I saw a kingfisher today, and only a few steps from our front door! Unfortunately I didn’t take this photo (I wish) as he was too small and fast for me.
I’m buzzing from seeing him though, one of my favourite birds but only caught sight of once before in the New Forest. I was walking back from the village over the Bourne Stream when my eye was caught by a brilliant turquoise “something” on the edge of the river where there is a small waterfall. I was able to get quite close and watched him for about 10 minutes, a couple of times he flew further upstream to perch on a tree. Amazing vivid colours in otherwise very un-colourful surroundings today.
Added to this sight, I looked out our window yesterday and was stunned to see a Kestrel sitting on a high branch of the Cedar tree next to our house. He took a bit of identifying as I’m not very good at Birds of Prey but matches the characteristics and photo on the RSPB page, definitely a young bird with very light colouring. Again he didn’t stay there long.
In recent days we have also seen a Little Egret flying around here, a big flash of white which is hard to miss flying through the trees. I didn’t know Bournemouth was such a haven for birds at this time of the year. I really should stop staring out the window and get on with some work though!
I’ve been following the Red Bull Air Race on TV after seeing it by chance last year and being astounded - what these pilots can do with their planes is incredible! They put their bodies through a lot too in order to be the fastest round the course. It is breathtaking to watch.
I was particularly pleased to see that one of the pilots is Nigel Lamb, a familiar name from days visiting air displays with Mum and Dad. This photo was taken at Chivenor in the early 90’s when he was flying as part of an aerobatic team. Nigel is doing well in his gorgeous Breitling plane, currently in 9th position, but it would be great if he finished higher this year. Another Brit, Paul Bonhomme, is in the lead and proving tough to beat with his skilful flying. I shall be cheering them both on and hope to see the London leg live which has to be even more spectacular.
Christine, a friend of mine, is spending 6 days in September trekking across the Carpathian Mountains in North East Romania to raise money for Link Romania’s projects there which help the poorest people. She is paying for the costs of both trek and flights, all money donated will go straight to the charity. Her target is to raise a whopping £2,000.
Next Saturday she is organising a “Putting on the Ritz” tea party at her church - complete with cucumber sandwiches of course! I’ve so far helped with posters, menus and as an extra pair of hands, but there is a lot to do to reach such a target. I think she is very brave, undertaking this completely on her own without knowing anyone else on the trek. It is also going to be physically very demanding.
Her sponsorship page can be found at http://www.justgiving.com/christinelepoidevin if you have a moment to look, or to make a donation if you are feeling generous and know like me that you could never undertake such a challenge!!
The other night Tim and I started talking about sweets we remember after I read a bit in my book mentioning Spangles. Apparently “remember Spangles” is the usual opening line to a conversation like this and I later found lots of chat on the Internet about favourite remembered confectionery. It’s amazing what you can find out if you start looking and also surprising what is still available to buy, brought back by popular demand, if only online.
Alas Spangles are no more although apparently they did return for a short while in the 90’s. Probably today health & safety would have an issue with the razor sharp hole that appeared in the middle as the sweet dissolved in your mouth. I couldn’t find a photo of the 80’s packaging anywhere but I did find an early advertisement (pictured left) which made me laugh!
I can’t be the only person who just doesn’t get “Second Life” - the alternate reality virtual world thingy. After watching the “Wonderland” programme on BBC2 earlier it has left me more bemused than ever! Isn’t this world big enough, beautiful enough and REAL enough to live in all the time? Why would you choose to inhabit a cyberworld where everything is made up? People create their own “Avatar” to represent them (but mostly not resemble them) which is often a hilarious over the top representation of everything they wish they were but aren’t. I can understand using the computer for a million things, I love playing the odd computer game, but this I can’t get to grips with. Each to their own but I see it as somewhere those who are lonely, unhappy and dissatisfied with their real lives go and so pray I never feel the need to sign up!!
Support a very worthy cause and show the power of the people can still bring about change!
Everyone who has already reclaimed bank charges, wants to, or simply supports the ability to do so, can assist in getting it to the top of the agenda. The “I fought the Lloyds” song by Oystar (which incidentally is a great song in it’s own right) is a non-profit protest song featuring money saving expert Martin Lewis who has led the way in helping people to reclaim unfair bank charges.
Over a million people have recalimed an estimated £1bn in bank charges. Yet the Government has ignored a petition, the banks are charging more than ever, and the regulators have sided with them to put it all on hold! One of the ways we can fight back is by ordering this song and getting it into the charts in January. Read the rest of this entry »
Monday morning was very noisy here, especially having windows in the roof upstairs. After raining for hours there were a couple of thunder crashes and then all hell broke loose with a frantic hailstorm. It was fascinating to watch, I opened the back door and took a couple of photos but wouldn’t have wanted to be caught out in it, sure it would have hurt!! Some of the hailstones were bigger than pea sized and they were bouncing around everywhere. After a while the ground looked like a fight in a packaging factory with the polystyrene-like balls covering everything.
This looks like an amazing and beautiful film, can’t wait for it’s release on 7th December. “The Golden Compass” is the movie of the first book in the Philip Pullman trilogy His Dark Materials. I have found my dæmon after taking the test on the official website…. hmm, I’m a crow apparently. I suppose they are loyal, dark and a bit mysterious! Read the rest of this entry »
I saw a kingfisher today, and only a few steps from our front door! Unfortunately I didn’t take this photo (I wish) as he was too small and fast for me.
The other night Tim and I started talking about sweets we remember after I read a bit in my book mentioning Spangles. Apparently “remember Spangles” is the usual opening line to a conversation like this and I later found lots of chat on the Internet about favourite remembered confectionery. It’s amazing what you can find out if you start looking and also surprising what is still available to buy, brought back by popular demand, if only online.
I can’t be the only person who just doesn’t get “Second Life” - the alternate reality virtual world thingy. After watching the “Wonderland” programme on BBC2 earlier it has left me more bemused than ever! Isn’t this world big enough, beautiful enough and REAL enough to live in all the time? Why would you choose to inhabit a cyberworld where everything is made up? People create their own “Avatar” to represent them (but mostly not resemble them) which is often a hilarious over the top representation of everything they wish they were but aren’t. I can understand using the computer for a million things, I love playing the odd computer game, but this I can’t get to grips with. Each to their own but I see it as somewhere those who are lonely, unhappy and dissatisfied with their real lives go and so pray I never feel the need to sign up!!
Support a very worthy cause and show the power of the people can still bring about change!
