Just some Colour from the Cemetery

Last day of holiday - never go to go to cricket nets but I did get out for a nice walk this afternoon. I always thought it was a bit cold for cricket, and believe me it was freezing today, but I'm worried about going in to the new season next weekend cold and out of practice!

Despite the low temperatures there were a few pollinators out today; mainly various small hoverfly species but a couple of queen buffy bumblies as well. I managed to get a shot of one as well as it sheltered in a fallen magnolia petal.

Lots of what looks like baby saxifrage poised to overwhelm the cemetery. Soon it will all be white!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 30.04.18

Muck Raking - The Cricket Season Fails to Begin

Today should have been my first match of the new season, a 20:20 intra club knockabout at our new temporary home of Norwood Park Southwell, owned by Sir John Starkey, a dynasty famous for their fruit production, and preservation of the original Bramley Apple tree.

However, the conditions of the ground  - rather boglike in places after the rain - meant that nice as it would have been to play in what you will see is a quaint and attractive setting, we decided to set to with renovating the pavilion and clearing the large ground of grass cuttings.

I decided immediately that involving myself in the carpentry activities would have resulted in  me either nailing my hands to the decking or sawing my fingers off, I decided that raking and removal of grass would be my task. There was certainly rather a lot of it, and initially my rake was so poor I just ended up  digging up earthworms, rather than moving any of your actual grass around. It was also so short it gave me backache.

I thought of pulling size and age on one of our junior helpers with a better rake, but in the end I was able to get a better tool and together we made a good job of clearing the ground. Around 15 of us worked the outfield while 3 sorted out the pavilion. The chairman himself busied himself with "executive supervision".

We were rewarded with an excellent tea spread halfway through.

I was rather alarmed to see a large pond within what looked like a very hittable distance from the wicket. I figured that my bowling would end up in there at some point, and I'm not sure that the energetic Sir John's information that only the South African and Nottinghamshire cricketing legend Clive Rice had done this reassured me.

I'm a record breaker in all the worst ways.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 29.04.18

No Pressure, No Pressure

When you are like me, you do feel pressure to be always wanting to do stuff, or be seen to be wanting to do stuff. To be active. To be interesting. To be fit.

I was great at it last week when the weather was warm and dry, but this last  three days, motivation has been hard to find during these last days of my time off, and I feel guilty about it...I feel I should be it Attenborough reserve like I'd thought about, or walking around Southwell.

In the end I sorted out a lot of rubbish in my flat, and sat writing on my very very old internet incapable 14 year old laptop. And felt fine.

Today, I just wandered around, photographing strange Italian TR7 knock offs, or off road vehicles outside posh flats that will never go off road in their lives. I wondered what the little white flowers were that were like little white harebells, and thought about the crumbling back of the Corn Exchange, another building that has been allowed to go rot in this town.

On the exercise bike in a bit as I feel fat.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 28.04.18

Invasion of the Megafish

Originally the plan was to get the bus to Southwell today and do some exploring round there.

When the driver told me it was going to cost me £6.50 at 9am this morning, I thought better of it. Were they expecting me to pay for spare parts or something?

It was also freezing in the wind first thing and I really didn't fancy it. I ended up wandering around the river and park, smelling the freshly flowering garlic mustard plants and having a warming cup of tea.

During my 7km run in the afternoon, I noticed that in this sort of compressed Spring we've had, the saxifrage and buttercups have now emerged...sadly, the final wave of spring flowerings.

Of rather more surprise was the goings on in the Balderton Blue Lake. It does get used for fishing along nearly all of its banks, and I never see anyone catch anything. It's all static rods and furrowed brows, but not actual, you know, getting fish out of the water.

I never see any fish either, swimming about.

However, there is a small area of the lake called "The Lagoon" in which fishing is banned and the water is populated by the tame ducks being fed by children - they are getting better and using less bread and more leaves and seeds.

The little girl today however was throwing bread in with great abandon. The ducks couldn't get a look in however, as in the one part of the lake they can't be touched, a shoal of about 20 very large common and mirror carp were gulping it down as fast as she could throw it in. They were actually  coming right up to the edge of the water.

The girl could probably have fed them by hand, as if they were koi.

I thought the fish were the smartest things I've met all day - and I've been to the library!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 26.04.18

Farndon Church Run

It's been a four seasons in one day  kind of day, cliche cliche cliche, and in the afternoon I risked a drenching by running out to Farndon to have a look at the church there.

It always looks amazing this time of year, and today was no exception. I'm not talking about the church itself, which always looks a bit new and concretey for some reason, but rather the wildflowers that are allowed to grow unchecked in the small graveyard.

I love them. The pollinators love them.

Sadly because it was cold today, there weren't all that many, but I did find a dinky andrena type bee smothering itself in pollen on a dandelion, and there were plenty of hoverflies around.

I did avoid a drenching, but crickey it was a near thing. There were some nasty skies out there!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 25.04.18