Yet More Things!

26 Sun Apr 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, Insects, plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, wild birds

Tags

amelanchier, Ash, ash keys, bristly ox-tongue, clematis montana, crabapple 'Harry Baker', euonymus, garden, greylag, pasque flower, pieris, red-legged partridge, rosemary, saxifrage, spring, Suffolk, tulip, viburnum bodnantense, white dead-nettle, wild cherry

I was surprised to see two Red-legged Partridges (Alectoris rufa) in my garden one morning as I opened the kitchen blinds.

This one had obviously had a bad night.

Please ignore the weedy flowerbed – I have since tidied it up.

Shortly after I took this photo they both flew away.

The variagated Euonymus is looking bright with new leaves.

The Pieris ‘Forest Fire’ has tiny new pink leaves

The Clematis montana ‘Rubens’ I cut back a few weeks ago is showing me that it won’t be beaten.

The Rosemary is still flowering beautifully

The Ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) are flowering.

The flowers are very small and a warm purple colour. Ash trees have separate male and female flowers, mainly on separate trees but there are a few trees that have both male and female flowers but on separate branches! The trees around us are all females and produce thousands of Ash ‘keys’, winged seeds that hang from the trees in bunches in the autumn. My mother has plenty of Ash trees near her house but all hers are males – so no ‘keys’.

A reflective Greylag!

IMG_4449Bumblebee on White Dead-nettle (640x480)

A bumblebee on White Dead-nettle (Lamium album)

A very over-grown corner of our garden. This ditch doesn’t belong to us but is part of the common land between our garden and the road. I expect that no-one will take responsibility for looking after this but if there is a problem with it in the future we will no doubt be asked to deal with it!

The Amelanchier is blossoming.

The Viburnum bodnantense produces dark pink flowers in the spring and pale pink or white flowers during the winter

Wild Cherry blossom (Prunus avium)

Wild Cherry

Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris)

Red Saxifrage

A soft pink Tulip

It looks so different depending on the angle from which I photograph it

Tulips

The new leaves of Bristly Ox-tongue (Picris echioides). Another member of the Daisy family.

IMG_4476Crabapple 'Harry Baker' (640x480)

Crabapple ‘Harry Baker’ flower buds

I had an on-line conversation with a member of the WordPress team a week or so ago and asked about my missing posts. The person who dealt with my enquiry was extremely helpful but was unable to retrieve them. He would have been able to retrieve three old posts I had deleted on purpose but was unable to find the ones that had disappeared! Fortunately, a very dear friend who is an e-mail follower has been saving my posts and has sent all the missing ones to me. When I have the time I may post a page with them on for anyones information.

Thank-you for visiting!

A Few More Things.

24 Fri Apr 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, plants, Rural Diary, trees, wild animals, wild birds

≈ 45 Comments

Tags

aubretia, bluetit, daffodils, daisy, dandelion, Elder, greylags, Hawthorn, heartsease, Muntjac deer, near-species rose, nests, pussy willow, rhubarb, silver birch, snail-trail, spear thistle, spring, Suffolk, willow

In between racing about in my car to Norwich and Mum’s house, the doctor’s surgery and the hospital, shopping trips to Harleston, Halesworth, Bungay and Diss, I have been able to take my camera with me as I walk round the garden, filling all the bird feeders. I haven’t had time for any gardening for about ten days and I miss it! The weather here has continued bright and dry with frosty, misty mornings and warmish days (as long as you are out of the chilly NE wind). Today has been much warmer with a change of wind direction but according to the forecast, this will not last. Rain and cold are set to return by the end of the weekend.

Hawthorn leaves. We have two types of Hawthorn in our garden hedges, Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata). This is probably Midland Hawthorn or maybe a hybrid between the two.

A Daisy (Bellis perennis). I love its simplicity.

The Elder leaves (Sambucus nigra) are now almost fully out and have lost the pink tinge they had. They are matte mid-green leaves. Last year we had the best elder blossom I’d seen for many years.

Goat Willow or Sallow catkins (Salix caprea). Male and female catkins are on separate trees and appear before the leaves. Sallows are a food plant for many different types of moth. The catkins are known as ‘Pussy Willow’ when they first appear as they look and feel like silky cats paws.

I found a Heartsease or Wild Pansy (Viola tricolor) plant on the path round the big pond. Next to it there is also the first rosette of Spear Thistle leaves (Cirsium vulgare).

Silver Birch leaves (Betula pendula)

I love standing underneath our tree and looking up. Silver Birches eventually grow to be about 26 metres tall. I don’t think ours has quite got there yet.

This Bluetit (Parus caeruleus) sitting in the Birch tree looks a little strange. It has a black sunflower seed in its beak.

It spent some time taking the seedcase off…

…and eating the seed within.

The Greylags (Anser anser) have been amusing me a lot lately. The geese are much calmer than the ganders. The goose here is up close eating some food I put out for it. The gander is further away and hissing at me.

This one I found the other morning standing on top of the hedge.

The original goose on her nest on the island…

…was joined last weekend by another goose (nearest to us).

A third goose has made her nest on the edge of the pond. I surprised her and she surprised me when I walked round the pond yesterday. I am not sure how successful this nest will be as it is quite vulnerable to fox predation.

A Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Daffodils along the ditch at the front of the house

Daffodils at the top of the ditch between us and the old School House.

Our Rhubarb (Rheum x hybridum ‘Timperley Early’) looking majestic.

A very early flowering near-species rose has buds on it. (Rosa xanthina ‘Canary Bird’)

Aubretia

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Richard pointed out this snail trail up the side of the house!

I saw this Muntjac deer doe very early the other morning. It was eating the crabapple tree! The leaf shapes on the window are meant to stop birds crashing into the glass but aren’t very successful. I usually have to pull the window-blind down to stop them!

Very blurred photo! You can see how stocky/thickset these deer are and also the white in their ears.

The does don’t have antlers but have a dark triangular patch on their foreheads.

I think I see her tongue sticking out as she chews a mouthful of leafy twig.

I had great trouble trying to focus on the deer. The camera wanted to focus on the window glass of the double-glazing or the daffodils behind the deer.

Richard on his new tractor-mower. The old one wasn’t working too well so we part-exchanged it for a newer, better model. It has a mulching facility which will be good to use in the summer.

I must share some good news I heard today. My daughter Alice has been told she has her PhD. She is now Doctor Alice! I am so proud of her.

Thank-you for visiting!

A Few Things I’ve Seen in my Garden.

21 Tue Apr 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in amphibians, fish, Gardening, plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, wild birds

≈ 38 Comments

Tags

bird's nest, birds, Common Frog, cowslip, daffodils, ducks, fish, flowers, frogspawn, garden, Great Tit, ground-ivy, hazel, Hazel bud-gall, horse chestnut, lichen, Mallard, marsh marigold, moss, pond, primrose, primula, spring, Suffolk, sweet violet, tadpoles, trees, Water Mint

Two very handsome Mallard drakes (Anas platyrhynchos).

Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea). Many of the newer leaves are purple and the plant has a slightly unpleasant minty scent.

As I have mentioned before, when we moved to this house there were no Primroses (Primula vulgaris) in the garden at all. We now have a few plants here and there on the banks of our ditches.

The Cowslips (Primula veris) are beginning to bloom. We have always had plenty of these!

A primula hybrid that arrived unbidden about three years ago. I rather like it.

The house next door to us is the former village school. I am not sure when it closed but a friend of ours from church used to attend it during the 1940’s. Where our house and garden is now, there was a meadow full of wild flowers and our friend walked across it every day to collect the milk for the school from the farm next door. These wild flowers we have in our garden are all that’s left of the hundreds that used to be here up to about 50 or 60 years ago. I hope that we can hang on to these few and perhaps, by not using chemicals, encourage them to spread.

Sweet Violet (Viola odorata)

This is our parcels and newspaper box at the end of our drive. We noticed during the winter that it was starting to rot and needed replacing. It appears that we weren’t the only ones to notice the state the box was in. I opened it the other day to find something had made a hole in the back of it ( you can see where the light is shining through just below my thumb as I lift the lid). The next day I found this straw and moss had been put in there. Richard saw a Great Tit (Parus major) flying away from the box so I suspect this is a Great Tit’s nest. I carefully peeped into it a day or so later and found the whole box stuffed full of moss and we can also see lots of straw sticking out from where the box sides are coming away from the base. We have tied up the box and put a ‘not in use’ sign on it and we now await the happy arrival of baby Great Tits.

I knew that Tits nested in holes and I also was aware that Willow Tits excavated their own holes but I hadn’t realised that Great Tits also excavated holes to nest in.

The top of the brick gate-post at the end of our drive is covered in moss and lichen but because we haven’t had much rain recently, it isn’t looking as good as usual. Birds have been collecting the moss for their nests too.

This is a close-up of one of the lichens.

The Marsh-marigold or King Cup (Caltha palustris) is flowering in the pond.

I love its shiny yellow petals.

I took this photo of the daffodils round the pond over a week ago and I am glad I did. On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week we had very warm weather (24 degrees C on Wednesday!) and the daffodils that had come out earliest began to wilt.

Earlier this year I posted pictures of these Hazel (Corylus avellana) bud galls. I went to look at them again last week and noticed tiny flies sitting on all of the galls. I wonder if these flies had hatched out of the galls.

New Hazel leaves

Water Mint (Mentha aquatica). The new shoots are growing round and in the big pond.

Horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). This photo was taken about a week ago.

This photo of our Horse-chestnut tree was taken on the same day. These leaves are higher and get more sunlight. I was pleased to see that the flower panicles (candles) were growing nicely.

I saw the frogs spawning but unfortunately didn’t have my camera with me. I took this photo of the spawn later in the day. This is the first time I have found frogspawn in our pond and was surprised at how late in the year it was. We have a windswept, exposed garden which may account for it.

There were lots of eggs and I was glad that the fish that live in the pond hadn’t come out of hibernation yet.

I took this picture a week later as the tadpoles were hatching out. The fish still hadn’t woken up!

Two days after this the tadpoles had dispersed but I had also seen the fish swimming in the pond and leaping to catch flies. They were probably feasting on tadpoles too.

I found a dead fish on the path round the pond again – I found one last year that had been caught by the Heron who had been disturbed by one of us. I don’t know what had caught this year’s fish as there was no stab mark on it. It is interesting to see the workings of the food-chain. We are part of it as we get bitten by the flies that the fish eat!

Thank-you for visiting!

Out Like a Lion!

31 Tue Mar 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, weather, wild birds

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

blackthorn, daffodils, early dog-violets, flint boulder, gales, garden plans, geese, goose nest, greylags, hyacinths, mallards, March, muck spreading, primroses, scillas, starlings

In my post at the beginning of the month I wondered if March would go out like a lamb because it had come in like a lion. Well – no – the month is going out as it came in, with gales!

I have just been outside and found my poor Hyacinths have been flattened! These are Hyacinthus Delft Blue.

The Blackthorn tree (Prunus spinosa), just coming into flower, has been battered.

The flowers are being ripped off the trees by the wind.

Ten days ago the local farmer began muck-spreading and we have only just got rid of the smell!

More countryside joys!

We have had a small flock of Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) visiting our garden during the past week.

Despite my having put the ground feeder in a cage with extra chicken wire on two sides of it, the Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) seem determined to get to the bird seed.

The daffodils are coming out nicely around the garden.

The path round the pond is beginning to green up nicely.

The Early Dog-violets (Viola reichenbachiana) that grow in the grass-path round the pond are looking very pretty.

Early Dog-violet (Viola reichenbachiana)

The Primroses (Primula vulgaris) in the ditch are looking fine too. When we first came to live here there weren’t any primroses at all, only cowslips. These have appeared in the last couple of years.

The Greylag geese (Anser anser) often come up close to the house to see what food there is for them to eat.

I took advantage of their absence and had a look at the nest which has a few eggs in it. This was taken before the goose had finished laying her eggs and started sitting on the nest.

This is the garden on the south side of the house. Work in progress: I have cleared the beds of weeds and other unwanted seedlings and will cover them with soil-improver next.

The central grass path will be kept (there is a flowerbed just out of shot on the left) and I want to position a couple of arches over it and train roses and clematis up them.

This narrow area of grass is difficult to mow and will eventually be removed and replaced with a gravel bed and stepping-stones to give access to the windows, electricity meter and the drain.

The soil here is very poor; full of stones and builder’s rubble. I am constantly finding very large flints just under the surface. People in days gone by used to think that stones grew and I can understand why they might think that.

This is a flint boulder I dug up last week – the ruler is a 30 cm one.

I put a pot with a primula in next to the boulder to give you an idea of the size.

Blue Scillas

White Scillas

These Scillas are flowering in the flowerbed on the left of the grass path. I have yet to weed here!

Thanks for visiting!

Minsmere – Summer 2014

05 Thu Mar 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in domestic animals, plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, walking, wild animals, wild birds

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

Avocet, beach, Blackthorn sloes, chickweed, Common Reed, common restharrow, Common Sandpiper, Highland Cattle, Konik pony, Lesser Burdock, Lesser Centaury, Marsh Sow-thistle, Marsh-mallow, Michaelmas Daisy, Minsmere, Red Deer, Rosebay Willowherb, RSPB, Sea Kale, silverweed, Spoonbill, Stonecrop, Tansy, Wild Teasel

The beach at Minsmere. I never tire of photographing waves rolling in to the shore.

This is another catch-up post featuring some photos I took last year. Richard, Elinor and I visited the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) reserve at Minsmere on the Suffolk coast last August on Richard’s birthday. We are fairly frequent visitors as it is only a few miles drive from our home. It is a large reserve and has many different types of habitat – woodland, heathland, shoreline, lagoons and creeks. Not only does it have many, many species of bird there but it is home to all sorts of other wildlife – insects, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and plants. Quite often we hardly see any birds at all depending on the time of year and where we decide to walk. We don’t often go into the hides but on this occasion we did go into one briefly.

Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium), a common enough plant, but at the time this was the first one I’d seen that year.

Red Deer (Cervus elaphus). This photograph is not cropped and was taken from the causeway path through the wetland going in the direction of the sea. The deer, though wild, was oblivious to the group of admiring humans taking pictures of it while it ate some tasty vegetation. The deer know they are safe here and feel free to go wherever they want.

I love the dark edges to their ears and the dark line down their necks.

She has such a lovely face! The females are much smaller than the males and are 160 – 210 cm / 63 – 83″ long (not including the tail) and weigh about 120 -170 kg / 260 – 370 lbs.

Driftwood on the beach

Don’t be fooled! They were enjoying themselves really!

Sea Kale (Crambe maritima)

A variety of plants grow on the sand dunes or shingle dunes as they should be called here!

Lesser Centaury (Centaurium pulchellum). Unfortunately I didn’t manage to find any with the flowers open.

I’m afraid you’ll have to take my word for it that this is a Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) My camera wouldn’t zoom any closer.

An unidentified duck and an Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)

A Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)

Common Reed (Phragmites australis)

Common Restharrow (Ononis repens) The sticky leaves are covered in grains of sand.

Stonecrop (Sedum). I am not sure which Stonecrop this one is.

Wild Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) seedheads

I managed to find a Teasel still in flower – just!

Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus)

Lesser Burdock flowers – the pink-purple florets grow out from between the spiny bracts.

Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)

Little yellow buttons!

Konik ponies – primitive ponies from Poland – are used by the RSPB as they are very hardy, thrive on rough grazing and tolerate wet conditions.

I couldn’t get a shot of the pony’s face –

– no matter how I tried!

I am always getting left behind!

And this is what happens when I catch up!

Marsh Sow-thistle (Sonchus palustris)

I believe this is Michaelmas Daisy rather than Sea Aster, unfortunately

Chickweed (Stellaria media)

Marsh-mallow (Althaea officinalis)

Ripening sloes on the Blackthorn trees (Prunus spinosa)

Silverweed (Potentilla anserina) so called because the leaves are covered in silvery, silky hairs that catch the light and shine like silver.

The RSPB also use black Highland cattle to graze the marshes

We will no doubt be visiting the reserve again very soon. I read that they have discovered some Common Bird’s-nest fungi there recently and I would like to see it.

In My Garden

14 Sat Feb 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, wild birds

≈ 31 Comments

Tags

Ash, birds, blackthorn, catkins, Christmas box, crocus, flying mallards, garden plants, goldfinch, hazel, hazel gall, horse chestnut, ice, iris reticulata, lichen, Mahonia, moon, pond, reflections, silver birch, song thrush, Suffolk, trees, winter-flowering honeysuckle, witch-hazel

This is a post featuring a few of the things I have noticed in our garden recently. A large part of the garden is exposed to the prevailing south-westerly wind and we find plants here are slower to grow and flower than those in other gardens near us. I have seen large carpets of Winter Aconites in other peoples gardens but there is no sign of them here at all. The beds around the house and near the hedge are more sheltered and this is where we see the first signs of spring.

Buds on the Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior)

I like the Ash’s black, conical buds – they look a little like deer hooves. So far, we haven’t found any sign of ‘Ash die-back’ in our garden yet. This is caused by the Hymenoscyphus fraxineus fungus. East Anglia is badly affected and has lost many of its Ash trees already.

IMG_1849Horse Chestnut leaf buds (640x427)

Horse-chestnut sticky buds (Aesculus hippocastanum)

IMG_1854Buds on Blackthorn in hedge (640x427)

Little red buds on the Blackthorn in the hedge (Prunus spinosa)

While I was photographing these I looked up and found a Barn Owl was flying straight towards me. I don’t know who was more surprised, the owl or me! I tried to photograph it before it veered away from me but I couldn’t focus in time.

Lichen in the hedge

Hazel male catkins (Corylus avellana)

IMG_1848Female flowers of Hazel (640x427)

Hazel female catkins with their tiny red petals

Hazel bud

IMG_1864Catkin starting to emerge (640x427)

Hazel buds.

I wondered what these were on our hazel trees as I had never noticed them before. None of my books mentioned buds looking like this so I googled for information and discovered a photograph that looked like mine on ramblingsofanaturalist.blogspot.com. The author says that these are bud galls made by the mite Phytoptus avellanae. He also talks about unopened brown catkins which have been attacked by either the mite Phyllocoptes coryli or the Cedidomyid midge Contarinia coryli. I had also seen distorted brown catkins and had wondered about them too but had been unable to get a clear photo of them.

Reflection of sky and cloud in our big pond

Flying ducks

Our Silver Birch tree (Betula pendula) is also growing its catkins.

Thin ice on the pond. Hail has got frozen onto the ice that was already there.

The icy pond

The Witch-hazel (Hamamelis) is flowering in its large pot next to the front door and on mild days fills the porch with scent.

The Christmas Box (Sarcococca) is also scenting the garden.

IMG_3956Winter-flowering Honeysuckle (640x480)

Another scented shrub – the Winter-flowering Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima)

This shrub Honeysuckle is a real favourite of mine. Its small flowers are powerfully scented and it flowers from mid-winter until well into spring hardly stopping except in the harshest of weathers. It is virtually evergreen and the flowers are followed by bright red heart-shaped berries loved by Blackbirds.

The Mahonia (Mahonia x media ‘Charity’) with its Lily-of-the-Valley scent has been flowering since the end of October.

The first of my miniature Iris Reticulata bloomed today

A tiny crocus has appeared in the rough grass under one of the crabapple trees.

I found some more – paler ones this time. I hope the birds don’t rip them up and the mole doesn’t dig them up.

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

Finally, here is the setting full moon seen on the morning of 4th February.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all!

Weekend

11 Wed Feb 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, domestic animals, Insects, plants, trees, Uncategorized, walking, weather

≈ 33 Comments

Tags

Celandines, clouds, daffodils, Dog's Mercury, dogwood, farmland, Jacob sheep, lichen, Lords and Ladies, primroses, snowdrops, St Margaret's church, Suffolk, sunset, walking, Winter Heliotrope

Calves in the cow shed at our friends’ farm. The blurring is caused by the calves’ steamy breath.

On Saturday, Richard and I went to the church coffee morning held this month at our friends’ farm instead of at the Rector’s house. Our Rector had his heart surgery last week, and will be off work for some time while he recovers. We wish him a speedy return to full health. As usual we listened to all the gossip and news. I bought some delicious home-made Bakewell bars which we ate later that day and Richard won a tin of sweets in the raffle.

Saturday was cloudy and chilly but there was no frost and the birds were singing lustily. I heard the chaffinch’s spring song for the first time this year.

Sunday was a much brighter day. The church service was held at our church in Rumburgh so Richard and I got there early to get things ready. The church didn’t need much tidying as I had helped another lady to clean it thoroughly on Friday and there had been a wedding on Saturday afternoon after which Richard had tidied up again.

After lunch we went out for a walk. We decided against driving somewhere and also thought it better not to walk across the fields as everywhere is waterlogged. We took our usual circuit of a couple of miles, walking along the lanes. I have photographed this walk so many times now, so I will just show you a few of the new and/or interesting things I saw.

IMG_3982Ditch newly chased out (640x480)

A part of the ditch in our lane has recently been chased out. Regular ditch maintenance is necessary to ensure proper field drainage and to stop flooding on the roads.

This field has been newly ploughed. For years probably, it has been rough grass with heaps of old rusty farm implements alongside the hedge.

Italian Alder tree (Alnus cordata) There is a row of these trees along the roadside.

Italian Alder catkins

I found that Dog’s Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) was already starting to flower.

This plant is found in woodland often forming carpets, also under hedges and in other shady places. It has a fetid smell and is poisonous, being a member of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Male and female flowers are found on separate plants and are small and yellow in spikes. It is pollinated by midges.

Bright green Dog’s Mercury.

Lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum)

Another woodland and hedgerow plant. I was surprised that these leaves were matte green – they are usually glossy. Another plant that smells of decay when in flower, the berries are poisonous and the roots have a high starch content. In Elizabethan times the roots were gathered to make starch for stiffening the high pleated linen ruffs that were then in fashion.

The white spots in the photo are midges or Winter Gnats flying in the sunshine.

IMG_3996Lichen-covered dead tree (640x480)

This dead tree at the end of a hedge and at the entrance to a field is covered in lichen. The bark of the tree has started to fall off taking the lichen with it.

Our long shadows and that of the hedge behind us can be seen on the field as I took a photo of the beautiful cloud patterns

The clouds.

The Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) twigs were blazing in the low sunlight.

A hollow tree. In spite of its hollow trunk and all the ivy growing up it the tree, an oak I think, is still alive.

Jacob sheep. They will be having their lambs soon.

Winter Heliotrope (Petasites fragrans) growing along the roadside verge near someones house. The flowers are vanilla-scented and the plant spreads quite quickly preferring damp and shady places. It is a naturalised garden plant.

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) in the churchyard

Primroses too! (Primula vulgaris)

IMG_4007St Margaret's church porch (640x466)

St Margaret’s church porch has an upstairs room.

White lichen on a gravestone

A daffodil bud in the sheltered churchyard.

Celandines (Ranunculus ficaria) flowering on the roadside verge. I was so surprised to see these as they don’t usually appear until March. They were everywhere I looked, though as the sun was setting they were closing up for the night. I should have got there an hour earlier.

Sunset.

We got home as the sun sank below the horizon.

This week Elinor is taking her mock GCSE exams. She has already taken Psychology and English. Maths is on Wednesday and Thursday and Art is all day on Friday. She is coping very well indeed though she is exhausted already with the strain of it all.

Richard stays away from home only one night this week; Wednesday night is spent in Gloucestershire. On Friday he goes back to the specialist to find out more about the lesion/tumour on his pituitary gland and what is to be done about it.

I am disappointed at not being able to go to Sheffield to see Alice perform in ‘Emma’ especially as she is taking the leading role. I would really have loved to see her and support her but the performances are at the same time as Elinor’s exams and Richard’s hospital visit. I also don’t have much money to spare for train travel and hotel rooms after Christmas and Elinor’s birthday in January.

My mother is fine. She went to the eye specialist on the 30th December and had to return the next day for an injection to stop a bleed in her eye. We went back last week for a check-up and fortunately all is well again. The next appointment is in mid March. My brother has filed for divorce and is in the process of selling his house. He is moving to Suffolk to be near us and Mum and especially his daughter and has got a transfer to work in the open prison in Suffolk and continue his teaching. My sister is working hard as always as a paramedic practitioner. She got her degree and will be getting her certificate at a ceremony in May. My mother-in-law is out of hospital and in a nursing home. This is a temporary arrangement as she hasn’t yet been assessed but we all know that she won’t be able to go back home. She has a weak heart, breast cancer, problems with her thyroid and has lost all her mobility. All so sad. She understands the situation and is making the best of it; such a sensible woman.

Peak District Holiday 1st to 9th July. Days 7 to 9.

09 Mon Feb 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in domestic animals, plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, walking

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

Peak District, The Roaches, Tittesworth Water, walking

As we were nearing the end of our holiday and the weather looked as though it would stay fine, Richard and I decided it would be a good idea to do another walk while we had the chance. We had made a list of the walks we wanted to do before we came on holiday and we had already walked in Back Forest and up Hen Cloud. Our third choice was a walk we had never tried before – along the top of the Roaches. Our book of local walks suggested a circular walk starting at Tittesworth Water, walking across farmland up to where we usually park our car for our Hen Cloud walk and then up from there to the Roaches. After descending from the rocks at the far end we would be able to follow paths and lanes back to where we left our car at the reservoir. Richard made us some sandwiches, I washed up and packed our rucksacks and we set out about 11 o’clock.

Tittesworth Reservoir

Tittesworth reservoir is a very short drive from our camp. We had been there before but only for a short visit about seven years ago. It has a visitor centre and people are welcome to walk all round the water and watch the many different types of wildfowl that live there. Boating is also a popular activity on the water.

We walked from the car-park to Meerbrook, a village next to the water.

I liked this mossy wall which surrounded someone’s garden.

I didn’t take many photos during the first half of the walk as it became quite hard-going shortly after we left the village. The paths were very overgrown or we sunk into deep mud. The local farmer hadn’t kept the ways clear and so it was difficult to follow the directions set out in our guide.

Honesty (Lunaria annua) A garden escapee that has naturalised all over the country.

Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare)

Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris)

Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)

We found a man tying up a gate with binder twine and asked if we could use the gate to get to the path we needed. He said we could use the gate and then commented on the humidity of the day – nothing else. We walked on and found the way blocked by an electric fence which we had to crawl under – not easy for those like us who are past the first flush of youth. Getting up again is much more difficult than getting down on the ground. Why hadn’t the farmer/farm worker said anything about this to us? It amused him, no doubt. We had to pass through a farm yard next.

This old conveyor-belt caught my eye…..

and I liked the barn.

We then lost the path at the corner of a field and had to scrabble about for a while til we found what we hoped was the right way. We were discussing what our options were when, to our great surprise a man’s head popped over the wall above us and asked if he could help. It is a very strange thing to think that you are in the middle of nowhere and then find that a man is hanging out his washing in his garden right next to you! He was very helpful and we were on our way again. By this time we were very hot and tired as the way had been difficult and uphill all the way. Richard was getting annoyed and I had a great urge to laugh!

We had just entered the bottom of a steep field when we saw a muck spreader arrive and start its smelly work on the opposite side of the same field. It was a race against time for us to get to the top of the field before the tractor had worked its way over to our side. We knew that the driver would not have stopped his work just for us. Fortunately we just managed it in time but we were so tired! The main reason for this walk was to climb the Roaches and we hadn’t reached them yet. We had thought the walk across the fields would have been a pleasant preliminary but we had sadly been mistaken!

We were now at the base of Hen Cloud and decided that we would stop for a short while and have our lunch after which we turned and walked towards the Roaches. They, with Hen Cloud and Ramshaw Rocks, form a gritstone escarpment which marks the south-western edge of the Peaks. The Roaches consist of two edges – a Lower and an Upper Tier.

Crested Dog’s-tail (Cynosurus cristatus)

The Roaches are very popular with climbers.

This is Rock Cottage which is built into the rocks of the Lower Tier. It was formerly a gamekeeper’s cottage but is now a climbing hut.

A set of rock steps connect the Lower and Upper Tier. Richard is at the top.

The views through the trees from the top of the steps looking down and then upwards were very fine.

There were climbers everywhere.

These edges provide some of the best gritstone climbing in the country with famous classic routes such as ‘Valkyrie’, ‘The Sloth’ and ‘The Swan’.

These strange rocks have been weathered by the elements.

The pine tree is growing out from a crack in the rocks.

There was something of interest to look at whichever way we turned. Please click on the images to enlarge them.

Sheep are never far away in the Peaks.

I was surprised to see what I believe is Common Cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium) flowering this late in the season. It could be Hare’s-tail Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum). Either way, their flowering time is usually April to May.

Tittesworth water away below us

A view of another escarpment in the distance

Doxey Pool is on the top of the Roaches. According to legend it is inhabited by a water spirit or mermaid known by some as Jenny Greenteeth. The pool is said to be bottomless and connected by an underground passage to another Mere or lake which also contains a water spirit. Doxey Pool is situated many hundreds of feet above any known spring. We didn’t see anything ‘unexplained’ while we were there!

View from the path

Richard is far ahead as usual

A selection of rocks.

Heather (Calluna vulgaris)

Richard standing at the trig point

The bench mark. Triangulation stations have now largely been superseded by digital mapping and aerial photography but many are kept because of their usefulness to hill walkers and because many people are so fond of them.

Yet more rocks!

Hello! says the sheep.

This is a cattle-grid (for those of you who don’t know). They enable traffic to use roads through farmland but stop the cattle from escaping from their pasture.

We left the Roaches and started to descend down through moorland and meadows.

We met a very friendly lamb.

Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium)

These drinking troughs that use spring water or little rivulets remind me of the picture of the spring bubbling out of the hillside in ‘Mrs Tiggywinkle’ by Beatrix Potter

I am not sure what this grass is and any suggestions would be much appreciated. It may be False Oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius) I apologise for the poor photos.

Some pretty vetch flowers. Probably Bush Vetch (Vicia sepium)

We walked past a field full of bullock calves. I can’t resist them!

They are so curious and playful ….

and have such lovely faces!

I don’t know what this plant is either. I tried to take photos of its flowers – pink-tinged white umbellifers – but none of them came out. The stems are purple and hairy and the leaves are quite distinctive. I thought at first it might be Cow Bane but that and Hemlock are hairless.

A Holly hedge (Ilex aquifolium)

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)

We soon found our way back to the reservoir and then returned to our caravan. The following day was our last day and we had hoped to spend it sitting, reading and relaxing. Fate and farmers decided otherwise. The muck-spreading fever had taken hold and the field next to us was being fertilized. We couldn’t stay where we were so we returned to Tittesworth Water and walked around there and had some lunch. We amused ourselves for a while by watching some boys being taught how to row. There were about six boys to a boat and the group that we enjoyed watching most consisted of a couple of lads who did all the work and the rest just made a lot of noise. The two who actually did the rowing were on the same side of the boat so they went round in circles. In the end they had to be towed ashore.

The next day we got ready to leave but before returning home we drove to the station to collect Elinor who had been staying with Alice. They both seemed to have had a good time together but both were very tired and needed sleep. Our journey home was fortunately uneventful.

January’s End

31 Sat Jan 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, weather

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

art work, catkins, ice, January, reflections, signs of spring, snow, sunrise, sunset

The last day of the first month of the year. There are plenty of signs of spring about.

Snowdrops in the garden

Hazel catkins

Gorse at Minsmere. Though gorse is in flower through most of the year!

But there were signs of spring about in the autumn too.

Cowslip in the garden at the end of August. We had a strange summer!

We have had rain and hail and sleet and even snow this month. High winds, fog, thunder and lightening and even some sunshine!

Snowfall on Thursday afternoon.

It was quite heavy while it lasted!

The snow hasn’t lingered. By lunchtime on Friday it had all gone again. Despite the frosts, the ground is still fairly warm; especially the roads and paths. We had a wet year last year and a very mild autumn and early winter. The grass continues to grow and grow and we have no opportunity for cutting it. The garden is very, very untidy. The best days for gardening are the days we cannot get out there. Such is life!

We have had some glorious sunsets.

A fiery furnace!

Reflected glory!

We have had some exceptional sunrises too.

I admired the colour scheme here.

When I have been able to get outside there has been plenty to see, though the light has not often been good enough for photography.

Reflections (and the remnants of the ice) on the big pond

The whorl of a new thistle.

Reflection of the moon and trees in the corner pond.

I woke to snow fall this morning and we got a dusting that settled everywhere as the frost had been hard last night. The ponds were all covered in ice and snow. By the time Elinor came downstairs (at midday!) it had all (except the pond ice) gone. It is snowing again now as I type this.

Elinor has not had a very good week as she has been very anxious again. She was unable to go into college on Tuesday and Friday. She has produced some good art work though.

Richard is in Manchester this weekend visiting his mother in her nursing home and staying with his brother. He took his brother a gift of a barrel of local Adnam’s beer which last night, so I heard, was being left to settle in my brother-in-law’s cellar. I doubt whether it will be left to settle long!

I must now go outside quickly to top up the bird-feeders before it gets dark. The snow has changed to sleet unfortunately. I dislike sleet very much.

Boxing Day Walk

30 Tue Dec 2014

Posted by Clare Pooley in Rural Diary, trees, walking

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

fields, oak trees, walking, winter

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a display of Easter chocolate at the supermarket.

Despite the cold and cloud Richard and I had a very pleasant walk on Boxing Day. We had no wish to drive anywhere so we had our usual amble across the fields.

One of next-door’s chickens searching for grubs in the leaf litter of the road-side

Richard walking along the edge of a field of wheat or barley.

I love the look of leafless trees. These are English Oaks

Millet

Many of you will remember the walk I had along this path in the summer when I found this plant in flower and didn’t recognise it as millet. I have Allen of nhgardensolutions to thank for the identification and also Rachel from coulddoworse.me for explaining links to me (though because of my ineptitude and through no fault of Rachel’s, I have still had a lot of difficulty and a lot of help from family in getting them to work!). Allen’s posts are full of the small but beautiful things he sees on his trails in New Hampshire and he has taught me to slow down even further and look yet more closely at the natural world around me. Rachel’s posts are packed with anecdotes about her life in London, her lovely family and the walks she takes through the city streets and parks. She cooks and crochets and reads and gardens and is so inspiring!

This is what the millet looked like in the summer

…and these two photos show what it looked like in October when Richard, Elinor and I went for a walk after Richard had got home from work. One of the last evening walks we took before the clocks went back. We thought it would be harvested for seed but from the look of the field on Boxing Day it had just been left to dry and die. A puzzle.

We also saw a few sugar beet plants in amongst the dead grass

and holes that we weren’t able to see when the leaves were on the trees.

A few tough Mayweed flowers that are struggling on even through a few frosts

The Beck was low but showed signs of when it had been very high a short time ago. It rose again on Boxing Day night and flooded the road at the Washes for a short while.

This little stream looks so much nicer in the spring and summer.

We saw lichen on branches…

…and a few rosehips.

English Oak

These pictures are of my favourite ancient oak tree seen over the hedge from the lane. I went into the field it stands in and took a photo of the whole tree as well.

These are three more oaks we saw on our walk.

The lane with Richard in the distance showing how far I had lagged behind him

A wet and poorly drained field at the top of the lane. It looks like some heavy vehicle sunk into the soil here.

Looking back in the direction we had come

Looking towards Flixton where we had been to church on Christmas Eve. There is a wood there on a slight rise in the land.

We saw these new green leaves – the plants have become very confused as the temperature swings from freezing to 10 degrees C or more and then back down to freezing again.