A Breath of Fresh Air

 I mentioned in my last post that we were hoping to get out for a longer walk and yesterday we did just that.  

After the wind and rain of Friday and before the wind and rain of today we drove up to the village of Hartington which is on the Tissington Trail.

The Tissington trail starts at Ashbourne and ends at Parsley Hay where it joins the High Peak Trail.  We have, over the years, walked all of the trail.  This time we just walked from Hartington to Parsley Hay.

The sun was showing its face, the breeze was brisk and the views were stunning.

A patchwork quilt of fields edged with dry stone walling

The trail itself is easy going underfoot and follows part of the old railway line which ran between Ashbourne and Buxton.

The railway cutting just before Parsley Hay.

We passed a farm and there were lambs in the fields already.

I love to hear them bleating, mums and lambs calling to each other.

A brown sheep and lamb in a field of six camping pods.

The wind picked up and the light changed

Luckily we got back to the car and had just left the car park as the rain started.

It was back to wind and rain again today.

Willow Wildlife Trail

 For half term at Trentham Gardens there is a new Willow Wildlife trail on the East Lakeside path.  All are creatures found in and around the gardens and wider estate.

Each willow woven sculpture has an information panel about the animal or insect depicted.  There are also willow weaving sessions in the education tipi at certain times.

Deer

Butterfly

Beaver

Mole

Rabbit

Otter

Bee

Owl

It was actually Valentines Day when we visited and there were lots of signs dotted around the shopping village.  I've made a collage out of a few of them.

It was my next door neighbour's funeral yesterday.  In a small chapel we were met by the celebrant a gentle voiced Scot with pretty pink hair.  The coffin arrived to The Rose by Bette Midler and left to Always Look on the Bright side of Life by the Monty Python team.  So very typical, she will be missed.

Today the wind howls around the house, the wheelie bins have been overturned and the rain has never stopped.  I hope tomorrow is better as we both yearn to get out for a long walk.

Have a good weekend.

More Snowdrops

This morning was so very cold.  I walked into the kitchen to see the limping fox sitting on the lawn opposite the kitchen window with a slight smattering of snow falling on his head.  He waited patiently whilst we sorted out something for him to eat, dashing, as gingerly as he could on three legs, to the top of the garden until we were back indoors before returning to eat.  

I promised more snowdrops and there were lots at the Dorothy Clive Garden this morning.  After a warming coffee and toasted teacake we set of to find them.

Last Wednesday I had a lunchtime hospital appointment so we spent an hour at the Brampton Museum which is just a short drive from the hospital.  There is a new exhibition called 'From Leek to Llandudno' and it's about the emergence of rail travel to the seaside and family holidays taken there.  

More on this exhibition and another display at Trentham in a later post.

More sad news this week.  A friend rang to say that our former work colleague and friend had died.  That's three people we've known for a long time in the last couple of months.  

I was looking through some old photos and found this one of both curators I had worked with.  I must have taken the photo.  We were out on a jolly following the Pilgrim Fathers' Trail that J (in pink) had put together for the Museum she worked for.  We were in North Nottinghamshire and into Lincolnshire near Gainsborough where J worked.  I can't remember which church this was but it would have had a connection to either William Brewster or William Bradford.

Anyway, S (in blue) would have been 90 in March this year, and my friend and I had a reminisce about the happy times when we all worked together in the 80s and early 90s.  S retired to Wales near Llandrindod Wells.  J became a Buddhist nun, I've no idea what happened to her as we eventually lost touch.  How time flies and how precious memories are.

All for now, I'll be back with trains to the coast and willow woodland animals.

Red Squirrels

I have a fondness for Red Squirrels

This one was happy to pose for me when we visited the Peak Wildlife Park last week.   There is just something so special about them. We get the grey ones in the garden and I like those even though they do pinch the bird food.

I'm struggling at the moment with a new laptop.  My old one couldn't be updated from Windows 10 to Windows 11.  I'm trying to get used to the new one but it's taking twice as long to do things as everything seems in the wrong place or looks different.  It's like looking for a favourite product in a shop or supermarket and not recognising it because the packaging has changed.  I'll get there - eventually.

Five into February

We didn't hasten into February by any means. Last month meandered along at a steady but tedious pace and sometimes felt as if it was going nowhere but all of a sudden here we are entering a new month.  Time to turn the calendar page over.

Today we walked at the Wolseley Centre, headquarters of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and I found both Snowdrops and Catkins which also appear in the calendar picture above.

Lot's of Snowdrops at Wolseley. 

Pushing their way through the damp soil and decaying leaves.

Such a beautiful sight.

 

Earlier in the week we had walked at Trentham. 

In damp, misty weather.

Afterwards we popped into the garden centre to seek out some colour.

On Thursday we had a surprise visit from the brother and sister-in-law of our next door neighbour.  Mainly to keep us up to date with the arrangements for her funeral and also about the sale of her house.  They brought with them a lovely gift to say thank you for all the help we had given our neighbour over the years we had lived next door.

A lovely card, gift card and Orchid.  How kind and thoughtful.

It's a lovely thing but I'm anxious about how to look after it.  They always seem so exotic and delicate.  If anyone reading keeps Orchids, or knows about them I'd love a few tips on how to keep it alive😊

All for now.
 

RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch

Oh dear, not many to count this year.  The weather was against it from the start.  The last few hours of storm Eowyn on Friday, followed by glorious sunshine on Saturday and the start of storm Herminia on Sunday. (When did we start to name storms?) The birds stayed away from the feeders in the bright sunshine just the same as they had in the wet and windy weather.  

Friday was busy with supermarket shopping, collecting medication from the hospital pharmacy and then dashing home in time to receive a pre-organised appointment call from the hospital we'd just visited.  Saturday was sunny so we ventured out for a walk in the morning. Glad of the warmth of the sun on our backs. In the afternoon we sat down with a cup of tea to start the bird count but none appeared so we gave up. We finally started a count around midday on Sunday.  The feeders were topped up with sunflower hearts and suet fat balls.

Unfortunately the woodpecker didn't make an appearance. 

Counted were 5 blackbirds, 2 Dunnocks, 8 Goldfinch, 4 Siskins and 1 Robin. 

We were below the national average in the number of birds we counted.  It will be interesting to see how others fared and also to see the final statistics in April.

Waterbirds and Daffodils

A jug full of bright yellow daffodils are just the thing for cheering up a cold, grey and dreary day.

We saw quite a few interesting water birds on yesterday's walk around the lake at Rocester.  It was a cold morning and for some reason I just couldn't seem to keep warm so we didn't linger for too long. Fortunately most of the birds were gathered near the small car park where people arrive with food, for themselves and the birds.

I had to get the bird book out to identify a few of them.

Above and below Ruddy Shellduck.  There were three of them.

We saw two of the same ducks on Trentham lake at the beginning of the week.  They were an unusual enough visitor for Trentham to write a post about them on their facebook page.

Snow Goose

Runner Duck

Hooded Merganser

Shoveler Duck

Red Crested Pochard

Bufflehead? Not a native species if so.