News & Updates from Clare Walker-BoundingSquirrel · Page 10

So Easter was wet. Naturally, the perfect time to go out and buy a robot vacuum cleaner, my very-techie husband decided. I was fine with that...but more than a bit sceptical about whether the thing would actually work.To my surprise, it`s turned out beautifully.

The robot (who swiftly became Rory as that`s the noise he makes when beetling along) does actually suck up dust.

Yes, he does seem to get fixated on one area at a time (the robot, not the husband. Though come to think of it, that description might sometimes fit both of them...). And yes, Rory does get stuck in the strangest of places.

Currently, the bottom of a swivel chair is his nemesis.The real issue is that the time we`re supposed to save whilst Rory is battling dust, is taken up, at the moment, with us watching the miracle of automatic vacuuming, open-mouthed and goggle-eyed.

And when a piece of tech gets that reaction, somehow you know that the world will never be quite the same again...

This week, my hubby and I experienced our first close-up starling murmeration. Thousands and thousands of them were banking and sweeping through the sky next to Brighton pier at sunset.

That many birds moving together are truly awesome, and we were not the only ones standing there with dropped jaws going, Wow!.The sight was amazing (and this photo *in no way* does their beautiful group movement any justice at all)...but so was the sound.

Id expected a lot of flap-flap sounds.

In fact, most prominent above the sound of the waves was a gently whirring hum of huge down draft-a bit like the sound a large kite makes, but louder.Whichever way we looked at it, this was a peak experience-and takes place half-an-hour before sunset every day til about the end of February apparently, if you`re passing that way and want to experience it for yourself...

News just in: there is still somewhere warm you can visit without having to leave the country.

And to prove it, here`s a picture of a bird-of-paradise plant we saw whilst we were there.What`s more, the building of which it`s a part isn`t somewhere you`d normally associate with plants at all.

Any guesses? Believe it or not, this plant and its sub-tropical plant friends are all growing in a conservatory on top of the Barbican Centre.

I`d vaguely remembered cultural school trips to plays or concerts there many years ago. But horticulture?

That was a new one on us both, and a welcome find last week. So if you should find yourself freezing in central London, it turns out that you can just head for a glasshouse.

Who knew...

So this week, we ventured into Richmond Park. The trees were turning golden, the sky was blue...and the air was thick with the bellows of rutting red deer.

So you`d think, wouldn`t you, that it would have been relatively easy to photograph one of these magnificent creatures?Let me tell you, it was not.

It`s actually quite amazing just how well Britain`s largest land mammal can camouflage itself amongst bracken. So instead of a tip of antlers, or out-of-focus-herd-from-a-distance shot, I present for you instead in this photo. It`s not, of course, of an exceptionally funny-looking stag, but a really handsome Egyptian goose.

Apparently these birds are escapees from private ponds, and there are only about 1000 breeding pairs of them in the whole country.So all in all, seeing a couple of these birds in the sunshine (plus lots of other gorgeous wildlife) made for a pretty good day out...Maybe even, one that was more unusual than had we seen those elusive stags close-up...

Take a look at the bridge in the photograph. When I saw those railings, I assumed they were made of wood.

But get up close, and you realise that theyre actually made from metal, but metal that`s been cast in the form of twigs and branches.And that`s because this bridge forms part of Lloyd Park in Walthamstow, the family home of Victorian designer William Morris.

We visited this week, and it`s stunning how much of the house and park reflect (or have been restored to reflect) his designs and ideas that nature, art and craft benefit everyone when they`re a bigger part of society.Most surprising of all though was a prediction he made.

As a 19th century person, William Morris couldn`t have predicted the rise of computers and the internet. But apparently, he predicted a future in which technology of some sort would enable people to earn more easily from their art and craft projects.

All of which got me thinking, he`d probably have approved of us all hanging out at CUP...