Tell Me A Tail

Squirrel Monkeys at London Zoo

And... we're back to the squirrel monkeys. Because they're oh so adorable. I took a frankly worrying number of photos in their enclosure, and I don't regret it for a moment. Although the foolish lady who tried to prod one and got a nip on the finger for her trouble may do. Seriously, there are signs everywhere that say "Don't touch the monkeys. The monkeys will bite you. Just don't touch them. They bite. No really, they do. LOOK AT THIS PICTURE OF A BLEEDING HAND-STUMP. THAT IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU TOUCH A MONKEY".

And what did she do? Tried to touch a monkey. Oi vey.

High Speed Sloth

Linnaeus's Two-toed Sloth

It's a Linnaeus's two-toed sloth! The silly thing about two-toed sloths is that they have three toes. They have two fingers. You'd really think biologists would know the difference. It's like the sperm whale all over again, except somewhat less gross.

Sloths are amazing because they're the only living mammal that looks more realistic in CGI than in real life. The way they move is so laboured, it's like every moment they're wondering if they really want to get to where they're going at all. That or they're stop-motion animated.

It's not a particularly exciting photograph, and it wasn't helped by the fact that the rainforest building's accurate recreation of a rainforest environment steamed up both my glasses and my camera. But who cares. Sloths are cool.

On the Hedge Of Glory

Regular service is resumed! I apologise profusely for the break, I hadn't realised it was almost a week since my last post. That is most disgraceful of me. I need to head outside in the sunshine again and get snapping some new wintery pictures! Although the only real hint that this photo of a hedge was taken in the depths of January is the profusion of brown twiglet leaves (this is a technical botanical term).

Hedges do not normally strike me as something particularly photo-worthy, I have to admit, but sometimes you just have to strike out in a fresh direction and risk looking like a hedge-obsessed madwoman. For the sake of art!

Dew on the Grass

A photograph of dew droplets on grass stalks underfoot. I almost trod on this particular one before noticing that it was unusually dewy and deciding to take a picture. This is the reason I'm always late everywhere.

The colours of the grass in the photograph are so lush and vibrant, and I like the contrast of the greens and browns. Even in winter, good sunlight can really bring out the colours of nature.

And on the subject of dew-based photography, much though it pains me to link to a Daily Mail article, I just had to post a link to these incredible pictures of insects covered in dew droplets that look like diamonds.

I really wanted to post this link as well, to a photographyblogger article called "20 Spectacular Dew On Grass Pictures". Obviously, if you look at the link you will be struck by the hideous contrast between these amazing photos of dew and my poor offering, but I liked some of the pictures so much that I just can't force myself not to post it. I love this photo by Tico, in which all the dewdrops reflect the greenery around them, and this photo by ecstaticist - the huge glimmering globules of dew remind me of a pair of frog's eyes.

Sunlit Holly

I like this picture because of the way the edges of the holly leaf seem to glow in the sunlight. Also, it reminds me of Christmas. Ah, if only I had two weeks off work to sit around eating delicious starchy foods more often. Once a year just isn't enough.

Warped Bauble

Gold Bauble

This is a photograph of me taking a photograph of me taking a photograph of a bauble. There is quite a lot of recursion going on here, and if only I had been holding a big mirror instead of my camera, it could have gone on forever.Nevermind.

Sadly it's very far from the sharpest picture ever, owing to the rubbish quality of light in my house in December. Oh well. Roll around spring and it'll be back to lovely flower photos...

I believe that this is the first photo I've posted which actually has me in it! Obviously I am terrified of stalkers, although if you can identify me from my spotted Christmas fleece I would be fairly impressed as well as scared.

High Drama

A rather lovely and highly melodramatic rose, still covered in raindrops after a brief shower. I always find it tricky to get nice pictures of roses, and this took an awful lot of attempts, but I'm fairly pleased with how it came out! Worthy of a tragic romance...

Some Sunny Day

Ah, summer. Please come back.

Vanishing Point

Originally this was supposed to be a photograph just of the water but given how wonky it came out, I feel it works much better upside-down - it's an interesting optical illusion. Taken at the lovely Trevarno Gardens in Cornwall, which is definitely worth a visit.

Canopy

I like the contrast between the texture of the tree bark and the smooth black surface- I assume the tree was damaged and had to be sealed to repair it or something. I don't know much about treelore, alas! This is a sibling of the hollow tree I showed a picture of recently. Or maybe not a sibling but just a neighbour. Who knows? I'm sure they have been

Grapes!

A couple of weeks ago, as I was leaving the house, I heard the sound of someone singing a song - apparently a song entitled "everyone loves grapes". I deduced that this was the title because these were the only words.

I walked my usual route and quickly noticed that a stick was protruding from the high fence around the house at the end of the road. From the stick hung a piece of string, and a small bunch of grapes was tied to the string so they dangled at about head height for anyone walking by. Two children were sitting at the top of the fence and appeared to be the grape-stewards.

"Do you want a grape?" the small girl cried jubilantly as I approached.
"Er, no thank you," I said. "But it's very kind of you to ask."
"Grapes!" she said. "Grapes!"
"Grapes!" cried her brother. And they resumed singing.

***

When I returned from work at the end of the day, the empty grapestalk was hanging forlornly at the end of its string next to a hand-written sign that said "Grapes! Help yourselves!"

Guest Photographer

I did not actually take this picture! My boyfriend did. But it's such a nice shot it had to go on the blog, and I'm sure he won't mind. Plus I did hassle him about making sure he got a picture of the cool hole in the tree, so. I totally contributed. Even if he had already taken one >.>

 This particular tree lives in Killerton House, in Devon, another stop-off on my travels there.  As well as attractively hollow treetrunks, Killerton sports the Bear's Hut, a curious little cottage in the grounds. It has a roof lined with pinecones, a stained glass window and a floor made out of the knucklebones of dead deer; one of the family kept a bear in there in Victorian times, hence the name.