Bees and Newly Open Flowers

Well, I'm just back from cricket nets where I started really well and then got really crap just in time for my second team captain to turn up and watch, which made me stress even more to the point I just didn't know what I was doing. Sheesh I hope I'm in better fettle on Saturday.

At least I'm better at finding bees and flowers; lots of vetch at work at the moment, and wild pansies and a strange blue plant in a field across the road - speak now or forever hold thy peace if you know what they are! - and both white and red campion in our wild verge.

I'm feeling very negative about my cricket tonight, alas, and fear a very poor day on Saturday, although as ever I will try my best, probably try too hard if anything. Ah well, try and enjoy it anyway.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 07.05.19

There's been a Tremendous Banging on the Park

So, I've had a livelier day today, which started with a morning visit to Sconce Park and a cup of tea while the various re-enactors made their way over from the campsite to get their breakfast. This meant amongst all the kids playing on swings and folk walking dogs, there were folk dressed in 17th century garb wandering around eating baking rolls.

In the afternoon, I went for a rather stiff and slow run to go and watch the advertised "skirmish" and you could hear it long before I got there, the deep boom of cannon interspersed with the sharper cracks of the muskets.

As I entered the park down by the river, the ground began to vibrate with every cannon shot. As it turned out, the big guns were actually based on top of the Sconce exactly in the places they would have been back during the siege of Newark in 1646, firing down on to a ruck of folk waving pikes around and firing muskets, while the enemy cannon were stationed nearer the cafe.

A commentator was explaining what was happening, but basically it was just a mighty impressive stick waving ruck, with a lot of shouting amidst the gunfire.

I sat down and had a tea, feeling rather sweaty, and nearly had a fit when all the guns fired at the same time to mark the end of the battle.

In previous years they used to have a firing squad for the prisoners, but they don't do that any more...

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 06.05.19

Another Day when Exhaustion Set in

I managed to be up and about fairly early and made it down to Sconce Park on my bicycle to watch preparation for the Pikes Plunder re-enactment scheduled to take place in the afternoon.

Unfortunately in the afternoon I was struck down by one of those exhausted moments, brought on by a lot of activity the day before and a very active week at work I guess. The afternoon was gone in a flash...wasted away sleeping while the terrible remake of Clash of the Titans played and played on my DVD player.

Ah well, sometimes you need to sleep.

Lovely sunset straight down the road tonight, blazing gold above the traffic lights.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 05.05.19

No Cricket, Just Running

Well, today should have been my first league match of the season, for the 2nd XI against Old Dalby, and despite the fact it has mainly been a mainly dry day, apart from a short sharp hailstorm, I didn't get to play, with leaky covers being the reason.

Grrrr I was angry as hell and had a really grumpy day, I need the cricket to keep my mental health in balance in Summer (Summer??? Ha!!!) and so by way of substitution I had a 9km run instead.

I was wanting to try out a new running app, Strava having unaccountably decided to stop working on my phone, so I now use Sportactive instead. Seeing as it works, this is an improvement.

While I ran, I found some wildflowers for you, we have come to the buttercups and saxifrage stage of Spring, which will be the last before all the flowers are cut. The ramsons are pungent.

A swallow flew over London Road pond. The swifts have arrived too, right on cue on May 1st. So some things are going right.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 04.05.19

I Got Paid to Walk at Work

So, it's National Walking Month in May, and our workplace has decided to look into providing some led walks around our campus.

Being known for my interest in this sort of thing, I was sent out as a guinea pig in the rain to reconnoitre a route around campus, which I did.

It's only a short little 15 minute stroll, but I came across the first native bluebells I've seen all year in a dirty roadside verge, and there was plenty of garlic mustard to smell too.

I mean, no good day can be complete without smelling garlic mustard.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 02.05.19

The Swifts are Home!

While snatching a glimpse at twitter during my breaks at work today, I could see that a lot of people were reporting the arrival of the first swifts of 2019 today; my timeline was full of pictures of sickle curved wings arcing through the skies.

I resolved to keep my eyes open on my way home, in a faint muggy drizzle, but kind of forgot as my head was full of cricket practice thoughts, which I indeed attended and batted very badly at after my confidence was dented by being hit on the shoulder when batting, and I ripped a right tricep which is rather sore.

Anyway, when I got home and was putting my bike away, I happened to look up and there was a swift flying away from my flat.

It turned out that there were four of them, and judging by the way they were flying, they were town birds rather than just passing through. As ever when they first come back, they were high up, circling round, presumably keeping an eye out for their nest sites.

My arm is still really sore as I write this, joy of joys. At least it isn't my bowling one.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 01.05.19

The Rat Heap of Life

So, a very  long time ago at work, we dug out various garden spaces for our wildflower mini-meadows and herb garden.

Rather unattractively, the spoil was piled up and never collected by anyone. Two years later, and the spoil heap from the herb garden is now a thriving little mini-environment, a sort of Galapagos covered in borage, red dead nettle and a small pink flower I can't identify.

Today, various little worker bumblebees were at work on it, feeding mainly from the borage.

Of course, every silver lining has a cloud - cliche alert!!! - and this particularly grey and scurrying one is that rats seem to use it as a home slash thoroughfare and so it will almost certainly be removed.

Interesting to see how it has developed though!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 30.04.19