The dignity of the Beadle’s outward aspect was maintained on Monday when Daniel came from Lymington to cut my hair. He is now hairdresser to the Egg and I hope he will be able to return in the Winter. Some of the saved grey clippings will provide samples needed to mix with a blackberry and Lye mixture which in the Seventeenth Century was identified as the essential element of a permanent black hair dye. I shall experiment…
Author Archives for Eggman
Some Tide Lines
The water of the Beaulieu River etches its own tide lines into its enclosing banks of flora; the stems of the grasses have a fine coating of alluvial clay whilst the leaf line on the blackthorn is also clearly drawn by saline stream.
Launch of Egglet No.1
‘Egglet No1’ was launched yesterday after some delay due to adverse weather (south westerly winds which would have quickly returned it to its point of departure). An easterly wind and a neap tide carried it to a marsh island around sixty metres distant, where it will stay until spring tides around full moon allow it to venture further. It carries the shell of a five year old common whelk as well as the egg cases of the same species, previously gathered from this location.
Quartet
Individual blackberries collected from around the Egg were drawn by scraping through an ink wash created from their own juices. Twenty preserved berries (suspended in methanol) have been rendered in this way and a random quartet are here chosen to represent the group.
Nimbus
A rainy afternoon spent compressing time through the Egg window, whilst watching the rain fall.
Mint Tea
Mint growing wild just 83 feet from the Egg, provided leaves to flavour the potatoes I had for supper yesterday and today’s digestive tea. It has the distinct flavour of spearmint and I have dried a small amount for future use.
Exbury Egg Preserves
The Exbury Egg preserves the fruits of its research in glass jars and vitrines, suspended in a 70% magenta tinted methanol solution; drawing out the red of unripe blackberries from the continuing abundance of my crop at N 50˚47.142′ 001˚24.450′.
Twenty Four Hours
Commas
An interval for maintenance has been completed and the narrative of life at the Exbury Egg can be continued. There is a hint of Autumn about the still sunny days and sugary juice from fermenting blackberries is providing food for wasps and a host Comma butterflies before their hibernation.
Known as Commas because of the distinctive silver shape on the underside of their rear wing, they are currently punctuating the fruity surface of the blackberry bushes with their raggedy edged orange and black topped wings.
Cause & Effect
Rain water has been ingressing the Egg for some time and has been the active agent in creating the work on canvas ‘Stained Sun Shield’ (above), representing seven showers passing through the western red cedar shell during August. The source of the drips (Main Leak) was today the first focus for a week of remedial attention designed to weather proof the Egg for the challenges of WInter to come.
Egg Builder Paul Baker inspecting the exterior shell prior to treatment.
The Exbury Egg 