News & Updates from Nikola Middlemast

..............Bearded Tit! (stop sniggering over there in the corner). Anyway, yep Iv'e only ever seen them in books and have always wanted to see one.

Where I live now in Dorset we have several reserves down the road from the house, I love going down and walking through surrounded by reed beds and seeing all the wildlife.

I was walking along when I passed another photographer and he told me where they were, I was so happy.

I went to the spot on tiptoe and was met with a flock of 40 odd birds feeding on the reed seeds.

They were amazing to watch.

It was had to spot them through the reeds, but I managed to get a couple of photos which i'm very happy with.

Now I just need to see the otters, water voles and hares and a few other birds on my tick list.

Natures an amazing thing to watch.

Hi everyone, I'm very happy to say I've done my first art exhibition. It was awesome! I was with the art group I joined this year and felt very lucky to have been invited. It was a local event on Portland (UK) and was fab.

The weather held and was just right for an out door event. Loads of people came to view the groups work, which made everyone feel brilliant.

I was not selling though at this event ( I love my work tooooooooo much ) It gave me a great chance to learn though how to show my art work and what people like to see.

I received some great comments and advice from the other artists and members of the public, I even made new friends too. I hope to do another show in August in which I hope to sell some special prints.

Hi everyone, Hope your all well. It's been a mad month for me. I have moved house with my family down to Weymouth in Dorset (UK).

I have also finally (taken 2 years) got my certificates for my Customer Service Diploma.So that's made me rather happy. Sadly at the moment I'm rather unemployed, (to short to wash cars) but I'm using my art skills to draw pet portraits, which gives me a nice eye break from all the application forms and stuff.

I'm hoping that I will be back in a normal work & craft routine soon. So till then everyone take care and best wishes to you all.

Hi everyone, Just to say I had a amazing time at Highclear Castles Game Fair. Though I oppose blood sports and shooting, I still love the arts and skills that have come from the countryside.

These include the wood carving, hedge laying and the items people can make with antlers.

There's also the very practical clothing. The day was warm and great fun, with things for everyone. For me the best part of the day was the jousting event. I love bad guy and Whooped, cheers, howled, roared and bellowed for the black knight, much to the annoyance of the children who surrounded me (evil snigger).

All the riders were very skilled and made the day perfect with their awesome demonstrations. I will be going again next year if the line up's as good. Here's a photo of the main good Knight who rode over and told me I was cheering the wrong side (evil snigger).