Inside and Out

It seems a long time since my last post so I thought I'd take a few photos in the garden.  Firstly though a lovely bunch of daffodils have been cheering up the living room windowsill wth their frothy exhuberance.

I've dug out my Mark Hearld fold out card with hares to go with them, hoping they would look quite seasonal.

 

The garden is still very wet so very little has been done but it has been wonderful to see so many plants and flowers coming to life again.

 

The tulips we planted in October have all flowered.  We did lose a few bulbs to the badgers so we placed an old oven shelf over them to stop them getting dug up and eaten.  It seems to have worked.

I like the two colours together.

 

The other tulips we planted are now coming along too.  They look a bit like peonies.

 

Elsewhere in the garden under the laurel bush the Wood Anemones have appeared and flowered, thank goodness.

 

 I thought they had succumbed to the wet weather.

A lone frittilary at the top of the garden.  We put several in last year but this one is the only one to appear so far. 

Buds have appeared on the Wild Garlic or Ramsons.  It won't be long before those pretty white flowers appear.

 

Tiny Violets have appeared in random pots and in the edges of paths and there are signs of Forgetmenots waiting in the wings too.

 

Take care. 

Water Voles

 In a comment on my last post Caroline from Ragged Robin blog reminded me that as well as seeng Little Grebes on the Cromford Canal in Derbyshire we had also seen Water Voles. 

I didn't think I'd taken any photos of them as I had a small camera then but I knew Paul had taken a few photos.  After a quick trawl back through photos stored on a hard drive he found his photos.

Here they are.  

Such beautiful little creatures.  As these photos were taken on 28th February 2008 these particular ones will be long gone, but not forgotten.  It was such a joy to see them.  

 

Water Voles are red listed as they have become an endangered species.

Here is more information from The Wildlife Trust website

 

Nineteen Years

This is the first post I wrote on this blog on this date in 2005.  Where have all those years gone?

Monday, March 14, 2005

Dabchicks Galore

We had a wonderful walk today along the canal at Cromford. I always enjoy this walk and seem to discover something new each time. Today we ventured under the road bridge near the disused station and discovered the old catch pit used to slow down or catch trains going too fast or derailed trains from the quarry top. Beyond this is the 2½ mile walk up to Middleton Top and we decided this was to be the next walk of discovery. Possibly coming in from Middleton top down to the canal and back again. I just love these areas of old industry where canals, rivers, railways and roads meet, converge and cross over each other, now tranquil places where once there was noise, smoke, sweat and energy. There is another walk we do at Consall Forge that has the same impact but here the trains run on the line between Cheddleton and Froghall on the Churnett Valley Railway and if you are very lucky you sometimes see the steam trains. The added bonus at Consall is the Black Lion Pub, very favorably sited halfway round the walk. Anyway, I digress, back to Cromford. Of course the draw at Cromford is the Mill café with its home made cakes and scones or bowls of homemade soup always welcome after a long walk. Up in the village itself is the Scarthin book shop, well worth a visit with lots of lovely nooks and hidey holes where you can sit and look at all the wonderful books. The highlight of today was the Dab Chicks or little Grebes on the canal. They were having a super time, loads of them all together, very noisy but sweet individuals dipping and diving and generally giving loads of entertainment to the passers by. I guess it must be the mating season.

 

No photographs in those days of course.  I don't think I had a digital camera for a while.  Things changed so much over the years.

Apologies for not bloggng recently.  I haven't been too well.  I have a couple of appointments coming up in the next two weeks so I'm hoping that I can find out what is wrong. 

All for now.  Take care everyone.