Keeping Our Distance

April Activities

8th April 2020

A most beautiful April day, perfect weather for meeting up! Covid 19 had other ideas though and here we are under lockdown. So one photograph from each of us to reflect our day - at least we were all able to take part as no one is a way on their travels or working.
Sadly no gossip or tall tales to add but we will have lots to talk about when we can reconvene.

Some of the photographs have clues in them so it will be easy to guess who they belong to!

 Is there a clue in the title?

Someone’s ready for a walk.

 Ready for a good crop of raspberries

 Taking a break

 All clean and ready to go

 All the news safely delivered

 No prizes for guessing this one!

Looks like a big job

Blue sky thinking

Our bird list:

blackbird (7)

blue tit (5)

bob thrush*

buzzard(4)

canada geese (2)

chaffinch (2)

chicken!

chiffchaff (3)

coal tit

collared dove

Coot

crow (6)

duck!

dunnock (7)

goldcrest (3)

goldfinch (3)

great tit (8)

greater spotted woodpecker (2)

Greenfinch

Guineafowl*

house sparrow (4)

jackdaw (4)

Jay

long-tailed tit (4)

magpie (5)

Mallard

Nuthatch

owl…?!

Peacock*

pheasant (2)

Piedwagtail

robin (6)

rook (3)

song thrush

sparrowhawk (2)

starling (2)

tree creeper

wood pigeon (7)

wren (3)

39 different varieties of birds as a collective group is very impressive, Most of which will make it onto our annual list. Obviously the high count is down to two things. (1) You have all been paying attention! (2) wildlife are reclaiming the environment, and who knows with global warming some of these marked *may even make a future list. The number beside the bird indicates how many of us saw the bird; those without a number means you can give yourself a pat on the back if you were the only one who saw it!  Plus we saw squirrels, rats and bats!

And finally a taste of what is to come next month courtesy of Helen J - get practising your haiku girls!

Attenborough Activities

There's something in the air at Attenborough!

11th March 2020

Pam, Maggie, Jo and Helen J met at the cafe, but how should the babes greet under the new regime? We waved and toe-tapped but a Jane Austen curtsey felt just right and we could do it at a distance too!  And, to all our other babes, we sent a virtual wave, as this was as close as we dare get, especially to Alison practising her Italian for:

'I'm a Gelly Babe, get me out of here!'

and Helen M, who had averted the problem, but had still managed to find a way to do an Italian job 

But this is all that remains...

As it was so lovely outside, we decided to sit out on the terrace where it wasn't really possible to observe the space rule unless one was the photographer. Pity we forgot our sunglasses but

Our knees got very toastie! 

And with Bob being left at home to dog-sit, it was a case of...

doggie bowl-y no-mates! 

As the main activity of the day was walking whilst birding, it felt incumbent on Helen J to get our annual bird list up-to-speed very quickly.  With no January birds and a vague listing of the February ones, she had started before the others had even thought about getting their binoculars out.  Then  Pam realised that she had left hers at home, but fortunately some birds are quite big, were quite close and easily identifiable. 

When 'mutes' become 'mates'.

A quick shout of there's  'corvus corone corone' in the air, led to some consternation until it was revealed that a carrion crow was doing a fly past, a member of the 'corvid' family, not to be confused with the other harbinger of doom. However, one can't be too careful and it was with relief that we  only saw the one far, far away. 

Our chat lightened and quickly turned to managing our holiday budgets but some of us were not quite so sure about house-sitting in far flung places. And, it is probably best not to repeat what some owners had left lying about....

Topped up with vitamin D and having been sheltered from the weather we set off on our walk only to do battle with the wind and a very noisy railway line!  

Whooooshhhhh

Look what the floods left behind...

Whilst the walk wasn't that pretty and the birds had  generally hunkered down out of view or were flitting about in crazy unidentifiable flight patterns, we did come across scenes of domesticity

little egret pretending to be a cattle egret

How did ewe manage such un-identical twins? 

a well-fed grass snake

Excited by an albeit very grubby map, Pam started planning her next adventure involving a train, her bike and a coastal walk somewhere 'up north'. But she is unlikely to go for the speciality dish of the region "a bit of Scarborough 'woof 'n' chips'," well... maybe the chips'll be ok. 

Despite the map, we found ourselves another path and Jo's route-finding across the largest muddy patch was helped by a slightly sun-dried part and bit of old blue rope.

And finally, we were back on track with water in all the right places

Mr Goosander looking very smart

Pam and Maggie waited very patiently for Jo and Helen who were attempting to  identify a 'Little Brown Jobbie' which turned out to be two different birds: one reed bunting and one stonechat.  Jo definitely knows her stonechats and has succeeded in seeing the first one since records began. 

Maggie: There might be signs of spring, but it'll be summer before those two catch up!

Pam: Chillax, Maggie, and just admire super-fast running brown river.

We then went into hiding and added quite a few birds to our list.  Not many about, but it is quality, not quantity which counts. 

Lovely sky, but no sky-larks. 

Now, whilst Pam admits that birding can sometimes be a bit of challenge, she might be more successful if she chose a better vantage point

Nope, can only see the plank bird! 

We ended up back at the cafe, with its super-clean tables, for afternoon tea and a return to familiar chit-chat: the rise of the refillable stores and fall of stocks in our ever-dwindling shelves, ailing but perfectly capable parents plus a report back on the hustings and the future of a shadow not shady leader. 

An attempt to spot a flying LBJ in the sand martin hide was a little premature as they are not due until 25th March exactly.  The timing was good though, as we sheltered from a little bit of rain but then emerged to a lovely rainbow. 

How does she do it?

It was now time for our final Jane Austen curtsey but not before a delivery of another secret santa pressie. Hope it isn't next xmas before Charlotte receives hers? 😉

Wonder how will Jo react if I give her a cheeky peck? 

So, here is our bird list for the day which won't go where I want it to!  38 for the day, bringing our total for the year to 39 (it might be 40, but no-one confirmed the tit list from February). We now have a rolling number of 103!

black-headed gull

blackbird

blue tit

canada geese

cetti's warbler (heard)

chaffinch

coot

cormorant

crow

dunnock

egyptian goose

gadwal

goldeneye

goldfinch

goosander

great crested grebe

great tit

green woodpecker (heard)

grey heron

greylag geese

jackdaw

jay

kestrel

kingfisher

little egret

long-tailed tit

magpie

mallard

moorhen

mute swan

pochard

reed bunting

robin

stonechat*

teal

tufted duck

wigeon

wood pigeon

Here are some other signs of spring...

I am not an LBJ, I am a female reed bunting

I am definitely a sign of spring

So, am I this year!!

.  

Whatstandwell Revisited

There and Back and Variations

12th February 2020

A simple there and back walk planned for today to accommodate people opting in and opting out at various points. Even without our chief organiser we managed to organise a perfect day - chilly but beautiful blue skies.

Julia, Maggie, Jo and Helen M met at Cromford Wharf at almost the exactly the planned time and along with an excited Betty and after a bit of scrabbling about for change for parking we set off along the canal.

We met Lynn and Tali at High Peak junction - another marvellous piece of organisation. Betty and Tali were very quick to make friends and Betty was really enjoying her freedom and showing Tali who was boss. I think we can definitely say that Julia really fell for Tali in fact she was completely poleaxed  - but after a quick bit of first aid from Jo she was back on her feet and we were all alert for the cry of dog behind after that.

We were all impressed with the work going on at the aqueduct cottage and we had a bit of history from Jo (did her ancestors once live there?)

Find out more here

Onwards through the tunnel and at last a bit of the walk where Jo felt that her wellies were justified.

Eventually we met up with Pam who had walked from Whatstandwell to meet up with us and join us for lunch. There is always time in Pam’s busy schedule for lunch so onward to the Family Tree with fingers crossed that they have enough soup to go round.

Spicy Parsnip soup all round and very delicious it was too. Betty did her very best to show Tali how to behave in a cafe but Tali was determined that everyone should know that she was there! A nice leisurely lunch with a good catch up and much discussion of holiday plans the hot topics being Israel and coronavirus on cruise ships. We also had a good game of where’s Helen J as no one seems to know which beach she is reclining on - Torremelinos seems to be the favourite answer.

Maggie was the lucky person with the pre Valentines Day bread roll.

After lunch we said goodbye to Pam and Jo who had appointments to keep and the rest of us set off back along the canal.

Betty and Tali seem to have endless energy and had great fun in the water and mud seeing who could find the best stick.

We said goodbye to Lynn and Tali at High Peak Junction and the three stalwarts continued on to Cromford. Maggie suffered some confusion when we met a dog with the same name, we had to restrain her from obeying when the owner kept shouting ‘Maggie come here!’

Back at Cromford we came across Bob, Julia had succeeded in locking him out of his own home and he had been patiently waiting for our return after trudging back from Matlock.

Our bird count for the day: all the tits, lots of dabchicks, mallards, swans, coots, crows, robin - I think we need to spend less time chatting and it didn’t help that  most unusually Jo didn’t have her note book and pen!

January Ladies who Lunch

January 8th 2020

Let’s Just do Lunch

This will just be a quick one and will lack the usual visuals as I forgot to take any photos. 

The day nearly didn’t happen  - we did have plan A but it fell apart at the last minute when Charlotte’s house guests sabotaged the hot tub and Charlotte got the dreaded lurgy. Plan B involved a return visit to Attenborough with our trusty bird expert Helen J who then also got the dreaded lurgy! Alison and Pam where both off playing in the snow somewhere and Jo was working so our numbers were drastically reduced. Rather than cancel the day we decided to opt for a lunch and decided to meet at the Family Tree at Whatstandwell.

As it turned out Jo was able to join us on her way to Belper so then there were five. We had a lovely catch up, hearing all about everyone’s Christmas and we are all boycotting Sainsbury’s after Julia’s turkey horror story. Holiday plans for the year ahead were outlined and we spent a lot of time cooing over Jo’s calendar featuring the gorgeous Jack!

Lunch was good despite the fact that Jo very selfishly had the last bowl of soup, the brie in the toasties had to be replaced with cheddar as the brie had also run out and Lynn was somewhat disappointed that her her chips were skinny not chunky.

We did manage to spot a cockatoo and a bullfinch (on Jo’s scarf) and we did feel a bit guilty that the only walk we managed was to and from the car park but it was good to catch up and we even managed to plan our next two get togethers.

Carsington Christmas Capers

Carsington

Friday 13th December - unlucky for some!

At precisely 9.57 on a very grey, damp and dismal day we assembled at Carsington for our pre Christmas gathering. We were almost a full house of babes apart from Helen J who had escaped the weather and the politics and was lazing on a beach in sunny Thailand, we seem incapable of making a decision without her! but we did manage to make one decision and headed to cafe - after we had finally worked out how to use the car park payment machine - it was a case of how many retired teachers does it take...... turns out the answer is five.

Fortified by coffee in the cafe and now joined by Pam, we were well placed to put the world to rights and analyse the depressing and slightly terrifying political situation resulting from yesterday’s election. Julia had cheered us up by wearing her Christmas jumper and thankfully the conversation took a more lighthearted turn as we caught up on everyone’s news of holidays and cruises and Lynn’s confession that the delightful Tali has been banned from a dog friendly pub!

Pam doing a sterling job of clearing up after us.

Coffee over it was time for breakfast - putting the world to rights certainly works up an appetite. For some reason the menu didn’t show any veggie options but we soon discovered that by asking at the counter we could have pretty much what we wanted - although they didn’t seem to have any impala available.

  Maggie will never have curly hair - or perhaps she is subconsciously saving the crusts for the dog.

Without anyone to guide us on our secret Santa procedure we yet again struggled to make a decision as to how to proceed - we had managed to smuggle them into a large shopping bag so no one knew who had brought which present but the big question was now or on the day - we decided that now was more fun and everyone could see what everyone had got. Unfortunately someone had got confused and had left a parcel at home (must be an age thing!) which meant that Alison didn’t have a present to open, she was very good about it and tried very hard to hide her disappointment and I am sure that Santa will get it to her before the big day. If only people would read instructions, forgetting to put a name on a parcel is bound to confuse and some people had blatantly ignored the recyclable wrapping instruction, there was almost a candle blunder but thankfully it turned out to be sparkly lights - phew!

Some jolly well chosen gifts and smiles all round- apart from Alison!

By this time the cafe was filling up with lots of people in Christmas jumpers settling down for a festive lunch and the miserable weather and other commitments made the decision not to go for a walk an easy one so we said our goodbyes until next year.

Mass takeover of Santa’s grotto

Today’s bird list:

Partridge (just the one)

Turtle doves

Blackbirds - otherwise known as colly birds

French hens

Geese

Swans

Wet. wet, wet around Wirksworth

Sanctuary at Maggie's

Friday 8th November 2019

The plan was so simple.  0915 at Maggie's for oatcake breakfast.  1100 at Chatsworth for a walk. As I only organise  GB days to be sunny, it came as a bit of a shock to have plans thwarted by the rather soggy outlook.  So, after about 51 panic WhatsApp messages and a couple of phone calls, we went ahead anyway as is our GB way, limiting ourselves to breakfast, just to be on the safe side. 

And of course, the day was absolutely gorgeous, as proved on my journey. 

Blue sky! 

However, not everyone could join us, including Lynn had to go for a welly walk instead before she got cut off from the rising tide. 

Tali, not sure whether river swimming is a good idea today.

At around 0930, Maggie, Charlotte, Jo, Alison, Julia and me plus newcomers Maureen and Bob met in the kitchen sanctuary. We briefly thought about Pam being a cool dude in Bude...'jazz hands' and Helen M who was probably still having a sundowner at whatever time of day it suited her! 

The kitchen was lovely and warm and a perfect place for drying off wet trews.

Ooohhh. That's a bit toasty! 

A bit of wafting works wonders!

 Maureen and I then settled into the serious business of the day, to try and find the most efficient way to cook up a lot of oatcakes, with Charlotte advising on the side. But in doing so, missed a lot of gossip! 

This one is far too sticky

This one takes up too much time 

But this method is perfect...

And magically, Chris turns up bang on time.  Perhaps eating oatcakes was a little more exciting than watching paint dry!

Cheers everyone

 "Fruit bits in mine too!  Cheers!" 

We pondered about the difference between oatcakes, pyclets and crumpets, but decided it was a northern-midlands-southern thingy, but they tasted so lovely that in the end there weren't any spare for Bob to take home and freeze. So, he left full, but empty-handed. 

With lashings of tea and coffee, conversation flowed, but we did pause to sing 'happy birthday' in tune to James who is celebrating a 100th birthday in Amsterdam. We thought about buying presents for much older folk, and decided that a trip out is all that's needed. Julia and Bob seemed pleased that this had worked. 

And we may not all need an 'Alexa' ....just yet, but a geeky little dual usb drive for one's mobile phone can really sort one's storage and memory out!

Maggie:  Ooh, a modern-day slate.. marvellous! 

The occasional glance out of the window, revealed that the sun was indeed still shining and life was carrying on as normal in Maggie's garden.

Nuthatch of the day

Squirrel of the day

But that's what happens when you let your garden 'go wild'!

So we came to the end of a wonderful morning without having really done anything at all.  And before we had even blinked, Maureen had cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher; there must be a super domestic goddess gene in the family.

On the way home, still blue sky driving....