It's been a funny and not so funny old week

Well, last week ended on a high when Bri and I did finally see a pair of kingfishers flash and I mean flash by at Wolseley Bridge nature reserve.

 Monday started with a visit to the beautiful National Arboretum in Staffordshire and that's when the week started going downhill fast. I slipped a disk while there, walking a bit too far for me.
 Tuesday we blew the mains electric and had only lights. Being as this weekend is summer solstice and the only thing we didn't need on were the lights. As you know we never burn the midnight as our motto has always been "you're burnin' daylight " for us its up early to bed early. Fortunately for us next door had a man in doing her kitchen so we paid him to fix it. Great.
 Wednesday, however, no kettle, it died on us, owing to yesterday's incident. So off we went like fools to Curry's to get another one. No chance, the help there is useless in fact totally non existent. After shopping around another five mile journey we made it home for a cuppa
 Thursday, nice, we were down the lottie picking strawberries, radish and lettuce for tea but came home crippled with my back so Friday and Saturday were definitely non starters. However, another little highlight turned up Bri went to water the garden tubs and found a huge frog inside the watering can waiting to be rescued. He sure hopped off quick.

Today, though, was great we went to Blithbury Reservoir, got lost on the way, as we do and stumbled onto a lovely tucked away treasure called The Cobweb. It sells tea, homemade cakes (Bri loved it on sight) also soups and light lunches. It was so tiny tucked in the courtyard of a big farmhouse and the house had nests of house martins all around it. We watched them coming and going feeding the chicks. It was a treat. Then we were chatting to other folk and found we were hardly lost at all so got to Blithbury and there was the most beautiful tall tree woods with bark paths leading through it. We saw young cormorants, oyster catchers and common sandpipers and guess what?
not a heron all week.

A very strange encounter again....

I've had a Mary Berry of a day. I thought I would try a couple more recipes out of her new book. So I have baked her famous lemon drizzle cake and yes we have tried it. It was good, I can't say I was impressed with her meatballs. I have definitely made better. Delia's and Adrianna Trigianni's Italian family recipe ones were both a nicer texture. The sauce was good enough though. After having a bit of a moment in the culinary department we went off to the lottie for a talk on how to grow and show. Now here is where the day took a very odd turn for me. One of the ladies (no names to protect the crazy), said to me,

"Are you John's wife?".

"No I'm Bri's wife".

"No you're not you're John's wife, I saw you come in with him"

"No, I came in with Bri."

"No, you didn't".

 It was starting to get unreal. In fact it was getting downright ugly. It also was getting to the point that I believed her and nearly apologised for me mistaking my husband. Looking for reassurance
 I turned around and saw a friend who really knew who I had arrived with and knew who I am married to start to grin. Thank goodness I thought, I'm not daft after all, at least I don't think  I am, am I? Why do I attract the oddballs?....

a friendly species

One thing we have found out about bird watchers, is how friendly they all are. Wherever you are and you come across a fellow birder, they are always willing to pass on information about what they have seen and where they have seen it.  For newbies like us this has been very helpful and saved us a lot of time and energy looking in the wrong places at the wrong times.

a dreamy picture perfect afternoon

It was the kind of afternoon you dream about if you love reading about Uncle Silas, Mr.Polly or the Larkins. It was a hot, sun high in the bluer than blue sky afternoon. All you could hear were birds and when you got into the woods, glimpses of light streaming through the trees and onto a little wooden bridge. My idea of heaven. We followed the  worn trodden path until we came to a clearing and then came to a little old brick humpback bridge over the canal. When I looked over the wall there was such a timeless sight, a barge making its way down the canal which was flanked by buttercups.

To me, picture perfect. We went a little farther past a style and an old wooden signpost and then another surprise, the sound of seagulls. They were nesting on little islands and their sound just filled the air. They were flying around like a snowstorm, magic.

 I have always been a country bumpkin  (and Bri is getting there) but it seems much more precious these days when everything is so technical. An afternoon with nothing but the beauty of nature and a more simple way of life is the best prescription you can have, food for the soul.

The early birder catches?

We have discovered a down side to bird watching.....the weather. This week we have been looking for birds near large expanses of open water. Normally, in June, you would think this would be a pleasant experience. Not so! There was a North Easterly blowing that wouldn't have been out of place in the English Channel in February!
Alan Titchmarsh says there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. How right he is! Bird watchers have to be a hardy lot as this hobby requires them to be out early in the morning and at dusk to have the best chance of spotting and in all types of weather
We wouldn't have minded the wind so much if there had been any birds to see but they obviously had more sense and were tucked away somewhere warm. However, lessons learned, next time we will be like boy scouts and prepared for all weather conditions.

It's been a heron of a week

Yes,yes, I know I usually say it's been a funny old week but this week has been downright queer. Bri has started bird watching and I have been watching him, but as the week has gone on, I think we have both been watched or even maybe stalked. Monday we went to Middleton Lakes looking for a kingfisher, found a yellow wagtail, nuthatch and loads of goldfinches and we were watching the Heron chicks on the top of the tree in their nest when a man behind us shouted, " look up!, look up!"
 and there above us were a flock of them circling over our heads really low. Come Tuesday out we were again looking for a kingfisher when Bri is looking down stream at Elford in the river Tame and there, sitting on a big tree stump right in the middle of the river was, yes you've guessed it, a very large Heron.

 He then flew over Bri's head and disappeared. We then went on Thursday to Wheat's Garden Centre looking for a kingfisher and there on the island in the middle of the lake flew in another Heron right into Bri's view. Friday we went to Fradley Junction, looking for a kingfisher and yet another Heron flew in front of Bri and landed on the jetty, Then walking from there to the car guess what I spotted a ............ wooden one. Queer or not I ask you?  Now, I want to know did the Heron follow us around all week, have we been hallucinating, have the Herons got it in for us? Or had someone taped a picture to the lenses of Bri's new bins?  Either way I know what Heron looks like from every angle but I would rather see a KINGFISHER.

A-twitching We Will Go

We have a new hobby. For years my brother-in-law has been a fanatical bird watching enthusiast. I used to wind him up by saying to him " they are all brown and black". How wrong can you be!
Recently, I have decided to take up twitching ( a birders term) myself. Plum has been keen for years but I wasn't interested.
One day we went to Middleton Hall where there is an RSPB site. There, they have bird feeders set up and all manner of birds use them.  Plum took a close up of a Greater Spotted Woodpecker which is fantastic. I thought that I would buy a pair of binoculars from the local charity shop to see if I would like birding.
Of course, as soon as you can see them magnified, it is a different story. I was hooked.
Back to Middleton we go and start watching in earnest. Then we go to Wolseley Bridge Nature Reserve to see if we can spot a kingfisher ( no luck there)
you will have spotted by now that the term "bird watching" is not used by us birders. Only non participants use this.
The next thing is I obviously need a better pair of bins( that's what we birders call binoculars) This meant a day of intensive research as to which would be the best and which I could afford. Another trip to Wolseley Bridge to test them out as there aren't any specialist shops around any more.
Various pairs are tested and a decision is made.
Now we are off and running! Another trip to the charity shop to buy books on birding and also watching wildlife in general. We are really into it now..... equipment sorted and books read it is time for the serious stuff to begin.

Just for the Joy of it...

... This year getting the plot fixed up and ready to go has been a real joy. We have used our greenhouse to start everything until it was bursting with new life. We have fed the ground with manure, the very best I might add, bought by the girls we all have come to appreciate. We limed where we should and we planted out, tended, watered as we should and we are now seeing why the 'old boys', always said, 'the answer lies in the soil'. 
We have also worked on the look of our plot this year adding little picket fences front and back and planted flowers alongside them. The Gazinias are exploding with colour every time the sun comes out which has been often the begonias are holding their own against the wretched slugs and my pretty little Aqualegia foliage has emerged ready to go, though probably no flowers until next year now. I can wait. I have waited seven years to see my plot how I pictured it when we first started. Full of flowers including the lovely big blousy yellow roses I got from the pound shop. Even fuller with veg of all sorts, swedes, onions, parsnips, cabbages, sprouts, calabrese (though not so happy with that), squash, peas (two kinds), celeriac, shallots, potatoes (three kinds), parsley, beans (two kinds), leeks, courgettes of course, corn (our favourite extra sweet), broad beans,lettuce, radishes, beetroot and then... there is all the fruit, strawberries (not so many owing to them being new plants, raspberries, plums (two kinds), apples (three kinds),blackcurrants and red, rhubarb, perennial now as well as spring, and of course cucumber indoor and out and tomatoes three varieties indoors and out. 

Our little picket fence

So we are happy bunnies this year so far and as long as the slug pellets hold out. I do have a new pet in the greenhouse or you could call him a secret weapon, he is Charlie our toad. The other thing we had fun doing this year was adding a few very old stepping stones from the reccy yard to our little path by the greenhouse well it is just half paved because we stopped at the overhead quote I put up a while ago of Lord Byron's which seemed just right...' there is a pleasure in the pathless woods'. Yes, this year has been a real joy working on our plot I just hope we are eating our labours well into winter and sprouts come Christmas.

To the pathless woods

Ready to Grow

The Christmas Visitors

Molly and I were busy as usual getting her breakfast when we heard a knocking at the back door. A bit early but a visitor is a visitor and will always be made welcome at our house. Well you could have knocked us both down with a feather for there on the step were Molly's old friends Henry and Ferret who had moved house eighteen months ago. What a wonderful surprise wasn't it? They had come all the way from their new house to see us. What made them come now the week before Christmas? Not only that but together. Was it a  planned visit. It makes you wonder doesn't it. Needless to say they got lots of fuss and brekkie which I can tell they expected and then quietly left again. The gang reunited just for a while was Molly's gift for Christmas I think she has really missed them. We let Tom know to make sure he knew they were here and on their way back. It was sure like old times a really special visit from two very special friends...

what's cookin'

When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's, Mum stayed at home and looked after the house and Dad went out to work. Men did not cook. I used to pass through the kitchen on my way somewhere else but never washed a plate, or made a cup of tea. When we got married, Plum could  cook so there wasn't any need for me to learn. Over the years I have got a bit better. I am sort of Sous chef in that I prepare vegetables for soups and stews but, apart from boiling the odd egg or making porridge, I still didn't cook After watching many series of Masterchef, Nigella and Nigel Slater you would think I would have picked up a thing or two. Plum always said that she wished I would learn for, apart from the fact that she would get a break, not that she was bothered about that, should she become ill, she was worried that I wouldn't be able to look after us both.
Last week she was in bed with 'flu for a few days so I had to step up to the plate. With written instructions I made soup. It was very tasty. After that I made a stew, and,after a suggestion from Plum, an apple crumble to go with it. That was pretty good too. I was on a roll.  When she was a bit better, I made sausage, mash and beans under her supervision. Today I am doing pasta and bolognese sauce. Next year maybe I should apply to be a contestant on Masterchef? ........

The Plumkin Patch

I have just taken over another patch down the front of our allotment in front of Alison who is now in the middle of our two plots. My aim next year will be to grow stuff good enough to eat. After this year anyone down our allotment will know that this is easier said than done. Am I ready for another year's challenge? Yeah, I am. Not only that,  I now vow and declare I am going to enter something in our our Centennial Show. After all I owe to my predecessors who have kept Hill Allotments alive and well through wars, bad weather and other tough times. People like Fred, Tut and Lionel who had our plots for forty years and kept the soil in great nick ready for the next generation. Next year, come hell and high water, which it probably will be, I am growing something I can be proud of and it will be on one or two  of the judges tables. Are you with me Hill Allotmenteers?  Do I have some competition? Bring it on....

Pea'd off with the peas

I am soooo disappointed with our peas they were looking wonderful before I put them out and under fleece for protection a couple of weeks ago..... and then.... horror of horrors when we unveiled them they were the sorriest sight, pale and uninteresting doesn't cover it. They were like lace curtains and they hadn't grown a jot. What on earth happened? They had plenty of water, they were warm, they had slug pellets around them, what else could I have done? I want to know!!!!  If anyone out there can explain what got 'em please tell....  If the unveiling had been a few days later I would have blamed the swarm of Hawthorn flies (St. Marks Fly, they usually appear 25th April, but it was probably too cold for them too) that turned up without warning but it wasn't them.

people who live in glass houses

It all started at the end of January. We were down at the lottie moving some things so that the hedge behind the shed could be trimmed, when our old friend John Badger came up to see us. He said that he was going to sell his greenhouse as he had bought a new one to use at home, so we  got all excited and said that we would have it.
Terry said that he had a week off in March and he would be able to help us  and JB said he would also help to dismantle it and show us how to put it back up. At the committee meeting John Davis said he had put up and taken down 36 greenhouses so with his help as well  it was all systems go. Ten days ago we started clearing and levelling the ground it was going to stand on. After that we ordered the slabs and bricks to go underneath it and they duly arrived on the Friday after a three hour wait in the freezing cold.
Saturday morning we got the sand, as instructed by Terry, and set to work. Sunday morning off we went to carry on, but it started snowing! We had no choice but to go back home and hope that it would stop so that we could finish laying the base as Terry was coming on the Tuesday. Thankfully it did stop so we were able to finish the base on the Sunday afternoon. Monday we rested from our labours and bright and early on Tuesday last we arrived at JB's plot to start dismantling. The two Johns, Davis and Badger, had the glass out in double quick time and Terry and I took the frame up to our plot and set it upon the slabs which it just fit.
By this time the sun was out and it was looking to be a lovely warm sunny day. As we started bolting the base to the slabs, we had a lovely surprise. Our niece and nephew and our great niece had been to a local wedding on the day before and, as a surprise they came to see us.Our little niece, Issie was dressed in her flower girl dress and was carrying a basket of petals which she scattered down the path. Then she went and danced in the greenhouse with her granddad! It was a joyous, wonderful start for our greenhouse. Our first happy greenhouse memory and when the seeds start germinating and the tomatoes start coming there will be more.
We cleaned every pane of glass until it was so see through and shiny, that when Plum said 'is that the pane that is missing?' and put her finger where she thought it was, she bent her finger on it! Now, a week later, the panes that were broken have been replaced, the seedlings are on the staging and growing rapidly, there are flower borders around the greenhouse, hanging baskets and tubs of pansies on the patio, and it looks like it has always been there. Thank you to everybody who helped us make this dream come true, we couldn't have done it without you!

little packages are just the best

I thought Christmas had come again yesterday, the postie, who is now well trained and is our new friend, delivered a little package for me. It was from Bri. It was the most delightful little book I have seen. It has lovely old fashioned snowy illustrations. It is just my thing. It was ‘The Greatest Gift’, by Philip Van Doren Stern. It is a facsimile of the one he wrote in 1943, which he couldn’t get published and so he had it made into Christmas cards for his family and friends. Since then of course it has become the all time Christmas favourite movie story, ‘ It’s a Wonderful Life’. So thank you Bri, it will be one of my most treasured possessions and I just love it to bits. I bet the publishers who turned the original down are real sorry.

1 Robin, 2 Blue tits and 3 …

What’s Molly going to do now that Earthflight has finished? She hasn’t missed a frame. It must have made a BIG impression on her because, when we were doing our count the birds in your garden hour, we heard seagulls and then they got bigger and bigger as they came down to fly around our pear tree and take a look. Molly ran in hell for leather as their shadow crossed over her. I guess she was thinking eagles!vultures! They weren’t your usual size they were huge, more like albatross and they shrieked really loud. Enough to give you nightmares.

I think we will have to stop her watching too much television…

P.S Just looked up what we saw in the AA bird book and it really looks like they were black backed gulls and they, apparently, are really mean

Brrrrrr!!!

Bri has just told me there is a severe weather warning for this week. I watched Country File last night no snow, no rain, no wind so what’s the alert for then? Cold, it's going to be cold. This is ridiculous, all the winters in the past have been ‘cold’ without any weather warnings, are we getting soft? I have just started writing the story of my family starting 1811 in Snowdonia. The river Thames froze that year it was really really cold back then and with no comfort of any kind. How soon we all forget what our ancestors went through and a lot of us too, before central heating, lighting, supermarkets, cars, designer bottled water etc. It is so easy to take all this for granted, I know I do. However, I do hope they don’t turn off our street lights like they have down south, I can’t find my torch anywhere!.

at last Christmas spirit turns up

The village green at Streethay came through last night with true and simple Christmas spirit ,the best kind. Despite the freezing temperature we all went out there a caroling full of good cheer. It is such a lovely tradition they have and we were pleased to join in with Terry and Yvonne to start Christmas week full of peace and goodwill. It was ****** cold though! We also went to Swinfen magic barn last week and thoroughly enjoyed their effort to bring all sorts of Christmas decorations together under one roof as the picture shows the barn was full of wonders. What fun...

plum's pumpkin fun...

...my halloween carving this year is a spooky house and a bear. Julie next door on the plot got me a pumpkin carving kit which made it so much easier than using my old kitchen knife. Thank you very much Julie I really love it. The BIG problem this year was photographing it without flash and not getting camera shake. We tried everything and nothing worked so in the end I used the firework setting it isn't perfect but you get the picture so to speak!!!! I just love carving pumpkins so I am going to have a bigger pumpkin patch next year on the plot just so I can have lots of goes... who needs vegetables when you can have this much fun!

deaf as a post....

...yes, that was me all week last week and what an eye opener! I am used to having no voice as I suffer from hay fever and it makes everyone whisper to me. I have no idea why, empathy perhaps? Last week everyone needed to shout and whisper it all got very confusing BUT the main thing I learned was everyone also treated me as if I was as daft as a brush. Should I pass this human behaviour onto David Attenborough I wonder? Well I would except this week having had my ears syringed and I have my voice back everyone is still treating me as if I am daft, including Molly, why are they doing that I wonder?????