The Perfect Actress!

As is the fashion of most great British actors, Billie Whitelaw played down her career and her art. She called it a "flibbertigibbety occupation" and, again like so many performers, she lacked confidence throughout her life. She had a stutter as a child and suffered from stage fright. This didn't stop her from becoming one the best possible examples of her profession I have ever seen. She ticks all the boxes one could possibly imagine when it came to the pure art and craft (I consider it transcend both) of acting.

Viking Duck

When I look out of my window, the visual display that meets me could easily have been a subject for an Edgar Hunt oil painting. Various breeds of chickens, some Emden geese and even white and blue peafowl colour the green field as they mill about eating the scattered seeds that make up their breakfast. Added to this animated canvas of farmyard beauty are the ducks. Like the chickens, there is more than one breed on show. They include the brown Khaki Campbell and the white Aylesbury. They also include the Indian Runners. These ducks are distinctly different to the rest. Despite a single member who is almost completely black, they are white, like the Aylesbury. However, unlike the other breeds of duck, this bird stands very erect and often with its beak in the air. Like a diminutive goose they march forward with purpose – and nothing stands in their way. For, although many would look upon this scene as the perfect backdrop to countryside tranquillity, I see chaos and carnage.