John Northcote Nash, younger brother of Paul Nash and in many ways long overshadowed by his older brother - but what we do know about JN was his love of nature and in particular fishing - pike fishing.
This picture was taken by Anthea Sieveking some time in the 1960's - the rather gruesome way of holding the deceased fish makes me think it was either for the pot or sadly the compost heap as so many found themselves in less informed and conservation minded times.
Minor victories day by day now. The butter is spreadable and we are having what must be one of the best wild primrose displays in recent years, the birds are louder each day although our gull population do drive me a bit crackers with their incessant chuntering and "goings on" - the joy that is banty eggs, my first this year and a most welcome gift. Small and bursting with flavour. What shall it be? Scrambled on buttery toast? Happy golden days.
The new trout season started on the first of April - I must admit that this season has seen me more excited than ever at actually getting out and casting a fly for our local wild brown trout. The majority of my local fishing is opportunistic and free, so I not only treasure it, but try to keep more than a lazy eye on what's happening within the river corridor.
Needless to say I haven't been fishing yet. It's the usual thing. Rivers have been up and down like a yo-yo, it has rained endlessly and on the rare occasion and I mean rare that the conditions have been sort of OK I haven't been able to go - so there you are.
The forecast is looking better for next week, so with that in mind I had a quick whizz round some local haunts the other evening. The river was out of sorts and it was no surprise as it had been pouring down all day with more on the horizon.
I'm no farmer, but I do take an interest in agricultural practices and the farming way of life as live in a rich farming area and I have friends and family who farm. But, some things really do piss me off and it just shouldn't be that way - even by my reckoning as I watched the muck spreader make even more of a mess on a sopping wet field I couldn't help but think what a pathetic waste of time - the whole lot of shit destined at some stage to percolate into the watercourse. The mess that the tractor was making would take an age to put right, talk about looking after your assets!
Just pray for no more rain......
The joy of the improving weather is not just about the butter being spreadable for the first time in months, oh no, the pottering and bimbling goes up a gear especially in the garden. I have had a few good pruning sessions this winter and now have enough kindling or starting wood to last a few seasons.
The larger boughs need more effort, so it was a joy to finally saw through the pile and add to the drying pile - as all wood obsessives know, you can never have enough and it will be added to with foraged and found wood over the coming months.
There is also something quite pleasing about the piles of sawdust - the different shades of each species with apple and plum my favourite......it almost has an orange tinge which is pleasing coupled with its tangy fragrance - I have bags and tins of it - it causes amusement that I keep it, but I do really like it mixed with my maggots when the coarse fishing season begins in June. It takes me back to childhood when all maggots came with sawdust and tackle shops smelt of sawdust, oil, varnish and canvas...heady happy days.
