Jersey

The man and I went to Jersey last month; can't believe it was that long ago! Neither of us had ever been to the Channel Islands, so it was a chance to do some real exploring...

Travelling as foot passengers on the conventional from Portsmouth took us just over 9 hours to get there - having now experienced being on a ferry for that long, I wouldn't recommend it for a second trip. First-time round was fun, but not something I want to do on another visit. And there certainly will be another visit!

I absolutely fell in love with the island. It has all the best bits of British and French living rolled into one. Everyone speaks English, the place names are French, and whilst the currency is Pound Sterling, they print their own bank notes, including £1 notes! :-)

Life seems a lot more relaxed there; though that might be down to us having been tourists! For such a relatively small island (though it is the biggest of the Channel Islands), being 9 miles across at its widest point, there is masses to do there and plenty of places to visit - we didn't have nearly enough time there...

There were three highlights of the holiday for me:
First was discovering the harbour village of St Aubin - absolutely gorgeous - I want to live there!!!





The second highlight was meeting up with an old friend for the first time... Yep you've guessed - a friend I'd met online but never face-to-face. We met through an internet forum site for lovers of fantasy and science fiction about 7 years ago. He lives in Jersey with his fiancee and two children, and is a very talented singer/songwriter and published author :-) - take a look at www.justinthorne.com. We went for a meal with him and his fiancee and his children and we all got on like a house on fire :-) We went back to their house afterwards and he treated us to our own private concert :-)

The third highlight was visiting Mont Orgueil Castle:



You won't find a castle in a better location... The man and I both agreed that it was one of the best we'd ever visited - and between the two of us we've been to a few... On a clear day you can see the coast of France, though unfortunately when we were there the visibility wasn't quite good enough, though it was certainly hot and sunny enough. It's one of those castle with lots of random staircases leading off to places you might otherwise miss - very fun to explore!






To finish, have a Jersey cow:

So, I've still got a job!

Yes, that's right folks, I'm still one of Britain's lucky - i.e. in employment. I've successfully made myself so indispensable that my manager's been forced to up my contracted hours from 31 to 40 per week - *rubs hands in expectation of a bigger pay cheque to come*

The mister and I have also worked out that I'm due a tidy sum in tax rebate - Yes, I'd better repeat it: *speaks slowly to ensure comprehension* ~ Money back from HMRC :-)

I should really offer apologies for depriving you of my unique style of blogging for so long since my last post... Things have been really quite hectic over the last month or so, and whilst I've had many intentions of picking up the keyboard during that time, I never really made it to writing anything.

As some of you will be aware, my dear sister got married just over a week ago, and I got the only bridesmaid job going. My sister looked as stunning as I knew she would, and my brother-in-law (I love saying that!) scrubbed up quite well too - he even trimmed his beard. Imagine a more human version of Chewbacca, and you've got him. Talking of Chewie - he does a scarily accurate impression *grins*

I know someone might be interested in the flowers and other arrangements...







and this was my bouquet - my sisters was the same but bigger...


My sister also made her wedding jewellery (which I benefited from too, as she made me a pendant, slightly smaller and slightly different to match hers):




All in all a good day was had by all, and the mister and I will be celebrating it all over again in a couple of weeks at their 'Just Hitched' party.

Talking of the mister; we're off on holiday in two days :-) Off to the most southerly of the Channel Islands, Jersey ~ land of the jumpers and potatoes. Whilst we're there we'll be meeting up with an old internet-based friend of mine (who I've never met face-to-face), who's a published author and singer/songwriter with two albums :-) He's also a bit of a poker player. See this website if you're wondering who the hell I'm talking about...

Anyway, will try not to leave such a huge yawning gap between posts next time...

'Tis time to make packing lists :-)

The end of unemployment and the Job Centre (we hope!)

Yes, that's right folks, I have a job.

*waits whilst the huge gasps of shock and squeals of delight pass*

I'm starting next week as a Sales Assistant at that well known and much loved pharmacy Boots. The branch I'll be working in is one of their tiny village-sized ones, so there won't be too much shelf-stacking or too many customers (!) I will however get to sell drugs over the counter and organise prescriptions, so the added responsibility will be very welcome. I also get the sexy white and navy uniform again... *thumbs up*

I think we'll all agree that at the moment any job is worth having. This will also mean that I can go into the Job Centre tomorrow and do the two fingers dance *grins*. However, I will also need to ring up the council and tell them I'll be eligible to pay council tax again... *groans*

Ah well. At least in future people can ask me "How was work?" again - I've missed that!

Why is everyone getting married at the moment?

Yes, you guessed, it's the wedding time of year / life.

Tomorrow my cousin Robert is getting married to Sarah (whose legs the man admires very much).

Next week the man's close friend is marrying her man, and a certain group of people, under the name of 'The Bristols', will be playing at their reception...

Then on the 5th September my sister is getting married, and I'm the one and only bridesmaid.

Why can't people be considerate to us poor people who are still at the 'in a relationship' stage, and spread their weddings out a bit more?

Ah well, much fun and good food/drink will be had by all no doubt!

I have two very pretty dresses to wear, and some fantastic shoes... :-)

Woodcocks and Nightjars, yeah?

Last weekend was an exciting one, not least for the good company I was keeping, all squished into my small abode...

For once I was able to be the host (or hostess technically), and to show these nice people around my local patch (i.e. the fields and the riverside walk), and introduce them to the joys of Ludshott Common.

Many butterflies and moths were seen on the field edges during our walk on the Saturday afternoon, including: Comma, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Ringlet and I think a large Skipper. Patronise these persons blog-type ramblings for pikkies...

Oh and the man and I also saw a Marbled White on the Sunday afternoon - shortly before the Wimbledon final - a good omen it turned out to be (Good old Roger) :-)

Saturday evening was spent doing the National Trust Warden-led Nightjar walk, with the aim being, surprisingly, to see Nightjars... Which we did. Very well. We also heard them. Lots. :-) And they were well worth the aching back I was suffering from. Other avian species seen which were a second life and year tick were Woodcocks :-) - they have long beaks. Good silhouette views were seen of them in flight. There was a nice sunset too.

Monday I was off again to Somerset to see my Grandma who's not too well at the moment, and on the way was surprised to see that Lesser Black Backed Gulls apparently like the company of the pigs opposite Stonehenge...

Today was more babysitting - started at 7:45 this morning.....ouch.

Oh and the Grey Wagtails on the river appear to be hiding at the moment, or at least when I walk by...

Several 'Beautiful Demoiselle' Damselflies seen on my river!

Yes, that's right folks, there is something exciting on my local river, the Rother. A couple of days this week I've had cause to walk into the cetnre of the village, which involves crossing the small road bridge over the river. I've paused for a few minutes to look at the river to see if there were any exciting flighted things down there and saw several of these: (not my photo!)

I described them in great detail last night to the man, who now owns a field guide on these interesting insects... Everything fitted, the flapping of the wings like a butterfly, the habitat, the appearance and the distribution... :-) Certain people should be able to see them for themselves next week!

Also of note were a pair of Grey Wagtails on the same stretch of river, I'm getting to be more and more of a fan of this bird... Apparently they have the longest tail of all the Wagtails!

Ingrebourne and Rainham...

This weekend was spent 'dahn in Essix' with the man.

I got extremely tiddly at the Crown on Friday night and felt rather groggy in the morning when the man woke me up with tea... Blame his father for buying me doubles...

Saturday was the day of the man's concert, so whilst he was off warming up and practising the old vocal chords, I was with certain family members of his watching and groaning over the Lions v South Africa match... We lost, in case you didn't know... But the second half had some damn good rugby.

The concert itself was pretty good, two other music connoisseurs came too, and agreed that the half in which the man was performing (Mozart's Requiem) was far better than the purely orchestral half... At least one of the violinists was VERY off, and there was a rather cringe-worthy moment with a French horn... Apres the concert I lost my shoe on the wet pavement, and we adjourned to the Victoria to eat peanuts and drink ourselves merry, whilst avoiding the croonings of the awful 'singer' in the bar... Bread and cheese were then consumed in very generous quantity whilst I admired a very nice Streptocarpus.

Sunday was lie-in day :-)
(this deserves a line all to itself)
In the afternoon I stole the man's car and explored the Ingrebourne Valley, whilst he and these people were suffering in a very hot and stuffy rehearsal studio...
I absolutely fell in love with Ingrebourne. The wild flowers and butterflies were fantastic, as were the sheer variety of damsel flies. Birds of note which I identified were: Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and hundreds of Long-tailed Tits with some Blue Tits mixed in... Also got a great view of a Wren with a beak stuffed full of fluff :-) On the butterfly count I got: Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Large White and Small Blue. Damsel flies were blue, green, red, black and white striped, and that one with the black splodges on the top wings - ask the people with the book... All very pretty though.

Rainham was done with this person, being a fellow scrounger off the state... Nothing hugely exciting was seen on the bird front, although we got some great views of Reed and Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings. There was also an obliging female Blackcap and many Whitethroats. I also got a good view of what I'm certain was a Stonechat (having since conferred with the appropriate text). There was also one life and year tick for me - a Mediterranean Gull - which is so exciting it isn't even in my pocket-sized RSPB Guide to British Birds which covers 174 species - obviously not enough... The Little Egrets were on fine form, and there was one female mallard who had 10 quite large ducklings with her! - well done Missus!

I got excited over damsel flies and the wild flowers mainly though. I'd purchased prior to starting the circuit a proper field guide of wild flowers of Britain and Northern Europe, and it came in very useful! Many of the plants I knew, or if I did not know them, I could at least take an educated guess at their family - many pea family plants there! An exciting find was a Dark Mullein, with delicate yellow flowers with vibrant purple anthers... :-) I was able to have an erudite conversation with a nice old chap who chatted to us a couple of times, on this particular plant... :-) I think I came across like I knew what I was talking about (which I definitely didn't!).

A new butterfly sighting for the year was a Woodland Ringlet (see this person's blog for pikkies), which I don't recall ever having seen and identified before... Meadow Brown were out in strength, as were the Large and Small Whites. We also found ourselves a Peacock and a Cinnibar Moth.

However, in the whole of Rainham we never saw a Water Vole! :-( Heard one munching some reeds and one point, but no sighting at all... Pity, they're cute little things...

And now I am back in sunny Hampshire and awaiting some news on a potential job interview - Mental Health Paralegal in Guildford - I had a phone call about it whilst eating a sausage sandwich at Rainham yesterday... *crosses fingers*

Today is a good day...

Today is a good day...

Because:

1) I had a lie-in for the whole morning :-)

2) I went for a lovely long walk with my parents along the river and saw a Grey Wagtail and several bright blue damsel-flies

3) I wrote to a friend of a friend earlier this week who happens to be the senior partner of a local solicitors firm, asking for some work experience, and he replied today asking for my CV!

4) I'm doing some babysitting tomorrow morning and all day Wednesday next week, so will be adding to my little stock-pile of extra cash, and

5) I'm seeing the man again tomorrow afternoon! :-)

Aching muscles, historic whatsits and The Concert...

I haven't posted much over the last few days, I know, I'm a poor blogger, still, I'd rather write about interesting things, than bore you with my inane prattlings...

On Thursday I took the bike out... what an experience that was... I came back aching like mad and with several fresh bruises, but still smiling. I took it along the long and fairly straight riverside walk (which also counts as a 'cycle track' round here) and managed to stay on the whole time! Though I did almost run over a rather friendly nice-looking golden retriever, much to its owners concern (at the dog) and disgust (at me). The man has now taken the silly toe-hold thingys off the pedals now, so it should be easier to ride! I also have the promise of 'being found' a helmet and groovy fluorescent jacket, though I think that will mean an expedition into the shed...

On Friday I did laundry and prepared a nice evening meal for said man, who arrived in his little red car at just gone 9 o'clock... His second trip down to sunny Hampshire under his own steam... (or petrol).

Saturday saw us on our way (with packed lunch in tow) to the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum which features historic buildings like this (stolen from the website, more pikkies will follow from the man):


The museum covers quite a large site, on the edge of the South Downs, and incorporates deciduous woodland and traditional farmland. All the buildings have been rescued from destruction and re-erected at the museum, coming from Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey and Kent. Definitely a place to spend the best part of a day at. They've got a fantastic working watermill and pond, with some incredibly friendly mallards... :-) "quack". One of the females adopted us during our afternoon cup of tea/piece of cake, and actually ate bits of cake from our hands :-) - the funniest sight was seeing her waddle off with crumbs of chocolate cake around her bill...! Aww... :-)

Whilst we were at the museum we saw hundreds of Swallows - all nesting in the old buildings - perfect territory for them with the fields and meadows nearby. There was also an incredibly loud Chaffinch which we had some lovely views of. The Wrens were also very loud - we were serenaded by one as we sat under a tree munching our way through cheese and pickle sandwiches...

In my opinion though, the best were the proper 'cottage' gardens which had been planted up around some of the buildings... A fantastic mix of traditional vegetables, old-fashioned rambling roses, herbs and flowers... With chickens pecking around wandering freely... :-)

We also met Neville the Shire horse, but I'll let the man tell the funny story...

All in all a good day was had, with fantastic weather - the man even got a bit sun burned. It was all rounded off very nicely with an evening meal with my dad.

Sunday was the day of The Concert. Yes it was time for me to show off as one of the newest (and certainly the youngest) member of The Waverley Singers, in our concert of 'Music for a Summer Evening', and a summer evening it certainly was! Everything went to plan, and the sopranos actually managed to get a certain passage right, which had evaded us throughout the whole of the rehearsal that afternoon! The concert was a good mix of Elgar, Britten, Vaughan Williams and Percy Grainger. It seemed to go down very well, and the guest Tenor and Harpist were excellent. I also got complimented twice afterwards :-). After it finished we drank wine (or Orange juice if driving!) and ate W.I. style sandwiches whilst watching the amazing number of Swifts in and around the Churchyard.

Today the man went home... :-(

But on Friday I'm off up to his for a long weekend :-) - he's got his choir's concert on Saturday evening...

Bicycle fun...

I have a loan of a bicycle! - a nice one too!
- I must remind the man to remember to bring down all his 'bicycle-related' accessories when he drives down on Friday (!)

However, the front mud-guard is a bit bent, so something needs doing about that, and the higher gear lever thingy doesn't work - so currently I can get from 1st to 3rd, but no further... The man and I shall visit a bicycle shop on the weekend hopefully and put right these minor problems... Yay!

I shall soon be the fluorescent queen - you ain't going to be able to miss me on the roads...

Of the exciting things London has to offer...

I don't believe I have yet shared the excitement of mine and the man's recent day out in the capital... On Saturday 23rd, we went up to the bright lights to go to the London Aquarium and London Zoo :-)

We spent the morning at the Aquarium and, other than the screaming kids who didn't seem impressed by anything they saw and refused to listen to the talks, we had a great time. The man took his shiny new camera to try out and got some fantastic results; this is my favourite! - Yellow Tang fish - I want some!



Before doing the Zoo we went for a wander around Regents Park and stopped off at 'The Honest Sausage' for lunch - a small, very reasonably priced cafe, specializing in fairtrade and organic food. I had one of the most delicious bacon rolls ever... :-) We sat outside and had a lovely view across the park towards people playing football and others lying in the sun or the shade enjoying the weather.

The Zoo was amazing. It was the first time I'd ever visited it, and I was not disappointed! My favourites were the otters and the gorillas.







All in all a good day was had by all! (Or both, as there were only two of us!)

Pretty Flowery Things...

A fairly short post this time to inform all you kittens that I now have LOTS of pretty pots of flowery planties outside my front - it makes a world of difference to how everything looks :-) Now you can see past the peeling paintwork and crumbling woodwork and see happy pretty growing planties :-)
- can you tell I like them?!
There are more to follow though, so photos will arrive when they're all in situ :-)
Just to give a taster though, for Spoonbillz' benefit, I've got petunias, geraniums (lots of different colours!), two lavenders, rosemary, dianthus, the three red miniature roses the man gave me for our three year anniversary, begonias and other exciting things... All courtesy of my mother and grandma :-) Yay! I will soon have two hanging baskets too! :-)

Anyway, enough of the planties...

On the job front, I applied for six (yes, re-read that number) jobs this past week, so fingers crossed something will come from one of them... On a better note, I've been doing some babysitting for a friend's family, only a short walk away, and am now slightly better off financially :-) - perhaps this will be the means of saving up for my bicycle!

Liss isn't doing too badly on the bird front at the moment. The Blue Tits which were nesting opposite me fledged whilst I was away last week :-( - Let's hope they survive. The Sparrows are on fine form and are apparently nesting near the Church. Blackbirds are singing constantly, which is always good to hear, as are the Robins. Lots of House Martins around too, and I discovered where one pair are nesting uner the eaves of a house today :-) (also, my Grandma, in Somerset, has House Martins nesting on the side of her bungalow!). Many many Jackdaws and Crows, along with the usual Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves. Saw a Chaffinch today though, which was a nice surprise... Not in Liss, but worth mentioning in the 'bird' paragraph, on the way to and from my Grandma's house on Friday I saw three Buzzards! :-)

My local patch and other things...

This, courtesy of O.S., is the area around where I live... I've marked on there in red all the public footpaths and rights of way which I frequent. The one which starts off by the station and runs almost parallel with the railway is the Liss Railway Riverside Walk, maintained by a local charity, and following the route of the old military railway between Liss and Longmoor Camp. The yellow cross in the pink circle shows, near enough, where I live - one of the paths runs alongside the side of my flat... Oh and the big pink road is the A3.


And below are my two locals, the Blue Bell and the Spread Eagle - the Eagle is within view of my front door :-)





I met a representative from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust yesterday, outside Tesco in Petersfield, of all places! They've had a stand up in the entrance for a couple of days to try and encourage people to join, and to raise awareness of their work. I had a lovely long chat with him and got some good advice and recommendations of reserves within easy reach of me (one only 5 miles away, if that!) and he gave me one of their members magazines for free :-) - got a great article in it on Peregrines. When I have money I will definitely be joining. They've got far more reserves than I ever realised, and many are SSSI's. - Lots of locations to visit when the man brings the car down methinks! :-)

Talking of the man, I'm off up to his tomorrow :-). We're having a meal tomorrow evening with an old housemate of mine and her fiance - haven't seen either of them for ages, so it should be a fun evening. Got many other things planned for the weekend, including, as previously mentioned, the Sealife Centre! *grins* Will be seeing these people whilst I'm there too :-)

Oh, I need to get a rain cover and new strap for my binoculars... Must remember!

Got my choir rehearsal tonight, so it'll be more Benjamin Britten, Vaughan Williams and Elgar... Also some Percy Grainger folk songs which we have to sing in a Lincolnshire accent...! - you can imagine. There's all the old boys in the tenor and bass sections singing lustily about overtaking a fair young maid in the woods; most of them are well past their prime, and would probably have great difficulty in overtaking anyone! - it causes amusement...

Seahorses in Dorset and the Solent

This and this are worth a read...

;-)

More Musings, as requested...! Of auditions, riverside walks and bicycles...

As requested by a certain person here be more musings from Hampshire, which have been sadly lacking for a week or two...

I hit a bit of a low after Norfolk, getting used to being enclosed by four walls and limited to Robins, Blackbirds and Wood Pigeons took a while...

I had my audition for The Waverley Singers Thursday before last, and passed without any problem :-) I even got complimented on my sight singing as being the best in the choir - a nice thing to hear considering my sight reading, although vastly improved, is not one of my strong points and is something I really have to work at. The 'Pie Jesu' from Faure's 'Requiem' went down a storm, and my high notes weren't squeaky despite the lack of a proper warm up. They've been nice to me regarding the joining fee too - as I'm unemployed, I can pay half the normal fee, and hire my music for free :-) - all good for the tight budget!

I went walkies the other day round my local patch, being the country footpaths down past the cricket field, along fields and hedgerows until reaching the riverside walk, and continuing along the river (along the route of the old military railway between Liss and Longmoor) into the village centre by the station. This walk should only take 20 minutes, however, it took me over an hour to get to the Tesco Express to do my shopping! - This of course was due to all the exciting little birdies in the trees and hedgerows along the way... :-) Before I'd gone more than 100 yards from the flat I came across a Chaffinch calling from a tree along the edge of the cricket field, I managed to get pretty close to it, and got a really good view - cue my first thought of 'I wish I'd brought my binoculars'. In the hedgerows and along the paths I saw masses of wild flowers someone would've liked; Meadow Buttercup, Red Campion, Lesser Speedwell, Wild Garlic, Cow Parsley, Wild Violas, Lesser Stichwort to name but a few - and in great quantity - masses of colour everywhere, you'd think someone had planted them :-).

Now everything's in leaf it made life more difficult in trying to spot the various birds making plenty of noise as I went along. Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins and Blackbirds were the easiest to identify, and it was nice seeing them in their natural habitat behaving as woodland birds, rather than on a bird table. I might've caught sight of a Great Spotted Woodpecker at one point, but it was as it disappeared round the other side of a tree trunk, and I could be wrong... There were some very interesting calls going on as I neared the river, though alas without the bins I was unable to even attempt to find the birds making them, cue second 'I wish I'd brought the binoculars' thought. Prior to walking across the little bridge over the river, I caught sight of a Song Thrush who disappeared as soon as it spotted me. Once across the river, rather than follow the main wide path, which is used by walkers and cyclists alike, I turned off it and walked along the less used track that follows the edge of the river. There's masses of wild garlic in flower there, and the smell was very strong. Further along the path a Peacock butterfly landed on a garlic flower almost right under my feet, it stayed there quite a while, and I had a nice long opportunity to look at it - it was very obliging and kept its wings open for me. Further along the river I saw a couple of wrens and I startled a female blackbird from poking around in the undergrowth when I walked by. Then, I heard a rather unusual song, from fairly high up in the trees above my head... I could see the bird responsible, but due to the angle at which it was sitting, and the fact that it was mostly bright sky behind I found it difficult to identify it - this was no Robin or Blackbird; cue third 'I wish I'd brought my bins' thought. Finally it flew onto a lower branch with greenery behind it, and by changing my position 3 or 4 times I was able to get a good view of it - Blackcap :-) :-) :-) - the first one I've seen down there! :-) I looked it up in my shiny new bird book when I got home, and it was definitely that. Whoo! Patch Tick! (yes I've started doing this 'ticking' thing!). No Grey Wagtail for me this time though - but we've seen one down there, so they do exist...

Talking of ticks, I'm on 103 for my year list so far... Perhaps when the man and I are in London on Saturday we can stop by the Tate Modern to see the Peregrines nesting on top of the chimney - then it'll be 104 :-). Next time he's down here with the car I'm hoping we can go to Ludshott Common (the local National Trust heathland area - my Mum happens to be Chairman of the management commitee) and we'll try and find ourselves a Redstart, and maybe a Dartford Warbler - both are fairly common visitors there (tick, tick).
This be Ludshott, for interested parties to see (the hills on the skyline are the South Downs):






Here's a Red Deer we caught sight of on Ludshott a couple of Easters ago:



Later in July we're going on an evening warden-guided walk there to try and see Nightjars, or at least hear them.

Also whilst he's down I want to go down to Butser Hill - butterfly territory :-) - chalk downland should be good for some little blue ones... Rumour has it that there's some pretty good species up there at the moment.

I want a bicycle, as the man will testify, almost every phone call he's had with me recently has involved this topic. However, being a poor unemployed scrounger off the state (and what's more a responsible citizen who only spends money she has!) this investment will have to wait until a job arrives to pay me money, and at the moment, who knows when that might be! However, I want one, and I shall have one, at some point... - watch this space...

Signing on day again on Wednesday - urgh. I refuse to waste anymore space writing about that pointless and soul-destroying necessity.

Friday I shall be on my travels again, this time to sunny Essex once more to see the man :-), and possibly others. This time I'll be staying on until Wednesday, and with Monday being a Bank Holiday, it should be a nice few days :-) - we're going to the Sealife Centre on Saturday!!!! - I'm sure a certain someone will approve of such a visit... :-)

Right kittens, I think that's me up to date for now, apart from that I've found another job to apply for (!) - unlikely occurance as that might be! - It's an 'Assistant Administrator' job with the exam board AQA, based in Guildford. I've just spent hours writing out their stupid long application form, and my thumb hurts... I also spent half an hour, and consultation via text message with the man, over possible examples of 'is flexible and responsive to change' - does losing my job and having to look for a new one count?!

Finally, have some pretty pictures of Pied Wagtails and a House Sparrow taken at the campsite in Norfolk, courtesy of the man:






Did I mention there's a pair of Blue Tits nesting in the box on my neighbour's wall opposite me? - In full view of my front window :-) though having to be viewed through manky net curtain...

Apologies for the length of this post! - but Spoonbillz, you asked for it...! ;-)

Norfolk Adventures...

Three nice people and I have just returned from the bird infested north coast of Norfolk.

The weather was as good as we could have hoped for, including slight sun burn sustained by all. We even managed to put up and take down the tents in the dry - very important.

On the bird front, this would be a VERY long post if I listed them all, so let me just list my top ten species seen (in no particular order):

1) A very exciting bird which cannot be named;
2) Marsh Harrier;
3) Bittern;
4) Bearded Tit;
5) Sedge Warbler;
6) Reed Warbler;
7) Long-Tailed Duck;
8) Fulmar;
9) Cuckoo;
10) Treecreeper (for the sheer bending over backwardsness that had to be adopted to find/see it)

As you can imagine there were many others that really deserve a mention, but I'll keep for another post :-)

Have a gander at these:








More pikkies will come later (these are stolen from the man) when I've got a little more time.

At the moment I need to go practice an audition piece to sing for the new choir I've recently joined. I'm thinking the 'Pie Jesu' from Faure's 'Requiem', seeing as I performed it not too long ago, and it's still fresh in my memory. After the audition it'll be back to the usual mix of Vaughan Williams, Elgar and Percy Grainger - all for our summer concert in June. They make me sing very high :-)

Of Sunday roasts and other birds...

Today was spent between Liss and Standford (where the parenticals live), Standford being where lunch was provided... :-)

Bright sun and blue skies all day and free food to boot - a good day methinks.

Between the two locations I notched up a fairly good list of avian species, including a few exciting (for me) ones...see the coloured entries...

Final count for the day:

Blackbirds (male and female)
House Sparrows (male and female)
Robins
1 Chaffinch
1 Wren
Collared Doves
Wood Pigeons
1 Blue Tit
1 Great Tit
Magpies
Jackdaws
1 Green Woodpecker
1 House Martin, and.........
1 Buzzard

:-) not bad for one country garden, walks down local roads and a brief riverside stroll eh?

I also heard but didn't see a Pheasant.

And on the way back in the car from the parents we almost (but thankfully didn't) ran over a very cute baby rabbit - it was just sitting on the edge of an A road, apparently unaware of the danger! - can't think it will last long if it continues doing that...! It was really tiny though, bless it.

Unusual Nesting Sites...

Take a look at this...
Bless our little feathered friends...I do wonder though, just how long you need to leave your washing out on the line for!

Pizza, Reminiscences and Cakes

The lack of posts over the last few days is due to my having had a guest staying with me over the weekend - an old university friend who I lived with in Halls. We hadn't seen each other for a couple of years, so it was a good catch-up and reminiscence time. Pizza was enjoyed on Friday night (extra pepperoni and mushroom, with garlic pizza bread) :-) - just to whet your appetites... A good time was had by us both.

One thing I did notice this weekend though, was the difference between walking with a non-birder and a birder. I've got so used to stopping and searching the hedgerows and trees for sign of a singing bird, it was a bit unsatisfactory when my companion this weekend continued walking and acted slightly impatient at my stopping and starting... I think this proves I've got the bug!

Saw many examples of my favourites over the weekend though, Blackbirds, Robins and Sparrows, along with a beautiful Song Thrush who ran into the hedge as soon as she saw me (I've always thought of Thrushes as female somehow...). On Sunday morning I heard a very distinctive bird singing, couldn't see it as the trees were too thick, and I was unable to stop and look properly (due to my company), however the song was made up of trills, warbling and running of scales, really impressive, and definitely not a Robin or Blackbird. Wish I could've identified it. I'll keep my ears open from now on in case I hear/see it again...

Today has been a 'domestic' day - doing the laundry and baking cakes! :-) Chocolates cakes to be precise, and very good they are too... :-) - jealous yet?!

Green Woodpecker vs Blackbird...

An interesting feature in the Wildlife Extra e-zine I get via email...

Green Woodpecker versus Blackbird
- some pretty impressive pictures of what must be a fairly unusual fight... In my opinion the Blackbird looks to be the winner...

Sparrows, Robins and Blackbirds

Yes, that's what I've seen today...

Rather more exciting than it sounds, for me anyway, as Robins and Blackbirds are my favourite birds :-)

Had a fantastic couple of minutes hardly daring to breathe when a Robin flew down onto the path almost right in front of me. He pecked about happily and threw a few leaves around before looking at me with his beady eye and flying off... :-)

The Blackbirds were on fine form today with their singing, I think I can safely say that the Liss Blackbirds are excelling themselves this spring.

Many Sparrows were seen in the hedgerows, fighting over which part of of the hedge was theirs :-)

Some good news on the job search front...

FINALLY, some good news to report on the job search front.

A week or so ago I applied, through the recruitment agency 'Priority Legal', for this. As always, I applied then thought no more about it - no one seems to bother replying these days, let alone invite me for interview. However, today (surprise surprise!) I had a phone call from a guy at Priority Legal asking for more information about me, and was really enthusiastic about what I told him...(particularly that I'd done a medical law module during my degree). He asked me to email him with a covering letter, detailing everything I'd told him, and making it clear I had a real interest in this area etc etc etc... Which I have just done! :-) He'll be in touch as soon as he has an update on my application, and will hopefully try and get me an interview in a couple of weeks...!

And to top it all, my friendly local blackbird is singing his heart out outside my front window and the sun in shining - a good day methinks...

Chough nesting on Anglesey

This is exciting! : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7998988.stm

...I wonder what the man thinks of this as a future holiday destination... :-)

Kingfishers, Easter Eggs and Grandma

The Easter weekend is now drawing to a close and for me it's been a pretty busy one.

The man arrived on Friday early afternoon after his first long-distance motorway drive, without incident and gasping for a mug of tea :-). We went to our favourite Chinese restaurant in the local town for a meal and ended up bumping into an old college friend of mine in the pub.

On Saturday we drove down to Somerset to spend the day with my Grandma. Arrived there at about half 11 and had a wonderful warm, blue-skied sunny day there, leaving behind the drizzle and grey clouds.Whilst there the man and I took the opportunity of exploring the local countryside and river walks (whilst Grandma had her afternoon nap). Lots of birds and butterflies seen, whilst having a gentle walk along the banks of the River Brue.

Final bird count for the day was:

Pheasant,
Blackbird,
Jackdaw,
Starling,
Blue Tit,
Robin,
Great Tit,
Wood Pigeon,
Collared Dove,
Dunnock,
Goldfinch,
Grey Wagtail,
and........................................(!)
Kingfisher

Yes, we finally got one... got two sights of him, both in flight, and the second gave us a great view of the electric blue - well worth the wait! :-)

On the butterfly count, we saw some Peacocks, and our first Small Tortoiseshell of the season.

I have decided I NEED a proper bird book! - I can't wait for our trip to Norfolk, my aim is to see, or hear, some Bitterns.

I have yet to have an Easter Egg! The closest I've got is a creme egg from the man's brother a couple of weekends ago... :-( Still, they'll be going cheap soon :-)

Children wear me out...

A couple of weeks ago I got 'volunteered' to help out at a 'children's activity morning' down at St Mary's, where I sing in the choir, and today was the day...!

Got down there at 10 o'clock and have just got back. They were doing all sorts of activities (involving PVA glue, glitter and tissue paper...!) to illustrate the Easter story from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. I was helping them make open tombs (involving pasta and lentils...?!) with little paper cut-out men to put inside a.k.a. Jesus...

Twas fun but energy draining...

The man will be arriving this afternoon, probably around about 5 o'clockish :-) But it's raining here at the moment, has been all morning, so it's unlikely we'll be able to go out anywhere exciting later.

Oh, and as a last mention, I now HATE white vans and their drivers. I was walking into the village this morning and a white van sprayed me with a deep puddle whilst I was walking on the pavement - NOT happy. He was driving way too fast for a 30 mph limit road as well...
Grrrrrrrr.

Well that was slightly embarrassing...

As mentioned earlier I had a choir practice tonight.

Only I didn't. Apparently.

Not only do I turn up at the Church right on half 7 (due to my Great-Aunt calling me ten minutes before I wanted to leave), but when I do turn up there's a service about to start (which I really ought to have known, seeing as it IS Holy Week, and today IS Maundy Thursday). So I'm already through the door and obviously stay for the service, but I'm in frayed, slightly shabby jeans, and a university hoodie...! - fine for choir practice, but not what I'd have chosen to wear to a service! *rolls eyes* Nevermind...

A good thing though - my headache has disappeared, due probably to paracetamol and an afternoon in bed sleeping it off - what a good job I'm unemployed... (what a good 'job'...?!! - get it?!) haha...

Beginning...

I have finally succumbed to the phenomenon which is 'blogging' it seems...

I woke up with a headache this morning, so have been consuming copious amounts of water and tea to try and kill it. Not had much success so far, so I may be reaching for the paracetamol soon...

Spent the weekend with the man and went to RSPB Rainham Marshes to see some birdies and go walking. Went there on the Saturday and the Sunday, though twas a little birdless for our liking. However, some good views of Reed Buntings and Herons. I'm getting a bit too into this whole birding thing, all the fault of the man I might add, and it looks like I'll be investing in a spotting scope (smaller than the man's) whenever I have money...

Stupid BT have sent me a bill for a service I'm not supposed to be receiving from them anymore! I'm registered with Virgin Media for it, and their records confirm that; so God knows what BT are up to. They're as bad as British Gas sending me bills for a property I hadn't lived in for 3 months!

An amusing joke from 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet': "You know the difference between a hedgehog and a Range Rover? - The hedgehog's got pricks on the outside."

Looking forward to seeing the man again on Friday (wait, that's tomorrow!), yay! He'll be arriving under his own steam for the first time, so fingers crossed for a stress-free drive and minimal traffic. Will be heading down to see my Grandma on the Saturday to take her out for lunch; she lives in Somerset. Hoping there will be some good birds to see from her garden as it overlooks rolling fields and hills further away - good spot for sparrowhawks.

We're going on 'ho-li-day' soon :-) Off to what will hopefully be a sunny North Coast of Norfolk, with a couple of friends for a long weekend's birdwatching, walking and exploring. It's a part of the country I've never been to, so I'm looking forward to the change of scene. The man and I will be trying out his new 5 man-sized tent, as we'll be going by car, so we'll be enjoying the extra space it affords I'm sure.

Got choir practice tonight, back to the Church choir, as The Waverley Singers (semi-professional choir I've just joined) have got two weeks off over Easter. Just as well really as Sunday's services will be extra important due to it being a) Easter Sunday (one of the biggest events in the Christian calendar) and b) the last service of our Rector before he retires and moves to Cambridge.

Had something exciting through the post this morning - a freebie! :-) How I love freebies. On this occasion the item is a mini cookery book on Bramley apples... Lots of tasty-looking things inside to try I'm sure. I'll bet the man agrees with me too...