Weekend at the Park

 Nothing much to report from this weekend really, apart from nice walking round a rather muddy park before having cups of tea, and getting a rood 6.5km run in at night, through the industrial estate again and the smell of cooking pies.

I was listening to Radio 4 Extra which was broadcasting some strange old comedy shows from the 1940s like "It's that Man Again" which really hasn't aged well, unlike stuff like "Around the Horne" and other Kenneth Horne stuff, and the utterly manic "I'm Sorry I'll Read that Again" which was an unholy alliance of various Goodies and Pythons. 

Enjoying Radio 4 must be a sign I'm getting old, although I'm still a very happy listener to Radio 6, which is an excellent station. 

Tomorrow, hopefully I'll get a longer walk in, cold though it may be. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 06.12.20

We had Snow

 Yesterday saw me riding into a work in torrential rain, carrying a bag of gifts for  our Salvation Army toy collection, and wondering where the heck the day was going to go.

It soon signalled its attention, when out of the battleship grey cloud cover, the rain began to solidify and it started sleeting just as I was removing my various wet weather clothes in my office.

Not long after that, it was properly snowing, the first time I've seen snow in December for a few years. This alarms me greatly, for a long freezing winter of riding my bike to work is a whole world of no fun, believe me. It means agonised hands no matter how thick my gloves, and nervous riding on slippery roads and paths populated with bad drivers and oblivious pedestrians.

What it also seems to mean, are my workplace calling fire drills in the middle of a blizzard. I was lucky enough to be able to grab my hat and waterproof jacket before heading outside; others were less fortunate and there were some severely frozen looking people shivering under a cap of snow in shirtsleeves. 

Of course, some folk had to revert to childhood and scrape snow off the roof of cars to throw snowballs at each other. 

I was panicking, because it got really sludgy after the snow eased to sleet again and I was thinking it was going to be hell to ride home in. Later on I walked across campus to see how the paths were, in my usual ginger rubbish balance way, and I was  like "Oh, bloody great."

On the grasslands, the crows cackled at my anxiety, vividly black against the white.

Gulls circled in the murk above, looking for leftover dinners probably. 

As it happened, I got home safe, and dry, as the slush melted and I took things very easily. But it was a warning of what might be to come. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 05.12.20

Teas at the Park

 By the time you read this, we will have emerged from lockdown and back into our Tiers, although seeing that we are still going to be Tier 3 that won't make the slightest bit of difference to me.

I've been able to rediscover the joy of having my cups of tea at Rumbles, something that used to be so important to me in happier times when I used to go every time I  possibly could. The weather over the weekend was misty and drizzly, yet the rain did not bother me. I just stood there with my tea - all the seats at the cafe have been taken away, despite being outside. 

The weather has turned now, dryer, colder, a smidgen of frost in the mornings. My hands are starting to crack, which makes the application of sanitiser rather painful and requiring me to use moisturiser. Snow is forecast with the usual glee by the papers for the weekend; I very much doubt this will happen. Freezing mornings I dread, my hands are agony and riding the bike is fearful.

When this is over, it is time to think about travelling, I think. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 01.12.20

Deeper into Sunset

 I thought I would try and take some photographs a little deeper into sunset, to try and get some of the deeper colours rather than the retina blasting golds produced by the sun before it sets.

I try and escape the office when I can at sunset for 5 minutes to try and get fresh air and escape any other people who might be around. I was ok when I first returned to work in July, when infection rates here were low and we went 84 days without a single covid death. However, as well all know it is a very different ball game and I'm at work at a time that is very similar to the April peak and being around anyone for more than 5 minutes is stressful. 

I so disagree with the lifting of restrictions for Christmas; as if the virus is going to have a holiday too. I'm quite prepared to do Christmas alone if it is the safest thing to do, as we wait for vaccinations to begin. It's only a day in the calendar after all. I believe we can and should wait for better times. 

At least I wouldn't overeat everything in the house.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 26.11.20

The Sun Dial

 I managed to get out for a decent walk yesterday, just as the sun made its orange way towards the horizon and the silhouette gulls began to make their way back to their roosts. 

I made my way through the cemetery, and decided to visit the sundial, the sundial that wasn't telling the time because the sun had disappeared beneath the trees. The green patinated copper is quite beautiful.

The first green shoots of spring flowers are emerging from the soil. One month until the first snowdrops, and life renews itself in that cycle I always end up showing you every year. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 24.11.20

All I can Offer are Golden Skies

 Back at work, wearing a headtorch now to light up the black clad cyclists and pedestrians, judging halloween fancy dress and pumpkin carving, and getting really rather fed up with the headaches the onset of age related long-sightedness has given me.

Eye trouble during a bloody pandemic when you don't want folk prodding you at opticians that aren't open anyway. Great.

Have a look at a sunset. It's the best I can give you at the moment.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 17.11.20

The Posing Coachman

Well, second week of lockdown, and I'm trying to keep active - I'm just not seeing very much.

The exception to this was coming across this mad beetle on the cycle path at work. It was gadding about with its bum in the air like a scorpion, a behaviour I've never come across in my admittedly limited experience of beetles.

It was clearly rather emotional about something though. Maybe it didn't like the slug that was crossing the cycle path at the same time?

A bit of research on google ("Which beetles stick their bum in the air?") revealed it to be a devil's coach horse beetle, a common species with a flexible abdomen that allows it to display like that. Common yes, but a new one to me.

Another interesting sighting was three skeins of about 300 pink footed geese flying over work - such a distinctive sight, cruising high in their shall v-echelons. The local kestrel is very busy hunting, and the juvenile buzzard would be too if he didn't get chased out of the sky all the time by the local carrion crows. 

Anyway, hopefully the rain stays away tomorrow, I want to go for a bike ride.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 14.11.20