Sometimes, living in the country reminds us that not all is pretty and comfortable. Last year I made comment on the Magpie that was busily destroying the life of a Greenfinch on our front lawn. Yesterday morning as I pulled back the bedroom curtain, something caught my eye on the ground at the bottom of the field; it turned out to be a baby rabbit struggling in the talon of a large Buzzard whilst, bizarrely, a Magpie chased around at the back of the Buzzard trying to have his/her chunk out of the rabbit. I am not a great fan of rabbits but it was a sad sight to see one so young lose its life. As I rushed around trying to find the camera, the Buzzard obviously caught sight of me and relinguished the now deceased Bunny and flew off into the distance. After a Crow and the Magpie had a go at the carcase, the Buzzard eventually returned, picked up the body and once again disappeared into the distance leaving only a load of fur to identify what had been there.
11 April 2009
07 April 2009
Post Holiday Report
Ah well, back to the real world after two weeks in the sun (well - not quite) of Tenerife. We had a splendid time, especially the first week when the weather was much better than the second. We also had the pleasure of the company of Beryl & Ian whom we met last year. This came about when Maria & Beryl were talking on the phone a week or so before we went. Beryl was envious so Maria told her to come along as we have enough room in the apartment even if we do have to share a bathroom. Some rapid changing of work shifts and a quick flight booking and everything was fixed. If you read this Beryl, many thanks for your splendid company although I am not sure about all that encouragement that you gave Maria to go shopping.
Very kindly, Beryl & Ian treated us to a meal on the Thursday before they went home and we chose to go to the Hollywood Mirage where we had a splendid meal and listened to a very entertaining Beatles tribute band. Thanks folks.
The weather for the second week turned on the Saturday and we did not manage to get any sunbathing in for four days. This resulted in lots of walking and more shopping!! However the sun finally came back again and we had a couple of pleasant days around the pool at the Beverly Hills Heights with Victor, the Lifeguard, to look after us. What a great job he does.
Maria relaxing during a hard day's shopping
A Sunny spell but note the sky in the background!
Now that we are home, I have managed to tidy up the borders around the bottom of the garden as well as cut the grass, including the bottom of the lower field. I have also erected Andrew & Amy's birthday present, which is a new bird feeder. I haven't seen the birds using it yet but I expect that they will get used to it soon. After a winter of being missing, we have seen a pair of Goldfinches back with us. No Greenfinches yet and only one Chaffinch, which is disappointing.
One of our bird feeding stations with the latest addition
During the late Autumn, I planted about 200 mixed daffodil bulbs and about 40 Hyacinths, the latter coming from Annette's contacts at Newquay Hospital. The results have been splendid for a first year and hopefully next year they will be fully established..
Very kindly, Beryl & Ian treated us to a meal on the Thursday before they went home and we chose to go to the Hollywood Mirage where we had a splendid meal and listened to a very entertaining Beatles tribute band. Thanks folks.
The weather for the second week turned on the Saturday and we did not manage to get any sunbathing in for four days. This resulted in lots of walking and more shopping!! However the sun finally came back again and we had a couple of pleasant days around the pool at the Beverly Hills Heights with Victor, the Lifeguard, to look after us. What a great job he does.
Maria relaxing during a hard day's shoppingA Sunny spell but note the sky in the background!Now that we are home, I have managed to tidy up the borders around the bottom of the garden as well as cut the grass, including the bottom of the lower field. I have also erected Andrew & Amy's birthday present, which is a new bird feeder. I haven't seen the birds using it yet but I expect that they will get used to it soon. After a winter of being missing, we have seen a pair of Goldfinches back with us. No Greenfinches yet and only one Chaffinch, which is disappointing.
One of our bird feeding stations with the latest additionDuring the late Autumn, I planted about 200 mixed daffodil bulbs and about 40 Hyacinths, the latter coming from Annette's contacts at Newquay Hospital. The results have been splendid for a first year and hopefully next year they will be fully established..
19 March 2009
Visitors - Nick, Charlotte, Curtis & Connor
Nick and his three children came to visit for the February Half-Term holiday, leaving Karen at home to look after the new kittens!!
The weather stayed fairly good for most of the week allowing everyone to get out on quite a few day trips. These included lots of Geo-Caching with Annette and Clive and even me on one day. The photo below was taken on the Goss Moor Trail where we must have walked about five miles to find just two caches. If you study the photo carefully, you might notice some very muddy boots and trousers. We decided, perhaps unwisely as it turned out, to follow the Fritillary Trail, which turned out to be ankle deep in mud in some places. Perhaps we should have stuck to the road, however that would not have been so interesting. You might notice that Charlotte is not in the photo; this was because she had hurt her back and spent this particular day resting at home. Fortunately the day of rest seemed to work very well. Oh to be young again with the powers of rapid recuperation.!
On another day we all went up to Trevone where we played cricket and clambered around on the rocks. The photo shows me with the two boys; I have no idea why we looked so miserable!
Nick decided to take everyone out for a meal one night so we decided on a local "Award Winning" Fish and Chip shop. Not sure what the award was for! To be fair, it was 18:30 on a Friday evening during the week of half term so we expected it to be busy. We found a table for seven easy enough, which was good; after that things went gradually downhill. I asked what the "Fish of the Day" was, as two of us qualified for the Senior Citizens Special , and was told that it was Haddock, which suited us fine until the waitress came back and said that there was no Haddock! No Senior Special then. The adults ordered the set meal, with Cod, and the children had a variety from the children's menu. When the meal came, we asked where the Bread & Butter was, to be told that they had run out of bread! Anyway the rest of the meal was OK, even if there was no sign of a deduction for lack of bread. The children wanted to have some Ice Cream for sweet, so Nick went and ordered. After 40 minutes of waiting, we decided to cancel the order and leave. we came home and had our own Ice Cream, which was £15.00 cheaper on Nick's wallet. We probably shall not be rushing back there in a hurry.
On the whole however, I think that they all had a good time and we look forward to their next visit, whenever that might be.
The weather stayed fairly good for most of the week allowing everyone to get out on quite a few day trips. These included lots of Geo-Caching with Annette and Clive and even me on one day. The photo below was taken on the Goss Moor Trail where we must have walked about five miles to find just two caches. If you study the photo carefully, you might notice some very muddy boots and trousers. We decided, perhaps unwisely as it turned out, to follow the Fritillary Trail, which turned out to be ankle deep in mud in some places. Perhaps we should have stuck to the road, however that would not have been so interesting. You might notice that Charlotte is not in the photo; this was because she had hurt her back and spent this particular day resting at home. Fortunately the day of rest seemed to work very well. Oh to be young again with the powers of rapid recuperation.!
On another day we all went up to Trevone where we played cricket and clambered around on the rocks. The photo shows me with the two boys; I have no idea why we looked so miserable!Nick decided to take everyone out for a meal one night so we decided on a local "Award Winning" Fish and Chip shop. Not sure what the award was for! To be fair, it was 18:30 on a Friday evening during the week of half term so we expected it to be busy. We found a table for seven easy enough, which was good; after that things went gradually downhill. I asked what the "Fish of the Day" was, as two of us qualified for the Senior Citizens Special , and was told that it was Haddock, which suited us fine until the waitress came back and said that there was no Haddock! No Senior Special then. The adults ordered the set meal, with Cod, and the children had a variety from the children's menu. When the meal came, we asked where the Bread & Butter was, to be told that they had run out of bread! Anyway the rest of the meal was OK, even if there was no sign of a deduction for lack of bread. The children wanted to have some Ice Cream for sweet, so Nick went and ordered. After 40 minutes of waiting, we decided to cancel the order and leave. we came home and had our own Ice Cream, which was £15.00 cheaper on Nick's wallet. We probably shall not be rushing back there in a hurry.On the whole however, I think that they all had a good time and we look forward to their next visit, whenever that might be.
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