April – Filming the coming of Spring

This is getting written at the start of May, because April was just too hectic with college assignments, including film production, and the leadup to exams. I have been warned that third year will be even more intense and the workload greater. When I heard this, I said “Okay, I’d better clear the decks over summer,” and as the lady I was speaking with was French, she asked me what this meant. “In the old days, when a big ship was sailing into battle, the crew used to clear anything loose off the decks so they would not trip,” I explained.

Spring was a long time coming and after some heat, went back to cold. I found the cold drained my energy and it greatly annoyed my cats, who had shed most of their winter fur. Finally, though, the sun looks to have arrived. The cats are making the most of windowsills and this morning I saw our boy cat lying on the warm shed flat roof, not bothered to do more than watch the crows and magpies, which were picking at food scraps a few feet away with great unconcern.

I was delighted to get out – admittedly during the cold snap – and assist a fellow student with filming a park. He did the filming but needed a nature expert to explain what we saw; the apple blossom opening, different trees in different stages of leafing, fungi breaking down dead tree stumps, a mallard and duck paired off swimming cosily together on the pond. I suggested he film me as I pulled some loose bark off a rotting stump, as there would be insects under it. He filmed and sure enough we found woodlice tucked away. Grey squirrels were dashing through the canopies and rooks were making high nests, jackdaws disappeared under a corrugated iron roof to tend their own nest, while a bumblebee queen hummed through the tulips.

Spending all winter indoors really does leave me with cabin fever so this was a great way to relax. Of course, I didn’t have to worry about the final product, since I already had all my own footage, but it seems to have come out well.


If anyone wants to read more about my student filming and film production, check out March’s blog here about filming in London, or my college blog on WordPress which also contains some of the photos I took. Here is a link to a post I called ‘Editing and producing short films with a cast of thousands’.

https://clareobearamultimediajournali...

I’ll make a cheerful springtime book available free to download from Amazon. Silks and Sins is a story of flat racing and romance in Ireland, for the adult reader.

Geri and Jackie O’Keane inherit their father’s riding stables in Ireland and, both business women, set about modernising, including a website. When Jackie meets Valentine Murney, a rising star in the flat racing world, her life appears complete. Val, who admits that he’s no saint, is dedicated, good looking, kind, and a great lover. Jackie sets her sights on the highly competitive 'most stylish lady' raceday prizes. Meanwhile Geri is drifting towards her own relationship.
But when two spiteful stable girls tell Jackie that her jockey boyfriend has been sleeping with someone else, she faces making a decision which might be the greatest mistake of her life.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silks-Sins-C...

https://amazon.com/Silks-Sins-Clare-O...

Grab the book free 9th – 12th May!

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