Walks temporarily abandoned

This blog is now coming to you from sunny (or snowy) Somerzet!

The West Somerset Railway is just down the road.


The two (2!) removal men worked hard and unloaded two (2!) lorries in one (1!) day; we now have a house full of boxes! Jen is working hard to clear them and a couple of rooms do look habitable - just. My study is still piled high just waiting for Jen to finish her bit so that I can move some of the stuff out and assemble my large desk and filing cabinets. With the computer set up properly and the paperwork filed away, I should be able to fill the bookshelves from the remaining thirty (yes, 30!) archive boxes of mainly bird books.

The village is a marvellous place with all manner of shops, including an old fashioned hardware shop, chainsaw and clothing stores attached! Ah, the smell of chain oil! They do ride on mowers, as well; we'll be needing one of them come the spring.

View from our kitchen window (L-R); ringing hut almost obscured by Camelia.


Put some feeders out and ordered 45kg of SFH off eBay which came today; turns out it was 28 bags of 1.75kg each! Even with carriage charges, it was still cheaper than from the pet store round the corner. In two days we have had 22 species of bird in the garden that we know of.
[Blackbird 1+, Black-headed Gull 2, Blue Tit 5+, Chaffinch 2, Coal Tit 2, Collared Dove 2, Dunnock 2, Goldcrest 1, Goldfinch 5, Great Spot 1, Great Tit 2+, Herring Gull 2, House Sparrow 5(+), Jackdaw 2, Long-tailed Tit 3+, Pied Wagtail 1, Robin 2, Rook 2, Siskin 1+, Starling 1, Wood Pigeon 5, Wren 1]

We haven't had time to explore the local walks yet; the dogs have had theirs running round the garden or up to the village via the rec. (they call it the Memorial Ground)! We live on the edge of the village and it's a good half mile to the centre. Although the trunk A road passes our door, we are set back quite a way with a thick hedge in between. Occasionally we hear a lorry rumble pass, but that's either during the morning "rush hour" or in the quiet of the evening.

Got to go into Bridgwater to get my car fixed (20 miles +), 'cos the EMS light came on as we drove through Bridgwater on Monday evening. More expense we could do without right now. Still - needs must!.                       

Some Movement

Had to remove my computer set-up to the downstairs (proper) study; it all went back together OK, except for my Finepix camera - it won't call up the download menu page! A bit cramped as this desk is quite a bit smaller than mine.

 As you can see, I've downloaded the missing .exe file and we're back in business!

The painter will be in tomorrow, hopefully for the last time. He's due to "magnolia" my old study in the smallest bedroom (but nice and long which used to accomodate my big desk & filing cabinets). The estate agent is calling round, too, so I hope he's going to get his finger out and get us 'sold' very soon. Still have to renew some of the carpets - that will mean more movement, this time of all of the furniture that didn't disappear into store in St. Neots. [Queer that; Jen's stuff is in Kettering]

Other things on the move just lately, south this time, were - Sky Larks in small flocks of up to 7, Meadow Pipits in ones and twos, odd Siskin, singleton Brambling, a trickle of Robins & Chaffinches, and some Song Thrushes. The winter trek of gulls, mainly LBBG from the Grafham roost to the Brogborough tip, is evident most mornings and evenings; some of them drop into Priory for a 'wash & brush-up'.

Walking round the perimeter of the new estate opposite (it is surrounded by large plots of wildflower meadow), turns up a few birds. There is always a Robin singing in the same dog rose-cum-hawthorn bush, a Song Thrush by the stream, a Blackbird and a pair of Bullfinch in the eastern hedge and a couple of Mipits rising up from the new, now devoid of topsoil, development on the otherside of the hedge. Further round, where it borders farmland, there is often a score of Rooks and some Wood Pigeons or a Chaffinch or two. Still further round to the west there is an 'unofficial path' that runs along a newly planted, mixed hedge and rabbit fence. In the field beyond, there are always a couple of Sky Larks and half a dozen Mipits. Today (Monday), there were  at least 14 Mipits, a pair of Reed Buntings,

 one or more Yellowhammers, a Pied Wagtail and a Chaffinch, all making use of the fence wire or posts to warm themselves in the early sunshine after a cold night (at least minus 1C). Turning back for home along the brook, another Blackbird, a couple of Blue Tits, a Dunnock, a cat and a small flock of Long-tailed Tits.  

Made a pitch for a detached house between Taunton and Minehead over the weekend- young estate agent has not come back with  anything yet ... no news is good news???

My next big job is to clear and /or pack the contents of the garage. As I have managed to 'fix' the up-and-over door, we can have a skip on the drive and a massive purge of all those knackered or superfluous items that I have accumulated over my 14 years in Bedford and the 24 years in Gamlingay before that. Tally Ho!

A moving weekend

Jen looking at a house?

We have just spent a warm and sunny weekend in North Devon and West Somerset. The object of our travels was to look at houses. Above is Jenny looking at a neighbouring house; it's the booking hall at the local station on the West Somerset line. LINK.

We spent two nights at The Crown in Lynton, where the meals are humungus. It was Lynton & Lynmouth's 'comedy weekend', so we weren't short of company, especially young folk. The landlord took a shine to my dog, Cerise.  LINK.

This one is for Phil. Just can't get away - this one's round the back of the 'hoped for' house!

We were lucky to be able to view three houses, including a brand new one, and look at some others from outside.
Jenny took a fancy to one in particular (it happens to be the one I've been keeping an eye on via the Internet) and seems to be deciding how she would like it changing already.

The tug 'Ionia' at Bideford; I ticked this, on the Thames, many moons ago.

Any road up, I took Jen on a good tour of the local area; Porlock Hill, Countisbury, Lorna Doone, Coombe Martin, Ilfracombe, Woolacoombe, Braunton Burrows and Bideford, where we visited the brand new, unfinished Morrison's, her favourite store, and filled up with diesel.

I have instructed a surveyor to come and look at 'Fairmead' (as it's called) before deciding on what we will finally offer for the place. It has been on the market since the spring and the family of the owner (from Cambridge) haven't cleared the house and still come down now and then.We know it will need a bit of work doing to it, but we have allowed for this in our budget.

The M5 motorway is 20 miles away and, for Jen, the sea-side is a mere 3 miles off; there is also a working steam railway, for me, just a couple of hundred yards away (see top pic. and link).

  What you'll see of the house as you pass by on the main road.    

It sits in half an acre just off the main road, with a large, fruit, veg. and flower plot for Jen and an orchard for me and my nets. There's parking for the caravan, as well! Just need to kick the painter out and find a buyer for mine, now.Fingers crossed - and toes, too!

So slow

What with one thing and another, it has been a messy week.

Firstly, we changed estate agents as the original one had not sent any suitable viewings. They had sent one who obviously wanted to stay close to the railway station, where he already lives! Our new agent arranged for three viewings, one of whom got lost somewhere. The trouble is that our postcode covers four houses, three of which are a terrace about 300 yards away and we are on a corner/roundabout with a large expanse of grass in front.

Bird-wise, it has also not been too exciting. This weeks list, accumulated over three sessions, is -
Great Tit 3
Long-tailed Tit (2)
Garden Warbler 2
Reed Warbler 3
Blackbird (1)
Robin 1
Dunnock 1 (1)
House Sparrow 10 (1)
Chaffinch 1
Greenfinch 2

Sunday 27th saw my last, official 'guided walk' at the park. Dave Barnes has been put forward as a replacement as he has accompanied me for many walks over the last two years. We saw all the usual birds; 90+ swans and geese, plenty of singing warblers, young grebes, swans , geese, coots and moorhens, parties of fledged jackdaws and tits ... and a lone rook.

It has been so hot of late that there has been little in the garden. It is now two weeks since any rain fell - and that was 11mm in a thunderstorm. At night the temperature barely falls to 12C most nights (one night was 16C) and during the day it reaches >25C in the shade and >40C out of it. The light winds just manage to take the edge off the heat.

Leaving the kitchen door open at night (naturally we close it when we go to bed) allowed me to spot a Hedgehog on the lawn, hoovering up the fallen bird seed. The picture was taken after Jen's mum's poodle had given it a rude poke.

Hey ho, better get on with repairing the bathroom tiling. Then it's the big one - packing all my books in anticipation of a buyer!