Give me jobs in the shire, keep me working!

Smeaton's Tower is the third and most notable Eddystone Lighthouse. It marked a major step forward in the design of lighthouses. In use until 1877, it was largely dismantled and rebuilt on Plymouth Hoe in the city of Plymouth, Devon, where it now stands as a memorial to its designer, John Smeaton, the celebrated civil engineer. Photo by Hannah Sterry.
| Hannah Sterry
Smeaton's Tower is the third and most notable Eddystone Lighthouse. It marked a major step forward in the design of lighthouses. In use until 1877, it was largely dismantled and rebuilt on Plymouth Hoe in the city of Plymouth, Devon, where it now stands as a memorial to its designer, John Smeaton, the celebrated civil engineer. Photo by Hannah Sterry.
Smeaton’s Tower: Lightouse on Plymouth Hoe.
Photo by Hannah Sterry.

Give me jobs in the shire, keep me working.
Give me jobs in the shire, I pray.
Give me jobs in the shire, keep me earning,
‘Cos I can’t afford the rent with no pay.

End recession!
End recession!
End recession or we’ll all be stuck.

End recession!
End recession!
This economy is all messed up.

 

I might get told off for this, but I’ve posted it anyway. It’s not meant in disrespect and if you’re offended, just remember that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting things in the world to be better. “Give Me Oil In My Lamp” is a really catchy tune too.

And… if anyone’s hiring I’m looking for jobs in Plymouth (UK) and would love to hear from you!

We’ve accidentally acquired a baby pigeon!

Accidentally acquired this Baby Pigeon. Photo by Hannah Sterry.
| Hannah Sterry
Accidental Baby Pigeon. Photo by Hannah Sterry.
Accidentally acquired baby pigeon. Photo by Hannah Sterry.

This pigeon wasn’t planned. My uncle brought it to us after finding it had fallen out of a really badly-built nest (pigeon nests are often a bit rubbish for the first few years), which he wouldn’t have known about if a buzzard hadn’t flown past him with this pigeon’s sibling in its talons.

So, we have an orphaned, sibling-less pigeon chick… and he looks ridiculous. He seems to have a spoonbill, little whiskers at the end of his baby feathers and he makes this high pitched squeak which I can only assume means “MORE FOOD!”

So far, he’s been eating mushed up, water-soaked chick crumbs and crushed peas. We’ve made him a ‘nest’ in the pet carrier, which has the handy advantage that it acts as a cat deterrent (whenever the cats see the carrier they think we’re going to take them to the vets and miraculously run and hide) and he seems quite happy. Hopefully he’ll grow to be independent enough that we can release him back in to the wild.

He doesn’t really have a name, but we call him ‘Pidge’. It might be unoriginal but he doesn’t seem to care. x

Chicks… as promised!

Cute baby hen chick, tiny curious chickens. Image ©Hannah Sterry 2012
| Hannah Sterry
Fluffy chick at about two weeks old. Image ©Hannah Sterry 2012
Fluffy chick at about two weeks old. Image ©Hannah Sterry 2012

A few weeks ago our chicks hatched and here’s how they look now!

The chicks have been called Aslan, Fluffo and Shakespeare and seem to be quite happy pottering around the garden with mum! We had to put a finer wire mesh over the top of their run because Shakespeare kept escaping and we were worried that the cats might eat him if he did it again. One of the chicks also seems to like ‘piggy-back rides’ and will just sit on mother hen while she’s looking for food.

Mother hen with chicks. Photo by Hannah Sterry.
Mother hen with chicks. Photo by Hannah Sterry.
Chillin' with the chicks. Photo by Hannah Sterry.
Chillin’ with the chicks. Photo by Hannah Sterry.

I think I’ve also managed to accidentally prove that chicks are basically baby dinosaur descendants. I mean… just look how freaky this one is when it looks directly at me.

Definitely descended from a dinosaur. That chick's stare scares me just a little. Photo by Hannah Sterry.
Definitely descended from a dinosaur. Photo by Hannah Sterry.

Admittedly it might have just been a bit cross because I didn’t have any worms and I’d just interrupted it’s daily routine of wandering around the chicken run for hours, but I’m not sure I deserved this level of ANGRY GLARE! At least it’s not big enough to eat me!

More baby birds soon. I need to tell you about ‘Pidge’! x

TONIGHT: Free Live Jazz in Kingsbridge

LIVE JAZZ tonight at the Mill Club, Kingsbridge from 'The John Sterry Trio' (aka. The Sterrys). 8pm Start| Free Entry
Image | | Hannah Sterry

LIVE JAZZ tonight at the Mill Club, Kingsbridge from ‘The John Sterry Trio’ (aka. The Sterrys).

~

Tonight I’m playing with The Sterrys Jazz Trio to raise money for The Poppy Appeal! I’ve played there once before and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I’m hoping that this time will be the same.

#LocalPeoplePoems – A Community Project!

My bus driver’s brilliant, he draws the best cartoons, He likes his folky music and he’s always whistling tunes! Even on the stressful days, he’ll always smile and joke, So if you see him, say hello, ‘cos he’s a jolly nice bloke! #LocalPeoplePoems
| Hannah Sterry

I’ve decided to start a new blog to celebrate everyone who makes me smile! It’s called #LocalPeoplePoems, because there are so many nice people in this area, I like writing silly things and I decided that short poems would be the best way to do that!

If anyone wants to join me and write or send in their own #LocalPeoplePoems, please send them in, comment, tweet with the #LocalPeoplePoems hashtag, write them on post-it notes or just send them to people to show that you appreciate them! If you like I’ll post them on the blog (anonymously or with credit – as you choose).

In true Blue Peter style, here’s one I made earlier (click here to visit the new blog)!

My bus driver’s brilliant, he draws the best cartoons, He likes his folky music and he’s always whistling tunes! Even on the stressful days, he’ll always smile and joke, So if you see him, say hello, ‘cos he’s a jolly nice bloke! #LocalPeoplePoems

Let me know what you think of the idea! x

On the subject of Random Penguin…

Emperor Penguins at Edinburgh Zoo. Photo by Hannah Sterry.
| Hannah Sterry
Emperor Penguins at Edinburgh Zoo. Photo by Hannah Sterry.
Emperor Penguins at Edinburgh Zoo. Photo by Hannah Sterry.

This is a silly little song I wrote a little while ago after my friend suggested writing something about penguins. It’s recorded, but I want to record the vocals again – I’m not quite happy with them yet!


Penguin! Penguin! Penguin!

Ba-da-da-daa, da-da-daa…

They’re coloured black and white,
Don’t mind the cold at all,
They eat members of schools,
But they’re not cannibals.
(Oh yeah, yeah, yeah!)

They’re always dressed in tails
And huddle up for heat.
They’re used to icy gales
And mate on icy sheets.
(Ooh yeah! *silly voice*)

Penguin! Penguin! Penguin!

Get back in the sea!

You’re a bird that can’t fly.
When the ice melts you’ll die.
Don’t breathe fishy breath on me!

They like to live in guano,
But don’t think it’s the slums.
They don’t like mecchano,
‘Cos they’ve got no thumbs.
(I’ve got opposable ones.)

With breeds like macaroni
You might think they’re tasty,
But the Emperor penguin
Banned penguin pastries.
(So there!)

Penguin! Penguin! Penguin!

Get back in the sea!

You’re a bird that can’t fly.
When the ice melts you’ll die.
Don’t breathe fishy breath on me!
(Or I’ll have you for tea)!

—————————————————

All lyrics copyright of Hannah Sterry.

Enjoy! x

A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square

Performing at The Duke of Cornwall Hotel in Plymouth.
Video | | Hannah Sterry

After a happy, hectic week of friends and weddings, I decided to use this Sunday afternoon to practice a bit of harp and attempted to video a little bit. Sorry about the blur – I’m shy! 🙂

This is one of my favourite jazz standards, written by Manning Sherwin, and I hope you like it!

Hannah Sterry performing on celtic harp at The Duke of Cornwall Hotel, Plymouth.
Hannah Sterry performing on celtic harp at The Duke of Cornwall Hotel, Plymouth.

The EyePhone

The Eye Phone iphone by Hannah Sterry Cartoons.
| Hannah Sterry
The Eye Phone iphone by Hannah Sterry Cartoons.
The iphone! Requested by Peter Foreman.

This was in the last post about the Sterry Cartoons competition, but I thought it deserved its own blog post!


Now for my version of silly advertising speak:

Do you have thumbs?
Do you want to see more cartoons?
Do you like making random strangers smile occasionally?

Then ‘Like’ Sterry Cartoons on Facebook and have a giggle! 🙂
Silly advertising over!
Have fun and laugh lots!
x

Sterry Cartoons Competition Results!

Rabbit Pi by Hannah Sterry (Sterry Cartoons)
| Hannah Sterry

Hello and thank you to all of the the people who suggested cartoons for my mini competition. There were quite a few good ones, both on Sterry Cartoons facebook page and on twitter (@HannahSterry).


TOP 3 FACEBOOK SUGGESTIONS:
“It’s PC gone mad!” ~ Bilgeboy Bob
“The iphone” ~ Pete Foreman
“Isambard Kingdom Brunel trying to construct Ikea furniture.” ~ Mitch Mitchell

I have already drawn two of these (and a bonus Rabbit Pi), just for fun:

The iphone! Requested by Peter Foreman.
“It’s PC gone mad, I tell you!” by Sterry Cartoons. Cartoon requested by Bilgeboy Bob.
Rabbit Pi by Hannah Sterry (Sterry Cartoons)

Tonight’s project is going to be drawing Isambard Kingdom Brunel and possibly Miss Von Trapp (she’s got a little mini competition going on).

Friendly Tweeting

I was chatting to a few lovely people on twitter and asked whether they’d like some cartoons too. Here’s what they came up with:

I’ll be drawing and posting these throughout the week and have already started sketching them! I might draw a few more, because some of the suggestions were so good!

Hope you’ve all had a good week and keep creating! 😀