Into November

Into November with some Autumnal trees.  Photos taken at the Dorothy Clive gardens early last week.

It was a short and lovely walk after coffee and a teacake in the tea room.  The colours were stunning.

What else have I been doing?  Mostly reading in the afternoons as I'm still not feeling great after the virus which pinched most of October.  I picked up a book in the library.  It sounded intriguing.  The words Curator, Castles and Medieval King sounded right up my street.

I'm halfway through and it is unusual and easy to read.  I'm enjoying it so far as it drifts between the present day and the court of the King.  I see it is shortlisted for this year's Booker prize.  I wonder if it will win?

Other books waiting on my kindle are:-

The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris by Daisy Wood and The Beaulieu Allotments Historical Society by Olivia Hayfield.

None of them my usual crime fiction choice of reading.  It will make a change.  I have two books by my favourite crime writers reserved at the library.  The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves and  Miss Wolcott's Ghost by Louise Penny.

I received an e-mail from the RSPB urging  me to vote for this year's 'Bird of the Year' 

There are five birds on the list, four listed as UK conservation status Red and one as Amber.  I was torn between two.  The Lapwing or Peewit as we used to call it as children.  Growing up in a small Derbyshire village the fields were full of them.  Cuckoos and House Martins also bring back memories of that time.  However I eventually opted for the Greenfinch because when we first came to live here they were one of the most often seen birds in the garden.  We've seen them dwindle over the last thirty years until we didn't see one for ages.  This last couple of years we've seen one or two pairs.  In fact there was one on the bird feeders this morning, I didn't have my camera handy when I saw it so no photos.
All for now. Take care.

Bits and Pieces

 Apologies for a prolonged absence.  We've both had awful coughs and colds over what seems like ages but is about three weeks.  I can't remember when I last had such a bad cold.  It took me back to those teenage years when two or three colds a year were the norm.  Getting older built in the immunity and colds have seemed few and far between over the last decade or two.  As well as home comforts fresh air was needed.

We walked where we could keep away from crowds. Seeking out Autumnal colour.

Fungi was spotted too.  It's a good year for it.

Fly Agaric

Cauliflower fungus

Shaggy Inkcap or lawyers wig.

Not sure what the ones above are called but there were loads of them all along the walk.

I've also been reading quite a bit.

Dear Mum - Letters from Orkney to Sheffield by Susan Tyzack is a series of letters from the author's mother kept by the author's grandmother, which were written home to Sheffield from an Orkney naval base during the last year of the second world war.  The book also tells of the author's own experiences of retiring to Orkney and becoming involved in the local community.

'When I'm in Orkney, I can barely imagine Africa.  I love the cleanliness here.  The bare spare horizontals. The smooth sweep of hill and loch, open, untrammelled by trees. The cold smell of the air.  The shock of a windless day, or the hunch into a near gale, the lean of the walk into it. The hidden hare in the back garden tussocks, the trilling of a curlew.  The long view.  The ever-mutable arc of the enormous sky.'

Sue was a colleague of Paul's.  They worked together in the biology department of the local college for a few years.  She left the college to work in Tanzania and eventually moved to Orkney not far from where her mother was stationed.  Recently we received the sad news via her son that she had died suddenly.  She has left behind a wonderful account of both her and her mother's time in Orkney.

Meanwhile in the garden the foxes are back and paired up ready for the next seasons of Winter into Spring.

and some of the apples are finally ripe enough to take gently from the tree.  

 All for now.  

Five on a Friday in August

 Five random things to ponder upon on a Friday.

The Marigolds in the jug were taken out of the greenhouse where they had been companion plants for the tomatoes.  I love their bright colour but I had a feeling that they weren't seen as joyful flowers so I looked them up in the language of flowers.  Apparently in Victorian England they were seen as flowers of grief or despair, oh dear - but in Hindu and Mexican cultures they represent the warmth of the sun (well we certainly have that) positive energy and creativity.  I'll go with that one.

On a recent visit to a stately home (of which more later) we found this unusual monument in the nearby churchyard.  I've tried to find out more about it but with little success.  It is covered in moss which was bright green in the sunlight.  It was under a tree near a wall and was quite small.  Is it a child's grave?  It also looks a bit like an 18th century clergyman's collar with his two preaching bands at the neck,  or am I dreaming? Does anyone have any ideas?  

I've been enjoying reading in the afternoons or late evenings.  The Museum of Second Chances by Jo Leevers I enjoyed very much.  I've taken another book out of the library written by her and hope it will be as good.  The Burning Tide by William Shaw is also from the library.  It's the second of his Eden Driscoll series set in Teignmouth in Devon and I've just started reading it. Memories of childhood holidays in Teignmouth and Shaldon drifting through my mind when the author mentions certain places. A Year on the Fosse by Rick Thompson has been on my list for ages and I decided to treat myself to a copy.  The Fosse Way is a Roman road, 230 miles long that runs between Lincoln and Exmouth in Devon. We recently watched a tv documentary by Tom Fort called A303: Highway to the Sun in which he mentions the Fosse Way, seeing this reminded me of the book.  It was a programme we'd seen before but we enjoyed it a second time.  The Hawk is Dead by Peter James is a DCI Roy Grace novel, the derailing of the royal train just outside Brighton takes the detective up to London and into the very highest echelons searching for clues. 

Two of our Heritage pottery attractions are closing or have been closed for filming.  The Gladstone Pottery Museum will be closing soon for filming of The Great Pottery Throwdown which I always enjoy watching.  

Middleport Pottery  was closed for a few days last month for the filming of a new series called The Cadburys.  I assume about the chocolate manufacturers.  I know that another Birmingham set series, Peaky Blinders, has done some filming there once or twice.

As well as reading I've been pottering with family history.  I recently found out that an ancestor was a Chelsea pensioner.  

Thomas Parker served with the 3rd regiment of foot guards from 1798 to 1820 before being discharged after suffering a head wound whilst in Holland.   As this was during the time of the Napoleonic Wars I'm intrigued to find out more.

All for now.

World Book Day

 Today is World Book Day.  I can't imagine being without books.  I have to be reading a book and have books around me.  It's good to escape into the pages of a book especially in troubled times.  By books I mean any means of reading them.  On line, on an e-reader, cloud library, audio book or a physical book from the library or book shop.  I do struggle with font size nowadays so some of the favourite books I've pulled off our bookshelves would probably not now be read as they stand but I still have them and wouldn't want to be without them.

I've read lots of wonderful books over the years but the ones I've photographed are enduring favourites.  

In the centre my very favourite book, read many times 'A Month in the Country' by J L Carr.  Also re-read many times are 'The Enchanted April' by Elizabeth Von Arnim and 'The Daughter of Time' by Josephine Tey.  

 

I read 'A Child in the Forest' by Winifred Foley when I found out that one of my ancestors my 4xgreat-grandfather came to Derbyshire from the Forest of Dean in the 1780s.

Two other favourite books I can't find at the moment, perhaps they are in a box somewhere or maybe I loaned them to someone and they never came back. Anyway they are 'Testament of Youth' by Vera Brittain and 'Katherine' by Anya Seaton.  Winifred Holtby who wrote South Riding was a friend of Vera Brittain and the preface of my copy was written by Vera's daughter Shirley Williams.

I did find both copies of a book that introduced me to Georgette Heyer whilst I was still at school in the 1960s.  I read the older version from 1946 from my Mum and Dad's bookshelves and then must have later bought a copy for myself.  It cost three shillings and sixpence.

Many of these books are old, much faded with browned pages but somehow I can't part with them, they are old friends. 

 I haven't even touched on favourite classics or non-fiction.  Perhaps they will be for another day.

Right, I'm off to sit in my comfy chair, with a mug of tea and a good book.  Do share your favourites, it would be lovely to hear your choices.  I expect they will all be very different.

Take care.

It's Friday

It's been a busy week.  Medical appointments Monday and Wednesday for me.  A Geological group meeting on Thursday for Paul.  

Whilst out for walks over the last week or two we've spotted some bright and cheerful things.

A Snoopy Trail is coming to Trentham Gardens in March.  That will be fun.  Love Snoopy.  Many years ago I had a yellow Woodstock (Snoopy's little bird friend) I wonder what happened to it? I probably gave it away.

There is another outdoor art exhibition in the City Centre in the Bethesda Chapel Gardens opposite the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery.  The Museum building is closed at the moment for refurbishment.

Charles William Brown (1882-1961) was born on Biddulph Moor* and worked in both the farming and mining industries.  He took up painting on his retirement.  Here is a -link- to more information from the Barewall Gallery in Burslem.  * The source of the River Trent is on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor where it rises as a small stream making its way through Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire across country until it meets the River Ouse and the North Sea between Kingston-upon-Hull and Immingham.

The paintings are of local places and happenings.  All painted in the early 1950s.  The three below caught my eye.

Landscape with bus 1955.  I'm guessing a day trip into the Staffordshire Moorlands or the Peak District., mainly because of the stone walls around the fields.

Shelton Bar from the Allotments 1950.  Shelton Bar was a major steel works in the city.  Closed now, of course as are the coal mines and many of the pottery works too.  

Washing Line 1952.  A riot of colour.  It looks like a warm Summer day.

A red squirrel at the Peak Wildlife Park.  He had a damp tail but was enjoying tucking into his breakfast hazelnut.

Snowdrops at Wolseley Bridge nature reserve.

My photos don't do the carpets of white under the trees justice.  There were a few daffodils dotted around amongst them.

A trip to the Library this morning to take books back and seek something new to read.  I took ages to find books to bring home but three came with me.  All authors I've read before.

Bad news this morning when we learned that a friend had fallen and broken her ankle and leg.  We will go to visit next week hopefully.  She and her husband spent most the the Summer and Autumn last year helping a neighbour who had fallen and broken her ankle quite badly now our friend has done the same.  

All for now.

February Days

February weather has been grey and damp so far.  Local walks have lifted spirits a little even if we have to zig-zag and slalom around the rain filled pot holes and continual roadworks to get there.

Some encouraging signs of Spring at Trentham this week.

Witch hazel  

Daphne - the scent was wonderful, soft and sweet.  

Snowdrops, flowering on either side of the pathways, glowing in the dull air like little nightlights.

Little Egret - we hadn't seen one for a while but two were spotted on this visit.  Lots of Herons too.

Cooking in a warm kitchen.  Paul made Leek and Potato Soup and I made cheese scones to go with it.

Just the thing to liven up dull, grey days.  Not the most attractive scones I've ever made but tasty nonetheless.

Evening visitor to the garden.  I could just about snap this photo with the outside lights on, he or she wasn't at all bothered as it tucked into the fox's food.

Books from the library and one loaned from a friend.  Lots of interesting reading to write about possibly in a later post.

It's raining again today we managed a walk before the heavy rain started.  Now it's time for lunch and some of the soup left over from yesterday.

All for now.