Monday 30 January 2017

Bird watch



I did the garden watch over the weekend.

I tried first on Saturday. It was a damp & miserable day. As predicted the birds stayed away where they could remain dry. All I saw in two hours were a couple of wood-pigeons. Gulls flew overhead. The odd tit dashed across so quickly it was impossible to identify which tit. Hopeless.

Sunday was quite a different day. Overnight we had some snow. By the morning most had gone. However, the soil was still white & frozen. The birds were clearly getting desperate for food in this cold weather & a more representative sample of our regular visitors came by, including a beautiful goldfinch with his painted clown face.

Now I just have to put in my results with the RSPB. This may prove harder than I thought as I seem to be having difficulty with our internet connection. I’ll just have to persevere. I will have succeeded if you are able to read this blog.

Friday 27 January 2017

Still adjusting



It’s another beautiful morning. The thermometer showed -12ï¹¾C when I first got up at 7.30am. Even now, about 10am, it’s only got to -8. The world is all crisply white.

We’re certainly not thinking of going far. We didn’t manage to find that winter coat for the Fox. We found on he liked, just not his size. The shop ordered it in his size on-line for us & it should arrive this weekend but there’s still no sign just yet. These are no temperatures to be out in unless you are well cladded.

It seemed strange to be doing the ironing on Friday this morning. It’s been impossible all this year due to the numerous hospital appointments. Now I’ve got the time to do things when I want to. It’s wonderful.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to spend some time on the Big Garden Watch. I’m hoping I will be able to include the little wren who has been becoming a regular visitor early in the morning. I also suspect our number of blackbirds has gone up. We’ll see. Much depends on the weather. They tend to like to stay in shelter if it’s wet.

Thursday 26 January 2017

A bit lost



I’m not quite sure where I am today. It’s partially that we’ve not decided what to do today, which makes it difficult for me to decide what I’m going to prepare & cook. Meals, & what we’re going to have, tend to be the central point around which my life revolves.

Yesterday we were going to have a quiet day. Both our massages were late in the afternoon. As it was such a beautiful day, and as the zip had gone on the Fox’s winter coat, we decided to pop into Lancaster in the afternoon to try to get a new coat. We went straight on to our massages.

Afterwards we decided we would try a new to us restaurant. It seemed a pity to undo all that relaxation by rushing home to cook. One of the hotels on the prom opened a bistro open to the general public a couple of years ago. It has gained many awards. We thought we’d give it a try. We enjoyed it. We both had a chicken confit starter. I then had salmon en papilotte while the Fox had turkey ballotine. As we had two starters & two mains we got a free bottle of prosecco to go with it. It turned out to be a rather nice prosecco, with a good biscuity flavour & fine bubbles. In summer it would be a wonderful place to dine as the tables overlook Morecambe Bay. With the bistro being on the first floor (wheelchair accessible via the hotel lift), it makes it easy to see across over the busy traffic-laden prom to the Lakeland fells on the other side of the Bay.

I found myself going to bed not even giving it a thought as to what we would eat today. Nothing got out of the freezer to thaw. Nowt.

We did think yesterday if it was nice day again we might go over to Glasson Dock & the Smokehouse for some game. I’m fancying a pheasant for a change. So far the day is dry & freezing so I’m not sure if we’ll go or not. The one thing I am certain is that we need to get to the library before I’m charged for being overdue. The butcher is more or less next door so I’m thinking if we’re staying at home I’ll just pop in & get some chicken for today. Diced up in a sauce it should go well with pasta & no early preparation to do. If we’re going to Glasson I’ll maybe hastily peel some spuds & we’ll get something out of the freezer. Or even just eat out again.

As you can tell from all this activity, & eating out, we’ve not quite managed to let go yet. We’ve certainly not entirely back to our usual rhythm of life. Until we can properly relax into it, we might as well get a few chores done & maybe have a few expeditions to enjoy ourselves.