Tuesday, June 30, 2026

The Last Day of June

The last two weeks have flown by in a haze of not coping very well with the heat, mostly due to my medication and not walking very far because of painful and swollen knees and ankles but also popping out now and again here and there for treats and visits for Paul's birthday.


This lunchtime Woody visited, he landed on the tree in front of the kitchen window.  Luckily my camera was handy on the kitchen table where I'd left it when we came in from our morning walk - how wonderful to walk in cooler weather.


Isn't he handsome?

Over the last couple of weeks we have visited the Trentham Monkey Park, the RAF Museum at Cosford, taken a late evening Beaver Safari at Trentham and on the actual day a music event at the Dorothy Clive gardens where various performers sang songs from the musicals from each decade 1920s to 2020s, folk music and sea shanties.  Thank goodness it was cooler and the morning rain cleared.  Later we popped up to Bridgemere Garden World, where we visited the Food Festival and the show gardens.  One more treat to come is lunch with friends in Nottingham later this week.


Our Beaver Safari bus took us to the ranger station for a talk and presentation and then around the lake.

 Barry, the only beaver I saw that evening even though one was spotted on the lake and several people saw it.  Paul did manage to capture a photo of it.  I had binoculars but couldn't see it. I'll write more about the Beaver family group later.  The ranger in the purple top below was an excellent guide and so enthusiastic.

I thought with it being a Sunday Bridgemere would be crowded but it wasn't too bad at all.





We had the Octavia Hill show garden to ourselves.

See you in July.

8 comments:

  1. I hope you feel a bit better Rosie with the cooler weather this week. Last week was just awful. It sounds as though you have had some lovely outings though and I look forward to hearing more about the beaver walk. Lovely to see the woodpecker in your garden. The Octavia Hill Show Garden looks interesting. I hope Paul has had a lovely birthday.

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    1. Thank you Caroline. It's a bit better now it is cooler, knees still hurt but not as much as a couple of days ago. Will write a post about the beavers soon, it was a lovely evening. Woodpecker was back again today, he has discovered the fat balls. Paul has had a lovely birthday, lots of visits rather than presents, we don't buy things now as neither of us need anything:)

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  2. The heat sounds awful over there, Rosie. I hope you are feeling a bit better now.
    Even with the heat and your health issues, you certainly got out and had some fun!

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    1. Thank you Granny Sue, I'm sure it isn't as bad as some countries experience but rather it's that we aren't used to it, also the humidity. We chose to go to cool places and a couple of evening visits. Our house is well insulated for winter but too hot in summer. I think air conditioning may be needed:)

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  3. Great pictures! LOVE that you had your camera ready and got such a good shot of The Pileated Woodpecker. I've only seen one in person once. Several weeks back, hubby and I were in Williamsburg, Virginia. He was golfing and I went for a walk and one flew right in front of me from one tree to another. I just got my phone out to try and get a picture when it flew away. I was sooooooo disappointed. We get regular Woodpeckers here at home on the trees, but they're nothing like the Pileated Woodpecker. Hope you get a break with the weather and feel better soon. We're currently in the middle of a week long heat advisory. I mowed the other day and was a dripping mess when I finished it. Drank an entire quart of Gatorade afterwards. I miss your blog visits, please pop over.

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    1. Thank you Sandy, I think we are more used to cooler weather over here so it takes a while to adjust, it never used to bother me much but now I'm older and also with the medication I find it quite debilitating. What a shame you didn't get to photograph the pileated woodpecker. All of the species seem very shy and soon shoot off to hide. I've left you a comment on your blog this morning:)

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  4. Sorry to hear you haven't felt too well, at least it's a bit cooler now. Paul's birthday trips sound wonderful, lots of interesting things to do and see. How intrepid you are going on safari in an open sided bus! Now tell me, is Barry a real beaver, he's looking a little stuffed, eaten too much I expect! 😊

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    1. Thank you CK, ha, ha too many treats. Barry was a real beaver, fairly young as adult beavers are twice that size, apparently from Germany and as the guide said he has been 'subjected to taxidermy'. He was rather cute:)

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