Getting Faster

Yesterday was a miserable, entirely blank day, and today looked like it was going to be the same until the rain stopped in the later afternoon, and we ended up having a beautiful evening.

That aroused me from inactivity, and I headed out for a run up to and around Beacon Hill Park.

Despite the climb of Beacon Hill, I got 5km done in 28.54, faster than I've run for a little while. Which made me feel decent, as it has been another of those anxious days.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 17.06.20

Return to the Orchids

Today I ran back to Beacon Hill Reserve in order to try and take better photos of the orchids for identification purposes.

It was a hot, tight chested sort of run of 7.6km there and back, with my nose absolutely streaming all the way - I think hot weather hayfever is something I'm going to have to put up with now.

It is pretty clear that the orchids are indeed of the southern marsh variety - they have unspotted leaves. Sadly they are now past their best.

I found a lovely fresh ringlet butterfly for you today. It's markings are the clearest I have ever seen.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 15.06.20

Beacon Hill Nature Reserve

Today's 30 Days Wild took me running up to Beacon Hill Nature reserve, which made me feel really good until I got home and ate far too much.

I went the Clay Lane way, which meant awkward footsteps on the baked mud, and a lot of speckled woods fluttering about.

"Fluttering" and "Flitting" - I need more words to describe the flight of butterflies. Maybe get some kind of insect thesaurus. Nature writing can be hard sometimes, especially in the midst of a crisis which overwhelms the brain sometimes. I've said before it is easy to fall into a trap of being all "majestic" "dazzling" "wonderful" "beautiful" etc about stuff.

Food guilt. I have developed a habit of not eating at all during the day, then pigging out in the evening after nipping to the Asda round the corner. Luckily corona paranoia stops me snacking too much as it involves a lot of handwashing and stress.

And with that, I'm going to wash today's shopping. Paranoid, moi?

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 02.06.20

Back to Beacon Hill Reserve

Just back in from speaking to my sister on the phone while watching the neighbourhood pipistrelle do its amazing thing in the twilight outside, reflecting on both our days where neither of us did very much.

Well, that's probably harsh, my sister has been painting, I went out for two hours although most of that was a rather irritable visit to boots to pick up a prescription that they messed up a bit. I went up to Beacon Hill Reserve to take in the views - oddly a section of woods has been turned into a mini mountain bike park - but not seen many buzzers or flutterers.

So, I've done my washing too - easy, you'd think, but no, in lockdown I'm doing it by hand.

All the white things I owned are now a bit grey, no matter how much washerwoman scrubbing I do. I'm not going to sit in the town's one launderette in these circumstances, and no way am I using the outdoor launderette at Morrisons.

Then I washed up, including the bottle of gin I'd bought. It's all glam here.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 15.05.20

Up to the Nature Reserve

My heel has gotten a bit sore after I did that 11.5km run - grrrr - and was particularly bothering me after the 6km yesterday.

So today, I put on my big walking boots, and my new Aldi hooded training top -  as ever  you to go to Aldi to buy a bottle of coke and end up digging through the specials and take home some bit of sports kit or other - and walked up to Beacon Hill nature reserve through Clay Lane park.

I was hoping to find a) winter thrushes in the hedgerows or fields and b) interesting fungi in the woodland in the reserve.

In the end I found neither. But I did have a highly pleasant walk on a very bright day, happily listening to Stuart Maconie, a brilliant writer as well as brilliant DJ, and using the sun for photographic purposes.

So, I've had an okay weekend in the end, after the rank, miserable Saturday where I did nothing.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 29.10.18

Butterfly Hunting

No cricket match today - too many people wanted to watch the World Cup final although I can't say I was all that  interested in it. Such a lovely day too, would have loved another game this  weekend.

To make up for it, I have had a couple of walks today, a shorter one around the very arid looking Sconce Park before stopping at Rumbles for a cup of tea. The second one took me to Beacon Hill park to look for butterflies on the incredibly rampant buddleiah that has made the "butterfly park" inaccessible.

Good to see a second flight brimstone today, I have missed their citrine flutterings.

Not many peacocks these days, a few years ago you'd see every purple flower covered in them, only a couple today. Not many in Spring either. Chris  Packham is right.

Nature is buggered.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 15.07.18

Running Round the Nature Reserve

I'm determined that no matter how stiff I am after cricket, I'm going to  go running every Monday this summer, just to see if it will relieve any of the problems, and improve my mobility a bit.

I'm fed up of struggling to field at weekends. I've lost any semblance of sprint speed I had, which wasn't much to begin with, and my body co-ordination is terrible at the moment. I just feel clumsy and rubbish, at fielding and batting. The bowling has been ok, apart from yesterday, but the wickets haven't been happening for me.

I want to be better!

I also wanted to have a look at Beacon Hill park, to look at the scabious, and what was feeding off it.

So stiff or not, I ran 7km on quite a warm afternoon, snapped the bees on the scabious - I mean photographed, rather than actually physically snapping the bumbles - and wondering where the butterflies were. No insects on the Ladies' Bedstraw either.

Hmmmm.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 18.06.18

Got to Burn a Few Calories off!

Boxing day bright and crisp. After a late night sampling rum and listening to Test Match Special, it was good to be active again, atrocious weather having kept me inside on Christmas Day itself. That, and the fact I'd eaten so much I was left like a stranded seal.

So, I was slightly slow out of the blocks this morning, but I was out, chugging along, listening to the radio and taking in the sights as I visited Beacon Hill Park for the first time in a while, clambering through some quite muddy stretches of Clay Lane fields in order to do so.

I didn't really see very much nature wise, but it was enough to be outside and active on a lovely day, a nice two hour walking making me feel slightly better after all that eating, even though I feel I've been quite good this year.

Right, press ups time! Enjoy the time of year folks!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 26.12.17