Distant Thoughts

Snapping Birds

2012-01-30T09:30:00.001Z

As we walked around the lakeside at Trentham Gardens, the light was good enough to snap some of the local birds at a good distance.

Graylag goose - seen in small numbers by the lake side throughout the year. They raised quite a few young last year.

Mute Swan juvenile - one of last years cygnets is now adult size and may well soon be in adult plumage by the end of the year.

Coot - always seen at the lakeside, these are fully resident on the lake.

Black headed Gull - here in its winter plumage. At its next moult it will show the black head throughout the summer. These birds also seem to be resident all year now.

Coal Tit - never far away from the feeders at the lakeside cafe or the bird hide.

Grey Squirrel - OK not a bird, but quite ubiquitous throughout the woods, and quite tolerant of humans.

Fossil A Day

2012-01-25T19:35:00.002Z

For many years I have collected an assortment of fossil specimens, many of which I have used for teaching purposes. This collection is now sitting idle since I retired from teaching, so I thought I would review its contents, mainly for my amusement.

I have started a new blog "A Fossil A Day" to amble through this collection in a random fashion. The idea is to show one specimen as a photograph, and follow it with a brief comment, I propose to do this for a year at this stage, or until I run out of fossils.

Birds in the wild

2012-01-17T22:12:00.000Z

Whilst walking out at the weekend we spent some time watching a Dipper feeding in the water of the River Manifold. This bird must have dived a dozen times in as many minutes to catch small water insect larvae. I have often seen dippers perched on rocks, but in the absence of any rocks in the water, this one was using low slung tree branches.

Further along, the Crows were actively moving around and looking for whatever pickings they could find in the fields and meadows nearby.

This juvenile blackbird was picking berries from an ornamental garden shrub at Ilam Youth Hostel. These birds were hungry and not too fussy about having their photographs taken at close quarters. This week, the winter frosts have returned after an unseasonably long and warm spell.

The cool weather did not put the local paragliders off. At -1 degree Celsius they are cruising the updraughts on Bunster Hill. Brave souls!

headstocks

2012-01-08T14:54:00.004Z

Clipstone colliery in Nottinghamshire is now closed and the buildings are almost completely demolished. However, the head stocks remain and they are the second highest head stocks in the world. When the colliery was working, I did some maintenance on the baths and my memories are of a very clean and efficient operation, with an active community supporting the industry.

When you approach these head stocks along the main road through Clipstone, they look as if they are set on either side of the road and give the impression that you are going to drive between them. The road turns at the last minute and you pass by with the head stocks on your right. When the mine was working , there was a tunnel under the road, allowing the miners to move from the working site to the baths and the canteen without the need to cross the road at the surface.

The colliery was built between 1912 and 1919 by the Bolsover Colliery Company with mining rights leased from the Duke of Portland. By 1953 the colliery was in the hands of the National Coal Board and it was mining the Top Hard seams of coal. The mine finally closed in 2003 and the surface buildings were demolished and the land used mainly for redevelopment. Only the head stocks remain and the local council would like to have them de-listed for demolition. It would be a shame to lose this potent symbol of the mining industry which was the backbone of British Industry and this area for such a long time.

Photographs

Seed Bread

2012-01-02T09:04:00.001Z

Glebe Farm produce small packs of specialist bread flour. They come complete with yeast sachet and all you need to do is add warm water and a little oil. Rosie spotted a few packs when we were out shopping on new years eve. I have not tried them before so I thought I would give them a go. The seeded bread is one of Rosie's favourites, so that seemed to be the ideal first candidate. You just follow the instructions on the pack.

The result was a soft but firm loaf which sliced well and had a good crumb. It made ideal breakfast toast and was reasonably good value for money as I doubt that I could have made a single loaf of this kind for the price from basic and separate ingredients. These packs seem ideal for anyone who wants to have a go at bread making without the need to buy lots of stuff.

Post Christmas Walk

2011-12-27T14:09:00.001Z

Following our festive celebrations, a walk or two was in order to exercise off any excesses from the feasting. On Christmas Eve we walked around Trentham Lakes, yesterday we walked at Consal Forge and today we walked in the Kings Woods.

On our adventures we spotted a group of macaques at the edge of the forest. They were almost half a mile away and this was streaching the ability of my camera.

Later on Rosie spotted a large male at the top of a very tall tree. When he spotted us he rattled the branches and then scooted off down the tree and into the forest.

The squirrels were very active, chasing and forraging everywhere. Not surprising as the air temperature was 10.5 degrees C, very warm for mid winter. Last year at this time the temperatures were closer to -15C. We are in a veritable heat wave at present.

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T11:37:00.000Z

Yesterday we went for a walk around the lakes at Trentham. I would love to post some pictures, but when we got out there I realised my camera battery was flat! Oh-hum....

In the afternoon we pre-baked our Christmas dinner as we do most years. This year we made chestnut roast en-croute, chestnut sausage rolls and gingerbread men. We cooked a mixture of asparagus ravioli and pumpkin ravioli in a pesto sauce for dinner and finished off the left over red wine from the cooking.

Today we just need to relax and cook a few vegetables and sauce for the festive meal. The cats are well fed, the squirrels and birds have had their Christmas breakfast, we have been fed and now the pressure is on to relax a bit more. Enjoy!

My only regret is that as I am working over the winter season, and have not booked any leave before the holiday, we have not had time to see many friends or family. No doubt that can be redressed over the holiday period.

Wishing you all a happy Christmas and a joyous new year.

Moulton Windmill

2011-12-18T16:09:00.003Z

Moulton Windmill is the tallest windmill in the UK. The mill is situated in the village of Moulton off the A17 to the East of Spalding, Lincolnshire. It is undergoing a complete re-fit and restoration and a landmark event this last week was the installation of the new sails.

There were originally 4 millstones, but only 2 are now in situ on the milling floor. One has been moved downstairs and is able to operate electrically to mill small quantities of flour. The plan is that, in the Spring of 2012, the millstones will turn using wind power once again.

As you progress down the mill, the floors get wider and wider. I cannot remember seeing a windmill with so much space inside. There is even an enclosed glass walled office within the mill tower.

The mill has a tea room and offers guided tours by knowledgeable local volunteers. I can genuinely recommend a visit, check their website to see what is on offer at;
http://www.moultonwindmill.co.uk/

Out for a Walk

2011-12-10T18:45:00.001Z

Today was the first real frost of the winter season. Here in the Potteries the temperature dipped to -2 degrees Celsius overnight and by the time we were out walking over the city, the temperature had risen to +3 degrees. Out came the winter boots, hat and gloves.

Strolling around Fenton Park we came across a small flock of long tailed tits. They are fast and difficult to photograph amongst the branches of trees, so I took a lot of snapshots. These two are the best ones.

Rosie always describes them as 'balls of fluff on a stick'. They chatter a lot and refuse to remain still for more than a second at a time. We also saw bullfinch and goldfinch, but not when we had the cameras out. Rosie photographed a sparrowhawk on a wooden fence post, which was a treat to see.

At the local garden centre there are some reindeer. These two are Prancer and Dancer and this picture shows the unusually large splayed hooves that enable them to walk more easily on snow and ice. Reindeer are well adapted to living in cold climates.

Gargoyles and Gulls

2011-12-04T08:19:00.001Z

Litchfield Cathedral is, like all ancient church buildings, in constant repair. Recently there have been a number of replacements of decaying gargoyles. These ancient and decorative rainwater spouts have been replaced in the same style as the originals.

This fiendish beast captured my attention, carved in the original sandstone and looking spanking brand new. Applying this concept to the whole cathedral - it must have been a magnificent and dominating building when it was first finished. The fangs and eyes are painted white, and the original may have had painted claws as well. The carving is quite striking against a clear blue sky.

The monochrome image is also quite crisp and dynamic. I am impressed by the skill of the stone mason in restoring the design so effectively.

Back to the natural world and I spotted this chaffinch whilst having a picnic lunch. The air temperature was reading 9 degrees Celsius on the car thermometer and the bird had its feathers fluffed up against the cold.

Just for fun I snapped a series of pictures of fast flying gulls. Some pics caught the action quite well. Half of the images were deleted as I do not want to keep pictures of wingtips or tales in isolation!

These are black headed gulls. They are loosing their summer colours and have white heads for the winter months.

They still retain the outer black trim to the trailing edge of the wing.

And so to the microscope

2011-11-29T19:55:00.001Z

Last post I was looking for a microscope to help me to improve my view of insects in a piece of amber. Having sorted out the microscope I have attempted to improve my image of the insects.

The use of top lighting is difficult, producing a high level of glare from the surface of the amber. The pictures that I took with my camera were very similar. I am going to have to polish the amber to improve its surface before I can expect a clean image. Back lighting does not help as the image is seen in silhouette.

Whilst I have the microscope out I decided to take some images of some of my tiniest trilobite fossils. This one is a 4mm long Elrathia kingi from the Wheeler Shales in Utah USA.

The above image is a 0.8mm long developed larval stage of the same trilobite. It is very difficult to see with the naked eye in any detail.

This is another tiny trilobite, just 2.6mm long, Brachyaspidion microps. The microscope image shows it in good detail. I shall probably take a few more images of these tiny fossils whilst I have the microscope to hand.

Amber

2011-11-13T09:51:00.001Z

On a trip to Buxton yesterday, we spent some time in the Museum. This museum has a very fine display including a time tunnel through the geology and history of the area. It is one of those museum that everyone should visit at least once in their lives.....

I came away with a piece of amber containing a fine cockroach. There were several other insects and plant remains in the amber resin which were intreguing. There was an ant, a small seed and a couple of other bugs.

This little insect in the edge of the block is interesting, I have no idea what it is.

It looks like and ant with a very broad abdomen. The resolution of the image from a digital camera is not good through the resin. I need to get my microscope out and have a closer look at this little beasty. That adventure is for another day.

The real treat was the purchase of two specimens of agnostid trilobites, Peronopsis interstrictus, from the museum shop. For this species, they are monsters at over 7mm long.

Bonfire Night

2011-11-05T19:44:00.000Z

Out walking at Trentham Gardens this afternoon and the sun is low in the sky. The lighting effects amongst the autumnal trees was stunning. However, that was not the only image that caught my eye.

A group of cormorants were basking in the sunlight on an old dead tree at the edge of the first island on Trenthan Lakes. They were backlit and the light was shining through the feathers on their wings.

When we arrived home the sun was close to setting and the sky was a glorious golden sunset.

Then the fireworks began...........

Seasonal Pumpkins

2011-10-30T19:22:00.002Z

Earlier in the year we grew 4 pumpkins with the intention of using them at Haloween. The first two had been earmarked for pumpkin lanterns and it was now time to hollow them out.

The first one produced a bowl full of seeds and a pan full of pumpkin flesh. Lots of cooking was about to follow as rosie made some pastry for a pumpkin pie.

The second lantern also produced a lot of pumpkin flesh. This one was cut as an angry cat!

Some time later we had pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup and pumpkin bread. This is always a welcome seasonal treat. Only two more pumpkins to go......

At dusk, the lanterns were tested to see how they will perform tomorrow evening for the local trick or treaters.

All slabbed now

2011-10-29T17:30:00.001+01:00

Now that I have had a little time to finish the patio, the slabs are down and it is looking better. Plants have been added to replace the lost heathers. The new paviors are metric and unworn. They are about 3mm larger than the old slabs, but that does not show now that they are laid. The next job will be in the Spring when I will re-lay the old slabs that are uneven.

The squirrels in the park are very active at present. There are beech nuts to be consumed and still quite a lot of conkers on the ground.

I also took a picture of this canary, which lives in the aviery at the back of Newcastle Museum on The Brampton. All are enjoying the warm weather which, I suspect, will soon return to its Autumnal norm.

Extending the Patio

2011-10-09T11:20:00.001+01:00

My aim for the garden this autumn was to rebuild the greenhouse. I estimated that this work would take 4 weeks to complete. However, I now have a job for 8 weeks, so I have revised my project list.

The heather bed at the end of the patio has been a problem for years. It has been difficult to keep tidy and inaccessible in the middle. The access path to the side of the sun room was very tight and difficult, so a modification was in order.

Having removed the low brick wall, I ended up with a pile of dressed bricks and 36 bags of subsoil (basically dry clay). The loss of a conifer and a few poor quality heathers was not an issue.

With the new wall now built and the drain from the water butts enclosed behind it, all I need now are 12 2x2' slabs (600x600mm) to finish the job off. That job will have to wait until next weekend, after I have done my first week at work this season.

Chapel Bakery, Woore.

2011-10-02T11:46:00.003+01:00

I have always been interested in good bread and yesterday afternoon I stopped at a bakers shop in Woore to pick up some bread for our lunch. This little organic bakery is a gem. The shelves were almost empty of produce and the left over stock was of exceptional quality.

G P Snape and Sons are tucked away on a side street in Woore, Cheshire, at Chapel Bakery. They have a lot of good comment on the web, but are just in the process of developing their own website.

They also have shops in Newcastle under Lyme in the Fogg Street arcade and at Market Drayton on Wilkinsons Walk.

They now have a home delivery service, with two dedicated bakers vans. Gordon Snape has an excellent range of bread and I am sure that if I did not bake my own bread, I would spend a lot of time visiting his shops. Anyone in the area should consider a visit.

Lightning F6 - XS936

2011-09-26T10:33:00.000+01:00

Whilst traveling in Cornwall, I came across this BAC Lightning on display at Castle Air / Castle Motors, off the A38 near Liskeard. It was a late production F6 airframe with the engines removed. This was the type of aircraft that I saw when I was at RAF Binbrook in the 1970's, so I had a look back through my photos to see if this was one of those machines.
It turned out that the aircraft was with 23 squadron in 1974, at RAF Gutersloh, Germany. I saw it when I was at RAF Wildenrath at an Air Cadet camp.

This aircraft then moved to 11 squadron at Binbrook and was later transferred to 5 squadron, also at Binbrook. It was then moved back to Germany as a 5 squadron aircraft, eventually being returned to the Lightning Training Flight as a single seat support aircraft.

This aircraft was not camouflaged and became known as the "silver lightning". When it was with the LTF, the nose markings were removed. This aircraft has been seen at many air displays. On decommission it was sold to Roy Flood at Castle Air in Cornwall and was standing on the ground there in 1998. The aircraft has since been mounted in the car park in full view of the road.

Tall Ships

2011-09-24T18:30:00.000+01:00

On a recent trip to Charlestown, we saw the tall ships.

Charlestown is home to the Shipwreck and heritage Centre. This tourist site looks at the coastal heritage and lives of the Cornish fishing and trading community. The harbour was developed from 1790 by a local landowner called Charles Rashleigh, primarily for the export of Copper and China Clay from local industries.

Within the wet quay are a collection of tall ships which are seaworthy and occasionally sail at events. One of the ships was away when we were there, involved in filming.

From some angles, the scene must be similar to the sights of 150 years ago, though I doubt that the noise and smell or the lack of industrial activity would be the same. Also, on closer inspection, the ships have modern navigation lights, radar reflectors and radio communications. The zodiac dingies with outboard motors and many safety features required of modern sea going ships are also there to be seen, if you look hard enough.

Along the rocky shore, outside of the harbour, I found these 3 limpets. They could not be arranged any better for a photo opportunity.

Autumnal Observations

2011-09-16T11:40:00.000+01:00

We have been growing pumpkins again this year and they are starting to look good. We have had 4 mature specimens developing across the garden. During last week there were the heavy winds from the remnants of hurricane Katia and the garden was blown about considerably. One of the pumpkin plants started to die back, so we have had to pick the pumpkin earlier than expected. The other 3 are still growing well.

There is a reduction in the UK sparrow population at present. I find this difficult to believe as I have just counted 40 sparrows on our laurel hedge. They sit and roost there, and in the holly hedge. I suspect that the high numbers are due to us providing cover to protect them from the passing sparrowhawks. It also helps that Rosie feeds the birds on a regular basis, especially in adverse weather.

There is a significant amount of colour variation in the sparrows feather patterns and it is possible to identify some individuals at a glance. Clearly, they are all a local population group living in and around our garden. One individual has a single pure white primary feather on one wing, which stands out in the flock. That male bird can be followed around the garden at a glance and we see him almost every day.

With so many birds, a feeder full of seed can empty in a day and the fat-ball never lasts the whole day long. with 3 hanging feeders and 4 cup feeders, a seed tray and breadcrumbs on the lawn, these birds are fast becoming outdoor wild pets!

It is not yet lunch time and the feeders are almost empty. They have consumed much of the days rations already. What a life!

Hanging out at home

2011-09-10T16:39:00.001+01:00

With the weather blowing hot and cold and looking like rain, the last couple of days have been centered around the home. We have cleared up bits of the garden and re-arranged furniture in the house.

I baked some Devon Splits to create pictures for my bread website. The original Devon cream teas were based on a bread roll with jam and cream. The scone cream tea is an Edwardian tourist embellishment of what was a local treat. They were delicious!

It is years since I have done a jigsaw and Rosie cannot remember the last time she did one. Our picnic table is now adorned with a completed jigsaw of a Lyme Regis scene. 1000 pieces in 3 days seems pretty good to me.

My lap - find your own! Just as an aside I have been doing a bit of black and white photography. Chloe was not too impressed. I did disturb her rest period (20 hours a day on average).

Autumn comes early

2011-09-02T09:36:00.002+01:00

The Cheddleton Railway was running two engines yesterday. 5199 and their B2 diesel. The only place on the line that you can see both trains at once is at Consal Forge, where they pull into the station at about the same time.

For a week day, the trains seemed quite busy. There were certainly a lot of people on both sides of the service as engineers were out checking the track and tradesmen were painting the railings and gates along the station periphery.

As we walked through the woods, it was clear that the fungi, which we expect to see from Mid September to late October were out. Autumn seems to be a couple of weeks early this year after the mild spring and summer.

Stags horn fungus was abundant in some areas.

The stink horns were fully developed and attracting lots of flies with their acrid smell.

And many of the timber fungi had fruiting bodies in abundance on the rotting logs and stumps around the forest.

The forest floor is starting to develop a blanket of dead leaves already. My garden is devoid of vegetables, with just a few courgettes and pumpkins to be harvested. I hope the fine weather lasts a little longer.

Feed Me!

2011-08-26T21:33:00.002+01:00

Being in the right place at the right time and being aware allowed me to take a few long range snapshots of these newly fledged swallows being fed.

This really is fast food on the wing.....

Photo Teleconverter

2011-08-20T14:10:00.001+01:00

For some time, I have had a desire to own a good macro lens and a 400mm telephoto lens. The cost of such good quality lenses has put me off buying them. However, investing in a teleconverter has given me the potential I need for a fraction of the cost.

The first job I had in mind for a macro lens was to be able to take close up pictures of the fossil trilobites in my collection. Using an 18mm lens and a 1.4x teleconverter has made this possible without losing too much definition.

With a reduction of about 1 f-stop, this combination works quite well on most of my specimens. The results are far better than I have previously been able to achieve by cutting down close images. I can take the pictures and display them at full frame now.

Even the fossils with low contrast differences to the matrix can be photographed in some good detail.

This pyratized assemblage of carapce bits is very difficult to photograph normally, but in bright light it works well.

By fitting the teleconverter to my 300mm lens, it becomes a 420mm lens, capable of capturing this juvenile blackbird in the holly hedge of our garden. This simple 1.4x teleconverter has extended the range of every lens in my camera bag. Of course, at this end of the spectrum, hand held can be very shaky. Perhaps the next shots will be done on a tripod!

Fallow Deer

2011-08-17T19:32:00.003+01:00

Tatton Park is a good day out and we had travelled there to see the Mansion and the Tudor Barn. However, with the Tudor Barn unexpectedly closed, we decided to photograph deer instead. There is an extensive heard of Fallow Deer on the park and the stags are in full antler at this time of year. They always look impressive. The two stags above are mature animals resting on the grassland close to the drive. I have seen these animals sitting outside the house with visitors walking close by.

Further away, outside the normal gaze of the public are the younger stags. We found these animals grazing over the hill, out of site from the park pathways. With a good lens on the camera it is possible to take unobtrusive photographs from a distance.

These deer are more like the textbook fallow deer, unlike our local herd at Trentham, where the animals are very dark and lack the spotted coats.

A large group of hinds were observed across the park, but this late in the day I could not face the challange of finding a good vantage point from which to photograph them more closely. Perhaps another day!

The deer at Trentham are Fallow Deer, but they have a very dark colour, as seen here.

Russian Black Bread

2011-08-14T08:57:00.001+01:00

Black bread is a type of rye bread flavoured with molasses. The Russians have developed the classic Swedish crisp bread into a more interesting and leavened loaf. The technique is to make a yeast starter, mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients to end up with 3 bowls of stuff.

When the yeast is foaming, the 3 bowls are mixed thoroughly and shaped into a round loaf on a baking tray. The dough rises for an hour then it is baked at 190 degrees centigrade for 40 minutes. Paint with oil and cool for an hour or more to allow the loaf to set. The recipy is on my bread site.

The bread needs to be sliced thinly as it is quiter firm. It is really good with butter and cheese and has a taste similar to bonfire toffee with the texturte of firm bread, This journey of baking a new bread each week is fun.

Blackbrook Zoological Park

2011-08-07T15:52:00.004+01:00

Between Leek and Ashbourne on the A523 near Bottom House is one of the largest collections of world wide bird species in the country. It has a cafe, education office, feeding events and meet the warden event as regular features.

Blackbrook is one of the few places that I know of where you can see a range of Pelican species. These birds are in enclosures in flocks and there is a viewing platform with opening windows to allow clear photographs of the birds.

The penguins are another nice attraction. You can see then being fed, both on the surface and through viewing windows under water.

Of course, there are the cute animals with a small family group of meerkats. They are in a suitable enclosure where you can observe natural behaviour. This is the lookout, watching out for predators whilst the others play and frolic on the ground. They also have mongoose!

In the tropical house you can see birds in the trees and on the ground as well as animals behind glass.

There are many types of Ibis, some of which I had not come across before. In many of the enclosures the birds are able to fly below a high level net covered flight roof.

For me, the highlight of the visit was to see a ring tailed lemur with a baby. She was a very attentive mother and I took an awfully large number of pictures to try and get a good shot of the youngster. This bird zoo is worth a serious visit and the 3 hours we spent is just a quick look at the place.

Earwigs

2011-08-03T11:49:00.002+01:00

This year there seems to be an abundance of earwigs (Forficula auricularia). These insects are active at night and hide under things by day. They feed on small insects and plants and tend to live in small family groups which can be a few dozen individuals at this time of year.

The earwigs seem to be mainly sub-adults with pale colour. Many are still moulting prior to attaining adult size. The Dermaptera, to which earwigs belong, is one of the smallest families of insects. These creatures are unusual in so far as they can be observed tending to their young. This is not something that insects normally do.

The ones in our garden seem to be happy hiding under plant pots for the most part. They are also invading the greenhouse and some have been found in the kitchen. Wherever I look in the garden, I can eventually find an earwig.

In the warm weather, Max had found refuge in the flower beds. He is good at disappearing for ages.

Sifting flour

2011-07-28T09:24:00.000+01:00

Over the past couple of months I have been re-writing an old website of mine on bread baking. This week I decided to sift some flour in the old medieval tradition, using a muslin bag.

It is a simple method of sifting - just sew a large piece of muslin into a bag shape, fill it with stoneground flour and shake it over a bowl until your arm aches, then shake it a bit more.

What you are left with is a bowl full of white flour and a bag full of bran and husk. If you start with a cold milled, stoneground flour, the full flavour of the wheat will be retained. These two components would be used by the baker to make different kinds of bread.

Wastel is a white loaf made from common flour. It was a costly loaf in medieval times and was only generally eaten by the wealthy. This is a firmer version of modern white bread, but with more taste.

The bran could be mixed with bean or pea flour to make a much cheaper bread called Pease Bread. This type of bread was common when wheat flour was in short supply. It is firm and nutty to the taste.

My all time bread to avoid is this one. This is Clapbread, made from bran and rye flour. It has an amazingly good taste, but it is heavy and very chewy. All that bran is bound to have an effect. This type of bread was made with the leftovers from making good bread, and probably the flour sweepings from the bakehouse floor. Cheap bread for the poor folk!

The main bake would have been a stoneground wholemeal loaf. Check out the website at http://bread.pursglove-ons.co.uk/

Waterbirds

2011-07-18T20:59:00.002+01:00

Today we were shop-hopping to find a new cutting blade for our lawnmower. We eventually found one and by that time it was mid-day. Stopping at Westport Lakes in Stoke, we had some lunch at the centre and then walked around the lakeside. It had been raining most of the morning and here we had a brief spell of dry cloudy weather, so we had to take advantage of the calm conditions.

There are Great Crested Grebe on the lake and I am always impressed with the style of these underwater feeders. They are so photogenic.

Canada Geese were swimming on the lake in large numbers and many of them were flying in groups. It was a good opportunity to photograph these birds in low level flight. They were flying across the lake and landing nearby.

For large waterfowl, they are quite graceful in flight, just a bit ungainly when making a landing.

Baking Bread

2011-07-10T20:43:00.001+01:00

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on redeveloping my bread site. The website was originally put together as a simple design to illustrate how a website should be structured for my web design courses some years ago. It is about time it was resurrected into a proper useful site.

To this end I have been baking breads of all types to produce pictures with which to illustrate the pages. My latest is a Roman Slipper Bread made of Spelt flour and olive oil. It is a messy dough to use and it is not dusted with flour or kneaded, just mixed, left and baked.

Roman Slipper Loaves - panis calceus

This is very reminiscent of ciabatta, which I also baked, using modern flour. It has a different taste and texture, but is essentially a similar method of baking.

Italian ciabatta - slipper bread

Another adventure was to bake some Tudor loaves. Manchet is a bread made from clubwheat flour, sifted with a muslin bag and re-sifted through a double muslin bag to make a fine white bread. I also made a meslin loaf which is a mixture of common wheat and rye flour. This is a very heavy bread with a rough texture. In tudor times, the base of the meslin loaf was cut into a trencher plate in wealthy households. After the meal the bread trenchers and food residue would be given to the worthy poor as a food handout - saves on washing up!

Meslin bread trencher

Tudor meals did not differentiate between savoury and sweat. Meat, berries and flowers would be seen in the same remove (each course was called a remove).

Take a look at the website on http://bread.pursglove-ons.co.uk/ and see what you think. It is not finished yet as I have the flour-producing mills to add. I have spotted a couple of minor typo's - let me know if you spot anything that needs adjusting.

Jellyfish Galore

2011-07-04T09:18:00.003+01:00

Borth-y-Gest is a small Welsh Harbour village on the south side of the Llyn Peninsula, close to Porthmadog, overlooking the Glaslyn Estuary. It is a delightful place with its own special microclimate and a friendly atmosphere. Just along the coastal walk are a series of small bays and sandy beaches going round to White Rock Sands and eventually to Black Rock Sands. Washed up on the beaches near to the village were masses of jellyfish. I cannot remember seeing so many stranded jellyfish in one place before.

This Barrel jellyfish was one of many larger jellyfish scattered across the beaches, It is a common resident in UK waters and the food of choice of large marine turtles.

Another common species is this distinctive Compass jellyfish. The radiating lines on the dome make this an easy jellyfish to identify.

The Moon jellyfish was probably seen in the largest numbers. Some are clear, but mature specimens show the four loops of the gonads, a purple colour in this one. The colour of these structures ranges from blue to brick red.

A small number of Moon jellyfish had been stranded in rock pools. These animals will most likely survive when the tide comes in, carrying them back to sea.

This specimen of Catastylus sp. is a significantly large jellyfish at about 70 cm across the dome. This was the largest jellyfish on the beach. There were also a few smaller species that I could not identify.

When the tide is right and the jellyfish numbers are high, these wash up events are inevitable on such beaches. In biological terms they are not significant as there are very large numbers of jellyfish in the seas around the UK. However, it is still a sad event to see so many stranded and dead marine creatures on a beach.

PS. 20 July - a survey has identified that there is an abundance of jellyfish throughout the Irish Sea this year. The barrel jellyfish is in exceptionally high abundance. It appears that these conditions occur regularly every few years.

Wow - it is hot today

2011-06-27T18:59:00.050+01:00

Today is officially the hottest day of the year so far, and here at Stoke it is 29 degrees Celsius. A good day to live in the garden (in the shade).

The plum tree is quaking with fruit and a small seedling of a few years is also heavily ladened this year. The mild and warm dry spring has been quite beneficial in this way.

Our gooseberry bushes have a generous crop and we have already used several pounds of their fruit.

The black currants are very early, though they are still quite small and I would like to leave them to develop, but I know the birds will eat them.

We have our first pumpkin showing in the small bed.

The beans have taken a hit from snails and slugs, but I have a reserve crop in the greenhouse.

The tomatoes are doing well this year and should see us through the summer.

This year I have seen the first ever grasshopper in our garden. It must have flown in from somewhere as there are no grasshopper communities for some miles distant. Its a common green grasshopper, a bit larger than the field grasshopper - and it looks a bit like a locust!

This is "Theodolite" having his breakfast (the name comes from a common phrase in his song - sounds like). There are two male blackbirds with territories in our garden and we know them from their different song phrases. "Theodolite" also has a phrase that sounds like "Emu Emu Emu". He and his adversary "I'm a Barbie girl" chant at each other across the garden.

And of course the local squirrels are frequently bounding across the garden. Their only concern is to avoid the cats.

This evening we saw two foxes in the dusk. They use our garden as a thoroughfare to visit next door for food. This is one of the few days in the year when I have not been out of the grounds.

Ancient Egyptian Bread

2011-06-22T15:28:00.084+01:00

The ancient Egyptians were around for 2000 years, so any attempt to reproduce the breads they made in that time would be difficult. Emmer wheat was the grain used preferentially up to the reign of Ptolemy II (285-246 BC), and after that Khorasan wheat was frequently used. Emmer is difficult to find, but Khorasan has been recently marketed as "Kamut" Flour. This is Triticum turanicum and it is genetically a hybrid between Triticum polonicum and Triticum durum.

Take 400 grammes of flour and add a pinch of salt, a little sugar (or honey) and 3 grammes of dried yeast. Mix with warm water and a little oil, to a stiff dough and allow to rise for 30 minutes. Kneed and leave to prove for another 30 minutes. Kneed and form into small balls of dough.

Traditionally, the dough balls would be shaped into triangles about a centimeter thick. They were also shaped into small rounds (12-15 cm) about a centimeter thick. Place onto a dry baking sheet and leave to prove for half an hour.

Bake in a hot oven (200°C+) for about 17 minutes and then cool on a baking tray. This bread has a very distinctive nutty sweat taste,

In the first millennium BC, bread would have been used differently. Bread was most likely used to mop up or assist with eating other foods. In some cases the larger rounds of bread (20 cm) may have been used as plates for other food, and then eaten afterwards.

Remains of ancient Egyptian bread have been found, one of the oldest examples of triangles of bread was from the reign of Mentuhotep II (2061-2010 BC) was discovered in the Dyr Al-Bahari mortuary complex. That bread had sand grains within its structure prior to baking.

Duxford

2011-06-18T11:57:00.003+01:00

Being quite enthusiastic about aircraft and finding ourselves just a few minutes from Duxford Air Museum, a visit was essential. I have not visited Duxford before, and it is at junction 10 of the M11, so it is very easy to access. Duxford has the Imperial War Museum collection of aircraft, many of which are in flying condition.

One of the most well known aircraft is the "Sally B", the Flying Fortress that was used in the film "Memphis Belle" This aircraft was on the hard standing and would be going out to an air display later in the week.

The Consolidated Catalina was being prepped whilst we were there and that aircraft was also due to fly out to an air show at the weekend.

We had the pleasure of seeing this amphibious biplane take off on its departure.
Duxford is a really good visit as it has 8 hangers of historic aircraft and military vehicles. It includes a Concorde, an American air-force hanger and a hanger of aircraft that are being refurbished into flying condition.

One such aircraft is this Bristol Beaufighter. It is hoped that this aircraft (known as whispering death by the Japanese forces) will eventually be rebuilt to fly.

Another interesting sight was the Curtis P40b Warhawk. This, and many other aircraft in the hanger, may well be seen at an air display near you soon.

Yellow as far as the eye could see!

2011-06-09T15:18:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was a day of strange occurrences. We were on the main road near Derby when the traffic started to back up - it looked like miles of traffic jam. We diverted down a slip road which was conveniently situated at the point at which we met the traffic problem, what luck.

A few miles down the road and the fields were yellow as far as the eye could see! Every field seemed to be full of flowering Rape. It reminded me of the Sunflower fields on the "Sunshine Route" across France. The traffic news came on the car radio and revealed that a flock of Swans had landed on the road about a mile from where we met the traffic jam. They had been encouraged off of the road and the traffic jam had been announced as cleared shortly after we had photographed the yellow fields.

A new visitor to our garden was also seen. This is a Rock Dove - often referred to as a City Pigeon. They are resident in each of the Six Towns of our City, but in 15 years I have not seen one in our garden. He was there again at the feeder today, and I suspect he will be a regular visitor for free food.

Just for comparison, we have other members of the Columbidae who are resident in the garden. This is a Wood Pigeon. The local pigeons have had quite a few young and, unlike last year, none of them have hit our windows - their survival rate is very good.

Another resident is the Collared Dove, a much smaller member of the family Columbidae. The pair of collared doves have been around for years and they are often seen side by side in all that they do. They have also raised young this year.

I have been trying out my new lens this week. This is a picture of a Roach in the River Trent at Stoke. It was take from 5 meters above the river and I am pleased with the results. (300 mm lens at ISO 500 with a UV filter attached.)

This is one of the regular visitors to our bird feeders. Quite a comic - the cats "mock chase" the squirrels with no intention of catching them. Clearly the squirrels know this and will come back for more.

Cleaning out the pond

2011-06-04T13:51:00.000+01:00

For some time now, our garden pond has needed cleaning. It was half full of flag iris and duckweed and many of the creatures that the newts feed on were absent. So, I placed a plastic tarpaulin at the pond side and with some help from Rosie, dragged the mass of flag irises out of the pond.

Tea and cake later, I trimmed the irises into bags and dredged buckets full of gunk and rotten leaves from the bottom of the pond. The gunk is now on the rhubarb.

The frogs were very good. When I was dredging the pond out, they all climbed up onto the concrete shelf, which was above the water line, and watched the proceedings. Most of the frogs in the pond are veterans and are used to me messing about around them.

After skimming the pond to reduce the duckweed and rescuing a couple of blue irises, I topped it up with water. With a larger surface area of water and less duckweed, I expect to see lots more wildlife in this pond.

The frogs seem happy. They have a much cleaner and more diverse pond to live around.

Siskin

2011-05-31T19:42:00.003+01:00

Today I found myself out on the Langshaw Estate with an opportunity to photograph a few common birds. There were quite a lot of chaffinches around and I was able to take a good number of clear photographs. Whilst taking the above photograph I heard an unusual call and looked up into the tree above.

There, in broad daylight, was a Siskin (Carduelis spinus). These birds are natives which are frequently seen in Scotland and Ireland. They are a rarity in the Midlands. This one was a female as it was missing the black cap and small black chin bib of the male. As I watched I noticed another, and another.

Looking to the nearby feeders, there was a pair of Siskins feeding. I had a 300 mm lens on my camera, which was not a lot of use, since I was about 2 meters away from the birds. I had to stand well back to take a photograph of the feeders. The birds were not disturbed by noise and continued to feed for some time,

As time progressed, more birds joined in the feeding. They were a mixture of males, females and juveniles. To be so closely associated, they must have been nesting nearby quite recently. I have not seen these birds before and it was a real treat to be able to stand so close to watch them feeding and flitting about in the trees.

The joy of catnip

2011-05-28T14:47:00.003+01:00

Cat mint seldom survives in our garden as it is crushed by the myriad of moggies that frequent the place. To alleviate this problem I have inverted a wire hanging basket and screwed it to the top of a pot of cat mint. This has not stopped Chloe from having a go at it, but at least the lower stems and leaves will be protected.

Rosie had the idea that if we placed the pot against a wall and surrounded it with other pots, at least some of the flowers would survive. It was not long before Max found it and started rubbing the wire basket. I suppose a plant that smells of old tomcat has its own appeal.

Whilst in the garden, it was clear that the chives were attracting rather a lot of bees. I counted 5 species on one clump of chives.

There were also a few solitary bees, which are much smaller than the bumble bees and honey bees.

My list of observed species is;

Red Tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lapidarius
Red Tailed Bumblebee - Bombus rudararius
White Tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lucorum
Garden Bumblebee - Bombus hortorum
Solitary Bee - Colletes daviesanus

Lots of other insects were busy in the garden. I spotted this fly on a hydranga leaf. I would not attempt to identify the species as there are so many of them and I am not an expert by any means.

What Drought?

2011-05-24T19:49:00.000+01:00

The garden has been very dry for the last two months. 2 of my 3 big water butts have been emptied over the last month to water the garden, and the rainfall has been so low that they have not filled up completely. I have been topping up the pond every 2 days with a hose and tap water to protect the newts, frogs and their young.

The water level at Tittesworth reservoir, near Leek, Staffordshire, is very low and this is exceptional in Spring time. Still, the authorities say we are not in a drought situation, despite having experienced the driest April on record. May has seen some rain, but not nearly enough to make a difference.

Today, the wind is very high and we have experienced gusts of 60+ mph. The north of Scotland has experience hurricane force gusts of wind. It is now raining heavily from Manchester to the north of Scotland. Not so at Stoke, where the lawn is drying out yet again.

Watching the birds

2011-05-21T16:45:00.001+01:00

Our bird feeders are often used by the local sparrows who live in our garden hedges. This year there are also some juvenile collared doves using the facility. They can be seen waiting atop the greenhouse for the food to go out in the morning. Other regular visitors include starling, magpie, pigeon, dunnock and the occasional green finch.

The sparrows have had lots of young again this year and they usually sit in the hedge or in the nearby trees to be fed by their parents.

The most satisfying event this year is that the goldfinch, who have been around for years, have just discovered the feeding station. They have started feeding on the niger seed that has been put out for some years, but seldom used. I have seen them at the feeder on a couple of occasions, always in pairs.

These 3 little ducklings were cruising the Avon at Stratford this week. The chicks are very advanced this year after the warm and dry spring.

Ah Food!

2011-05-18T16:03:00.000+01:00

Bird feeders - just the job, now how do I get to them. Jump?

OK it wobbles a bit, but if I stay still it will settle down.

Yum - sunflower hearts are my favorite. no problem, when I'm done I can just fall off.

Out and About at Trentham Lake

2011-05-14T14:13:00.001+01:00

How many herons can you see in this picture?
It was a windy day today and the local herons were all congregated around the Islands.

Occasionally one of the birds would fly, but the progress against the wind was very slow.

The Great Crested Grebes were courting and displaying their head crests to full advantage. We did wait a little while to see if they would rise up in on the water, but the most that was on offer today was a mutual head shaking display.

Most of the coots on the lake were escorting young and diving to gather weed with which to feed them. These little scarlet headed chicks were staying close and skirting around the lake edges.

The Graylag Geese have quite a few goslings. A pair on the North Bank had seven to look after.
Newly fledged birds are everywhere and I was pleased to see a juvenile greenfinch amongst the sparrows on our lawn this afternoon. I was not certain at first, but the greenish looking fluffy sparrow like bird displayed its distinctive wing bars when it flew off.

Emu !

2011-05-12T16:32:00.000+01:00

Whist driving along the A52 in Staffordshire, the last thing you expect to see is a field full of Emus. Well, it takes all sorts to make a day interesting and this bunch of big birds was an unusual sight off the junction of the A52 and the A522 just east of Werrington, at Blakeney.

I have not seen so many Emus in a single place. They are clearly very secure in a reinforced compound and under constant surveillance.

Blackbrook Zoo just a little way up the road has a fine pair of Emus. I was somewhat surprised to find out how many of these large flightless birds there are registered in the UK. Staffordshire is not short in its numbers either, but they are not always as visible as those we saw today.

Composite photos

2011-05-02T16:22:00.001+01:00

For many years I have been interested in the technical development of difficult photographs. One aspect of photography that I have been playing with for some years is the composite photograph. By using a number of photographs taken from the same point, they can be layered and edited together to give a composite picture which would otherwise be impossible to take.

This photograph of Ironbridge is the simplest kind. Two photographs have been joined in the middle to give a wider coverage of the bridge than would otherwise be possible at the point of taking the photographs.

Here is a much more complex image. The pond at the bottom of the Dorothy Clive Garden is seen from a short expanse of lawn, backed by a hedge. It is not possible to photograph the whole vista, even with a wide angle lens. This image is a composite of 16 individual photographs.

The same technique was used here to photograph the town of Llandudno from the edge of the Great Orme. This makes it possible to see the two bays and the expanse of the buildings.

A simple 4 photograph composite was used to present a picture across the canal basin at Norbury Junction. The creation of these panoramic shots does take some effort at the computer, but in the end they are worth the time.

This is the house at Bodnant Gardens. Again, the expanse of the lawn does not allow such a view through the lens, but a group of 8 photographs can be edited into a passable image, even if the perspective is a little odd.

Death of a Willow

2011-04-19T15:53:00.001+01:00

The Killmarnock Willow to the left of this picture, overhanging the pond, has been dead for a year now. Our intention is to remove it and build an additional pond where it stands - at the side of our existing pond.

Rosie and I took the willow down and broke it up for composting. We thought that the tree had been a victim of the cold and long winter last year, but as we removed the tree, we found that not to be the case.

The lower trunk was completely bored out by beetle larvae. The whole lower trunk had become spongey and the vascular system of the tree had been destroyed.

These larvae looked like those of a large beetle. Without growing them on, it is impossible to say which beetle, but the longhorn beetle is a possible candidate. They are now bird food!

Walk in the Woods

2011-04-16T16:19:00.001+01:00

In a break from work to combat computer fatigue, we went for a walk in Trentham Woods. The day started with Buzzards reeling overhead and calling to each other across the sky.

As we walked along the path to the Oak Wood, we saw fallow deer in the distance.

They were just visible, so I put a big lens on the camera and manually focussed the image to get over the interference from forest branches that plays havoc with the auto-focus on modern cameras. A small group of hinds were resting deep in the woods.

They were fully aware of my presence, even though they were hundreds of yards away on higher ground. Some of them stood up on alert, ready to run at the slightest escalation of the visual engagement.
We moved away and hopefully the calm of the day was restored.

Wildlife enjoying the warm spell

2011-04-10T16:00:00.000+01:00

The frogs in our garden pond are spending a lot of time near the water, enjoying the warmth from the sun. There are still about 15 frogs resident in the pond and they are less skittish now that the spawning season is over.

The Goldfinches have done well this year. Last year there was a pair and this year there are often 5 or 6 individuals flying across the garden in a group. They perch in the taller trees and shrubs and sing frequently. They also have a distinctive warble when they fly past.

Sparrows abound in profusion. This cock sparrow is perched in the tulip tree at the top of the garden. They are very communal birds, feeding and nesting in groups. They tend to perch within the laurels or the holly hedge and dart out to the bird feeders at intervals during the day. Numbers seem to be fairly constant this year.

At Trentham Lakes, the herons are also quite active. They are always noisy when they are nesting and they can be seen frequently flying low over the lake. The colony also seems to be larger this year than last which suggests that there was a good survival rate over the very harsh winter.

At this time of year the herons are quite easy to photograph.

Frogs abound

2011-03-27T15:24:00.000+01:00

This year I have counted 46 frogs in our pond at a single time. This is the most individual frogs I have seen at any one time in our small pond. We have lost at least 9 frogs to a magpie, which had a phase of dragging individual frogs out of the pond by their heads. During the spawning season there are also a few that die of exhaustion, but the local population of frogs seems to be at an all time high this years.

I have spotted some old and familiar frogs with distinct markings that I have observed in the past couple of years, but many seem to be unfamiliar. The dry March has required me to top up the pond on two occasions so far, to keep the vast amount of frog spawn wet. The newts are also coming out of hibernation and starting to migrate back into the pond.

Below is a video clip to give some idea of the movement and noise around the pond.

Yesterday and today I was extending a gravel path from the edge of the pond, around the pond and to the garden shed. The video clip was taken half way through the work and it is clear that the frog activity was not diminished by my gardening work at the pond side.

The Moon

2011-03-20T22:49:00.004Z

On 20th March the moon was the closest to the Earth that it has been for a long time. This is my photo taken from the Garden.

Chopper by the lake

2011-03-07T20:28:00.001Z

Whilst walking around the lakes at Trentham this afternoon we came across this Greylag Goose doing the Goose step across a bed of daffodils. It was followed at a distance by another goose adopting the same stance. Today was a good day for a walk. The cold and damp weather was replaced by cold and dry with a warming burst of sunlight and a clear blue sky.

There was a missing person hunt in progress. Police and community police were present at the entrances and walking the grounds. The drone of the police helicopter was pervasive as it hovered along the lakeside and by the woodland.

After a while, the helicopter moved off to hover over the car park and a group of people carrying hand radios started to hurry off in that direction. The snatched fragments of conversation lead us to believe that the missing person needed support rather than being a criminal. I hope the chase ended well.

It was good to see the daffodils in flower - they are the first outdoor wild types that I have noticed this year. I was delighted to see a honey bee on one of the blooms. Spring is fast developing in Stoke.

Hawk attack

2011-03-02T09:56:00.000Z

With additional bird feeders in the garden, a large number of local birds are always attracted to feed. This shows no distinction between the seed and grub feeders and others.

Our local sparrow hawk had starling for lunch today. Not a sparrow to be seen. They were all frozen still in the holly hedge and the laurel hedge along with the tits, dunnocks and other small birds. It is always still and quiet in the garden when there is a hawk about.

The frogs are back

2011-02-24T17:05:00.000Z

Every year the local frogs come to our pond to breed. it is the spawning ground for the area and we eagerly await their return every year. Today Rosie came in and said "The pond is heaving again". The frogs are back.

Rosie had tried to take some pictures, but the frogs are very cautious of predators before spawning has occurred. I went out and sat quietly by the pond for some time and I was rewarded with one decent shot of a frog.
Last year we spotted our first frogs on 17th March, after a very cold and long winter. It is somewhat milder this year and the frogs are about much earlier.

Birds

2011-02-23T09:56:00.001Z

Having walked around the countryside in the past few days I am posting a few of the birds I have seen on my travels.

This dipper was hunting for food in the waters of Lathkill Dale in Derbyshire. Dippers can be seen in any reasonably flowing stream in this area as long as there are exposed stones in the water flow where they can stand. I love to see them bobbing up and down as they attempt to see what is below the waters surface.

At the Wollesley Gardens Staffordshire conservation area we came across this cheerfully chirruping Robin. Robins are probably the only local birds that sing all year.

There are lots of Robins about. We called them "Robin Red Breasts" as children. This little fellow was snapped on the pathway at Longton Park, Staffordshire. Not the usual angle from which to see a robin.

At the Consal Forge visitors centre there are a lot of bird feeders. For some years now, there has been a pheasant that seems to live under the feeders, feeding on the fallen grain. He is an old bird and his habit of remaining on protected parkland has surely preserved him from becoming a target for the local shoots. The long tail feathers are occasionally seen adorning hats and I have used them to fletch arrows in the past.

Rails are also common in local rivers and lakes. This is a Coot (white Bill and forehead patch) There are also a lot of Moorhens (Red Bill). This Coot was resting at the side of the lake in Longton Park.

Rock Doves are also very common in built up areas of the City. They are often called pigeons, but when they are seen at by the side of a Wood Pigeon they are clearly much smaller birds.

National Census Day UK

2011-02-15T10:15:00.000Z

27th March is Census Day. Every household will receive a form a week or so before, and there is the option to post the form back, or to complete the form on line. Last year a survey of households was conducted and this year the forms will be posted out to all households. You will only see a Census Enumerator if you fail to complete the form on time or if the form has been lost in the post. On line looks like the easiest option.

The national census started in 1801 and the first viable national census was 1841. This event takes place every 10 years and it is used to generate statistics for the use of government in allocating funds and resources to local communities. The census started as a means of ensuring that the government could import enough food resources to prevent starvation in the UK and it has been extremely useful as a tool for allocating resources ever since.

The 100 year rule applies to all personal information that is gathered and this is an issue with family historians as they have to wait 100 years to be able to search the census archives. The latest released census information available is for 1911. This years census details will remain secret until the year 2111 and only the statistical counts will be available for use until then.

Ah! a dry and warm day

2011-02-12T17:12:00.002Z

Having been restricted by wet weather for a while, we took this oportunity to stroll around the lake at Trentham. I was pleased to see that the newly introduced Cayuga ducks were still in residence. They are young and friendly, not at all challenged by the presence of humans.

The sky was clear today and the moon in full view. When I took a snapshot with my small camera I was gratified to see that I could spot craters on the moons surface. Digital technology has improved in leaps and bounds over the last few years.

Spring is fast approaching - the snowdrops are in full flower and the daffodils are breaking the surface of the soil. My tomato plants which I seeded last week are now showing their coleoptiles and it will not be long before they are in leaf and out of the propagator. With lengthening daylight hours there is a lot to be happy about.

A morning in the Garden

2011-02-02T14:11:00.001Z

As the weather has improved this week we decided to go shopping to find heathers to replace the dead plants that we took out last week. We found lots of heathers at one of the local garden centres at a discount price of 50p per plant (was £2.99). 24 plants secured in two visits, it was time to clear the bed and plant them.

Our neighbour had previously seen a fox with a limp. As it happened, this fox was about today and I managed to take a picture as it retreated away from the activity. It was quite nippy for a lame fox.

Back to the gardening and I decided to strip the lower branches from the overgrown conifer at the side of then steps. Originally we were going to take this plant out as it was obstructing the path, but it is such a healthy conifer that a trim was the easy option.

Most of the heathers are now planted and they should grow over the next year or so to form a good ground cover. Some of the older heathers may also be replaced or trimmed before the job is finished. Working in the garden is always a satisfying task.

The next job will be to remove a dead Kilmarnock Willow from the other side of the garden. I have a wish to build a new pond where the tree is situated, next to the existing pond. That would allow me to transfer the newts and frogs and make it possible to drain and repair the old pond. (maybe!.....;-)

New Ducks on the Block

2011-01-28T14:41:00.002Z

Whilst strolling around the lake at Trentham, we chanced upon a group of ducks that had been released from a carrier box near the cafe at the Monkey Park end of the Lake. They were black birds with an iridescent green sheen in the bright sunlight. The ducks were not afraid of humans and they were quite at home with the Mallards on the lake.

The Cayuga duck was bred in the US and the name comes from Lake Cayuga in New York State. Over the Atlantic they are bred for sale as duck meat in supermarkets. In the UK they are an exotic breed of duck used to adorn lakes and parks. These ducks have been judged in poultry shows since 1987.

The males will retain their black and iridescent green colouring for life. The females, which still show characteristics of their Indian Black Duck ancestry will start to develop patchy white feathers when they are over 6 years old. As they age, the white feathers become more dominant, until they are left with just a few random flecks of black amongst the white.

Time for the garden

2011-01-16T14:07:00.000Z

The weather has improved over the last few days, so I have been able to get out into the garden to do a bit of basic maintenance. Over the winter there has been a whole run of days where the temperature has been well below freezing. This has left my water butt by the greenhouse completely frozen.

Rosie blogged this recently where the butt bulged at the bottom and fell over. I rolled the butt over again and tried to remove the ice, but it was far too solid to make an impression on. The collar has split and the water butt (an old slip carboy) is a write off.

Further impact from the frost and snow has crushed the stems of a mature heather plant. The plant has died back and parts of it have obstructed the steps up to the top lawn.

This was quite a big heather and much of it was simply pulled apart by hand. I only used my cutters to reduce the size of the branches so that they would fit into two bins.

I left the root stock in place, but I seriously doubt that the heather will grow after such severe treatment. We also have a dead Killmarnock Willow to dig out, perhaps another day.

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-24T16:05:00.003Z

Here in Stoke we have had a very cold few weeks. All of the Longton roofs are white and the Bottle Ovens stand out clearly across the town. The best air temperature today was a scorching +2 degrees, but in the past few weeks -5 has been the normal temperature and we have had the temperature fall to -17.

The low winter sun is casting shadows across the snow in Fenton Park. The ground was cold enough to make your feet feel cold, even through boots and two pairs of thermal socks.

Today has been a fine crisp day with a clear blue sky and still air. We saw people sledging on the hills around Fenton and I spotted a sparrow hawk in a nearby hedge. The gulls sitting in the snow near Sammy's pool were not going to be moved as we walked past.

Back home to a mince pie and a nice cup of tea.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Christmas Bread

2010-12-22T14:29:00.001Z

At Christmas I always bake bread that is a little different. This year I have made a chocolate fruit loaf. It starts with a bowl of raisins, sultanas and currants which are marinaded for at least 4 hours in a liquor. For this I used a blackcurrant syrup from our summer harvest, with a little hot water.

For the dry ingredients I used a 500g mixture of a wholemeal spelt flour, white spelt flour and a strong white flour (for the gluten content). To this I added a good tablespoon of cocoa powder and some dried yeast. The dry ingredients were then whisked thoroughly to mix.

Honey was added to 200ml of boiling water in a jug, and another 200 ml of cold water was added to reduce the temperature. The water was used to mix up the dough, along with a generous slug of walnut oil. The dough was left to rise for an hour or so, until doubled in volume. At this point the marinated fruit was drained and then placed over the dough. The zest of an orange was grated onto the fruit and the whole mess was kneaded a second time into a stiff dough. Seven equal sized balls of the dough were arranged in a round cake mould and left to rise. The left over dough was shaped into a plat loaf. A little nutmeg was grated on the top.

180 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes was sufficient to bake the bread as spelt flour will burn in a very hot oven.

This will be a splendid tread on Christmas eve with some fine cheeses and a good wine. OK, I also made a cashew and chocolate biscotti as an additional treat - it is Christmas and our friends will soon see it gone.

A trip on the Great Central Railway

2010-11-27T22:04:00.001Z

We were invited out on a cold winters morning to enjoy a train journey and a meal on the Great Central Railway from Loughborough Station. This was a Birthday treat for a friend of ours. The Engine was a Robinson Class 8K (2-8-0) 63601, built in 1912 at the Gorton works, Manchester for the Great Central Railway, to haul heavy freight. The engine was withdrawn from service in 1963 and restored in 2000. In this case, the engine was in BR livery, pulling several Pullman carriages from the 1950's.

This was the first run of the Deluxe Christmas Special and it was an excellent and enjoyable event which I would recommend to anyone. The smell of the smoke on the platform, the sound of the steam valves and the warm carriages with condensation on the inside of the windows resulting from the single glaze and the cold air outside. I remember it well from my own experiences on BR in "the good old days"

The Santa Special was also on its first days run. The engine was a Gresley K4 Mogul (2-6-0) 61994 "The Great Marquess" built in 1938 and decommissioned in 1961. The engine was originally built for LNER and named "MacCailein Mor" LNER No. 3446.

The service was excellent and the company was exceptional. GCR have done a good job.

Birdspotting in Wales

2010-11-21T19:40:00.002Z

On Saturday we headed out to Chester, a journey which proved a challenge as part of the A41 was blocked north of the Harthill roundabout. We had to detour out towards Wrexham to turn back into Chester. We decided that we had time to drive out onto the North Welsh coast and ended up for a few hours at Llandudno. A walk along the promenade and out to the pier allowed us to see gulls and waders a plenty.

We saw a lot of oyster catchers feeding on the shoreline. These birds were looking for small molluscs and small creatures on the strand line at high tide.

Not so far away were red-shank. These small waders feed on muddy flats, probing for food in the soft mud.

The town as very busy as there was a Celtic Craft Fair in the streets. We ventured into the Fair and discovered an RSPB stall where we were able to find out about the facilities at Conwy reserve. So- off we went to see the birds.

Within the bounds of the reserve are two lakes. A board walk and pathways allow access to the whole of the area and there are hides situated at intervals around the site.

Apart from the usual shop, they have a very good cafe with a glass wall that overlooks one of the lakes.

The reserve is on the A55 coast road, directly off junction 18, which is west of Llandudno Junction (junction 19). If you have an interest in birds and you find yourself in North Wales, this is an excellent visit. The site is on the River Conwy and you can see Conwy Castle in the distance and on the horizon (on a clear day) Mount Snowdon is a distinct feature.

Soda Bread

2010-11-14T18:53:00.000Z

It is quite a time since I made Soda Bread and it is quite a quick and tasty bread to make. The recipe varies depending upon tradition and needs, but it is basically 500g flour, 2 teaspoons of Bicarbonate of Soda, a little salt, a small amount of butter or margarine and 350ml of Buttermilk. Mix the dry ingredients, rubbing in the butter, and add the buttermilk, mix quickly by hand and shape into two round loaves. Cut a cross deeply into the top of the dough and bake at 190 degrees Celsius for about 25-30 minutes.

Set the oven to 190 degrees. I used 300g of strong white flour, 150g of Spelt wholemeal flour and 100g of 00 pasta flour. Adding 2 teaspoons of Bicarb and 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar with a quarter of a teaspoon of salt which is mixed in with a whisk. 40g of margarine was rubbed into the mix to give a fine crumby texture. and 10g of caster sugar was added and mixed in. When adding the buttermilk (350g) the mix needs to be done swiftly by hand and not overworked.

Shape into two round loaves and deeply cut a cross on top. This makes breaking the bread easy. The dough can be brushed with water and buttermilk before putting it straight into the hot oven.
30 minutes later I had two warm loaves. Soda bread can be eaten straight out of the oven, though it is best eaten slightly warm after about 30 minutes cooling.

What could be nicer for a light tea in Autumn than a freshly baked chunk of Soda Bread covered in butter and home made gooseberry jam with a warming cup of fruit tea.

Autumn Leaves

2010-11-07T15:37:00.001Z

Today the Autumnal trees are looking splendid at Trentham Lakes. There is a greater than usual amount of yellow in the leaves as the warmer than usual Autumn days have resulted in an unusual change in colour.

This appears to be the case wherever you look at the broad leaf trees.

Here in Newcastle-under-Lyme the trees are showing the same yellow, rather than brown autumn leaves. The colour on the ground is not as consistent as some of the earlier leaves to fall were more brown. Species like Beech and Oak show little change from last years.

The ground fall variation can be seen on the composite photograph above.

A few years ago I did a series of Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) plates to separate out the different photosynthetic pigments in various plant species. This plate is from the Liriodendron in my garden. In warm autumns, the breakdown of chlorophylls is more complete and the loss of green and purple pigments makes the leaves more yellow. Only the Carotenes and Xanthophyll are left, but they are more visible as their colours are not masked by the chlorophyll. At this time of year the leaves are reabsorbing the chlorophylls and transporting the chemicals, along with sugars, into the roots and trunk. Toxins are being deposited in the leaves as waste, which will be shed when the leaves fall.

This stag hiding in the long grass is probably quite unaware of the concept of photosyntheses and chlorophyll. He just needs food and warmth and companionship of other Fallow Deer. Two other young bucks were following at a distance.

The Autumn Moon

2010-10-24T17:00:00.001+01:00

When I got up this morning the sky was clear and the moon was full. I thought the moon would make a good photograph, so I took my snapshot camera to its optical limits and this is the result. I am sure that it would have been a better photograph if I had braved the cold instead of taking the shot through the double glazing. Still, it is a satisfying image.

Later in the day we ventured to Staunton Harold to look at the woodland plantations. I snapped a couple of kestrels hunting over the Walnut Plantations.

For fun, I overlaid a kestrel image on one of my moon pictures. With a little more care, this could make a splendid picture - if only it was an owl!

Autumn is very real now that my Liriodendron (Tulip tree) has turned yellow. It is a striking colour when the sun is bright and has a distinct visual impact at this time of year. It will not be long before it is devoid of leaves.

The leaves that have fallen are browning as they start to decompose. They are slowly spreading across the garden and many are ending up floating in the pond. It is a daily task to clear them up now. Happy Autumn!

Pestle Puffball

2010-10-17T09:39:00.001+01:00

Puffballs are fungal fruiting bodies that differ from the usual mushrooms and toadstools. They usually form spherical structures which mature to contain masses of reproductive spores. The spores are released through a ruptured aperture on the top of the puffball. Rain needs to fall onto the fungus or impact is needed from some other source to impart enough pressure to cause some of the spores to puff out.

An exception to this form is the pestle puffball - Calvatia excipuliformis. This fungus seems unusually common around the Midlands this year. This fungus produced hyphae (long strands of interconnected cells) which permeate dead timber and leaf mould on the forest floor. When they produce their fruiting bodies, the puffball spheres are supported on a solid pedestal, which is unusual for a puffball. The surface of the fungus is covered in small and uniform bobbles which makes them easily identifiable. The surface flecks will rub off as they are formed by the fragmented veil (outer membrane, which shatters as the fruiting body inflates).

Here are a pair of pestle puffballs and the one on the right is mature, having ruptured to release spores from the very top of the head. These fungi are growing in beech forest in Staffordshire, though they can equally be found on heathland. A similar species - Calvatia utriformis - grows in meadows and is a more compact form, but I have not yet seen that species this year.

Strolling in the Manifold Valley

2010-10-10T15:28:00.001+01:00

Autumn is upon us and this is noticeable in the woodlands and parks as trees are busy shedding their leaves and fungal fruiting bodies abound. With a slight chill in the air, we set out to walk in the Manifold Valley. We parked up at Wetton Mill for a bun and a coffee before strolling to the base of Thors cave and beyond.

On the Riverside we saw lots of Mallard. These birds tend to hang about around the cafe at Wetton Mill to pick up any crumbs that they are offered. Today they were sticking to the river and its banks as the local cats were around. Mallards have an unmistakable call that sounds as if they are laughing at something.

Having just had a bump on my car, someone hit my rear end, I now have a hire car whilst mine is being repaired. It is a Vauxhall Astra STi and it has a bit more clout than my old style Agila. It has some interesting features such as a steering column and console that you can bang your knees on, a narrow sun visor that hits you on the head when you try to use it, big sloping door posts that obstructs your view at junctions and an air conditioning unit that only works when the fan is on. And of course, the small sporty steering wheel that obscures parts of the instrument panel. Definitely a car designed for 'posers' rather than drivers.

On the way home we stopped at Froghall Station for lunch. The diesel rail car was in the station and about to leave. No steam trains today due to a technical fault. Still, it was a cracking lunch.

Pumpkin Pie

2010-09-25T20:13:00.001+01:00

Our pumpkins have ripened and are looking good. We have 3 fine specimens and a big pumpkin that the slugs have discovered. A good proportion of it has been eaten into and the slugs were close to finding the other pumpkins, so they have now been harvested and cleaned.

Not to be wasteful, I cut out the damaged side of the slug infested pumpkin and was left with a good chunk to salvage. Once opened, the pumpkin would not save, so I decided to make a pumpkin pie.

Chop up the pumpkin into slices and remove the inner pith and outer skin. Cut the flesh into small cubes and steam for about 20 minutes to soften. Mash into a purée. and cool.

Make some pastry (350g flour, 200g margarine or butter and a small amount of water) and line a pie dish.

500g pumpkin purée

175g light brown sugar

+cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg

200g milk (condenced milk is an alternative)

3 eggs

Mix the ingredients thoroughly and add to the dish. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.

The pumpkin pie needs to cool before it is cut and then it should give a crisp and clean slice. OK! I made two small ones in flan dishes, which is probably the best way to do the job. I had enough pastry and pumpkin purée left over to make a small pasty with pumpkin, nutmeg and honey.

Just the job after a hard days leisure now that the weather is starting to become Autumnal.

Controlling the wet

2010-09-19T18:13:00.000+01:00

Over the past few weeks we have had some wet weather. The path from the patio to the pond has been quaking with water, so we decided to lift the grass and gravel it over.

So far I have laid gravel to the pond and placed stepping slabs at regular intervals. This should allow better drainage to keep the path dry. Later in the year I intend to gravel between the raised beds, but for now I have run out of the stuff.

There are a few bits to trim, like this conifer that overhangs the path. The difficulty of mowing the grass on this path is now a thing of the past.

The pumpkins are doing well. There are actually four of them and three are big enough to make lanterns from. The skins are now quite hard and they should be ready for harvesting at the end of October. Halloween lanterns and pumpkin pie / soup should be no problem now.

Not a sparrow in sight

2010-09-16T09:31:00.002+01:00

Rosie looked out of the landing window and said "What's That?" Oh, its just a juvenile Goshawk sitting on our fence. We stood and watched the bird for a while as it cleaned its feathers and looked around for lunch. The only birds in sight were pigeons and magpies. They were just too challenging for a young hawk. This is the third time in a week that I have seen this bird.

The hawk sat for quite a while and allowed me to take a leisurely few photographs.

Goshawks do tend to be a little variable in their colouring, but the size (bigger than a sparrow-hawk) and that distinctive pale flash over the eyes gives them away. I would love to see this bird when it has its sleeker and paler adult plumage. This hawk is attracted by the abundance of sparrows in our hedges, but the little birds are wise to its presence and fast to disappear. They will even scatter at the sight of a magpie flying past - quite a strong survival instinct. We have not yet seen any sparrow remains in the garden.

Flowerpot Bread

2010-09-03T20:12:00.002+01:00

As I glanced out of the window on the upstairs landing I saw a hawk descend upon a small group of sparrows. The small birds scattered into the hedges and the hawk swooped down and missed its target. It settled on the shed roof for a while, then flew off. A quick snap revealed this to be a goshawk (white flash over eyes and stripes on the tail, almost chestnut in colour, bigger than a sparrowhawk). Whilst this bird is common in Europe, it is a rarity in the UK - quite a treat to see.

Yesterday I purchased a couple of plantpots for baking bread in. Oiled the insides and baked them dry for half an hour to season them for baking - repeated a second time. Cooled them, then placed a disc of greaseproof paper in the base to seal the drainage hole - greased and floured the inside.
My bread was a spelt flour and strong white mix, one loaf with black olives and rosemary and one with tomato puree and basil.

The bread needs to be baked longer than normal, until a good crust has formed on top. Leave to cool before turning out the loaf.

The pots need a little more baking with oil inside to finish of the seasoning as the loaves did stick a little on the edges, but the taste was excellent.

What could be nicer that a garden vegetable risotto, a glass of home made blackcurrant cordial and a lump of black olive and rosemary plantpot bread. Good living works for me.

Pintail is back

2010-08-30T09:23:00.002+01:00

During the last week we have seen foxes active in daylight. One rather bushy tailed individual came onto the patio and across to next doors garden, then returned to our lawn. It was not in a hurry to leave when I went into the garden. The foxes are no problem, doing no damage and leaving hardly a trace of their presence. They often only drink from the pond then move on. Most of the time, our garden is just a place to go through to obtain the food that is left out for them next door.

This morning, pintail arrived on the patio, walked past our cat Max and up to the pond for a drink. Max followed to get a good view of the fox. Then pintail settled down by the raised beds and started to have a good lick down, concentrating on his feet and tail. At this point Max lost interest and returned to the patio to sniff the heathers. It is quite some time since pintail was seen, there are actually two pintail foxes - one being a dog fox and the other a vixen, and both look very healthy. They each have a very thin fury red tail with a white tip.

Ok - the fox is settled by the raised beds, out comes the camera.

Human alert - the fox has a quick look, then like a ghost in the night it is gone.

I did manage to get a quick shot, but not the ideal picture that I had imagined. It is amazing how this fox could nip out of the holly hedge surrounding our garden without disturbing the blue tits flitting around the in branches.

Biscotti

2010-08-27T13:03:00.004+01:00

Whenever we go out for a treat I frequently have coffee and a chocolate biscotti. I have not baked this biscuit before so I thought I would give it a go.

Set the oven to 180 degrees Celcius and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper. The dry ingredients are mixed first - in a big bowl. 300g plain flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 75g of cocoa powder and a pinch of salt. About 150g of shelled pistachio nuts and about 150g of chipped chocolate (75% cocoa solids or more).

Shelling the pistachios is a bit of a trial and chipping good quality chocolate is tedious, but it is worth it. Make sure the flour and cocoa are well sifted and well mixed.

Using another large bowl (I have lots of bowls for baking), mix the wet ingredients. 75g of margarine (butter is better, but more saturated fats) and 230g of granulated sugar- mix well into a stiff paste. When the paste is smooth, add two beatn eggs - mixing in a little at a time. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly into a stiff dough.

The dough should now be split into two and formed into two long flat suasages one on each baking tray. Sprinkle the top with icing sugar. Bake for about 40 minutes then take out of the oven and rest for at least 20 minutes to allow the biscotti to firm up.

Using a finely serrated bread knife, cut the biscotti into diagonal strips and lay them flat on a baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes to crisp them and then cool on a wire rack. Wait until the biscotti are cold before eating them.

Wow - fresh coffee and home made biscotti - I love Italian food.

Interesting things around Thorpe Cloud

2010-08-20T09:20:00.000+01:00

Thorpe Cloud is one of the interesting and rugged hills around Dovedale in Derbyshire. We are in limestone country and like many of the hills (almost mountains) of the peak district, they are covered in grass. At 942ft or 287m, Thorpe clouds summit is a small challenge. You need to be moderately fit to walk up the ridge.

This presents no problem to the local sheep who live on the hill. They are often seen at the summit, but stay on the slopes when the tourists are about. Derbyshire hill sheep are tough and placid.

Dovedale is a wildlife paradise and we saw this Small Copper butterfly whilst on Thorpe Cloud. The species can be found across Northern Europe and just into China, but it is not so common in the UK. We also saw Dippers by the river, a Kestrel hunting above the slopes and Buzzard over the peaks.

At the base of the eastern side of Thorpe Cloud is a small marshy drainage brook which was full of these wetland flowers. This is a species that I have not encountered before and I would love to know what they are.

Sparrows abound

2010-08-07T10:12:00.000+01:00

The local sparrow population has boomed. most pairs seem to have had at least two broods this year with little predation. The birds often sit on our laurel bush, now that the top is pruned and there are twigs available to use as perches.

The success of the sparrows this year is probably due to the availability of concealed nesting sites in the hedges and bushes around the gardens, and to the easy access to feeders. The presence of a local population of magpies and crows in the high trees around the gardens also helps to keep the predatory hawks away.

I have counted 32 sparrows at one time, but I suspect the group is somewhat larger as they tend to fragment to take advantage of the various feeders across the local gardens. Their main competitors for food are starlings, but there is enough food to sustain both population groups.

Yesterday, whilst walking around the lake at Trentham Gardens, we spotted this grey heron resting on a canoe at the lakeside. The adults were quite active, flying frequently from bank to bank. We also saw kingfisher and terns by the River Trent which runs at the side of the lake.

Erecting fence panels

2010-07-31T16:49:00.001+01:00

Our old fence is about 15 years old now and it has been decaying for the past two years. having earned a sum of money from my exam marking, it is about time we used some of this cash to replace the old fence panels. Off to the local builders merchants to order some for Monday - "Sorry we do not have s driver on that day. Can you take them today?" So we are now the proud owners of some new fence panels.

Taking the old panels out was easy, most of them fell out. Squeezing the new panels into the posts was another matter. Most went in OK, but a couple of panels had been out in the rain at the builders merchants and they were damp - about twice as heavy as the dry panels - and they were difficult to handle.

It is good to have a smart new fence. I am sure that our neighbours are just as pleased as we are. The next big task is to rebuild the shrub and flower boarders around the top lawn. That is quite a challenge.

Looking at the first of our raised beds, I took out the herbs and replaced them with pumpkins in the early Spring. Rosie suggested that a home grown pumpkin would be a treat at Halloween. It looks as if that wish may now be realised as the pumpkins are progressing quite well.

Hunting Mergansers

2010-07-28T19:50:00.005+01:00

Having visited my brother-in-law in hospital, we stopped at Bakewell on our journey home. We purchased a bag of chips and sat at the river side to eat them. Whilst we were watching the water-birds I noticed a small group of merganser swimming along amongst the geese, ducks and gulls.

These were Mergus merganser the common merganser or goosander. As they all had chestnut coloured heads, I assumed that they were females and juveniles - the mature males have a bottle green head and a black back stripe at this time of year. The distinctive white square wing patch can be seen on the wing of the adult female below, which defines this species in flight.

These birds are not often seen in this part of Derbyshire, but there were small brown trout in the river amongst the larger adult fish and this is what the merganser were after. They swim three or four abreast with their heads under the water looking for small fish. The movement is fast and they leave a considerable wake for a smallish bird (a bit bigger then a mallard). They are very adept at swimming under water and their big webbed feet can propel them at quite a speed.

These birds have a serrated edge to the upper beak, which grips the fish they catch very effectively. We saw one bird catch and swallow a small trout. Most of the fish in the River Wye are far too large for these birds to cope with.

Back at home I went to remove a pile of twigs and leaves that I had pruned from the blackcurrant bushes the previous day. This little fellow was hiding beneath the cuttings.

I covered him up again. The clippings will go in the bin tomorrow.

8625 in steam

2010-07-25T11:09:00.002+01:00

We parked at Consal Forge visitors centre and walked across the fishing ponds. On the perimeter fence were a small group of partridge taking in the sun. I suspect we were the first people to walk down this path to see such an unusual sight.

The local mallard were gathered at one side of the disabled fishermans' pond. We startled a heron on the bank near the duck and it flew across the pond near the mallard. My camera was switched off and I missed the perfect photograph ("the one that got away").

As we left Consal Wood, we crossed the canal and the railway, just in time to see the train pass by.

LMS Stanier 8F 2-8-0 No. 8624 arrived from the East Lancashire Railway on 3rd June this year and is now in service transporting passengers along the Churnet Valley. The engine is in LMS colours and looking splendid pulling the train in BR plum livery, almost the same colour.

At this part of the line, the railway runs along the Cauldon Canal on the approach to Consal Station. Consal is very much a 1950's station which is located across the canal from the Black Bull public house.
The Churnet Valley Railway are also planning to run the BR Class 8 Pacific locomotive No. 71000 "Duke of Gloucester" in their November Steam Gala on 13/14 Nov 2010. That will be worth a visit to see as it was the last big steam engine to be built by British Rail in 1954, before the diesel age.

Extra time in Lincoln

2010-07-16T12:33:00.002+01:00

Having been to Lincoln to The Collection, we found that we had time to wander. Lincoln is a splendid city with an amazing and visible heritage. We went to the Brayford Pool for coffee and then up Steep Hill to check out some well known shops.

Gareth Jones runs a small fossil and gem shop called Lapid Art. This type of shop is like a magnet to me and I have purchased fossils from here in the past. My specific collections are so well established that I seldom find anything I want these days, but the joy of seeing such fine fossils is not to be missed.

If you are ever in Lincoln, a visit to this shop must be part of any itinerary, not just for the fine fossils, but also for the gems and jewellery, much of which is hand made.

Just a little way across the street is The Pot Shop. You need to persist to find it as it is well hidden behind the main hill at Christ's Hospital Terrace. Andrew MacDonald is an exceptionally fine potter specialising in ancient pottery designs and styles. We have a couple of his pieces from years ago, so it was a special treat to visit his workshop and purchase a few bits. Rosie had a jug to complement an earlier purchase and I had a pot similar in form to typical bronze age material to add to my stone age collection.

I am considering going back onto the talk circuit, something I can now do again since I retired from teaching, so I am reorganising my stone tools and re-sorting my slides and presentation material.
The pot is a pleasing replica with an authentic soft fired finish that is virtually impossible to achieve in a modern electric kiln.

For anyone who is keen to seek out the unusual and interesting places, this pottery is a rare and wonderful treat. Some of the ancient replicas are quite inexpensive and there is also a good range of slip ware and more recent historical designs available as well as the chance to commission specific work for collections or displays. You may have seen some of Andrews work in museum displays around the UK.
Part 1 Video link, Luttrell Psalter
Part 2
Jugs in use

Pigeon food

2010-07-09T19:27:00.001+01:00

The other day, we noticed that most of the bird feed that we had put out on the feeder tray was being consumed by the local pigeons. To give the smaller birds a chance, Rosie went out and purchased a new feeder and installed it. That should stop the pigeons hogging all of the food.

Not a chance - it was not long before these daft birds had worked out how to extract the seed from the feeder. The whole apparatus needs to be reorganised to stop these gluttons from filling their crops at our expense. I am sure that they consume far more than the local squirrels.

Yesterday I saw a comma butterfly in the vegetable patch. Untill now the only butterflies I have seen regularly in the garden this year have been small veined whites, skippers and gatekeepers. It will soon be the season for the tortoiseshells and red admirals.

Today on my travels I saw a burnet moth. These distinct black and red moths are found around open meadows and banks where ragwort grows. The distinctly ringed caterpillars feed on the poisonous ragwort plant which makes then unpalatable to predators, as are the adult moths.

RAF Cosford visit

2010-07-01T10:33:00.002+01:00

As a birthday treat we were going to Blists Hill Victorian Town Museum at Ironbridge. On the way we stopped off at RAF Cosford to have a coffee and see if there was anything new on display. I always have a look around the back of the hangers and there was a Jetstream, a bloodhound missile and what appeared to be a silver Miles Magister to be seen.

In Hanger 1 we saw a Pioneer. This remarkable aeroplane had a wing profile that enabled it to land on very short and makeshift runways. Built by Scottish Aviation, the Pioneer saw service in the Far East between 1950 and 1969. It was in service with 6 squadrons as a 4 seat STOL transport capable of flying 400 miles at about 100 miles per hour.

The latest addition to the Cold War collection is this Sikorsky MH53. This long range combat, search and rescue helicopter was in service with the USAF from 1967 to 2008, this is the Pave Low or Stallion, nicknamed the "Super Jolly Green Giant". It had a capacity of 27 troops and a range of about 700 miles with the capability to refuel in flight.

The Cosford Museum near Albrighton is always a treat. Entrance is free, though they are now charging £2 for car parking and it is also worth buying a guide book. The cafe has been refurbished to include a Costa Coffee and there is a small refreshment shop in the Cold War hanger.

At present, there is a plan to move the Vickers Wellington bomber from RAF Hendon to RAF Cosford in the next week or so in order for it to undergo restoration work. For some time the only place that you will be able to see a Wellington bomber will be at the Brooklands Museum.

Pigeon Strike

2010-06-24T12:32:00.003+01:00

During the last 3 days we have had 6 pigeons fly into our bedroom windows. Most were dazed, but there was one fatality. A squab hit the window head first and fractured its skull. It fell down in front of our cat Chloe who just watched in amazement. Time now to take action - so we went around the local garden centres to find stickers to put on the outside of the windows. No joy....none of the outlets had anything in stock, so we ordered some.

In the mean time I have used electrical insulating tape to make shapes on the outside of the glazing. This seems to have done the trick, but the rain will eventually cause the tape to peal off. Hopefully, it will remain in place long enough to warn the pigeons so that we can install the appropriate stickers when they arrive.

The pigeons roost in trees at the top of the garden. When they move to trees across the road at the front of the house, they fly between our house and our neighbours. In the early morning and late evening, the windows reflect the sky and this has been confusing the birds. Perhaps now they will be a little safer around these windows.
This little diversion was a welcome respite from my marking. Having processed almost 3000 exam scripts so far, it is thankfully coming to an end.

Garden Update

2010-06-20T09:39:00.001+01:00

Our pair of thrushes who have already had 2 broods and eaten almost all of the snails in our garden, have made a new nest in a thorn bush at the top of the side lawn. The female is sitting so I assume that there are eggs to be hatched. Yesterday I disturbed the male thrush. He was showing one of the youngsters (the one we rescued in a cat food box, who is quite large now) how to dip for pond snails.

Later in the day I saw a flycatcher on top of the leylandii. This is the first time I have see this bird in the garden, apparently they are quite scarce.

The frogs are doing well and they are less worried about my presence now that we have warm days and the spawning season has passed. Keeping an amphibian pond is a joy, but the prolonged dry weather has been a problem. I have been topping up the pond with tap water in order to conserve the rainwater in my butts for the plants. This has resulted in a rapid growth of duckweed, so it is much harder to see the newts at present.

Another new visitor to our garden is this small skipper butterfly. I have occasionally seen them on the heathland a few miles away, but this is my first sighting here.
Despite the long and cold winter, this year has been a good one for local birds. They have raised lots of chicks successfully and we have starlings, pigeons, blackbirds, sparrows and magpies aplenty. I saw a kestrel fly over the garden a few days ago and there are sparrow hawks, buzzards and goshawks locally, but there seems to be a very low level of predation and lots of local bird tables which all help in the scheme of things.

Pintail

2010-06-15T15:04:00.000+01:00

Yesterday evening I was working in the greenhouse and I looked through the glass to see a young fox strolling down the side lawn. The fox walked across to the hedge and looked through to our neighbours garden. Where you would expect to see a bushy fox tail, the animal had a skinny whip like tail. The long hairs which characterise a foxes tail were missing completely, probably a genetic trait. I have names the fox pintail. It has now been seen taking food that our neighbours put out for the foxes each evening.

The vixens were howling last night. Perhaps a little breeding is afoot!

Springwatch

2010-06-03T07:50:00.001+01:00

The BBC are broadcasting the Spring watch programs and Chloe is engrossed in the TV spectacle again. She cannot resist the amazing bird images and video clips. As soon as the title music starts, she is up in front of the TV. This year she has realised that if she sits on the coffee table, she will have a better view of the screen.

Update: The thrushes in our garden returned the the nest in our Ceanothus bush at the edge of the patio. They are now both taking food back and forth. This suggests that their eggs have hatched and they are busy feeding their second brood. They are moving further afield to find food as the snail population in our garden is all but extinct now. The male bird likes the bread we put out. He can clearly recognise the advantage of eating home made produce!

For the first time in many years we have greenfinch. The local population disappeared when disease decimated the greenfinch population within the UK. They have now returned - at least 2 males observed - and they are resident at the edge of the garden.

Juvenile Starlings

2010-05-27T20:45:00.000+01:00

At this time of year I love the contrasting colours in our top garden. The glaucous greens to yellow greens of the shrubs; the pink of the Tamarix ramosissima with its filigree foliage; the clematis flowers in the Leylandii hedge. very soon, the first of the bright blue flowers of the geraniums that surround the top lawn will be out - now that is a treat.

The starling chicks have fledged now and they are almost as big and fast as the adults. This year has been a good year for the starlings and they have produced a bumper number of young.

A few adults have been supervising the feeding on our lawn today. The juveniles are learning to find bugs, worms and grubs in the lawn by using their beaks to part the vegetation and scrape the soil. There appears to be a lot of food to be had as the birds are taking a lot of time on the lawn. In the photo you can see two adults supervising a dozen youngsters. There are just as many youngsters off shot.

Today my helper is Max. He is quite fond of wildlife, but at 14 he is not so excited as he used to be. (photo by Rosie) The local birds treat Max as neutral and will seldom bother to move when he is around. I have seen him stroll past a feeding pigeon on the top lawn and on another occasion he walked past a dog fox and they just shared a brief nod as they went their separate ways. Max is a very placid cat, but the neighbourhood tom cats all respect him on this patch.

Flash Frogs

2010-05-21T22:12:00.002+01:00

Tonight I went out to take some pictures of flowers using flash photography. I noticed quite a lot of frogs in the pond.

I was surprised that they stayed put when the camera was close and the flash fired. Many of these frogs will ignore me, but I was accompanied by Max, our adventurous 14 year old tomcat, in this adventure

This frog was quite happy to allow be to get up close and personal. I am quite pleased with the quality of the image. The camera strap had a dip in the pond, but I am sure that it will clean up OK.

I presume that the frogs cannot see Max in the dark. Normally, when a cat is this close, the frogs are gone in an instant. Earlier this afternoon I had counted 24 frogs visible at one time. I am sure that there are more in the pond as they take refuge from the heat of the day.

Thors Cave

2010-05-17T17:37:00.003+01:00

Today we set out to explore the Manifold Valley. Our first stop was Wetton Mill which sits below a small cave called Nan Tor Cave. The roof of the cave is now collapsed, but it was occasionally inhabited in prehistoric times.

A little over half a mile south of Wetton Mill is Thors Cave. This stands high on the cliff overlooking Ladyside Wood. It is accessed from the disused railway which is now a cycle path, across the river and up the bank via a stepped pathway.

This cave gives a commanding view of the valley. Evidence of habitation suggests that the cave has been used for about 10,000 years, at different times by prehistoric hunters, hyaenas and cave bears. Deeper into the cave, for those who have appropriate caving equipment and skill, are large chambers with fine stalactites and stalagmites (tights come down and mites grow up). Nan Tor Cave can be seen in the distance from the entrance, but not in the above view.

The purpose of this visit, for me, was to take some pictures inside the cave. Rosie took this one of me with my camera. It has a steeply inclined rocky floor which is a challenging entrance for anyone to climb up. Once inside the cave, there is a side opening in the rock that allows light to enter the entrance chamber, illuminating the inside for about 100 metres. This would have made a very safe habitable space for prehistoric hunter gatherers.

On the way back from the cave we met Gary Prescott, who is cycling around the UK on a birding mission. He had stopped to look at some Early-Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula) which were growing across a large hillside pasture.

We also spotted cowslips (Primula veris) and lots of ladies smock (Cardamine pratensis). The meadows are full of interesting flowers after the cool and long winter. There appeared to be a peregrine falcon on the crag at Ossoms hill. I took a photograph, but the image is too blurred to see the bird clearly. Oh well, back to Wetton Mill for a coffee and to feed the ducks - woh! - Cinclus cinclus - The white throated dipper - flying under the bridge at the mill. What a treat.

Check out Rosies blog
.

How late is the garden

2010-05-15T11:13:00.000+01:00

The ferns are starting to extend their leaves in the forest. They are quite interesting at this time of year. I have also noticed the ferns in my garden are starting to shoot up.

On the lakeside, the geese are raising their goslings which are well on time and growing at a pace. At Trentham you can see both Canada goose and Graylag with young. The resident Mallards and other ducks have not yet got young, so they are late hatching this year.

Just yesterday I saw the first Rhododendron flowers in full bloom. They are usually fully out at this time of year, but at present, most are just showing opening flower buds.

My potatoes have just erupted from the soil. They were well advanced at this time last year, but this year I have not yet soiled up.

Lettuce is doing well in the greenhouse and the heads are in many cases, higher than the tomato plants. Last year at this time, the tomatoes were much higher and in full flower with a few green tomatoes showing on the trusses. The long and cold winter has delayed many plants in the garden this year, no doubt the supermarkets will profit in the short term.

Thrush update 2

2010-05-07T09:47:00.007+01:00

It is clear that the thrushes have fledged some young, but I have been unable to ascertain how many. Any chicks are hiding in the undergrowth. The adult birds have started to build a new nest. This is being padded out with moss from the lawn as I type. The nest is in a ceoanthus bush at the edge of the back patio quite close to the house.
This is the best picture from my poor attempt to photograph the thrushes flying in and out of the bush yesterday evening.
I am delighted to be finding the remnants of snail shells. It is quite surprising how many the thrushes are finding. My concern is that a second brood of thrushes will clear out all of the slugs and snails and move on to a new home, leaving me with lots of snail eggs in the soil.

Thrush chick update

2010-05-05T09:38:00.002+01:00

The box is empty, except for a good deal of bird poo! Both adult thrushes are flying out together and the chicks have fledged. The thrushes are feeding in the shrubs and around the garden.

Thrush in residence

2010-05-04T19:22:00.006+01:00

This year we have a pair of song thrushes living around the garden. These birds are a welcome addition to the avian residents as they have made a significant difference to the vegetable patch in our garden.
At the side of the pond is a slab which the thrushes have been using as an anvil. There are a large number of broken garden snail shells in this area. Other parts of the garden have similar accumulations of snail shells. In fact it is very difficult to find garden snails anymore. The frogs from the pond also seem to be reducing the garden slug population, so I am expecting a good crop of vegetables this year.
There was a bit of an event this morning. One of our cats was very excited, chasing a thrush chick along the garden wall. The cat was play chasing rather than in kill mode, so the chick was in good health. I picked it up and examined it, then put it into a box with a few meal worms. I popped the box up into a plum tree near to their nest site. I wish I had photographed it now....
It was not long before one of the parent birds had found the box containing its stray chick. Hopefully, if the chick is fed for a few more days its primary feathers will have grown sufficiently to allow it to fly. OK, the box was a cat food box, but the birds did not seem to mind!
Afterwards we went for a stroll around Trentham Lake and gardens. We occasionally sit on a bench beyond the main garden cafe and the local robins visit us for scraps. I was quite pleased with this photo.
I will check on the thrush chick tomorrow. I don't want the fuss that we had with a starling chick in a previous Spring.

Level Pegging

2010-04-23T16:36:00.003+01:00

It is not my thing to discuss politics on line, but in view of the recent debates between Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and David Cameron, I am inspired to share some thoughts. These are my own opinions and they should be treated as such.

Gordon Brown - good track record, lots of financial experience in top office, lots of social investment, well respected proven track record.
Nick Clegg - been around the jobs, good ideas man, I can see where he is coming from, supports review of the current political system.
David Cameron - worries me, unclear manifesto, seems to change ideas to suit his surroundings, driven rather than leading.

I am inclined towards Clegg and the Liberal Democrats for the following reasons. First past the post is renowned for giving one party the power. This can lead to a lack of fair representation in politics as many citizens will not support the incumbent party. Lib Dems support political negotiation and this has to be good for representation of all the people. I see a 'hung Parliament' as a distinct advantage for democracy. This type of politics is already familiar to the rest of the UK, so why not in London? Shame about shelving the trident project.... but priorities have to be set.

It is clear that there is an opportunity here to change the system for the better. Whatever the outcome, the world will go on.

The swallows are here

2010-04-14T14:02:00.004+01:00

This morning we ventured to walk around the lake at Trentham. A large number of swallows were soaring above our heads as we entered the North Entrance. They were quite distinctive with their deeply forked tails and dark throats. These are the first swallows I have seen this year.
I was also quite pleased to see cormorants roosting in the trees on the island. The distance was about at the limit of the camera lens that I had, but the resulting photograph is clear enough to see them. I knew that there was a pair of cormorants on the lake, but we counted four in the trees and I saw one on the water further down the lake. They are fast becoming an established inland bird.
The grey herons are much larger and easier to photograph. This one was on the lakeside not far from the path. On a quiet day you can catch quite a few close up, though when the lakeside is busy, the herons tend to remain on the islands.
A few days ago I noticed a pair of Mandarin ducks and we spotted them again today. This time they were on the water and much easier to photograph.
Of course, no walk in the wooded area by the lake would be complete without seeing a squirrel.
We also saw some jays and a firecrest, but they were fare too quick for the camera. The season has turned now that the swallows are in town.

Bad Badger

2010-04-12T09:30:00.003+01:00

Just as you think that everything is rosie in the garden, a badger comes and poops on your work. Herb seeds are scattered across the bed and mixed up into a mosaic of soil.
Oh well - smooth it over and cover it with a net - something will grow....... ;-)

Planting Out

2010-04-11T12:20:00.004+01:00

This weekend has been the warmest and sunniest this year. It has been ideal weather for working in the garden, so I have planted out the greenhouse and the raised beds.
This year I have removed some of the beds from the greenhouse and that has given me better access to them. I have also removed the old soil and replaced it with sterile compost. The tomatoes are in and I have lots of lettuce plants, all grown from seed this year. There is also radish, cucumber and spinach. As the plants are harvested, more will be planted out. Pots of unusual tomatoes and edible flowers are still to be added on the other side of the greenhouse.
The raised beds are essential since the soil in our garden is pot clay. We already have established beds with Gooseberry, Blackcurrant, Rhubarb and Raspberry. The two larger beds have been planted with seasonal vegetables. To plant out the potatoes I ridge the soil and plant in the furrows. as they grow, I will pull the ridged soil over the plants to increase the crop yield. The other bed is marked out with sticks. Carrot, parsnip and beetroot are overcropped with seedling lettuce and cabbage. They top crops will be harvested whilst the under crop seedlings are still very small. I have one corner with French beans and another reserved for my courgette plants, which are still indoors until I am sure that the last frost has passed.
It is satisfying to have the crops in the ground.

GWR 5199

2010-04-05T15:00:00.001+01:00

Walking over the Easter holiday we ventured to Consal Forge Country Park. In the fields along the river valley we saw these fine Jacob rams, they entered into quite a conversation with us - a pity I don't speak sheep!
Whilst walking along the canal, we heard the puff puff of a steam train, so I walked down to the railway line just in time to catch a glimpse of it. This was Prairie Tank Locomotive 5199 on its way along the Churnet Valley Steam Railway to Cheddleton Station. Quite a surprise since this Loco was on the Llangollen Railway not so long ago.
Having made a few enquiries, the Loco is on loan from Llangollen Railway. It was running on the Bluebell Line last year and it arrived at Froghall Station in January this year for the Winter Steam Gala. It has been retained a little longer to allow maintenance work on the other engines. 5199 was built in 1934 for the Great Western Railway Company (GWR) and it is in their Green and black livery. It is a 2-6-2T large Prairie Locomotive with a 4 ton tender and a 200psi boiler

Easter Weekend

2010-04-02T15:04:00.004+01:00

At last, the frogs have spawned. It has taken some time, but there are now 8 sets of frog spawn in the pond. There may be more as last year the frogs spawned over 3 nights.

At the start of Easter I have followed the tradition and bakes some hot cross buns. These are essentially spiced buns with a cross on the top. I did some with the original incised cross, some with a pastry form of the cross and some with the more recent pastry full cross.
Two centuries ago, spiced buns were still a luxury that most people could not afford. They are now found in every bakers shop and supermarket at this time of year.

Ingredients
450g strong white flour
50g margarine
50g castor sugar
75g currants
25g sultanas
7g dried yeast
teaspoon ground cinnamon
teaspoon ground nutmeg

200ml milk and 3 eggs

Rub together the flour and margarine to a fine grist and mix in all of the other dry ingredients.
Whisk the eggs into the milk to make a custard and blend into the dry ingredients to make the dough. Kneed and then leave to rise in a warm place for an hour.
Knock down and kneed the dough well - leave for a second rise until doubled in size.
Knock down again and kneed thoroughly. Form into small round buns and place on baking trays. Incise a cross on the top and allow to rise and double in size (or add a pastry cross - see below). Bake for 15-17 minutes at 200°C. Immediately the buns come out of the oven, glaze with a mixture of water and sugar. The water will evaporate leaving a crisp and fine glaze to the buns. Cool for an hour before eating.

If you want to form a pastry cross, make a pastry using 4 parts flour and 1 part margarine, rub together and mix in a small amount of water to make a stiff pastry. Roll out and cut into long thin strips. Before the buns go into the oven, paint them with water and place on the pastry.

Happy Easter

Oh Deer

2010-03-29T09:37:00.007+01:00

We visited Jacksons Nursery at Bucknall for a morning coffee and some plants. When we arrived it was feeding time for the deer, so we spent a little time watching the show.
These are Sika deer, a bit smaller than red deer and with smaller antlers and a squeaky voice. There is a dominant male and a group of hinds, with a few younger deer and a couple of small bucks. They are a very placid herd, being used to people as they are contained in a pasture field next to the Nursery car park.

The coffee was good and we had toast. Jacksons have a splendid coffee shop with a central wood fire giving a warm glow to the place and a personal approach to service. It is a family business and it feels like one.

We did not get the plants we wanted and so moved on to the farm shop and nursery at the back of the Foxfield Steam Railway Station off Caverswall Old Road at Moor Green. Rosie got her plants there.

When we got home, Rosie was giggling in the dressing room. "you will just have to come and see this....!"

Chloe had taken a pair of my neatly folded trousers and dragged them to the radiator. She had opened the waistband out and was using them as a nest. She has her own way of doing things.......Oh Dear!