Friday May 31st 2019

In the great scheme of things size doesn't matter. It does however when replacing a shower caddy. Honestly I am sometimes not suitable for being allowed out. The caddy in question was the one on the right. In situ in the shower for years, finally rust began to set in. It was time for a change, could I find a direct replacement, thus saving the drilling of extra holes in the shower tiles.  

I hunted high and low for a replacement but could I find one? No. Then in a last desperate search I found what I thought fitted the bill, the same shape and size - though obviously a three tier, not a two tier. But at £6.95 a bargain. It arrived swiftly. However - as can be seen is remarkably larger than the original. And a completely different shape! That said, it fits the shower so that's another DIY job for the weekend. 

Thursday May 30th 2019

For years I've got up early and either sat in the garden communing with nature, or gone birdwatching. For years that is until recently when I've somehow gotten myself out of the habit. This morning my muse rose as I awakened, and within minutes this took me outside for a 7am rendesvous with a rather strong coffee, an old edition of Country Life and an hour spent watching the blackbird knobbling an apple on the lawn.  Life can be as enjoyable at home as elsewhere if we just take time to stop and stare. Lovely.

Wednesday May 29th 2019

Rain!! Rain!!!!!

We've had so little rain in the last few months that I had begun think we'll be in drought situations soon. The garden is parched. Even keeping plants in containers going has begun to resemble a military exercise. Every night gallons of water are being sloshed about the estate with precision. We're exhausted. We ache, and no doubt the water bill will be extortionate. It was therefore wonderful to have a day of rain at last. And not those mad dash downpours lasting half an hour which  promise so much but in reality the water just heads off into rivers. No, today we had nice slow steady rain for most of the day. A sort of heavy drizzle I'd call it. Cool too so no evaporation. The water butts are full again. I'd forgotten where my windscreen wipers were too.

What was most interesting is that when the rain ended, the house martins came out in force. Winged beasties were lifting after the rain ceased. Nature knows best. 

Tuesday May 28th 2019

10.30 PM. Not a bad sunset over the Brecon Beacons National Park in the far distance.  Imagery never captures what the eyes see, which tonight as we gazed out the bedroom window was of an oddly split vision of dark clouds on the left and an eruption of firelight on the right. We get some absolute stunning sunsets here, as the brown muddy waters of the Bristol Channel less than 2 miles across the fields add some red spectrum reflective colouration. There are times when the crimson sun sets over the hills of Wales and sort of squashes itself against the land, before dropping almost within the blink of the eye behind the mountains. Sadly the orange glow in the front emanates from sodium streetlights.  

Monday 27th May 2019

It is a Bank Holiday today - what better then than to hurl the aged frame up a very steep hill and hassle a butterfly or two. Which is what we did. I've written more of this adventure on my wildlife blog, for this, my daily diary, it is sufficient to say, a very nice day was had indeed. And there were oodles of butterflies on the Mendip Hills, worth then the puffing and panting of this Northern lad. 

Julie sprinted up like a mountain goat. Much fitter than me even with her bad back from sustaining an injury while on a horse recently. It's not fair.

Sunday May 26th 2019

I was given my get out of jail card today. It's been a while since I'd completed a shift at Tyntesfield and it was good to be back. The Sunday of the Spring Bank Holiday is usually a really busy day. However rain was forecast, a light drizzle did appear, but it wasn't that great a day weather wise, cold, dark and damp so only 1500 visitors. Low for a Sunday and as we had an over filling of keen Ticket Office operatives, after my light luncheon of National Trust egg and cress sandwich, Chris the supervisor asked me if I'd like to go and see the Madrid to Tyntesfield story in the house. This 18 month experience brings out some of the artifacts which connect the Gibbs family to Spain. Long lost treasures in their family vaults have been dusted off and I have to say the experience was well worth the wander down to the house. A chance encounter with the horse rides from the front of the house added to the joy. All too soon it was back up to the Ticket Office where I toiled in emerging sunshine until after 5pm. Even had to pump up the wheelchair tyres. My work is never done!

Saturday May 25th 2019

After a good day out in the Bank holiday sunshine this leaflet was on the hallway mat. Housing plans are being submitted to two fields near us. This was land which 20 years ago was removed from the housing needs of the area, as most of it is in a high risk from sea flooding area. The land is only 6 m above median water mark and criss crossed with drainage ditches. 25,085 houses need to be built in North Somerset from 2016-2032 so I guess all of the orange areas below (identified as having potential) are at risk. I was told by a friends father years ago, never buy a house with a countryside view, it can always be taken away. It will be a sad day when our lovely view out the back goes. 

Friday May 24th 2019

An exciting day. We have a trough of plants for sale in the front garden. And have already sold £10 worth to a lady from Worlebury, just a mile or so away. We've been thinking of doing this for a while now as the garden is awash with plants we've taken cuttings from or seperated. I'm hopeless in throwing live plants away - so why not sell them to someone who likes them. Pays for the compost, which we buy at 3 bags for £10. Time to head off to the garden centre then!

Thursday May 23rd 2019

Well this was a day no one thought would come. Voting in the European Elections. After three years of Brexit inertia, the UK was forced into holding these MEP elections, even though it probably means they'll not sit in the European Parliament. Or maybe they will, who knows. Anyway, I strongly believe that given the sacrifices people made in the past the obtain the vote, the only way is to vote. Even though if I'm honest I have no idea what I'm voting for, whom, or why. Still it meant a nice little pootle out to the village hall, a lovely sunset, and some inquisitive cows in Rogers fields (Roger being a farmer). The cows were great fun. We'll find out who won on Sunday, not sure I'll be staying in for that result.

Wednesday May 22nd 2019

Aside from being soaked, this is an awful photograph. I didn't intend to repeat myself for a better image. So here is the story. We've not had rain for weeks and although I don't normally water the garden, tonight given a lot of plants are newly installed, a good soaking was overdue.

Way back, ohh 18 months ago, I bought one of those irrigation spike things you see in fields. You know the ones, they go thut thut thut and slowly spin round depositing a fine spray of water evenly over the land.  Or not.

After what seemed only a couple of minutes, but was actually near to a lifetime, I finally removed the hosepipe from under the car. Not wishing to start the mighty Clio I rolled it out the garage, unclipped the hosepipe, rolled the car back and realised the left front wheel was on the hosepipe.  An unforseen error. I rolled the car out the garage again, removed the now flat pipe, and rolled the car back. The hosepipe was now under the back wheel. Repeat a third time and finally I had extracted the watering pipe. Duly assembled, the moment of truth. I turned the tap on full, and everything unbuckled in a torrent of spray. Soaking one and all. Reconnecting the hoses and rechecking for tightness, tap turned on once more. A torrent of water shot over the neighbours garden, his neighbour too and while it thut thut thut'ed with abandon, it wheeled round at an alarming speed to where I stood adjacent to the tap. Soaking two.

Third time lucky. Tap turned on half way. A modest spray emanated from the spike. Lovely, like a gentle Japaneese water feature. Except the spray thing didn't move at all. Great for the lupins now growing out of a small lake, but not great for the rest of the garden. I gave up, picked up the spike and watered the garden by hand holding the spray attachment in my hand. Soaking three.

I wish it would rain......

PS: an interesting aside to all this is after watering I stood on the lawn watching a swift fly circles around me at head height - had the water lifted a myriad of insects into the now almost dark skies. Whatever the reason it was fantastic being circled by a swift, before watching it dip up and under one of the roof tiles. 

Tuesday May 21st 2019

A man needs a shed. That's all I'm saying....well that and it's not always this tidy, a spot of de-cluttering a week or so ago.... hominid sanctuary!

Monday May 20th 2019

Today is the first day of the Chelsea Flower Show. I know this as I've done some logistics and ferrying for Clare Balding to get from Chelsea by train to Henley in Arden for a Ramblings recording this afternoon. But I digress. As back home in somerset my iris are getting into full swing. Look at that blue spiral of Empress if India (I believe), like an ice cream cone. 

Or the blushing shyness of the iris below, which is Kent Pride. Also in the garden is Howard Weed and Black Swan. All are flowering better than ever - last years long dry and very hot summer seems to have made them fair pick up and burst forth. I love em' as Claude Monet might say.....

Sunday May 19th 2019

Sunday is a day for putting in the sweet peas. Having now completed the two raised veg beds, cannibalising the compost bin, my thoughts turned to all things florubunda. It will be interesting to see how these sweet pea 'Matucana' perform. Chosen as these are a deep red-purple flower. However as the soil in the bin is predominantly multi purpose compost which does dry out easy, there'll be a lot of watering. Peas like water. But that said, a quick fix of some chicken wire on the fence and the boys were in. Just have to wait now. Which is one of the best bits of gardening for me, seeing the first signs of growth, then I know they've taken after the shock of being transplanted. Growing from seed is a bloomin' miracle.

Saturday May 18th 2019

This looks like the train is coming towards me. Actually it's heading away from me in more ways than one. The time was 0845pm and we (the lady wife) and I were standing on a railway bridge near the village to say good bye to the Intercity 125 train. If I'm honest, I do like train travel, Not in some gawd awful anorak way, but as the adverts said all those years ago, "Let the Train Take the Strain" I can't really remember what locomotive the Intercity 125 train replaced, but in its 43 years of service, it has thundered up and down the UK often with me on it. 

After its launch train travel which had steadily been declining since the 1920's reached its lowest ebb in the early 1980's. there was a real chance train travel would decline into oblivion. Since then train usage has grown rapidly, to the point today where more people use the trains than at any time in history. I know this as they're always busy, sometimes chaotically so. 

But tonight the 1830 out of London Paddington to Exeter via Taunton, was the very last scheduled GWR High Speed Train to run. New Hitachi electric diesel trains are rapidly replacing this ageing rolling stock.  I'll maybe not miss the suspect toilet facilities, the battered interiors, the slam doors that sometimes got stuck, the rolling motion as to speed was reached, but it really is the end of an era. Four decades is a long time to be in service. Which is why I stood on the bridge and took this 16 second video as the train hurtled towards the South West. Goodbye GWR Intercity 125 "Sir Kenneth Grange" - named after the 89 year old designer of the HST, who was on board.

Friday May 17th 2019

Great excitement in the BS8 wastelands, as yesterday the M&S Food Hall opened. I was in the Quantocks for the actual day though I'd heard there were queues out the door (possibly as the first 100 people through got a £10 voucher)

Being sort of diagonally opposite and less than 2 minutes walk from my office, my colleague Tom and I who had not ventured out all morning headed over.  It was like being in the BBC Canteen - the place was a scrum of lunch-going Bristolians. I've never seen so many people rammed into a food hall. As a rough estimate, 50% students, 50% media operatives. Selection was good and as can be seen, I escaped relatively unharmed with a trio of mini rolls (or buns as I call them) a pork pie and a berried drink.

So after 6 years of watching that site get built and then created, today was the day I toddled in and spent my few pounds on lunch. I'll be back.

Thursday May 16th 2019

Hodder's Combe in Somerset is one of many many places I've not visited before. This steep sided Combe near Nether Stowey is a haven for wildlife, utilising the sessile oaks which dominate this landscape. I had a day off today and so with backpack laden with jam sandwiches, I headed off in search of a pied flycatcher. Never in a million years did I expect to find one, but there in this image, for all to see, a male pied flycatcher. To be honest I stumbled across this bird after many many searches as I walked. Technically it stumbled across me, as it flew across the path and into a tree. I quickly took a number of photographs before it disappeared and aside from a very brief re-show, I never saw it again. Looking at the camera images I thought I'd failed to photograph it. But at home on a bigger screen, there he sits. A life tick for me. Sadly though at home I listened to some recordings I made and discovered to my horror the lovely piece I did watching grey wagtails display flying, was not captured. I remember banging the recording device by accident but failed to note it had stopped recording. It happens to the best of us, or in my case, to the complete numpty in the Quantocks. 

Wednesday May 15th 2019

What this image doesn't show is how hot this corridor come conservatory is.  It connects two Victorian buildings, part of the sprawling work empire in Bristol. My office is at the far end and down a short flight of stairs. I like this image and actually saw it yesterday but didn't have time to capture it. I like the focal point disappearing into the distance. I like the harsh shadows. I light the bright reveals. I often come into here for private phone calls and gaze out the window at the car-park beyond. A car-park where once a garden stood. I wonder what the Victorian inhabitants of this row would think of the place now.

Tuesday 14th May 2019

I get sent some strange images. Today's is a Bristol bus, now travelling the streets of Sudbury in Canada. my cousin (second or third, can't remember) Judy beside it. Not sure who the finger belongs to but possibly her husband, Allan. We chat a lot on line, Judy and I, but we've never met. I need to rectify this and pop over, before climate change makes air travel illegal. Then, we'll all be on a Bristol bus, it's the future!

Monday 13th May 2019

Nearly there. And when M&S finally open on Thursday the temptation to pop over the road and snack will mean the that my developing equator risks a hot air balloon inflation.  I've been talking about this site for over 5 years. The former Texaco garage was closed, lay derelict, demolished and then a hole was left for 3 years. But now finally the construction work is done and the new M&S Food shop on the ground floor is being filled with all manner of tasty comestibles. I have to say, and I have already said, I think this is a superb bit of architecture and construction. Old meets new on Bristol's White Ladies Road..

Sunday May 12th 2019

It is really odd what happens on a day off. When I was a lad, Sunday was considered a day of rest. Now I'm middle aged and bits sag where they shouldn't, Sunday is a day of toil. Today that toil involved making two raised vegetable beds for the M'lady. This involved splitting a former modular compost bin into the required size. Mesh wire stapled to the bottom and a couple of well used ground sheets added as compost holding sacks. I enjoyed doing this as for the first time in many years the DIY Sunday was painless and best of course, bloodless. Emboldened with my sense that everything was possible today, I decided the clear out the shed. That is an episode in my life I'd rather forget, six hours I'll not get back on my day of rest. Good job well done though.

Saturday May 11th 2019

Beyond excitement. I've been after this clematis 'Flammula' for months now. Known by the common name fragrant virgin's bower every stockist the length and breadth of the country, had none for sale. Crocus, specialist clematis nurseries such as Thorncroft, even recommended RHS specialists, all reported nil sale. I'd resigned myself to having to wait until the autumn or winter to get one. Then this afternoon on a whim we went to a couple of nurseries, mainly as Julie was plant buying for clients and it was better to do this over the weekend rather than mid week. 

Middlecombe nursery who stock lots of unusual plants didn't have it. But on the way back we stopped at Garden Park in Hewish for compost. This new nursery come garden centre is one we use a lot for compost and bedding. While Julie perused the osteospermum, I wandered off into the climber section in the absolute zero hope of finding the flammula in question. But no, there, wedged behind another variety, "FLAMMULA" and not one but two pots to choose from. And only £9. Most of the flammula on sale are £14-£19 so with Julies trade discount I paid only £7.65 which I think is an absolute bargain for a reasonably rare plant. 

I have a plan for it to grow up a forsythia shrub, thus we'll have yellow spring forsythia and then in late summer white flowers scented of almonds. For the moment however as this specimen had a bit of wind damage I've potted it on and will nurture it before the final planting. Happy Days.

Friday May 10th 2019

An early morning train to Bath Spa. This image caught my eye. Julie holding onto her train ticket for all it is worth. We were on the 0759 train from Worle, en-route for a hospital appointment in Bath Spa. That latter bit was a story in itself, but this ticket reminded me of time and place. For me, and I hope you the dear reader, it tells a story. The date is visible. It is a train ticket. Destinations are known. Even how much it cost. From simpler things a number of who-dunnit novels have emerged. My money is on the lady in front buying garden lights on her Pay-Pal account.. £29.00 + £3.50 P&P. You see, all life is on this train.

Thursday May 9th 2019

Magpies have a bad reputation by many people. People who don't understand about this highly intelligent birds. Yes they are predators of birds nests and chicks but they are also fabulously intelligent birds. I watched this one on the feeders today. One leg gripping the wall, the other gripping the feeder perch, and allowing it to pull the feeder towards it, to feed. It did try and perch on the feeder, but he's a little too big for that. I say he, but it's almost impossible to sex individuals as they have identical markings, However this gorgeous chap is around our garden a lot so I'm calling him, he, assuming the female is on the nest, incubating her eggs for 18-19 days - so it says in the bird books. Great to see this bird so confident around us in the garden.

Wednesday May 8th 2019

Back on April 26th I mentioned the four acer trees outside the BBC Club would be felled whilst I was away on holiday. Well they have been. The only saving grace is the blackbird pair dont seem to have minder their perches being removed, as the male still sings away, only this time from the roof top. 

Tuesday May 7th 2019

Well this is a surprise. I'm sure these iris were meant to be white. But they are a wonderful lilac blue. I adore bearded iris and these are now a cultivar I'm not sure about. Last year they didn't flower at all but maybe because of the 3 months of hot sun, this year they're making up for it. Absolutely stunning a real treat in the early May sunshine. In the late evening the sun shines through the leaves, which just adds to the drama which is unfurling. Soon the dark varieties like Kent Pride will burst forth. I can't wait.

Monday May 6th 2019

My life can be summarised as one of filling in spreadsheets. I've spent a huge chunk of my working life working on excel spreadsheets and now in a voluntary capacity I'm doing the same for the National Trust, and it's fun. Not everyone would class form filling as fun, but the bigger picture is my target. I was helped today by another volunteer Michael who sat sitting in his wheelchair, dos some sterling work in filling in the questionnaire, one per visitor. Eleven tracks created today on what was a Bank Holiday - a lovely day again at the mighty Tyntesfield. 

Sunday May 5th 2019

For reasons too numerous to mention, today was very much a day for being at home. Yesterday Julie planned to head off to Badminton for the horse trials however as she was still suffering from a bad back we watched the highlights on TV. The odd thing though is watching Clare Balding on television as I also talk to her a lot through work as I co-ordinate Radio 4's Ramblings. so that's what she looks like !!

Saturday May 4th 2019

Travelling home. After a morning gardening and a lovely lunch of fish and chips by 3.30pm it was time to head back down south. 320 miles to go. A lovely day and off I headed into the sun, arriving home at just after 9pm. It's a long way but on a glorious spring day, with the sun shining and the traffic light, it seems much closer.

Friday May 3rd 2019

It is my last day in East Boldon and just before heading off to bed I had a notion to take some sepia images of my parents house. At nearly 200 years old I often wonder who wandered through its rooms since the first occupants in 1831.  Back then William IV was on the throne, the Prime Minister was Viscount Grey and on the 27th December Charles Darwin set off in HMS Beagle on what was to be an groundbreaking voyage of discovery. And only 16 years after the Napolionic Wars. A real sence of history is in this house, therefore it seems fitting to take some sepia photographs. Just snaps this time but it's given me an idea to return and with subtle lighting try and recreate the atmosphere of late Georgian England.

Nearly thirty years later in 1859, the Ordnance Survey recorded Boldon for the first time and my parents house is there plain to see, opposite the smithy, and long before the two cottages were built at around 1900 in the lower portion of the back garden.  It is only recently this layout has changed with the arrival of modern houses.

Thursday May 2nd 2019

There is a time when I'd have struggled to get excited about this image of a greenfinch. But that was then. Following years of decline, seeing, or in this case fist hearing, a greenfinch gladdened the heart. Following the arrival of a parasite based disease Trichomonosis in the summer of 2005, in some areas nearly a third of greenfinch disappeared, though it also affects chaffinch, house sparrow, siskin and dunnock. The greenfinch mournful song was at risk of becoming a memory in the bird watchers soul. Recently numbers have begun to rise although the disease is here to stay. Which is a joy as tonight I was in the garden just before dusk. I heard this single note repeated over and over again. There in the laburnum tree a greenfinch called out its contact call. Different to that which I'd hear in Somerset, but as birds learn their calls from their parents after birth, regional dialects occur. Another greenfinch was silently flitting about in the adjacent conifer. A perfect relaxing way to end the day before bed. 

Wednesday May 1st 2019

I caught up with a friend today at the Lit and Phil library in Newcastle. It was the same friend who is in the image on April 28th. We've been friends since junior school. So it was great to catch up with him in the Lit and Phil (correctly known as Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne) Library. This remarkable independent library was founded in 1789 (50 years before the . British Library) as a conversation hub for the movers and shakers of Georgian Tyneside. A list of the great and the good includes people like ornithologist James Audubon, Harriet Martineau (1802-1876), often cited as the first feminist, and Joseph Swan who invented the incandescent lightbulb. The latter was also responsible for this institution becoming the first public building on the world to be lit by electricity during a talk by Swan in October 1880. What a revelation that must have been. The Lit and Phil is a truly remarkable place, steeped in history and largely unknown outside the region. It is also where my friend now works most days having become a member. We had a fascinating few hours in here today as just guests, leafing through some of the 170,000 books and maps dating back to 1850's. Wish I lived nearer, I'd be a member myself.