Grin

This makes me smile every time I drive past

Maybe it is the work of Bansky’s country cousin.

Birds Eye View

And now for something completely different, a little chicken anatomy and physiology

 

Chickens have a third eye lid a  nictitating membrane it moves sideways across the eye, from the inner  corner of the eye to the outer; here is one of the white leghorns taking a drink from the pond,

I’ve unintentionally pressed the shutter when the  membrane was across her eye, she normally looks a bit brighter eyed than this; we humans have a vestige of the membrane still remaining in the inner corner of our eyes, isn’t evolution clever.

 some birds fly with the membrane closed, it’s thought that it helps protect the eye from dust and grit, its transparent so they don’t crash, sort of Biggles goggles for birds

The lower eye lid of the chicken is more mobile than the upper, they ‘blink’ with the membrane, closing the eyelids ‘proper’ for sleeping, this is Thing One basking in the sun.

  

Birds have developed a flock of adaptations to suit their needs Woodpeckers tighten their nictitating membrane a millisecond prior to their beak impacting the trunk of a tree in order to prevent their eyes from leaving their sockets

I think that is so cool,Tom thinks it is ‘mint,’ as I imagine, does the woodpecker.

Hacked Off

In more than one sense of the word. A walk to one of my favourite spots,

revealed some tree stumps all that remained of some handsome Scots pines.

it’s National Trust land (that’s leased for grazing) so I wouldn’t have expected to see such crude forestry management,

Walking deeper into the stand of trees, I found the reason. Someone’s idea of ‘al fresco’ dining on a summers evening.

Kid’s? well probably older than that, as I suspect they would have driven up there and parked in the layby, after all you wouldn’t want to walk far carrying an axe, booze and BBQ food, but who ever, it really hacks me off. I live in hope that next time they will get more than they were looking for

Uh Oh, it’s windy, duck is going for a walk.

I’m sorry I digress, ‘Uh Oh; it’s windy, duck is going for a walk.’ comes from the children’s book, ‘Duck is Dirty’ by Satoshi Kitamura and it was a favourite book with the boys when they were very small, I wonder just how many times I read it to them, I know it was a lot.

The words came to mind yesterday when I went for a walk, it was wild, gale force winds, brining down sizeable chunks of tree

and turning the leaves inside out, I made a hasty pass of a derelict farm building, the roof of corrugated iron looked ready to let fly at any moment

But whilst the wind was buffeting, it wasn’t unpleasant, up on the hill the wind was scented with the smell of bruised bracken and it was sunny and warm. In fact it was a ‘right good drying day’ if you could keep the washing on the line as there was a high risk of your laundry getting snatched off and turning up three fields away. Mr Uhdd did a sterling job of pegging the washing firmly to the line, so much so, the pegs stayed on the line and our duvet cover shredded like an old flag, ‘Perhaps you could mend it’ he suggested ‘But to mend thing’ I pointed out ‘you have to have something of substance to sew the repair too’ and this I am afraid is a no hoper. But then again, yesterday wasn’t windy; this is what proper wind can do

Indoors if wet

Plan A was have an away day and go to the Cheshire Show today, we like going to the summer agricultural shows, although I am not sure they are that reflective of country life, (nor does Lavenderjack) but they are a good day out; the boys and I usually go to the Bakewell Show in August, but we won’t be able to make it this year, this is my post about it from last year. As the boys are at school I was going on my own, just to mess and mooch about with the camera, But the weather is the pits, wet and windy, the grass in the meadow is flattened by the weight of the rain and the garden is being thrashed by the high wind.

It’s a while since I went to ‘The Cheshire’ it’s a great place for people watching  situated near Knutsford and the epicenter of the Northern social scene for footballers, WAG’s, and   those who are flash with their cash,  the so called ‘golden triangle’ of the villages of Wilmslow, Prestbury and Alderley Edge, there’ are many who attend the show just to be seen;  rather than to look at the latest innovation in control of parasitic worms in sheep, buy a handy little gadget for cleaning Venetian blinds or a pot of lemon curd from the WI stand. (you can spot them by the deep orange perma-tans, that’ are the colour of Sainsbury’s carrier bags  that and inappropriate foot wear.)

That said, the shows attract a variety of people for other reasons, I had my purse and mobile stolen one year, that will not be happening again, what a load of hassle.

Today’s weather must be a blow for the traders, many of them tour the big shows, a washout will make a serious dent in their expected turnover for the year, but then again, they are not committed to a ten year lease, rent and rates 52 weeks a year and fixed staffing costs, unlike high street retailers; so maybe it just a case of choosing which horse to back, placing your bet and hoping it doesn’t fall at the first fence

So I shall remain at home today, there’s lots to do including a host of photos to up load to Flickr and a raft of half written blog posts to re-visit, but first I’ll put the kettle on.

At the edge of darkness

I went up on the hills the other night, because it looked like it was going to be a promising sunset. It’s not yet 12 months since we bought the camera, but I seem to have developed a bit of a ‘thing’ for sunsets and silhouettes; I thought I might find a farm building, drystone wall or tree to frame the shot, the last thing I expected to find was a police dog handler  and his dog, they were kind enough to pause and let me to take this shot.

I can only imagine that the police dog really comes into his own at night, and that their usual working conditions are not as picturesque as this: it must be a special bond, that of dog and handler.

Dusk

Last nights ‘red at night shepherds delight’ sort of sunset worth waiting for, I walked up to the top of the ridge, visibility was so clear I could even make out the tower blocks of the town best referred to as the ‘hole in the ground town’  a town who’s only redeeming feature is a truly beautiful Victorian railway viaduct, other than that it is best viewed from a distance and bathed in a flattering light of a summer sunset.

As a bonus whilst taking this shot, I watched a badger (it was huge, the largest I have ever seen, dead or alive) trotting along a track and disappearing into the undergrowth. Now I know badgers are not popular with farmers in many areas, because of their part in the spread of TB in cattle, and in parts of the country their numbers are at an all time high;but around here you are more likely to see them as bloated ‘road kill’ than going about their business, so it was a treat.

Badger don’t seem very bright at crossing the road, unfortunately they are creatures of habit, using the same tracks and set’s year after year, they don’t seem to get the concept of ‘not crossing on a bend’ ( I know they were around long before the automobile, they have every right)  A few months ago, I came across what at first I thought was a car accident, it was dark and on the road to ‘nowhere’ when I saw a car stopped in the middle of the road and what looked like a body in lying in the road and people crouched down next to the ‘body.’ Brandishing my girl guide first aid certificate, I offered my assistance, fortunately the body, turned out to be a badger (but not fortunately for the badger, obviously) the badger was in my humble opinion about 98% dead, the people with it were, I’m pleased to say 100% alive; I pointed out that to be on a bend on an unlit road on a dark winters night was not a good place to be, unless you wanted to end up like the badger, they said they couldn’t leave it, so I suggested they move it, at this point I could see it was all a bit of a lost cause, I took my leave and left them debating what to do; I don’t know how they got on, I hope the remaining 2% badger wasn’t the biting bit.

On the subject of road kill, whilst in the Lakes the other week I thought I had found the perfect addition to my skull collection when I found a fox skeleton  complete with bushy tail, at the side of the road, poking at it with my boot I found that it still had its black nose (that skin must be a bit tougher than the rest) and that the skull was ere, um, how shall we say, a little too ‘active’ and smelly for me to get away with bringing it home in the car, shame, it had a fine set of teeth.

All Roads Lead to the Lake District (part IV)

Miscellaneous

The pressure is on, so much to do, so little time to do it, so only few words, just look and see.

The path ahead, taken from underneath a splendid oak tree, I would have hugged it if I could, but it was way to big, so instead I sat underneath it for a while.

Wild garlic, broadleaf woodland

Wild garlic, detail

Hawthorne blossom, it is exceptional this year,

it looks like snow in may.

The tail end of the primroses

Stepping stones

Bridge

Post box

Back door, multi-purpose boots.

The End

All Roads Lead to the Lake District (part III)

Buildings, fixtures and fittings

I suppose the more isolated an area the more vernacular the style of buildings, building were built to a specific style because they worked well, the local workforce knew how to build them and the building materials were readily available, its what gives an area its distinctive look.

Apologies to this family, for posting a photograph of their undergarments on the washing line across the ‘tinternet‘, it’s the house we are supposed to be looking at.

Farm buildings

This is Yew Tree Farm, as well as a working farm, it is a guest house and a cafe, it makes my heart sing, it is a business that is run with such finesse and attention to detail it is a joy to behold.

I went in the cafe for a cup of tea and a sit down, the tea is sold in half or pint mugs, you can see why this establishment has a place in my heart; the ladies in the cafe sold me a pasty, ‘just baked, fresh out of the oven’ I could write a whole blog post on this culinary delight, but a synopsis will have to do. The pastry, firm yet melt in the mouth, the filling, stuffed full of veg; potatoes carrot and marrowfat peas, farm reared lamb, with a hint of mint,served with home made chutney, eat one of these and you will never buy a ‘Gregg’s’ pasty ever again.

Fastened to the wall of the porch of Yew tree farm is the original back door of the farm, dating to C1720

I was going to say that it is it’s simplicity of its construction that appealed to me, but closer inspection shows it to have been, what I imagine for it’s period, to be ‘top of the range’, piece of joinery and a bit ‘posh’ for the average Lakeland farmhouse C1720. The face of the door is three planks of oak wide, studded with oak pegs, through to a second layer of smaller oak boards,

it is carved with a diamond pattern, (not easy to see on the photo) and the original hinges are to match.

Once upon a time some one would have been very proud of such a fine door.

All Roads Lead to the Lake District (part II)

The people

The National trust warden and his handsome dog, the third generation to accompany him in his work

The mountain biker, I told him he was looking rather photogenic, ‘Yes’ he replied you can call the shot, ‘Mountain Biker Lost’ so I did.

The farmer feeding his lambs, the black one being a bit of a maverick

The schoolkids setting out on an adventure, that was going to be wet.

The farmer, dog, sheep and lambs, heading for the fells, I think I’ve photographed him before

And last but least, Joe, doing a little archery in rather a splendid location

Joe got a little impatient waiting his turn, he claims he said he was ‘bored,’ the instructor insisted that Joe said that ‘archery was boring’ and so punished him because it isn’t!

 

It did wash off, in the end.