Muddy March 2016

4th March, 2016

Creaking around in Crich 

or A Gelly Babe Guide to being a Domestic Goddess 

Communications between the two Helens further demonstrated that Helen M is not to be trusted in matters of precision.  Not only does she not know her front from her back, but she has now proved that she doesn’t know her A38 from her A6.  Thank goodness Jo is clued up and gave us our very first Gelly Babe experience of group parking in the A6 layby. Luckily not all roads lead to Rome, so nothing untoward happened.

 

All good Gelly Babes arrive on time.  Lateness owing to injury caused by tying one’s  shoelaces is acceptable; being pulled over by the police is not.  Luckily for Helen M, the precious cargo in the back of the van went unnoticed. 

 

 

We are not sure whether Jo is crying out in pain or laughing

at Betty’s joke about the one who got away with it.

Most Gelly Babes know that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing and are therefore not deterred by a bit of sleet, snow, mud or the biting cold.

 

Even Betty knows that a decent coat and

a cute pose are essential tools for the day

So, when Pam turns up with claims that her walking jackets are all ‘at the cleaners’, Jo wishes she had brought her one of her 26 jackets. Jo has lots of coats, but not as many knickers as Helen M’s mum who holds the Associate GB record of 66 pairs.

 

Hardy Gelly Babes with the lady-who-only-lunches…. 

Now that the Gelly babes are reaching a certain age, they have accumulated a wealth of knowledge and are keen to share their tips on how to keep one’s carpets clean.  Tips include use of giant ladybirds, cordless vacs-come-ghostbusters and the trusty rubber glove.  Pam, having recent experience of a house fire recommends a deep, steam clean but it’s a shame the effects only lasted a day or so.  Becoming a Domestic Goddess is a title which needs to be earned and Pam now wishes she had brought her men up to wear slippers in the house.  However, to gain the  Super Domestic Goddess title one keeps a vacuum cleaner in every single room.  Maggie is an Super Domestic Goddess.

 

The stuff of dreams at the bottom of every Domestic Goddess's garden.

 

Whilst Gelly Babes are clever and know lots of things about housework, they  are also interested in current  affairs.  However, concerns  about which way to vote were soon put to the test after Maggie recanted a recent  experience at a local Derbyshire pub.  With ‘lurchers on settles’ and ‘blow-ins fined for using mobile phones’, Maggie was unsure about whether staying in was such a good idea.  Helen J was also bemused and wished she’d packed her local dialect dictionary. 

 

Pointing in the right direction!

Sometimes a little local knowledge is helpful and Jo is very good at pointing out places of interest in Crich. This cross marks the spot where one should cross the road safely.

 

Jo also claimed that the  church in Crich is fascinating, but the Babes will have to take her word for it, as photo opportunities in Crich’s  car park were not to be missed…..

 

Another vintage collection  …

Views  from the dead centre of Crich.

The plaice to be...

 

Jo, desperate to share her knowledge about George Stephenson, was disappointed that she could not hold the interest of the two youngest members of the group, but having spent the first hour of the day on buttock toning exercises, Helen J was in need of a tonic and Alison knew just where to find it. 

 

 

Peak Practice wasn’t filmed in Crich for nothing you know.

Full of soup , sarnies and salad from the rather lovely 'The Loaf', the intrepid explorers hugged Pam farewell and set up off up the hill where they learned about a bit more about the history of Crich.

 

Graffiti from a pre-Domestic Goddess era

A Domestic Goddess's work is never done.

And here are some other useful tips from the Domestic Goddesses who venture outdoors in inclement weather.

 

 

Walking poles are useful in mud

 

 

Trees are useful for catching snow.

 

Walls are useful for gathering moss 

 

Puddles are useful for cleaning dogs.

 

Useful friends for the Gelly Babes to meet.

 

Gelly Babes always like to round things off nicely and thanked Jo for organising such a brilliant day.  They also feel  pleased that they can now add Domestic Goddess to their other titles of being a Gelly Birder and a Gelly Babe.   But maybe not all things ended as well as they might because there still appears to be a communication issue between the two Helens.

 

Helen M's final message to Helen J!

 

 

Crich bird list

With Jo’s expert eyes and expert list making, we were able to see quite a few birds

blackbird

blue tits (well, it was very cold; Helen M just doesn't know when to stop!))

bullfinch*

canada goose

coal tit

coot

cormorant (flying over)

crow

great tit

mallard

mandarin *(probably not wild, but a bit angry at the goose)

mistle thrush (random splodges, one on the top of a tree)

moorhen

mute swan (two flying over)

robin

siskin (default bird of the day)

song thrush* (neat arrow spots, five by the layby))

woodpigeon

 

A total of 18 for the day, not bad considering the weather and steamed up glasses!  If we include the mandarin duck we now have added three to this year’s list which now stands at 43 and a running total of 82. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February Fling

February 5th 2016

 Cromford Canal

 

On a day that wasn’t too grey and amazingly wasn’t wet all the babes gathered at Cromford apart from Pam (who was otherwise engaged) and of course our marvellous and much missed Lynn. Having been given her honorary canine membership Betty was there as well and very excited she was to see everyone again.

Compulsory Coffee Stop

First stop of course was coffee at the Cromford Mill café, Betty’s presence meant that we had to sit outside but it wasn’t too cold and no one seemed to mind. We had a good catch up with everyone’s news and an update on the travels of the intrepid Jacksons (nothing too intrepid about lounging about in Lanzarote!)

Betty tucking in to the table

The newly opened visitor centre was very impressive and even Betty was made welcome. Maggie looked a bit wistful knowing that school trips would never be the same again now that it is all slick and interactive. We could have spent much longer there but Betty was eager to go for a walk and time was limited for some of our number who still have work commitments (on a Friday afternoon!)

Such a lot to see!

 

And Brian Blessed too!

 

Who else could that be referring to?

We set off down the canal and there was definitely a hint of spring in the air with celandines in flower and an abundance of bird life, although those of us who had forgotten our binoculars and were hampered by mad dogs found spotting them a little difficult and were not able to add anything to the thrush  discussion.  Sadly no water voles in were in evidence, I’m sure Betty would have liked one of those but thankfully the Cromford dinosaur is still in residence.

Next best thing to a water vole

 

We walked as far as the aqueduct, taking comfort in the fact that this is a walk we will be able to do when we get even further along our ‘journey towards death’ – we can thank Maggie for that cheerful thought!

 

 

Back at the café at Cromford Wharf and with Betty having a siesta in the van we settled down for lunch of delicious spicy parsnip soup.

It's Ok - don't wait for me!

We were hoping that Alison would be able to show us some photographs of her knitted Easter scene but it seems she hasn’t started it yet, we can only hope that she has time to complete all the important elements before Easter is upon us.

Duck of the day

Is it a bird, is it a thrush, is it a song thrush, is it  mistle thrush.....

Cromford birds Feb 2016

blackbird

blue tit

chaffinch

coal tit

coot (clicking away quite happily)

crow

goldfinch*

hawfinch**

little grebe (guffawing just like green woodpeckers and duck of the day)

long tailed tit

mallard

moorhen

nuthatch*

robin

song thrush*/ mistle thrush 

tree creeper** (creeping up the tree, as they should!)

wood pigeon

wren*

18 birds for the day. *are first for this year.  ** are GB firsts.  Thank goodness Alison is satisfied that she has seen tree creepers!  Next request? We now have 40 for the year and 80 for our grand total since records began.  Wonder if we will meet our running target of 85 by the end of the year?

Helen J has now done a bit more research on our thrush song and behaviour and thinks we may be mistaken and we have heard/ seen a mistle thrush.  They are commonly seen sitting high on top of a tree.  The RSPB website has been checked (and local sightings) and unless anyone can clearly remember the actual song... ha! ha!  I suggest we put it down as a mistle thrush

 

The sign says it all!

 

 



Friday 15th January 2016

A crispy day in Carsington

The Gelly Babe guide to being a Gelly Babe

 

One should not underestimate what it takes to be a Gelly Babe.  Gelly Babes like to meet monthly in good weather.  These expectations are set very high given the complexities of the British weather and our eventful lives.  Today was no exception.

Organisation of military precision is essential to make a Gelly day run smoothly.  Sometimes Gelly Babes have to sacrifice their beauty sleep and send in weather reports.  Gritted roads in Wirksworth checked (tick).  Views of snow from Brassington, but not in Brassington (tick).  Icy roads reported south of Chellaston, not north of it (tick).  Final rendezvous information communicated (tick).  Four ticks are good.

 

Gelly Babes like to park easily and for free, or at least get value for money.  The machines at the Sheepwash car park clearly do not understand the Gelly Babe preferences.  Four tickets with four different exit timings for two vehicles, not good.  Cross; not tick.  Jo likes to pretend to help out other hapless drivers and and somehow ends up with their returned coins.  Hmm.  Not to be outwitted by a simple machine the Gelly babes test out a theory that tickets are transferable between car parks. It worked. Tick. 

 

One Gelly Babe was so focussed on making sure the day ran smoothly that she forgot to eat her breakfast.  Luckily Maggie had some left-overs from hers.  Fortified after a sugar rush of shortcake and kit-kat Helen J felt ready to face up to her serious duties of the day.  Today’s duties included being chief weather girl, chief birder, chauffeur, photographer, recipient of eventful texts and blogger.  This actually wore out Helen J so much that later in the evening when making mojitos, instead of adding soda to the rum, she added even more rum to the rum.  It was lucky that this happened on a night when she was not in charge of anything else!  

Gelly Babes sometimes go by another name.  Today they are mostly being Gelly Birders. Gelly Birders want to see lots of birds; ones they are familiar with and others never seen.  This can get quite silly.  Kookaburras do not like Carsington as it does not have any gum trees.   Also it is difficult to spell, as are pigeon and wigeon which sound as though they should have the letter ‘d’ in them.  Jo is only satisfied when she spots a woodpigeon.

 

Jo is also very good at birding today and spots a pair of siskins flying in a flock of chaffinches.  Gelly babes learn that other birds like to flock together too.

 

 

 

Long tailed tits and dunnock like to flock at bird tables.

 

But, some birds do not like to flock at all.

 

 

As this might spoil their chances of gaining ‘poser –of-the-day’ award.

 

Helen J is mindful to share out her duties and promotes Jo to chief birder and chief list maker.  Jo likes making lists.  

One of the Gelly Babes duties is to keep others informed of their own eventful day.  Today was one of those days. When Pam texted to say she was on her way, arrangements of where to meet were put in place.  The Gelly Babes did have to think carefully about how to phrase this as not all Gelly Babes know their front from their back.  When Pam texted a second time to say that her house was full of smoke and she would rather wait for the fire engine, they immediately thought of Lynn.  Lynn gets very excited about men in uniform.  Gelly Babes have very long memories.  Luckily for Pam it was only Jen’s bedroom which had caught fire.  Jen is also lucky as now she gets a new bedroom.  Pam has learned that mirrors in bedrooms are dangerous. 

Helen M also texted to say she was unable to meet for lunch.  Helen M was busy mopping up after a flood in Alex’s kitchen.  Lesson no 2:  if you have a drip in the house, sort him out immediately.  If only Jen and Alex shared a house then the day may have been less stressful.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

 

Fortunately lunch at the café was largely uneventful.  Helen J learned that posh beans on toast includes neither cheese nor the number 57.  Alison likes posh beans.  Gelly Babes like to chatter about all sorts of things.  Today they mostly chatted about how little old ladies like to buy new clothes and hide them in drawers full of gifts of soap and perfume. This is something the Gelly Babes will look forward to in years to come,  when they are old enough.

Gelly Birders are very determined.  Having spent the morning looking at cormorants and great crested grebes pretending to be great northern divers, the Gelly Babes realised they could not go home without one more try.  On their way to Stone Island, they stopped to admire the weather:

 

 

Windmills having a lazy day

 

Which is why there are still patches of ice.

 

The Gelly Babes were not the only ones hunting for elusive birds.  Mr Welly, a bit fresh from Willington, prided himself on seeing a bittern this morning.  Helen J might have been impressed had he not added that he was also hoping to see six great northern divers.  Tardy research means he would likely be disappointed.

 

Sadly, Helen J cannot add magician to her list of duties otherwise she would have found a shoveller for Maggie and a treecreeper for Alison.  However, she did have one last trick up her sleeve: patience.  Patience is a virtue.  Virtues can outwit even the most elusive of birds.  And so, it is with great pride and joy that the Gelly birders celebrated several viewings of the great northern diver. There were several viewings because it kept diving for long periods of time and they only had one telescope. A GB first and bird of year.  And so, Helen J mindfully regained her title of chief birder of the day.

 

Today’s bird list (Jo still being entitled to keep her duty of chief lister)

 

blackbird

black-headed gull

blue tit

canada goose

chaffinch

coal tit

coot

cormorant

crow

golden-eye

great crested grebe

great northern diver* (bird of the year)

great tit

greater black-backed gull*

house sparrow

lapwing

little grebe

long-tailed tit

magpie

mallard

moorhen

mute swan

pheasant

pied wagtail

pochard

robin

siskin*

snipe*

teal

tree sparrow

wigeon

woodpigeon

 

32 birds in total.  * are GB firsts with two being exceptionally good birds to have on our list.   4 new birds on previous years making our running total of 78. 

 

 

 

 

 

December Delegation (the first meeting with all seven of us)

 

 

A Carol for Carsington

19th December 2015 

I think you can work out which carol this is meant to be sung along to.  Add extra beats etc as you think fit.

 

 

Away in a grotto, no room for a bed

‘Cos six of the Gelly Babies have nipped in instead,

The reindeer is a-glowing, the snowman might melt,

We are waiting for Pam who we know will be late.

 

All hungry for breakfast we start our chatter,

Sharing stories of sadness balanced out with banter.

Queries why armed policemen were outside HJ’s house

As she returned from her holibobs, something in her suitcase?

 

 

An audience with the special one gave rise to much mirth,

Until Alison showed more evidence of scenes of a birth,

No pattern for a stable, oh dear what a to-do

Perhaps the grotto might be suitable for all of them to go? (in!)

 

Preparations for a lovely Christmas is a problem indeed,

Perhaps a Lidl donkey or an Aldi-ternative may help us succeed.

Not wishing the true spirit of Christmas to become moribund,

Some left early to look for items to make the festivities more fecund.

 

With exchanges of some presents and greetings cards,

A group hug was essential in the reservoir car park,

Leaving three Gelly Babies checking out all the birds,

Did we see the great northern diver?  No, that idea was absurd!

 

So now all that is left is for me to say,

Merry Christmas to all of us and Happy New Year’s Day.

The bird list is now ready and our target nearly met,

Perhaps next year it is one we all will get!

 

December 2015 bird list :

black headed gull

black-backed gull(not sure which one)

blackbird

blue tit

canada goose

chaffinch

common tern*

coot

crow

gadwall*

goldfinch

great crested grebe

great tit

grey heron

house sparrow

lapwing

little grebe

magpie

mallard

mute swan

pheasant

pied wagtail

pochard

redshank*

robin

rook

teal

tree sparrow

tufted duck

wigeon

wood pigeon

wren

 

A total of 32 birds within an hour, not bad considering the dwindling light.  Had anyone gone with Helen J to the other car park in the drizzle,long-tailed tits and a black-cap would have been added to the list;  sadly the great northern diver was living up to its name.

 

 

*are firsts for this year.  Our grand total therefore for the year is 59.  We have added 8 new birds to our running total, which now stands at 74, just one short of our target of 75.(but some of us have seen a golden eagle and hen harrier!) Well done everyone.. I have set a tougher target for next year!