A Few Things

I had several ideas for what to post today, and I couldn’t decide which to do – so I thought I would do a little mention of a few of them, and then later I can write more fully about the ones I think deserve their own posts :)

First up I wanted to mention my volunteer work with BBOWT at College Lake Nature Reserve. I went along again on Wednesday, I still can’t do much actual work because of my neck injury, but I like to go along and be outside in the countryside in good company. The staff also like to have photos that they can use for different things, so while I can’t do heavy work I take photos of those who can! This week the main job was to clear a few areas from nettles, brambles and other undergrowth ready for ‘Nature Tots’. This is a group for really small children, and we were clearing the patches so that they can safely have a go at planting trees at their next meet. While out taking photos of the work, I also decided to take a few of the wildflowers that are blossoming around the nature reserve.

Marsh Marigold - like a giant buttercup!

Pretty Violets

Lovely little Forget me nots

I think this lovely blossom belongs to an apple tree - please let me know if it's something else!

There were lots of Cowslips around here - I took this one with workers in the background to prove that work was actually being done!

I had to leave College Lake early as I got a phone call that my car was ready from the garage (it was being fixed after the crash a few weeks ago) and they needed to collect the courtesy car. I’d had to wait a couple of weeks for my own appointment while they waited for a courtesy car to come available, so I understood them wanting it back again quickly. Coming home at a time when few other cars come down the drive to the area where I live often leads to wildlife spotting! As I had my camera with me on Wednesday this meant I was able to get shots of these lovely birdies:

I had to look this one up - it turns out that this is an Egyptian Goose. Originally brought here to be ornamental, some escaped and they are now fairly successful in the South East of England

Look at the Red Kite flying across in the background! I love Red Kites, they quite often land in this field.

Then I saw a Green Woodpecker. I often see them here, but they are quite shy and fly off when you go by. I had to use maximum zoom and then crop further for this picture, hence the poor quality. Although it's in a tree here, these woodpeckers mostly feed on the ground.

On Thursday I was in Norwich all day at a study day at the University of East Anglia. Coming home from the train station in the dark I saw another hedgehog – I don’t see them every day, but you can see them pretty regularly round here. It’s such a shame this place has been sold off for development, I don’t expect so much wildlife habitat will be left once developers begin work.

Today I’ve had to stay in all day for various workmen to come and fix things in the house. We will be moving out of this house in a few weeks’ time and have to make sure everything is ship-shape before we hand it back (it’s a military quarter, so the process is a little different from when you live in a private house).

So it was another day of crocheting (it's such a hard life...) Since last Friday I’ve done 14 more stripes on the Mumbles Ripple, which means I’ve stuck to my 2 a day pledge. Therefore I gave myself a little ripple-break this morning, and had a go at remaking something with this. 

I had started to make a shawl with it, but ran out of yarn while it was still very much scarf-shaped. So I decided to make a sort of scarf with it. I think this one will deserve its own post actually - I will add a link in when I do so :)

And Finally...

I got a little something exciting in the post – look at what the lovely people at Stylecraft have sent to me!

L-R: Azure, Sunflower, Soft Lime, Hot Pink

The colours are much nicer in real life, the Sunflower (the yellow one) and the Soft Lime (the green) are really lovely and Spring-like, while the Azure (much more turquoisey than it looks in the picture, and pretty much my favourite colour!) and the Hot Pink are nice vibrant colours, but not over-the-top bright. I haven’t done anything with them yet, but as they are they feel nice and soft too!

Now I need to find a project to use them for… The yellow and green are shouting "daffodils!" to me, so I might think about doing something decorative with them? And I just love the bright Azure. And the Azure and Hot Pink together... I fancy making something for myself with one / both of those, but I'm not sure what yet... (these will obviously get their own posts too!)

How exciting!