Homage to Klimt

Another spectacularly warm November day, with bright sunshine after a rather grey morning. Pete and I took the dogs to Holme Fen, where the birches are looking their best, clothed in delicate golden robes. The contrast between the yellow leaves and the blue grey trunks was just stunning and brought to mind some of the early paintings of Gustav Klimt.

Klimt was an Austrian artist, best known for his large, highly decorative, symbolic and often erotic, paintings and mural. But there was another side to his work and he produced a number of images of gardens and woodland, such as the Buchenwald which has areas of birch forest. This image pays homage to the colours and emotions of Klimt's images.

While we were walking we saw two women exercising an owl - unfortunately they were some distance away so I didn't manage any good photographs. It was very large and we suspect it must have been an eagle owl. The walk was also notable for the first fly agarics of the season, and the frequency of red admirals and common darter dragonflies - fifteen basking in the sunshine on a single bridge!

The rest of the day has been spent taking all the books from shelves lining two walls of our living room in preparation for re-painting, and doing the mundane tasks necessary for the week ahead. I've managed to weed out at least five carrier bags full of books, which will go to our local Age Concern shop or other home educators.