Continuing to Keep Cool ...in Kedleston this time.

 

Keeping Cool in Kedleston

Thursday 11th August 2022

At the start of heatwave number two, we opted for a shady, woodland walk. So, back to Kedleston! 

As Alison and Helen J turned up the drive in convoy,  no less, under the beautiful shade of the trees, we were a little surprised to see rather a lot of cars. We bagged the last remaining shade and waited for Janice who was stuck behind a tractor and then diverted to Derby! 

We walked the reverse route to normal so that we'd be in shade as it hotted up. The river was cool, the birds a bit quiet but the dragonflies and hawkers were brilliant especially in the sparkly sun.

The grass is always greener on the other side, especially if it's a golf course. 

As we tree-shade-hopped, we chatted mostly about real frogs in water features, how the only insects in our gardens are stingers and the stupidity of intelligent wood pigeons. 

Weirdly, Alison's garden isn't big enough for this waterfall! 

We then spent most of woodland walk looking for the nominated Tree of the Year 2022. Here are our findings

Nope... too hollow 

Barking up the wrong tree

And then we saw a familiar face, surely Helen M will know where it is

So we looked to the right of the path.

It's definitely one of these, she said. It's got a little wooden fence round it. Helen M was so convincing, we all believed her. Until...  

We looked on the other side of the path, where there was a distinct possibility it was over there somewhere under the very blue sky. 

A little further down the path, we found it. The angle of the  view of the 'Kedleston layered horse chestnut' might not do it justice, but we have given the tree a gold star for effort. 

Helen J finds perfect shade for lunch and starts the blog (yes, I did!)whilst waiting for everyone else to join a long queue in search of a sandwich. If only they'd read the instructions! And this also gave Pam plenty of time to catch up. 

We shared our lunch with a very inquisitive wasp, trapped it under a cup, accidentally released it, so it interrupted our very long chat. Key elements of which were 'how to save'. Best 'how to save water' is put a bucket in your shower and save the drops for the next person. Best 'how to save fuel ' was a bit more  competitive between the air fryer and an Aldi mini oven 😀 . And 'how to save money on an overnight sleeper' was to share with a bunch of strangers but baggsie the bottom bunk!  

Courtesy of a good summer of sport we reminisced about our own sporting opportunities and one of us does own a gold medal for her football!  (That's comprehensives and youth clubs for you!)

We did think about everyone else abroad in 🇮🇹 or 🇮🇪,  Matlock Farm 🚜, Darley Dale having a siesta😴 and one recovering from a big birthday bash.  

And she doesn't look a day over.... 

Our bird count for the day was, not surprisingly, low

Black headed gull

Black backed gull not sure which one. 

Bullfinch

Buzzard

Canada geese

Crow

Coot

Grey heron (pretending to be a sheep)

Greylag

Hacksaw

Little egret

Mallard

Swans with lots of cygnets.