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! :-)
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...
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...
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! :-)
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...
