February Brings the Snow and Others

February got off to a different start. And with it came more to do. With Alan the hall secretary being temporarily indisposed the lot has fallen on me AND Irene to take on a little more work and responsibilities in the community centre. For three Tuesday afternoons we have been cleaning the hall which takes about 3 hours. After today we hope to have appointed a cleaner and we can back, closer, to the business of being retired.

In all the busyness we did reserve one day to start the visiting season.

On the 6th we made a visit to Hopton Hall http://www.hoptonhall.co.uk/snowdrop-gardens-hopton-hall-peak-district.php which is near Carsington Reservoir in Debyshire. The object of the exercise was to admire the shy snowdrop. I made the mistake of telling our friend Lawrence what we had done. Now, Lawrence is a man of many opinions and naturally has an opinion about people who visit flowers.

Hopton is about an hours drive from here. The weather was uncertain, but we were able to time our arrival for lunch time. Having parked and paid we set off for the house and went into the farmhouse style kitchen where we were served by a very kind lady who wanted to make sure that our soup and chocolate were hot enough. I think that she was delighted that she had two people to serve.

The intrepid snowdrop photographer. Using her trusty phone camera Irene would take careful aim and later have the thrill of sending her first picture by sms.

The formal garden caught in the one bit of sun

Vivid colours to contrast the white

The house from the lake

Snow white clouds

The walk took about an hour and followed a path through woods, formal gardens and lakes. 

Then came the others. From the 10th of the month we had a revolving door of visitors.

First came Joe and Julia and a repeat of Christmas.

There was 'memory lane' or how to embarrass your children. The 1994 album had been discovered and Joni's childhood was opened up to Fiona. 

Next came presents and crackers and food which included amazing vegan cream and chocolate brownies.

Then there was wave to New Zealand.

And the evening ended with the traditional game of 'Chart Busters'.

Joe and Julia left on Monday and Tim arrived on Thursday.

The purpose of Tim's visit was to allow him time to rest. He was able to spend some time reclining, but we were able to have two short walks with him.

The first was a visit to Attenborough. Irene wanted to see more snowdrops but we were treated to a sunlit scene of blue crocuses.

Attenborough was still flooded as the next two pictures show.

It was possible to walk to the river along the paths that had recently been re-graveled

The next day we had a local walk up to Bramcote Hills.

I quite enjoyed the challenge of photographing the hill against the low sun.

Tim left on Sunday and Joni and Fiona moved in on Monday. The object of their visit was to give Fiona's parents a break as they continued to be homeless. During the week they had the offer that they had made on a house accepted to be followed by being turned down for a mortgage followed by them increasing the deposit. And, at the time of writing, the purchase is on track.

On Wednesday Irene and I tried to have a day off, but this consisted of taking stuff to the tip. We had planned to go to B and Q and on to Holme Pierpoint, but the traffic was impossible. I have been struggling to buy my seed potatoes. I had decided on 'Pentland Crown' as they were very successful last year. I certainly did not expect to walk into Trowell Garden Centre and find them for half the price as sold on the internet. To celebrate we enjoyed a slice of lemon meringue with cream and hot chocolate. It might have been cheaper on the internet, but not so tasty. 

Strangely enough, our next outing was to Trowell, but this time to the village hall. This was to be the first of my two visits there in less than a week.

On Sunday afternoon Irene and I went to see the Ilkeston Model Railway Club's annual exhibition. The exhibitors are always very friendly and it is good to see the work that they have done. We noticed two things in particular. The first was how clean the exhibits were; perhaps to the point of being sterile. The second was the number of birds that have suddenly appeared on models. Irene was interested in the modelling of washing on the lines. 

There were interesting features like a man painting a wall (see above) and another painting the line along the platform.

The main model had all kinds of mini-scenes such as the flock of sheep blocking the road.

There were also trains moving around, but unfortunately not on the club's own layout; to the frustration of the operators.

Two days later I was to return to Trowell Village Hall on a different mission. For some years there has been some dispute concerning a bowls mat held at the New Stapleford Community Centre. As the now Acting Secretary of the association I decided resolve the matter by a person to person approach. Having unlocked the Centre for use by the 'Probus' ladies I made my way to Trowell. I had nice chat with a lady there who told me that the lady I needed to see was at another monthly meeting with the 'Probus' ladies. So I went home and my plan was to catch up with my quarry at the end of the meeting in the community centre. I arrived to find that the meeting had finished early and only four cars were left in the car park. I decided to ask the lady in the car if she knew whether Mrs Lichfield had left. I found myself speaking to the very person I needed to see.

On Wednesday the weather was improved and having had a meeting in the centre and then done the shopping Irene and I set off for Nottingham. The plan was to go by the Castle and eat in 'Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem'. It boasts to be 'the oldest inn in England'

The price of the food turned out to be more than we wanted to pay and so we made our way into the city centre and ate a church cafe.

The main object of our trip to the city was to visit the Nottingham Contemporary.

On display was the work of two artist. One was local (John Newling) 

Dishes containing detritus from
cleaning thousands of 2p coins

and the other Italian (Piero Gilardi).

All the above are made from foam

It would take up more space to describe what we saw but we are always challenged by the ways that such artists think. To find out more follow the link. http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/events/whaton

Before leaving we needed a rest. The one problem with the Contemporary is the lack of seating and so we sat on the wall outside in the sun. Looking up we were surprised at the delicacy of the lace pattern in the concrete of the building.

Before leaving we visited a more mundane building and took a photograph from the balcony of a shopping centre. It is no longer thriving.

Today we carried horse ... from the local stables to the allotment.

The month comes to an end this evening after Irene and I clean the hall after the 'Blood Donor' session. Apart from digging in the dirt we wonder what delights next month will bring.

January Round-Up Blog

What a difference this January has been to last year. This time last year we were enjoying night time temperatures of 25°C and it was mainly dry. This year we have experienced snow covered, almost Arctic conditions. However, the snow did not really get going until the middle of the month and had gone by the end.

On the 3^rd we were able to make a first visit of the year to the allotment. The main purpose was to take up the overflowing waste food bucket and Irene wanted to spread a bit of compost bin. This came as something of a surprise for the poor frog nestling in the warm, rotting pile of organic matter.

The following day had some blue in the sky and we were tempted to trek over Stapleford Hill. It was not until we reached the bottom of the other side of the hill that we encountered any difficulties. During our last 15 years of exploring the area the bridge has crossed such a small amount of water and usually none at all. Today was different. Once over the muddy bridge we arrived at a field which was pure mud and the pathway only usable by the most adventurous. 

The Mud

The Hemlock Stone

So, we retraced our steps, went below the Hemlock Stone and crossed into the walled gardens. We are so pleased that the local authority is still committed to developing the area. One day I passed through and spoke to the gardeners who were planting a beech hedge and clearing up ready for the service around the Holocaust memorial.

Walled Garden showing the Holocaust Memorial

We went through to Bramcote Park and the interesting trees that grow there.

On the 9^th we were to go further afield and ended up at Breedon on the Hill. The church is visible from the A42 and on this day the contrast between sunlit and shaded parts was very marked and we enjoyed a time on top of the hill with mainly blue sky, but interesting clouds, giving some fascinating lighting for photography. 

The Priory Church of
St Mary and St Hardulph

Our lunch was to be down in the village at the Priory Garden Centre.

I can’t remember when the snow actually began, but our friend Jan announced it Facebook on 13^th Jan and my pictures show snow in the garden on Monday. It was to get worse during the week and many of our events in the community centre were cancelled.

Despite the snow we needed a trip out and used the need to purchase seed and seed potatoes as an excuse. Irene was successful in purchasing what she needed from Wilkos in Ilkeston, but I was less successful in finding the variety I needed, even having gone as far as Shipley Garden Centre where I purchased them last year. However, we did enjoy our lunch in their restaurant. The snow on the garden ornaments made for interesting pictures; especially the crystals and ice covered cob webs. 

Gnomes and Buddhas at
Shipley Garden Centre

On the way home we pulled up into a side road to admire the snow covered fields and trees and, of course, do more photography. Irene particularly enjoyed using the camera to photograph the snow laden branches in the hedge row.

On the 19^th there was more snow.

Once more we braved the weather to take the compost to the allotment. On the way we passed one snowman and wondered why he was the only one we had seen. The depth of snow was very evident and the compost had to be left in the greenhouse. Our neighbour’s ducks were particularly quiet.

Two day later, despite the snow, which was now getting less heavy, we made a sortie into Derby. It has become our practice to drive to Spondon and catch a bus in. Not being patient, I decided to get on the first bus in. Mistake. This bus was to do several detours though housing estates. It was a white-knuckle ride as the driver slalomed on the snow covered streets through vehicle parked at random intervals.

 It was lunch when we arrived and we made our way through the snow into the Westfield Shopping Centre to arrive at ‘Subway’. The shopping centre is more modern than those in Nottingham and a Kiwi or an Aussie would be at home there. From the shopping centre we followed the well sign-posted trail to the ‘Cathedral Quarter’.

Our first visit was to the museum and art galleries. I was pleasantly surprised. Although not a new building, the curating of it was very imaginative. Even the stairway had an inviting message. 

There were some old-fashioned galleries, but even then some paintings had been put in frames which protruded from the wall by varying distances. The 1001 pieces gallery was fascinating and the natural history section had specially designed display cases.

From the museum we went to the cathedral. http://www.derbycathedral.org/ Once again this was surprising. It lacked the old style stained glass, but was well decorated with very bright colours. The chapel in the cellar was worth the visit.

The Cathedral of All Saints

I made yet another mistake. The bus was labelled ‘Burrowash and Spondon’. Despite Irene’s protests we boarded it. It did not go through the estates, but it did turn too far north. I checked with the driver, who confirmed that it would go to ‘The Whitehouse’. What he did not tell us that it would be going north to Ockbrook, along the north estates of Spondon, down to Burrowash and would be returning to Derby before passing the stop we needed. However, he was kind enough to let us stay on past the stop and leave us opposite our car.

The 26^th turned out to be the last day of snow for us. We drove into town to buy fresh fruit and veg and I used the time to photograph our town under snow.

From Stapleford we drove off to see our friend Margaret in Stanton Hall nursing home. This was quite a treacherous drive through snow covered country lanes. Once more I had my camera and walked out to take photographs in this quite pretty village.

On the next to last day of the month the sky was blue and a walk was called for; but not too long. Attenborough was to be the destination. First I called in to Wickes to buy brackets for the latest D.I.Y. job before driving on to the car park. We arrived to find a lorry and equipment to spread gravel on the flooded footpaths and notices showing which footpaths were open. It was lunch time. We went over to the centre to purchase refreshments and found that it was possible to sit out on the balcony area. Irene spied a variety of geese we had not seen before and I met a friend who worked at the centre who told us that they were Egyptian geese.

Egyptian Goose

The footpath to the river seemed to be the best way to go. On the way we called into the ‘King Fisher’ hide. Below us was a large bird table. A squirrel had wrapped itself around one of the feeders. Blue tits and robins kept flying in. But below the squirrel was where most action was. There was a pair of mallards, a pair of pheasants, one of them being a vividly coloured male. But, surprisingly, a family of rats boldly mixed in, helping themselves to the falling food.

The main path along the river was closed while dumpers carried gravel to build up the path. The Trent was so full that it was flowing up the Erewash, trees were well submerged and, although we could just make out the far bank, the river was stretching well beyond that.

The far bank of the river is visible but
there appears to be water
beyond right up to the village

When we got home we still had an afternoon and spent it, as we have been doing during the month, working on the railway. I have installed a football field and team. Irene has added a lot to the farm garden and spent some time fixing ivy to some of the other houses.

The Flying Scotsman crossing the canal

Mum's garden.
The compost heap is just to the left, out of shot