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ffteague.bsky.social
Fliss 💚
@ffteague.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.3K following 830 posts
Poet: From Pittville to Paradise (2022), Interruptus: A Poetry Year (2025)
Editor: Well Met, https://www.ffteague.com/well-met-08
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ffteague.bsky.social
Pittville Park's George Swan, around mid-July, when we were between heatwaves here. George is looking thoughtfully at the dry brown bank. The photo was taken by Graham, my older brother 😎👍
A landscape photo, with a big white male swan in the centre. His neck is curved, so his orange beak is pointing at the ground. His big brown feet look very sturdy. To the left, the bank curves in towards him and then a little way out again, with the lake visible behind the foliage that takes up most of the top of the photo. Much of this is tall grasses, not too dry, but dwindling. There's also the dark brown trunk of a tree, a few leaves already scattered on the ground beneath it.
September 6, 2025 at 6:12 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
A photo I took on Easter Sunday afternoon, of a few of the apple trees in my parents' little orchard. Travelling to see them was quite difficult this year due to ill health, but I enjoyed being in the garden again, and taking tea later 🤗☕
A landscape photo showing a small group of apple trees, of various ages and quite evenly spaced, on recently mown grass and with a wooden fence behind them. The one in the foreground, roughly central, has the most blossoms at the moment, pink and white and very pretty. The sky is quite cloudy, but with some blue peeping through. It was about 3:30pm, just before tea.
April 25, 2025 at 5:59 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
Just a little picture I like to share this time of year. It was taken by my Dad, during a trip to the Cotswold Farm Park in March 2014. I'm holding the chick, who was very soft and fluffy 🐥
A square-ish photo of a chick, in sepia tones. The chick is central in the image, perching in my left hand, while I'm stroking the chick with my right hand. The chick is looking to the left. I remember how light he/she felt at the time. We were in the Learning Barn, where it's possible to handle a few of the animals.
April 21, 2025 at 6:50 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
I'm not posting much at the moment; I've been sleeping more than usual due to illness, while still trying to work full time 😖

But I managed to take a trip to the park yesterday afternoon with my mother and older brother Graham, and here's a cygnet we came across, on the banks of Upper Lake 😍
A landscape photo, showing the cygnet standing on an area of earth that makes up part of the bank of Upper Lake. The lake itself is green and gold due to the reflections on its surface, of the trees along its sides. The cygnet is fairly mature, with just a few brownish-grey patches of feathers on his/her wings and tail, and a beak that looks a little orange, on the turn from dark grey. The cygnet has sturdy dark grey legs and webbed feet and his/her neck is at rather a jaunty angle, which we appreciated. He/she isn't one of the cygnets born here last Spring; these have all left now.
April 12, 2025 at 6:20 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
One of our little cherry trees in the communal gardens here, looking festive 😍
A portrait photo, with the cherry tree in the foreground. It's planted in a square plot on the front lawn, about a metre from the tarmac driveway. This is a weeping variety, so most of its branches cascade down towards the grass. It has a lot of light pink blossom, and around its slender trunk there are a few daffodil clumps, though the flowers are over now. In the background, amidst the grass on the other side of the driveway, there's the thick trunk of the cedar here, with the boundary wooden fence and a parked car right at the back.
April 7, 2025 at 7:21 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
Unfortunately I haven't been able to mend my new camera 😖

However, in the meantime, my old camera has started working again! I'm unable to take photos at the moment because I'm still shaking in various ways,* but I've found this pic of the front-lawn magnolia, taken a year ago ☺️
A landscape photo, with the magnolia at the centre on the very bright green lawn. It was a very sunny day, and the plant casts a shadow to the left. Behind it, there's a couple of small trees, then the black-painted fence railings and one of the gates, with the mature trees in the background. The magnolia has mid-pink flowers and is well into leaf here.
April 3, 2025 at 7:34 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
A photo from a year ago, Lower Lake, Pittville Park, very strong sunshine 🌞 I closed my eyes while taking the photo ☺️

I haven't been to the park for a while due to illness, but my knee injuries are improving. My camera has broken, though 😖
A landscape photo, taken from a bank of Lower Lake, looking out over the water. On the near bank, which takes up just the lower right-hand corner of the picture, there are a few bare trees leaning over the lake; a few branches of the horse chestnut on this side are at the top left, hanging over. The lake itself extends to almost the halfway point horizontally, and the angle it makes with the far bank is slightly slanted. On the far side, there's a large grove of pine and deciduous trees, and the sun is resting just above them, alongside a few grey clouds and patches of blue sky. Overall, it's a very silvery photo; I must have taken it quite late that day, following a hospital appointment.
March 23, 2025 at 7:19 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
Happy World Poetry Day 🥳

I'm feeling a bit out of it at the moment due to hospital stuff, but here is guinea pig Queenie, in the capable arms of my mother, to wish everyone a great day 😍
A landscape photo, in which Queenie's face is central. She is a Cream Dutch breed of guinea pig, which means she has a white stripe on her nose, extending into her cheeks; the hair around her eyes is light ginger. Her ears, which are well spaced and floppy. are light ginger too. She has a pink nose and long white whiskers, and a pink mouth. My mum is wearing a navy fleece with a pink ribbed cardigan underneath. In the background, there's a small aount of privet hedge, one of Dad's greenhouses, and the green field beyond.
March 21, 2025 at 8:25 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
Happy St. Patrick's Day ☘️

My mum sent me this lovely photo of guinea pig Ginny three years ago, and my best friend added the little hat 🤗

Sadly Ginny passed away due to pneumonia in April 2023, but she is still with us in spirit, as are all the guineas we have loved and lost over the years 🥰
A ginger guinea pig facing the camera and taking up most of the square-ish frame. Ginny was an Abyssinian guinea pig, so she had a little ridge of hair around her face. Her hat, which is tall and light green with a gold buckle at the front, conceals some of a tuft she had at the top of her head. Her ears were brown, as were her eyes; her nose was delicate and her mouth always appeared somewhat smiley. She had long whiskers and eyelashes.
March 17, 2025 at 7:07 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
Just another Spring pic from the archives, this time my younger brother's photo of the crocuses on Pittville Lawn, a few years ago 🤩
A landscape image, showing a cluster of dark purple, light purple, yellow, and whitish crocuses amidst green grass and a few brown leaves, still disintegrating from the previous Autumn. It was a sunny day, and the sunlight on the crocuses makes them look as though they might be made out of silk. A few are casting their little shadows across the grasses.
March 5, 2025 at 7:07 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
New banner photo for Spring 🍃
Daffodils and buttercups around one of the tallest trees in Pittville Park, the silver pendant lime on the banks of Upper Lake. This is one of my favourite picnic spots, and I hope to visit later this month 🤞☺️
A landscape photo, with the large trunk of the silver pendent lime tree central; there are interesting shadows of its branches on the left side. Around its trunk, there's a ring of mid-yellow and light yellow daffodils, and also some buttercups, extending outwards to enlarge the circle by a metre or so. To each side of the tree, there's the water of Upper Lake, surrounded by various other trees, deciduous and evergreen such as yew. It was a very clear cold day in March, and very sunny.
March 2, 2025 at 7:08 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
This month, I've been having quite a lot of medical tests (bloods, bone scans, X-rays) and the results have been in keeping with end-stage arthritis and osteoporosis 🤔
But here's a photo I like, of the front garden on a misty morning in February a few years ago. It still looks like this sometimes 😍
A landscape photo; the lower half is mostly in shadow, but there's a patch of light at the centre, where the front gates are located. In the upper half of the picture, from left to right, there's the Scots pine, the very tall lime tree with mistletoe among its branches, another shorter lime tree, the oak in the garden across the road, the two horse chestnut trees, one of a few yews, the line of four straight ash trees, and a few branches of the cedar. The sun is shining through the grey sky above the horse chestnut trees.
February 25, 2025 at 6:52 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
I think I might have a repetitive strain injury in my right wrist. The pain had settled between work projects, but I've been copyediting at speed today and it has returned 😖
Anyway, here's another photo from last Friday afternoon, of a barrel that's usually found in Lower Lake café 🤔
A landscape photo, the lower half almost entirely the bank of Lower Lake, mostly mud but with bright green grass too. There's a reedy sort of plant left of centre, and in the middle the barrel, lying on its side almost in the water. To its right, are tall brown plants, bare and wintry. The lake stretches to the opposite bank, where there's a line of deciduous trees, also bare, and beyond them a colourful row of terraced houses. The sky is mostly white, with a bit of blue peeping through.
February 21, 2025 at 6:42 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
Yesterday was rather complicated on the hospital front, such that it was too late to take a trip after my appointments (I ended up with two). But here's another photo from last Friday, showing some of the damage caused by the storms earlier this year, Pittville Park, Cheltenham 🤔
A landscape photo, the lower half showing a grassy area planted with various trees, both deciduous (including beeches) and evergreen (Scots pines). A large branch has fallen, possibly from one of the beech trees, and is lying horizontally across the picture, just below the centre. The upper half shows mostly trees, with the sky behind them. The sky is mostly white. There are still quite a lot of Autumn leaves on the ground, mostly brown now.
February 19, 2025 at 6:54 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
Sorry, another shaky photo 🤭
This is from a trip to the park after hospital last Friday. George Swan is chasing one of his cygnets off the territory, preparing the way for this year's young, usually born April/May.
My mum also tried to take a photo of the chase, but she was shaking from the cold! 🦢
A landscape photo, with the lake taking up about three-fifths of the image, from the bottom up. The water is dark, with reflections of winter trees on its surface. It's also covered in ripples, as this was a windy day. George Swan is right of centre, swimming left towards one of his cygnets, who is swimming left too, to get away. George has his wings arched in a threatening posture, whereas the cygnet appears fairly flat on the water. Beyond them both, is the bank, mostly brown weeds at this time of year, and a few trees including a weeping willow.
February 16, 2025 at 7:22 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
If you see this post, post or quote repost a tulip or daffodil 🌷🌼 from your photography or artwork
#Flowers #nature
Landscape photo of my mother's Dutch Garden. This is set up next to one of my dad's greenhouse walls, which he constructed using limestone-look bricks, all slimline horizontal. The wall ranges from just below the halfway point on the left to the central point at the top of the photo. In the shade of the wall, there's a mini-pond, a rectangular green tray filled with water, and a concrete square slab in front of it. To the left of the slab, are a couple of light green and brown succulents. They're not really part of the Dutch Garden, but the mini-windmill to the right of the pond is, and it was made by my younger brother for Mother's Day a few years ago. He made it using his 3D printer, and my mum painted it dark green and white. Finally, there are pink and white tulips next to the windmill (from me) and in the background Dad's garden path between this garden and his herb patch.
February 14, 2025 at 12:10 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
An entertaining evening ahead, checking through my second collection and assisted by the ever-amiable John Isbell. I hope to be ready to send everything to the publisher later this month 🤞
The photo shows Queenie the guinea pig, who features in the book. She's 4 now; this was on her 1st birthday 😍
A square-ish photo showing Queenie the guinea pig, held in my mum's hands (tanned from being out in the garden a lot) and looking straight at the camera. Queenie's face is light ginger on each side, with white around her mouth and forming a stripe on her nose. Her nose is pink, her ears are pink, and her eyes are dark brown and thoughtful. Her left hand, with four fingers is showing. We trim her nails regularly, so she looks very neat. She is smooth haired.
February 12, 2025 at 7:41 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
I was struggling with the chores today, as my hand is still painful (though improving). My older brother Graham popped in to help, so I could rest for a while 🤗
This is Bro G at Slimbridge last October; he's in the upper level of a hide and our younger brother took the photo from the lower level 🤔😂
A vertical photo; along the right-hand side is a stretch of wood that makes up the wall of the hide, and Graham's head appears in the upper half of the image, at a sideways angle. Some of his face is hidden behind the wood, but his nose, dark glasses, and blue cap are visible. The background, blurred for contrast, is green-and-yellow foliage.
February 11, 2025 at 7:40 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
SuperbOwl 🤩
Here's a snowy owl, at Birdland, Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire. Family trip, Autumn 2016, for my birthday. My younger brother was appointed trip photographer 🧔‍♂️👍
A snowy owl is perching on a coppiced tree, slightly left of centre, gazing towards the right with his or her oval yellow eyes. The owl is mostly a creamy white, but it's just possible to see flecks of grey on his or her wings. The owl has a sharp little beak and the trouser feathers (as we call them) cover his or her feet. The tree is partially covered with the owl's droppings, white and sloppy. The background is tall green reeds to the left, leafier greenery to the right, and a couple more tree trunks. The sun is shining through the plants at the top of the photo, so some of the upper greenery has a golden tone, which looks lovely with the owl's yellow eyes.
February 9, 2025 at 7:32 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
I had a work deadline today, but I asked for an extension until next Monday because I have carpal tunnel syndrome and I need extra time to rest my hand 😖
I've just been looking through the archives again, coming across this pic of George Swan having a rest himself, after his arduous ice breaking 😍
This photo was taken on the banks of Lower Lake, Pittville Park, Cheltenham, in January a few years ago. There was a lot of ice on the lake and George broke it with his chest to make sure he and his cygnets could reach their food sources. He's positioned in the upper left quarter of the picture, his form making a diagonal angle from the corner to the centre. His noble neck and head are at the centre and he's looking down at the lake. His right foot is raised, in what I've learned is his usual rest pose. The rest of the photo is the water and the brown foliage on the bank, which straggles along the bottom of the picture and up the right-hand side until just over the halfway point.
February 7, 2025 at 7:05 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
Today it's 14 years since I had a life-changing injury while in hospital. Once I was home, I started writing poetry and I couldn't stop! ✍️🙂
Among the early poems was one about winter aconites. I revised it last year and it was published on The Dirigible Balloon 🎈
dirigibleballoon.org/poem/Waltz-o...
The photo shows the trunks of eight mature deciduous trees on a patch of grass and moss. They make up a grove and their trunks are also quite mossy. The ground is also covered in snowdrops and the little yellow winter aconites. The sky is just visible and it's cloudy.
February 4, 2025 at 7:04 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
I often enjoy taking a quick break from work to look through my park pics ☺️
This one, from late January 2022, shows George Swan (left) and all the cygnets born during the previous year. Sadly George's mate Zelda had died in July 2021 due to an infection, so he raised the cygnets on his own...
In the foreground, there's the bank of Pittville Park's Lower Lake, mostly covered in brown foliage but with a few green shoots too. One cygnet is standing on the bank, looking back towards George, while all the others are in the water. By this stage, they're almost all white and their beaks are starting to turn from grey to orange. The lale, with a lot of ice, stretches behind them as far as Swan Island, near the top of the photo, roughly central, and covered in weeping willows and coniferous trees. On either side of the island are the opposite banks of the lake, mostly grass and mature deciduous trees such as beech and lime. Beyond the trees, there are rows of terraced houses belonging to the area known as St. Paul's, Cheltenham. The sky is very light blue. George is looking at a pair of mallards, who appear to be standing on the water.
February 3, 2025 at 7:54 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
Congratulations to all the poets appearing in February's Snakeskin, including Tristan Moss @tristan-moss.bsky.social and my dear friend John Isbell ☺️
My poem is inspired by a garden my mum and I used to pass on our way to the park 💚
Many thanks to editor George Simmers 🙂👍
snakeskinpoetry.co.uk
In the centre, a light-pink rose with curled petals that give it a slightly angular appearance. It's attached to a bush with plenty of dark green leaves, and there are other smaller pink roses in the background.
February 1, 2025 at 7:08 PM
ffteague.bsky.social
Shaky view at 8 this morning 😵‍💫
Due to severe arthritis, I'm unable to raise my arms above shoulder level without getting the shakes, which can make some camera angles a challenge. But my dear friend John Isbell has just suggested that the shakiness adds some drama! I like the colours anyway ☺️
View of sunrise over my garden, with the lower half of the photo quite a lot darker than the upper half. In the lower half, mostly in cloud, there's a Holm oak behind a deciduous oak close to the centre, and a Scots pine to the right. On the upper half, there's a lime tree on the left and two horse chestnuts on the right. A dash of gold sunrise is almost midway between them, amidst a sky with daubs of pink, orange, light blue, and white.
January 26, 2025 at 9:53 AM
ffteague.bsky.social
If you see this post, quote with a bridge from your gallery
Photo from the bank of Lower Lake, Pittville Park, with view of the park's main bridge, arching from the right to the left of the picture. It's made out of grey steel (I think) and with its lower part (two big beams) forming a low semi-circle over the water. The lower part supports the upper part, a tarmac footpath with steel railings either side. Along the railings, there are shapes of some of the park's inhabitants and visitors; from this angle, there's a swan and a dog. I think there's a cyclist too. The bank is sparse, as the photo was taken in early March, and two bare deciduous trees frame the picture. There's an area of trees and grassland beyond the bridge, on the other side of the bank, and overhead the sky is light blue with a few tufts of cloud.
January 24, 2025 at 7:46 PM