greening

the green of new leaves is gradually appearing on hazel and thorn.

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we had another roe deer sighting today. much to the indignation of the dogs, a speckled white rump was visible in amongst the scrub trees of the old water meadow, making the huge vertical leaps that roe use as as their rather inefficient getaway mode. as with Thompson’s gazelles, its probably meant to indicate to the predator that they are healthy specimens not worth pursuing. after sufficient time had elapsed we followed and found crisscrossing paths and many hoof-prints.

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this is old wetland grazing which has been left and the trees have just invaded from the neighbouring wood. it is still quite open in places, and has no pretty woodland flowers.

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the stream runs nearby and the deer seem to cross it regularly – another set of prints in the damp clay.

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the other side of the stream there is more woodland, all along the bottom of the valley, for a mile at least, but only a hundred or two hundred metres wide, and in some places only ten metres. the roe deer like to be in cover, but in Norfolk they have to dodge across open farmland between little oases of wood. I have often inadvertently disturbed young roe deer lying in the edge of wheat or barley in the summer.

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today I saw a hare’s head and ridiculously long ears sticking up out of the wheat as we passed on the road. it ducked down, but as I did not walk by it got up and ran down the row. Tilda and Sal did not see it. later a stoat crossed our path twice, hunting something – baby rabbits I expect – and they were more bemused than excited.

five pots today – I think enough to fill the rest of the kiln. here are three. this is the reconstituted mostly crank with some large grog and pieces of dry porcelain rolled into it.

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these two are the reconstituted crank with porcelain overlay and some combing and puncturing.

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