February Blog

This was not one of my best months. I spent several days confined to base; firstly with man flu and later with a back ache that caused me to have a lot of time lying flat. Despite this we seem to have fitted in some outings and I did make a start on another acrylic painting.

For the first visit I was fully well and we made a journey out to Hopton Hall to see the snowdrops. It was quite magical as we drove through the Derbyshire snow fields to find snow drops surrounded by the white stuff. On the way back we had a short walk along Carsington Water.

The next day we attended the funeral of our friend Margaret Cornish O.B.E. It was good to see the church so full and hear about the positive work that she did as an inspector of primary education in Nottingham. Rest in peace ‘Hat Lady’.

On Friday I started an acrylic painting and took photographs of the amaryllis that Joe and Julia bought for mum.

At the beginning of the next week I was beginning to feel unwell. Never-the-less we had a journey to Masson Mill in Matlock Bath. It is basically a shopping area but part of it is a cotton spinning museum. We had a personal demonstration of the machinery. The older machines used to be driven by a drive shaft from the watermill. Now one smallish electric motor runs them. There was also a modern machine which went at great speed. It was quite surprising that the modern machinery was fed by cotton carried from Liverpool on a mule.

Out next visit was with Tim and family to Kedlestone. 

They stayed overnight and the following day we made a trip to McArthur Glenn. Their main aim was clothes buying for Izzy but also chocolate. I bought some new shoes and a copy of ‘A Brief History of Time’. I have read it and I am pleased with how much I understand about what Steven Hawkins is saying.

After their visit I spent the next three day flat on my back. I must say that they had no part in my difficulties and that their visit was very enjoyable.

By Wednesday I was ready to make another visit. This was to ‘Potteries Museum’ at Stoke on Trent. We recommend the refreshments which were good and about the cheapest price that we have paid. I had my camera, but no card so I took pictures on my tablet, but they will not open.

The next day was our regular ‘Haven Eagles’ meeting. We had a speaker who, forty years ago, spent two year in the Antarctic studying the Aurora. His coloured slides were impressive. The colours were vivid and the images clear despite their age and the fact that he had processed them under the Antarctic ice. 

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.