Cephalopods are things like squid, octopi, cuttle fish and the nautilus or at least that is all there are today in the rock record it is quiet another matter. Ammonites with their curly shells pretty much ruled the seas at one point and were so wide spread and abundant and varied that we use them as markers in the geologic record i.e. you know what type of ammonite you've got - you know the time period the rock was formed.
I love my fossil cephalopods (lit. head on legs) and the modern ones are pretty amazing too!
There are so many videos on youtube of them doing amazing things like escaping from jars and squeezing through very small gaps, mimicking walking and so on.
The Natural History Museum London has an entire twitter feed dedicated to cephalopods which is well worth a look and can be found here.
The Guardian has an article on Snake Stones i.e. our friends the ammonites again, which you can find here 🙂
The New York Times has an interesting article on the genetics and intelligence of squids and octopuses, which is stuff I am putting straight into one of science fiction stories as it really is quiet weird! You can find that article here.
Ever since I was a child I've loved the way cuttlefish skin changes colour, squid skin is pretty fab too 🙂
I also have one crotchet squid for my hair and one cuddly octopus for snuggling that have been given to me - surprisingly they are both purple 😉
Over at ChemKnits they happen to have collected a load of free patterns for our cephalopod friends which you can find here.
The drawing sheet still needs some work done on it but will soon be up for free down load though sadly not this week. I will also be creating two different boarders for it - one for workshops and one for the third of my adult colouring in books - Colouring Rocks!
Enjoy what's left of Cephalopod Week and I will try and do better next year 🙂
This weekend (26th May 2017) there is The Tall Ships Festival in Gloucester and... The Sea Shanty Festival - for The Sea Shanty Festival I am running a poetry stage for two hours from 1 pm on the Saturday i.e. tomorrow! As part of the Gloucester Poetry Society. It's in the Kings Walk Shopping centre and is free to attend (Tall Ships Festival is not free but is amazing and we love it!).
I will be dressed as a mermaid - here are some sneak peaks at the out fit - the skirt is loom knitted and actually for the girls so is a little snug and see threw hence the shimmery cat suit 🙂
The girls are going as pirates and Alaric as a space pirate. I also have a treasure chest of poetry scrolls guarded by my little siren comrades!
These beautiful rag dolly mermaids are made by my friend Anne and are part of a series of stories I am writing but more on that around Christmas time 😉
The treasure chest is the papier mache thing I made for Jean's 4th birthday - it is still going strong!
I also have a new little poetry zine Sirens and Sea Foam, plus some kids poems from various Little Books of Poetry I am editing and compiling at the moment and maybe some other things but don't worry I am the compare filler and we have a whole host of poets and sea shanties and tales of the ocean to share!
Kind of hoping it's not too hot tomorrow or might just fry! (cos I'm a fish! Get it? 🙂 )
Today I am poeming and arting on a pig and I may have 9 pirate musicians staying at mine because that is just how my life is rolling at the moment 🙂
Also there is a Pirate Walk which if I survive I shall be taking part in!
I've made a new poetry zine, it was planned anyway and then there was the offer of doing poetry at the Sea Shanty Festival in Gloucester so I thought - it is time! And so I made it! There are quite a few other things I've put together for Saturday poetry starts at 1 in Kings Walk shopping arcade and then there is a pirate walk and a zillion other things on plus the actual Tall Ships Festival.
But ... but before all that there is Villanelles tonight at the Fountain Inn in Gloucester where I will run a poetry writing workshop from 7 pm, it is then followed by a series of recordings of poems being performed and interviews etc... which you can watch and/or take part in.
Also there is putting poems on pigs but more on that later 😀
There is just so much more going on at the moment and I am organising exciting events including archaeology, science, art, history, science, technology, craft and sustainibility - I am quite tired! (but I am pacing myself!)
Hope to see peeps both on line and at physical events 🙂
p.s. the workshops are free and happen on the last Thursday of every month.
Today I hid poetry around Gloucester (hope they were all found before the rain!), saw people wearing the badges from the pouches, had people ask about the festival when they saw me making more pouches, sorted some exciting things along the lines of an Ada Lovelace Day event, Poetry talks, tech-history and art/sci/paleo cross over with two different sets of people representing several different groups and moving the goal of art and science accessibility forward in the world.
I also had an epic lunch at Cookes Cafe and Curios which do gluten free sandwiches (most places with GF options still only do cake or stupid expensive hot meals that are a days cals in and of themselves!). I love this cafe and I met my friend and we chatted for ages and it was great and the people who run the place are lovely and yeah it's just one of my favourite places in Gloucester.
Later still I met up with Jean after school and we had a cake in the Waterstones Cafe - their GF cake happens to be orange and lavender and reminds me of my nan (dad's mum). It is a glorious cake and one I probably shouldn't keep buying but I do... Jean bought herself a white chocolate tart with a W on it for Waterstones. The Gloucester Waterstones no longer has a Costas instead it has it's own little coffee shop and they use a local bakery.
I love sitting and creating things in both of these coffee shops/cafes they both induce a lovely atmosphere and yes I know it's a bit much have done both in one day but I was in Gloucester for the whole day!
Art and Craft, Education, Events and Outings, Poems, Sarah, Work | sarah | 
Wed 5th Jul 2017 1:01 pm | 
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