More cheerful yellow flowers

You will be forgiven if you do a double take tonight. Last night it was yellow globe flowers and tonight it is leopard's bane, aka Doronicum.

This grows in profusion just up the road from my house in a small fenced off area of a field. It is a tiny woodland area.

I was up early and raring to go today. That is not always the case! I did various chores and then my second ever haircut for Mum. She had it washed and then I cut it, being careful not to cut too much. It was easier to see what I was doing with wet hair.

My walk was only about 2 miles and I went to my horse chestnut tree to check on progress. The buds are all waiting to open but the weather has been against them doing well. It was very windy today but not too cold.

Life in the Time of Covid 19
I think the government is on a hiding to nothing as it tries to find ways to ease the lockdown. Damned if they do and damned if they don't at the moment.

Have any of you been tuning into online films and Zoom discussions? Last week I joined a discussion organised by the Side Gallery and the Amber Collective. The speaker was Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen who has been a documentary photographer in the north east for many years.

For my free ticket, I had access to two wonderful films: Byker and Today I am With You. Both are about the work Sirkka did in a deprived but vibrant area of Newcastle. She lived in Byker for about 10 years in the 1970s and recorded ordinary life there. Thirty years later she was asked to return to do more photography. She worked with a volunteer group with asylum seekers and produced a second body of work over a 7 year period.

I have seen her work before but had not seen the films. I don't know if they are still available online, but they are well worth seeing. Sirkka has a wonderful way of interacting with people which has allowed her to produce wonderful portraits.

To say I am an enthusiast is an understatement. That is my recommendation of the week during the time of Covid 19.