Marbury Country Park

Spring in the air yesterday as we walked round Marbury Country Park to see the daffs and hear the woodpeckers etc. Lots of daft dogs about too - one which covered my duffle coat with foaming slobber as he romped by - his owner shouting "Tarquin, come away you naughty dog!" More crumpled features and waggy tails passed by and thankfully vanished round the edge of the lake. Nice peaceful walk to the canal and round the woods to the car park. Still free as the machine seems to be permanantly broken. Hazel got some primroses and herbs in the garden centre too. Also popped into a small textile arty crafty show in the rangers hut. Some dogs outside waiting for their owners ( see above ). Hazel pointing at sound of woodpecker ( above ). Home for fish finger bun and raspberry cakes that Hazel made.

Sunday

Not sure how the squirrel fits in but rushing to get this done before going out. Sunday was very cold and icy so we stayed indoors all day. the last indoor boot of the Winter was on too which was hard to miss but the roads looked trecherous and neither of us in the mood to venture far - even walking there would have been too risky - frozen impacted snow on the pavements etc. Hey ho! Caught up with some mail and collaging. Hazel gave me a vanity case to collage that Audrey had given her - she had three that all fitted inside one another. Decorated with cutesy flower pattern. Now half covered in manly pics from old DIY mags etc. The snow melted later.

Starlings

Nice walk at dusk to see the starlings gather on pylons over by the TATA factory. Hoping for a murmuration but they were mostly just sitting on the wires and pylons and chirping away. A passing dog walker said the best place to see them was Neumann's Flashes. Maybe another walk on Friday.

Art and Weather

Not the church in Great Budworth but a reasonable facsimile. Lovely exhibition there yesterday by our friend and neighbour Beth Barlow who was showing assemblages, I suppose you could call them, mixed media pieces in boxes mounted upon various church furniture including the bier ? that the coffin is carried on from church to grave side. A nice pub lunch beforehand in the George and Dragon across the road. Full to bursting we had to eat a bit slab of coffee and walnut cake in the church provided by the friendly folk who came along to host the event and set up a craft stall and one with cheese and wine for anybody who wanted it. Phew! It was cheese and crackers for tea that night after all that! Beth gave a very interesting talk with questions from the Curate who organised the event and is keen to get more visual artists to use the space. It's a lovely old church and sadly I neglected to take my camera along so I could show you the stained glass windows, the ancient chests, the mouldy pews, the organ pipes, gargoyles, carvings etc. The weather chaos inflicted upon most of the country has hardly touched Cheshire though it has been freezing and not very pleasant. At least we haven't had to dig ourselves out of snow drifts!