Right time wrong place

Hairy Hubby and I walked Action Dog down to The Broad today.  Himself wanted to have a look off the bridge for pike.  We think there was one lying there but it zoomed off in a cloud of mud as we approached.  More stealth needed next time!

As we got near the bridge (before the pike) I noticed that the gulls on the other side of the road were going mad circling and the ducks were all making a racket and sploshing about.  I assumed that someone was feeding them.  Wrong.  When we crossed the road there was a fisherman in waders standing up to his thighs in the water.  Why do they do that when there is a perfectly good platform to stand on.  I will never understand the logic.  Anyway, Hairy Hubby asked the man if he had caught anything and he said no and doubted that he would because an Otter had just gone through.  That was what all the commotion had been about.  Oh bum I missed it!

There's a killer on the loose!

There was a fine sunset last night.  Very moody and dramatic.  But sadly it was the last sunset one local resident will ever see. 

You see, there is a killer on the loose.  You would think that in a rural village such atrocities would not happen but it seems nowhere is safe from violence and truly this poor resident met a violent end.  I came out this morning to find carnage everywhere, a trail of poor little white feathers led me to the victim who was in a sorry state.  His neck had been plucked and eaten, just leaving the spinal cord, one leg appears to be missing along with most of his innards. 

I will be asking the Nature Detectives who they think the killer may have been.  Perhaps Forensic evidence may give some clues, or maybe a Psychological profile.  I need to know who committed this terrible crime in my garden because I am hoping to have some new residents soon.  Some lovely white Doves in a pretty Dove Cote.  If there is a killer on the loose I may have to take some action or my new lodgers will be murdered!

I hope this was a random ariel attack, there are several suspicious characters in the area who I am sure would be very capable of such a deed.  I pray it was not a land based attack, I fear that may be more difficult to defend.  I know The Gamekeeper takes care of land predators for the good of her Pheasants but maybe one has slipped the net and is on the loose.

Now it is left for me to clear away the grisly remains before the start to stink out my study.  One thing I do know is that everyone must be on their guard!

Mixed feelings

I have been told via Hairy Hubby that shooting starts in the wood today.  As yet I have seen or heard nothing but I would imagine they start at the other end.  My end is the most distant point.  I am told the beaters may come down here with dogs to flush the birds back to the main part of the wood so I am being careful when Action Dog goes out incase there are any stray gun dogs in the garden.

The whole shoot thing stirs such mixed feelings for me.  It seems so horrible to shoot such daft, soppy birds who really have no clue about life in general.  Most of them are this year's babies and are not even fully grown.  The are so stupid they run rather than fly and dart out of cover when you approach making themselves an easy target.  If they stayed lurking you would not even know they were there.  I still have not forgotten poor old Hoppy who hid behind a tree in my garden because he knew he could not run with his bad leg.  How can anyone shoot something that dopey. 

I also keep telling myself that the birds would not even exist if it were not for the shooting.  That is what they are bred for, rather like cattle and sheep.  It is not like fox hunting, which I am totally opposed to, where the poor things get torn to bits by dogs.  At least they just get shot and then hopefully eaten so it's not all a total waste.  I apologise to any Veggies out there but I do eat meat so I can't be a hypocrite about people eating game birds.  If they were wild creatures being shot, like they do on The Continent I would not agree with it at all.

My other feeling is rather shocking.  I am a bit envious of the people out there with guns.  Not because they are out there shooting things but because they are out there in my beloved wood.  Why are those b*****ds allowed to go tramping around shooting the birds when I am not allowed out there quietly walking incase I scare them!!

So in all very mixed feelings.  Feelings which do not really make sense, but then feelings often have no logic. 

Fungus fungus everywhere but not a thing to eat

I wish I was one of those clever (and brave) people who know about fungus.  I have some crackers growing in the garden at the moment and I would love to know if they are edible.  Wild mushrooms have always fascinated me since I was a child.   We were a boating holiday and my parents bought some wild mushrooms from a lady working at a local windmill.  She had picked them in the fields that morning.  When they got them back to the boat they decided not to risk it and binned them.  Since then I have had aspirations about gathering food from hedgerows and taking it home for a free meal.  I have never had the courage to follow it through, apart from a few apples and blackberries of course.  I don't even think a good field guide would help, I would still not trust myself.  Sickness or death is not terribly appealing so I will continue with Asda's own brand!



Mmmm yummy....maybe.....



Probably not....although they do remind me of bread rolls

The least appetising looking, rather like dead flowers.  Probably the only edible ones of the bunch!

Excitement in the village!

We had great excitement here today for about 2 mins!  The Tour of Britain cycle race came right past our door.  There have been notices up warning about it for a few weeks.  I had read about it being the UK answer to The Tour de France so I was well looking forward to it.  I made sure I would not be going out because I knew the roads would be chaos and also because I wanted to see it go past.  The signs said 2pm - 4pm.

While I was waiting I made some Plum jam and Green Tomato Chutney to while away the time.  From 2pm onwards I kept looking out for signs of cyclists.  The Hairy Hubby told me there were crowds on Rollesby bridge so I was getting pretty excited.  The traffic seemed to be moving as usual outside so all seemed fine.

Just after 3pm just as my jam was ready to bottle there was a massive commotion outside.  Horns blowing, police sirens, you name it.  I looked out to see streams of police bikes going past the house at speed with sirens blaring.  I have to say I am not sure I have heard a motorcycle siren before, it's a funny noise.  There was so much racket we thought there had been a major accident!

I ran to the top of the drive and looked down the road, all I could see coming were more streams of police bikes with lights flashing.  This must be it I thought.  "Oh hell, my jam...oh lord where is my camera?"  I ran back in to grab my camera yelling to the hairy one that if he was not interested would he take care of the jam please?  He is a very versatile hairy man I have to say and did manage to save the jam.  I legged it back to the road took about two photos and the camera went flat!  Grrrr why does that always happen!!!  Then I had to sprint back in to find my little camera (yes, I ran, it really was a special event!)  Luckily that one had some charge and I was able to get back to the road just before the cyclists arrived.

First there was some sort of support car, a bit like they have on the F1 after a crash, followed closely by two cyclists pedalling like fury and having a chat, well more like a shout, with each other.  Then some more police bikes.  I hope there were no criminals in Norfolk today because every police bike owned by the Norfolk Constabulary was on the A149!  Then in the distance I could see a crowd (flock, gaggle, bunch???) of cyclists streaming down the road.  I have to say it was very impressive, the noise their wheels made was incredible and they whoooshed past me so fast I felt the need to step back a pace even though I was on the pavement.  There must have been about 50 of them, all bunched up.  They were past in about 2 seconds, I was barely able to get any photos because the camera I used takes ages to reset after each shot.  Following on from them was a fleet of cars, all with bikes on top.  I am assuming they were the riders support teams.  They streamed past.

After they had gone it was straight back to business as usual on the road, not a police bike in sight.  I had imagined streams of bikes going past for ages, a bit like you see when the London Marathon runners go past.  It was all over in seconds, I was a bit disappointed really.  The whole thing must have cost a fortune with all that police presence.  I am sure four bikes would have been all that was needed really. 

PS There are THREE Butterfly squirrels in the garden tonight, I bet the little rotters are all flushed with excitement over yesterdays spilled seed and are planning an fresh attack on my feeders!T

Seasonal wind

It's been howling a gale here today.  I had intended to go to Breydon for high tide but thought better of it.  The last time I went there in the wind the tide was all messed up because of it.  Plus the hide was swaying like a palm tree.  Not that I am a coward you understand, usually with things like that I tell myself its perfectly safe but lets face it how do I know that anyone has checked the safety of that hide in the last hundred years.  It's planted there on stilts in the mud wobbling away in the wind.  It could be a death trap.  The whole thing could collapse into the mud at any moment, with me inside it.  Even worse with my scope inside it, and that does not bounce and does not heal.  OK, I admit it I am a coward!

The wind did cause me other problems too today.  It blew over my feeding station.  It's only the second time that has happened.  Luckily the big ugly squirrel baffle survived again, lord knows how, but one of my seed feeders broke.  Well actually the crash finished off what Butterfly the Squirrel had started when he was raging his terror campaign on my feeders.  So that's more money I have to find for the birds.  Honestly they are eating me out of house and home.  I hope they show their appreciation soon and invite one of their rarer cousins for tea!  At least I was able to get everything put to rights before Butterfly spotted it and thought it was Christmas come early.  I think he had a lovely time with all the spilt seed on the lawn though, I hope it does not give him ideas.

Mostly I rather like the weather now I live here.  By that I don't mean its always pleasant because its not but somehow you feel more part of it than you do in a town.  When it's windy the trees in the wood rage with it.  When it rains it lashes with venom.  When it's hot its just great!  There seems to be more power behind it, you can really feel the force of mother nature and what she is doing.

I am also noticing the seasons more.  Not that I haven't always taken an interest but again you feel more part of the changes, more connected.  I am watching crops being harvested that I remember as tiny shoots out of bare soil.   On Sunday I went Onion picking in a field I watched grow all summer.  There are fruits everywhere you look.  As you drive down the road there are various coloured plums dropped all over the road and pavement.  One stretch was striped purple then yellow then red.  The garden opposite us has trees dripping with pears.  What a waste, they live in The States and are rarely in residence, oh the temptation to scrump them!  When I go birding along the dunes I feast on blackberries, the sweetest I have tasted in years and no I am not being over romantic, it's true!

We are even eating the seasons more than ever before thanks to our local farm shops.  They only stock things which are in season for obvious reasons and when they have things they are so fresh I just have to feast on them.  The latest addition is sweetcorn fresh from the fields and speedily onto my barbecue!  Through the year I have picked my own Strawberries, Raspberries, Gooseberries, Plums, Runner Beans and Onions.  According to the notice at the onion field it's spuds next month. 

Until this week I have been buying home made jam from the local farmer too but now I have my own massive pan which was delivered this morning I can at last make my own jams and preserves.  I made Beetroot and Orange Chutney today with Beetroot and onions from the local farm of course.  The whole house stinks of vinegar now but I am sure it will be worth it in a couple of months when we taste it.  Tomorrow it will be Plum jam made with the Plums I picked today.  I like picking plums, you don't have to bend over for them.  I am a slacker as well as a coward!  At this rate I will be joining the Women's Institute and learning how to crochet those horrible tacky pretty little dolls you put over toilet rolls!

Once in a lifetime

Today was a long day, I had been up at 6am to go to the Wing and a Prayer Wild Bird and Owl Haven Open Day.  I was on face painting duty.  When I finally arrived home  the Hairy Hubby wanted to go to Asda, it was the last place I felt like going but I was so glad I did.

When we came out I saw the most panoramic sunset I have ever seen in my life.  Our Asda is next to Breydon Water and is very open all around so you get pretty much a 360 degree view of the sky.  I will not be able to do justice to what I saw but I will try.  The sun was low, almost gone.  A great burning ball on the horizon over the estuary, if you call it an estuary.  What was totally amazing was that the sunset covered the whole sky.  Everywhere I looked there was sunset, all around me and above me.  It was as if the world was on fire and I was in the middle of it, feeling very small.  The colours were incredible, peach, amber, purple, gold, pink, and an amazing aqua blue in addition to the classic blue sky.  There were dramatic cloud patterns, huge mountains in the distance, wispy streaks above me.  Swirls of colour shooting through the clouds as if by laser.  I felt as if I was inside a giant painted dome.  You can keep your Sistine Chapel I will take the natural world any day.  If I had painted it the only thing I would have added was a skein of geese flying across the sky but a lonely Gull sufficed.

I watched the sky driving home and the colours intensified as the sun slid away.  I knew that by the time we arrived home the show would be pretty much over.  As we drove across Rollesby and Ormsby Broads the colour had gone from most of the sky, just leaving the area around the sun a blazing orange and purple.  The water on Rollesby Broad was totally still and glowing gold and peach.

It was one of those experiences you just know is once in a lifetime, never to be repeated.  You could never plan to see something like that, it just finds you. 

By the time I ran back with my camera it was too late to do it justice