloth on the sculpture.

Ian and the Dragon

Behind the hall is a small lake complete with arched bridge.

There was also a very elegant sculpture on the water.

Of course, if you have a decent sized body of water, then you'll also have ducks and the Doddington ducklings seemed to have learnt very quickly that humans can be a great source of food.

There are also several walks around the local area that you can follow. There are worse ways to spend a couple of hours.

Start Your Engines

The Thoresby Country Show is an annual event that takes place towards the end of February. We love the sheer variety of displays, craftsman and stalls on display.  My only gripe is that the weather can be unpredictable at this time of year so you'll never know if your going to be wading through mud or having your face frozen off by the wind.  This year, it was the latter.

I'll do a more general post on the show next time, but the thing we enjoyed the most was the chainsaw challenge.  Half a dozen chainsaw artists creating a piece in thirty minutes. The pieces would then be auctioned off to the spectators afterwards.

We managed to get a good spot where we had a great view of one of the artists at work.

Needless to say, we where impressed by the skill and talent on display, watching incredible birds appearing out of a large piece of wood.  I loved how much the guy wielding the chainsaw seemed to enjoy what he was going and the  Barn Owl was beginning to take shape in front of us.

There were bigger, more elaborate creations taking shape but what I liked about this one was the way the artist used the bark to help create the texture and colour of the wing.

A blow torch was used to colour parts of the sculpture.  We were impressed by the finished piece.

So impressed, we actually entered the bidding for it.  Amazingly, we won.

The light from the flash is a little harsh but I do like how it shows up every line and scratch.  It's an incredibly tactile object (and its also bloody heavy!).

Once the wood has dried out (we've been told this can take up to a year) we'll make a decision as to where "Oz" will sit.

Housebound

 

I'm currently off work at the moment due to problems with my back which has greatly reduced my mobility (hopefully the consultant will be able to shine some light on the matter tomorrow). I can't walk very far or stand for very long and the medication leaves me dull of thought and dopey (although friends will say "no real change there, then").

All the photographs in this post where taken in the last ten days.  I've tried my hand at "Arty" pictures and last night we had a fantastic sunset that I managed to photograph from the back door.  In fact, most of these pictures were taken from the back door.  I hope you enjoy.

The Wisteria on the front of the cottage.

Silver Birch being buffeted by the autumn winds

The kitchen window

Full moon through a gap in he trees

Squirrel scoping out the bird feeders

Sunrise through the bedroom window

The sunset yesterday (Saturday 18th October)