Bank Holiday Monday

 Early morning walk to the orchard , River Dane and fishing ponds.  Didnt see any swans sadly - hoping for some signets after seeing the mother on the nest last week.  Very quiet except for the chirping of the birds.  Very green everywhere - the orchard looked very impressive. Yellow iris growing in the reed beds. The "whale " hump had been added to - a new path up its spine that Hazel climbed up.  Hedges sprouting profusely.  The cornfield growing some tiny seedlings which may not be corn this time.  Home for some collaging and doodling.

Daily Doodles

 

Boot Sale at Blakemere

 2nd boot of the year at Blakemere this morning after shopping at the Co-op. Very warm and sunny.  Lots of people and mostly wihtout masks which is always rather alarming considering the infection numbers rising again.  Anyway, we wore our masks and tried to keep away from people which was almost impossible.  Hopefully get less nervous about crowds as the Summer goes on.  Hazel got a few items that were useful - the garden skewers?  the child dummy hands, the brass door knob and the 1905 book about Cheshire which mentions our village " Rudheath is well known as a sanctuary for the criminal classes"!    Ha ha!  It hasn't changed all that much then!  Afterwards to Granma and Audrey's to do some gardening and try out the new fangled "Dandelion Lifter" which took Hazel about an hour to put together.  Once constructed it worked rather well - lifting out the weeds with a twist and leaving a neat hole in the lawn, suitable for a small putting green!   The offending dandelion ( I would happily keep them but Granma hates them )  can be judiciously ejected into the bin from several feet distant.  Saves bending over with a trowel I suppose.

Sorting Through Stuff

 It's always difficult to find space for new aquisitions and today Hazel was sorting through a box of detritus trying to make room for a rubber brain that lights up a student of hers made a few years back. It wasa useful prop for her Creative Thinking lectures. She found all manner of wonders incluidng old Kinder Egg toys, PEZ dispensers, plastic gew-gaws and old sketch books.

Whitegate Way

 Nice walk at Whitegate Way that we'd not been to for a while. Sadly the station cafe was closed on a Friday so didn't get the tea and cake we were looking forward to.

Daily Doodle Time

 

Chimney Noises

 We have been hearing weird rumblings and scrabbling noises in the chimney just lately.  Hazel thought it was me in the bedroom moving the furniture but I was downstairs in the back room . I didn't hear a thing.  But I did later as we watched some rubbish on the telly. It sounded like a squirrel making a nest or an owl maybe?   Hazel was quite alarmed and phoned up the chimney sweep even though it was quite late in the evening. He was a nice man and promised to come the next day to look up the chimney with his torch.  Which he did.  In the meantime he suggested we block the chimney with a board incase the suspected nest came down and all the soot with it. Anyway, he found tell tale twig  in the cavity above the gratey thing - the cowl that you can lift off.  Sure sign of a nest he said and he couldnt shift it until September (RSPB rules ) as their maybe eggs or chicks. But it's probably an old nest falling apart slowly.  .....................Later we went for a nice walk to be outside for a bit - in the sunshine.  The canal looked very quiet and peaceful compared to our chimney.  There was even a boat chugging along - the first we'd seen for a long time..... When we got home we looked at the outside of the house and the chimney - no sign of any birds.  Sometimes we hear pigeons cooing but not today. Pigeons are surely too fat to fit down the chimney pot we pondered?  It's a mystery. We shall be looking up at our roof more often now to catch the culprit. More anon.

Sunday Morning Ramble

 Multitudes of dandelion clocks over Griffiths Park. 16th May 2021  Also abit later after breakfast and the "Chicken Run"  (without the chicken!)  we had a nice wander over the fishing ponds near the River Dane.  Saw a heron fly off and startle a swan who flew to the other side of the pond where it's mate was sitting on some eggs ( maybe?)  - it was on the nest anyway, We thought it had been abandoned but seems not.  Sunny with a hint of clouds.

Walk to Marbury Woods

 More bluebells before they all fade away.  They looked even more delightful with the sun streaming through the foliage the other day - quite early in the morning - really seems to the best time to escape the crowds !   A bit muddy after the previous nights rain and thunderyness.  We sat and watched the cows for a while as they dozed off in the field next to the main path to the lake.  Once and a while a cow stood up hoping for applause or some sort of recognition but realising none was forthcoming he sat down again.  We weren't quite sure if the cows were female or male?  Heifers maybe? 

Doodle Dooby Do

 More pages from my daily sketchbook doodlings.

More Bluebellness

 Sunny walk down Marbury way yesterday ( or was it the day before?)  . Bluebells at their peak of blueness!