An Oxford promenade

I finally managed to scan some photos that I took around town with my camera (yes, one that works with films!) between June and September 2011. Some of them show bits of the city that are now undergoing major changes, which is why I thought it may be interesting to upload them on the blog. :)

One comment: I am not at all sure that the word "promenade" in English can be used in this context - probably not. ;) Here is the trick though: I am referring to the French noun, that indeed means "walk". Languages are amazing.

... Believe it or not.

The British... and milk.

Such a friendly and welcoming (literally!) mural...

I hesitated with this photo - I thought, perhaps I wound't fancy having my children photographed and then appearing online if I were their parents. I hope I didn't make the wrong choice.

Random links

If you have one minute of free time, go to http://www.thetravellingbarn.co.uk/

All right, the website is clearly under construction, but one question arises naturally: what are these people doing, and what is their aim?

Let us consider the known data: "build a barn", "the vision", "hire us" (menu bar). My personal (partial) conclusion was the following: these folks have some experience in wood carving and construction, and they will build a barn with a given shape and size. Then they will "put themselves on the market", so that if someone desires to get a barn for a festival, for a wedding... or just because they got bored with their 8th floor flat with a wee view on a tube station, well, there you go, call "The Travelling Barn"!

Now, what do you think? Posts most welcome. :)
For something completely different, I went bookshopping today and saw a couple of books about clouds. Hmm, interesting, I thought. I thus discovered the "Cloud Appreciation Society": http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/
Oddly interesting.

FolkRec - My Donald

This song is quite special to me. I learnt it about three years ago from a record by the Unthanks; I remember that I instantly loved the tune, but I quickly felt that I wouldn't have been able to sing it that way. For this reason this is the first song that I worked on "to make it my own", so to speak, instead of "just learning it properly" (I do love quotation marks, yes). The singing is not as accurate as I normally like it to be, but I've been tweaking this tune for such a long time - sometimes I would focus on the technique, some other times I would worry about how to tell this story so that it would actually mean something. I recorded this 2012 version at night, sitting in my room and trying to sing very quietly not to wake up anyone, so... Take it as a field recording, if you can. :) As usual, feedback and comments are most welcome! Last but not least, apologies for taking me so long to finally add some more music to the blog - I guess I was too busy going around bluebell woods, you see... ;)

On the field #3 - The Harcourt Arboretum

Since I suspect it may be difficult to read what is written on the white board in the photo above, let me add a brief introduction to this post: I took this picture during a recent visit to the "Harcourt Arboretum", which is, as the website explains, "an integral part of the plant collection of the [University of Oxford] Botanic Garden" (http://www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk/Harcourt/obg-harcourt-intro.html).

Flowers on an ash tree.

This magnificent estate is located South of Oxford in a small town called Nuneham Courteney; according to the guide who took us around it extends over around 130 acres - about 53 hectares, if you prefer these units. I arrived there at 6pm, and before spotting the white board I had an unexpected and relatively close encounter with a colourful peacock. During the walk we also chanced to see rabbits and deer. This was all very interesting but, needless to say, trees are the true attraction. There are oaks that are thought to be around 300 years old; beautiful ash trees, rowan and hazel trees, cherry and apple trees as well as holly bushes and nettles. Ah! I found out that the latter are delicious food for caterpillars and thus a promising sign towards a season rich in butterflies, too. :)

And then there is the "Bluebell Wood" - words fail me here, to be honest. The wood itself is somptuous; bluebells make it look almost eerie.
I suggest checking the website for a complete list of seminars, walks and workshops that take place both on the main site (on the High Street, just opposite to Magdalen College) and in Nuneham Courteney throughout the year. It is worth it!