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...
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...! ;-)
