Wintering in Whitworth Park
12th January 2023
"Nature is simply pulling you to slow, like the life, flora and fauna around you. It is not your moment to rise. It is winter, you are wintering. And you are right on time".
Extract from Donna Ashworth's Poems & Quotes 10th January 2023
Having seen the above trending on social media, we decided that it was a perfect quote for our intentions for the day. First stop, the Whitworth Terrace Cafe, with a lovely table set aside by Lynn and car parking fees taken care of by a tablet.
The first topic of conversation was, who won the 'Wild Guesses Flock of Tits Favourite Tipsy Tipple Gelly Babes Christmas Quiz of 2022'.? And, as not many had read the xmas blog or even seen the answers, despite a prompt on WhatsApp (distracted by Alison's photos), much time was spent discussing other babes' strange concoctions. There were not enough wooden spoons to be handed to those who remembered their own choice and then boosted their score with guessing one other, but, we had a very worthy winner:
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Look, the garden twine matches Helen's jumper (and Lynn's!)
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And delighted runner up, shared with Maggie who was otherwise engaged....
....as were Janice, Charlotte and a couple of skiers. Coffee was punctuated with a catch up based on some of our favourite topics: growing old and avoiding carers (thank goodness for daughters); how 60 plus is not old enough for a gold (discount) card in Derby city, but being over 60 is for Derbyshire (humph from me, paying more for my coffee); how not having a maths 'O' level would now prevent some from being called back into teaching; the wonders of Latin and future holidays: the Cotsworlds, the Caribbean and a grand tour of Europe beckoning before February ends.
Needing a spot of fresh air, we braced ourselves for a short, non-muddy walk. Lynn pointed out all the lovely birds and managed the best ID of a mistle thrush by song. Thank goodness for that, as we were thwarted by a bit of bird ID technology.
Darlings, I have a very good ear for sounds, don't you know!
We carried on developing our January bird list and came up with a fine set of birds, a squirrel and the largest rat anyone has ever seen! At some point we bid Julia addio; adieu; vale; despedida (thank goodness for google translate) and continued, now in a drizzly, damp sort of way...
There's a male heron in there somewhere!
Hurrying back to the cafe for a spot of lunch, we paused for a selfie with a view. How long did it take to get the building et al all in? Ha! And right at our feet, our first snow drops.
A bunch of hoodies!
Returning to our very own table, complete with fresh alstroemeria in the vases, we all opted for jumbo fish fingers sandwiches on brown with a bit of sauce. Perfect for wintry weather. I can't really remember what we talked about , but there was mention of a malfunction with 'memory integrity'. Apparently its important to have it to make a computer safe, but we also thought it important for our own brains. We admired a baby in a pram, but we annoyed its mother, so stuck to family baby photos and a seven year old bulldog. Plans for February and March were discussed.
The cafe then seemed to fill with men in lycra, which we took as our cue to leave. But not before another quote of the day:
Helen M: Where has this wind come from?
Helen J: Over there!
It was a bit blustery but we managed a few more 'adieus' and a group hug
Whilst we had a lovely day, we couldn't help but think that Alison and Pam were being a bit energetic in their idea of 'wintering'!
Pam, running up that hill!
Beautiful, Alison!
And here is our January bird list for the day
Long tailed
Blue tit
Great tit
Robin
Blackbird
Goldcrest
Nuthatch
Mistle thrush
Chaffinch
Mallard
Coot
Moorhen
Wood pigeon
Grey heron
House sparrow
Crow
Magpie
Jackdaw
18, not bad for a local park in the drizzle
