Back to summer weather. Warm, dry and sunny.
Spent day sweeping up leaves from the from the front lawn. All spread about the woodland area of garden.
Covered the recently planted bulbs with chicken wire to stop the squirrel digging any up.
Still a lot of colour in the garden helped by such mild conditions for this time of year.
Pictures 1 - 6 - An Autumn day in the garden.
" 7 - A GM Rat caught in the greenhouse?
A very mild, overcast and a day of drizzle.
Waking up to such weather thought only one thing to do today, visit museums.
Despite the drizzle I walked to the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) in Redlands Road. Once the home of George Palmer (Huntley & Palmers). MERL started life back in 1951 in Whiteknights Park before moving to Redlands Road in 2004. I joined MERL in 1967-1979 as a conservator. Conserving/repairing all the farm waggons and ploughs in the collection.
MERL is closing on Friday for a major refurbishment re-opening in 2016 hence my visit today.
Walked on to Reading Museum for lunch and another look at the Art exhibition. Arrived home late afternoon after a great me day despite the weather.
Pictures 1 - 8 - Farm Waggons and Ploughs on display at MERL.
" 9 - Me in the workshop 1972.
" 10 - MERL staff walking to the Uni' dining room for Christmas Dinner December 1974. I am leading the way with Catherine who I met again on Sunday.
Another terrific day. warm and sunny all day. Temp' reaching a high this afternoon of 22c.
Trip to Henry Street this morning for a sculpture and spring bulbs for the pond project. All very Christmasy there now. Looking forward to their Christmas evening late November. Have always enjoyed these evenings.
100 bulbs planted and grass seed sown this afternoon. Sculpture in place, bit tarty but a bit of fun? Project finished, look forward to Spring now.
All ready for Autumn Watch now.
Pictures 1 - 4 - Pond project now finished.
" 5 - Ratty after his evening meal. Great Tit roosting.
Today could have been mistaken for a summers day. It was hot and sunny.
What an unforgettable day in London. Never in my life on my trips abroad or my visits to London have I ever seen so many people. London was officially full. We were packed in like sardines on train to Paddington. We were again packed in like sardines on the underground and the the fun started. On arrival at Tower Hill the underground was so full they closed it as unable to get off trains for the crowds that were going nowhere. We eventually started moving, slowly but at least moving. On reaching daylight the crowds outside were something like I have never experienced. The underground was still closed, not allowing anyone into the station as officially full.
Took an age to reach the Tower of London and the sea of poppies. I did manage these photographs but were taken mostly from one spot as unable to move.
Decided to head home after the photographs as just manic to enjoy the atmosphere. With the underground still closed we had no option but to hail a taxi back to Paddington.
What a day.....?
Pictures 1 - 3 - The Underground at Tower Hill.
" 4 - 7 - The crowds at the Tower.
" 8 - 10 - The Poppies. All 888,246 poppies have been sold.
Another delightful Autumn day. Just loving it.
Just loved today - great to be out walking this morning with my good mate Doug (Boyo) on our old stomping ground that is Fobney Nature Reserve. Full of surprises/excitement. Female Mandarin at the weir. Heron flying in to Southcote Pond. Kestrel on the wire. An Egret flying onto the lake. Hearing Kingfishers on the river, all good stuff. Enjoyed being together again Boyo.
Staveley Lily plants planted in the re-defined bog/marginal garden. Need to look at other plants now to complete the project.
How good was it to meet up with Catherine and Vic again and be introduced to Son Tim and Partner Chei. Catherine reminded me of the times we drove through the night to be on Ilkley Moor for the Sunrise. They were magical days. Many more stories we reminisced on....! Just love their life style, the good life that includes looking after a Carthorse and a normal Horse! Plus all manor of other animals. Looking forward to visiting their Welsh habitat in February.
Picture 1 - Female Mandarin at Fobney.
" 2 - Heron at Southcote Pond.
" 3 - Kestrel at Southcote.
" 4 - Roosting Great Tit all fluffed up.
A beautiful mild, sunny Autumn day.
Spent day walking at Burnham Beeches. Enjoyed a walk during this morning, stopped for lunch then enjoyed a further walk this afternoon. Sun and blue sky this afternoon. Anytime of year is good here but Autumn of course is the most colourful. However, not so much colour this year. Leaves appear to be falling green giving a colourful ground covering as leaves change.
Looking forward to seeing Catherine & Vic tomorrow, last seen about 30 years ago. Catherine was a Student at Reading University during my time there in the early 70's. Lives the good life living off the land. No TV or Computers, can't wait to catch up...
All photographs captured today at Burnham Beeches.
Liking this Autumn weather, another dry, mild with sun late afternoon.
Another day in the garden working on the Bog garden project. All Nettles now removed and shredded. Leilandi Tree also trimmed and shredded. Managed to dig out, in fact found the original liner, and removed as much of root material as was possible. Ready now to level out the liner from that end of the pond and cover with soil before planting.
Was watching the monitor at 5.30 pm to find a bird (not sure what) roosting in the Sparrow box. At 6pm the Great Tit appeared again in the Swift box. Am so pleased now with the camera set up.
Pictures 1 - 3 - Bog garden project.
" 4 - Great Tit just arrived with a bird in the Sparrow box.
" 5 - Great Tit now settled for the night.
Very mild, dry and sunny. Another good day to be out in the garden.
Started another project. The sting nettle patch was becoming very untidy and encroaching into the pond. Stinging Nettles are most important to have in a garden as encourages Butterflies, Bees and Damselflies. With another large patch of Nettles at the bottom end of the garden I was happy to remove this patch. The plan is to dig out that end of the pond to create another bog/marginal area. Planting Lilies, seed I collected from Stavely Nature Reserve. Have been growing for two years now and are ready for re-planting. Will also purchase some other pond friendly plants to ctreate the right habitat.
Good to see Woody returning. Just spotted one in the Silver Birch Tree, not sure if male or female however. Better order more monkey nuts.
Attended a Friends of Fobney meeting tonight to discuss the biggest problem we have at the reserve, rubbish left by fishermen and poo bags left by dog walkers. We all agreed not much can change as peoples attitude is what it is, sad that. The chap from the EA did agree to talk with the Fishing group that arrange matches at Fobney. I agreed to carry on with my monthly clear up and was offered some stronger rubbish bags to help with this task.
That aside the Reserve has been a great success again this year. Good reports of nesting Birds, Ducks & Geese. Also good results of the many Dragonflies, Butterflies and Damselflies this summer. No reports of Bats as no one monitoring at the moment. Botany experts visited last week and were amazed at the diverse selection of plants. So all good news aside from the rubbish.
Arrived home at 9pm, switched on the monitors and hey presto, a Great Tit roosting in the Swift box. Wonder if he will return nightly now?
Picture 1 - Great Spotted Woodpecker in the Silver Birch Tree.
" 2 - 4 - Bog garden project.
" 5 - Great Tit roosting.
