08/07/2010 by Aileen.

Little Sugar is back! She’s one of our very shy calico cats. ((I used to call it tortoiseshell, but apparently it’s calico)

We came home from CenterParcs on Monday with the two boys, and only Ellie and Spice were around. We didn’t worry too much, as they are so shy and always hide from ’stangers’, butas the days went on we were vey sad (and I got very grumpy) I got up at nights calling for her.

Last night I went out about 2am, and heard a meow. It was Sugar. I picked her up and hugged her, and brought her back into the house. She struggled a bit, but I got her inside and woke John. (Yes, he wanted me to!)

We were so happy. I think she’s lost a bit of weight, it’s Thursday now, but even if she disappears again until Saturday, when the kids go, we won’t worry. I opened up a can of tuna in spring water for her, and she gobbled up the bit I gave her.

She’s not the most attractive of cats, and she dribbles, but we love her.

Anyway, back to CenterParcs (no, not literally) while the kids are still abed. I was so impressed with the organisation of it all. There is so much to do, but it is spaced out and the place never seems crowded. There are these little money spinners going on all over the place, but it isn’t at all in your face.

Various activities spread across the lake, several interlinked swimming areas, various food outlets. So well done.

The lodge carpet could do with a good clean, but it didn’t worry me. It wasn’t minging, but the place was in need of a good deep clean.

The wild life was fantastic. Red squirrels, siskins, woodpeckers. Much more.

The kids got involved with mini Olympics, football tournaments etc. and John did archery. I really will have to post some photos, but I  shoot them in Raw format and they need to be changed to jpegs.

The star was Alexander who is such a happy little baby. I shouldn’t say little as he’s growing in leaps and bounds. I have lots of photos of all of us, and must put them up.

I did ask if I could be in some, but as usual I’m not. Kieran took one of me and Alexander, and that’s the lot. Oh well. I’m no oil painting.

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16/06/2010 by Aileen.

Well, yesterday I wasn’t too bad, but today I jumped out of bed to get ready for Birding, and it all came back with a vengeance. Norma was going to pick me up as I can’t drive, but I had to cancel her, and it’s just as well, as I’ve been feeling dizzy most of the day. It’s a shame, as we were going to a new place, and afterwards Norma and I were going to visit a former birder who is really ill and is having respite care at the moment. He and his wife are so brave. We’ve watched Steve get weaker over the year (some wasting  muscular disease I think)

Anyway, yesterday I was well enough to go for a walk, and spent a lovely couple of hours in the morning up at the Newport Nature Trail, yards from our house. Saw bullfinches, whitethroats, avocets, song thrushes and the usual suspects. Here are some photos from there and from our garden.

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01/06/2010 by Aileen.

So long since I’ve posted. I’ve just been too busy I suppose. Chris and Nigel came to stay, Ali,Eric and kids came for a couple of nights, and then we all went south  for Alexander’s baptism.

So where do I start?

Let’s do it chronologically. I’ve known Chris since the late 60s. We were in St Matthias parish in Worcester Park, Surrey, then Chris moved to Tolworth. Lo and behold - we followed.

Chris is an incredibly kind person who has looked after various people for the last few years, and she and Nigel have only just now been able to come up and see us in Yorkshire now that her father and father-in-law are dead.

We had a great time catching up on the gossip.

We had a great meal at The Pipe and Glass in South Dalton.

http://www.pipeandglass.co.uk/about.php

We also had a great game of Scrabble. Well, it wasn’t really great, as the board didn’t open up much, but we enjoyed it anyway. Chris won and I came last.

We had a day on our own (washing sheets etc) when Ali rang to say she was coming down on the Thursday so the kids weren’t too long in the car on consecutive days.

Once again, a good time was had by all. I didn’t want to miss my Creative Writing on Friday morning, so rudely went!

There was a broken down lorry on my route, and I got there half an hour late.

However, this wasn’t the worst thing. As I was driving along I was thinking that, barring technical reasons (like not getting my work in on time) I should have a degree this year. I was idly thinking of what could go wrog when I suddenly thought, Hell (or worse) I didn’t attach my commentary to my story. This would mean I fail as both parts are necessary.

Anyway, as soon as I got home I rang my tutor, and he got back straight away - I had attached the commentary.

So. Barring technicalities I should have a degree by the end of the year. (Sounds big-headed, but I won’t fail the story.)

Anyway, on Saturday we all drove down to Oxford. We stayed in the Premier Inn in rooms opposite one another. We tried to book a meal in a nearby pub, but both ones we tried were full, so we stayed in The Beefeaters attached to the Premier Inn. Martin joined us, and we all enjoyed our meals. It was Martin’s birthday, but the next day’s celebration took precedence. (Fiona stayed at home with her parents and Alexander.)

The next day we had Alexander’s baptism. There were so many people there. 41 kids plus all the adults. But the priest commented afterwards how well everybody behaved. Well, both sides of the family are Catholics, so we all know the routine! Some of the friends were from Martin’s and Fiona’s Catholic secondary schools, but a lot of the new friends weren’t.

After the baptism we all went to the village hall at Hutton-cum-Studdley. This was an inspired choice. There is a great adventure playground and lots of grass all around, so the kids could run around. (Some adults too!)

Sarah, M and F’s neighbour, did the catering. She’s doing a meal for David Cameron and 80 friends next week, so she’s good. The food was lovely.

As an aside, I have to mention the birds. There were two red kites wheeling over the hall earlier in the afternoon, and there was a little bluetit who had laid eggs in a cigarette disposal unit outside, and the poor little thing was run ragged feeding her offspring. There only seemed to be one parent.

Time to put up some photos.

Bye.

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05/05/2010 by Aileen.

We went to a new venue for Birding today. An organic farm. From the car park we saw two deer, and on setting off along the (small) River Hull I saw a trout leaping out of the water. Not sure who else saw it, as I didn’t hear any oohs and aahs, but I’ve never seen anything like it before.

We also had really good close-up views of hares. But the main focus of the morning was the heronry. Herons nest high up in trees, a bit like rooks do. I don’t think I’ll put a photo up as the ones I took showed twigs across the herons’ bodies. But it was a really interesting thing to see. I can’t make up my mind over whether herons are clumsy or graceful.

At the end of the morning we had homemade grub from the farm shop/café. We sat in a circle in the sun, and it was the warmest day we’ve had so far.  Really enjoyable.

Monday evening was enjoyable too, but it was freezing. Only four Viewfinders turned up for the Fish Trail in Hull Old Town.

http://www.realyorkshire.co.uk/thedms.aspx?dms=13&venue=2171675&feature=2

In the end we didn’t actually follow the fish trail, but wandered around snapping anything that took our fancy. Hull was a really prosperous place years ago, and there are some wonderful old buildings, but it was bombed badly in the war, and ugly new places intersperse the Victorian ones. Not just Victorian, there are some much older buildings. Can’t think of their dates, but OLD.

I’ll put up a photo of an old church reflected in the glass of a modern building, and the same church reflected in the window of a pub.

While I’m at it I’ll put up a couple more photos from the Dawn Walk, as people were saying nice things about the ones on Michael’s blog.

http://www.eybirdwatching.blogspot.com/

Here come the photos.

Hares on the organic farm

 Reflections - the old in the new.

More from the Dawn Chorus walk.

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01/05/2010 by Aileen.

Oh I’ve had a lovely day. Michael (Birding leader) arranged a Dawn Chorus walk. I set the alarm for 4.15 and woke at 3.55, so lay there waiting for the alarm. The time seemed to stretch more than 20 minutes, so I checked the time. Oops. It was 4.35. I had 15 minutes to get up and meet the others at the venue (luckily it was only 2 miles away)

We shared cars to a nearby place, and had a wonderful time. It was really cold at first, but by the end the sun was up, and it was a beautiful day. We saw a cuckoo, garden warbler, and g.s. woodpecker as well as the usual suspects. There was also another bird which will have to be nameless in case egg collectors get to hear about it.

Anyway, here are a few photos.

.       

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28/04/2010 by Aileen.

Off we went to a lovely place, that better be nameless as on the way we stopped and saw two peregrine falcons nesting in the cliffs. At the last location black redstarts were the stars. I had one good view but when I put my camera to my eye I lost it. Anyway, here are some photos. The birds are yellowhammer,blackcap and little owl, and the mating butterflies are green-veined whites.

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26/04/2010 by Aileen.

Oh where does the time go to.Higlights of last week coming up.

On Wednesday I went to Whisby in Lincolnshire with my Birding group. After a cold start the weather turned quite spring like. We saw a nightingale, which is why we travelled so far.

Some of us had lunch there (l had luke warm leek and potato soup) and I was so proud of myself as I went off on my own, heard a bullfinch, and hung round  for ages until it appeared. Then I took lots of photos. When I got home I told John how pleased I was at staying on and being single minded about getting photos. Then I downloaded the photos. Shock horror. I had accidentally knocked the shutter dial to a slow speed and my ‘lovely’ photos were all blurred. Here are a couple for what it’s worth.Bullfinch and magpie.

At the weekend I drove to Birmingham to meet some OU people I know through Second Life. There were seven of us and we painted the town red. Well, pink I suppose. We didn’t go too mad. We had a great time and all  got on like a house on fire. Saturday evening, we had a meal in Around The World In Eighty Dishes, which was one of those restaurants where you can eat as much as you want. We then went to a Wetherspoons and drank and chatted. We got to bed about midnight. Oh, and Becky and I bought a bag of chips each on the way home.

I really liked Birmingham. Well, I only saw Broad Street I suppose. It had an air of celebration with young people in fancy dress having hen nights etc. We probably left for the hotels too early to see any real drunkenness or trouble.

On Sunday morning we had a very early lunch in TGIFs, and then made our goodbyes. I drove Groovy, Eshala and Lilac (SL names) to the train/bus station, so saw a bit more of Birmingham. I was tempted to stay a bit longer but the call of home was too great. Lovely meeting the people behind the avatars, but lovely to go home too. Phots from the weekend are on my Facebook page.

Tonight I went to Viewfinders where we had a talk by a professional photographer. One of his specialities in glamour photography and he brought along a model. He showed us how he shot her, then we had a go. Here are three of my attempts.

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14/04/2010 by Aileen.

I’ve got a clean bill of health. Went for my check up today, a bit worried as I had developed a lump in the last three weeks, and saw the top man. He was really nice. Said, ‘Ooh, you’ve got a bean’, and said it was a cyst. I was dressing, when he suddenly said, he’d deal with it straight away, and I had to undress again. Then I saw the needle! I said oh, not an injection, and he said it was the opposite! It’s an aspiration I think. Anyway, he drew off what he called ‘oily gloopy stuff’ and said he would send it away, and I would get a letter in 3 or 4 weeks, saying everything was ok. He implied I should never have had the original lump on the other side removed ten (or so) years ago. I have LCIS (lobular carcinoma in situ) and he said lots of people are walking round with that and don’t even know. (So how does he know eh?) But - as I already knew - it shouldn’t be called cancer as it just scares people.

Anyway, he has put the bleeding and lump down to last year’s car accident, and ‘written me off’ (in the nicest possible way of course) He just suggested I take advantage of the 3 year screening programme all women of my age have.

So. I decided to have a lazy day. I’ve got interested in web designing again. My skills reached a certain level and stopped, but I want to take it further. I’m starting a new Open Uni Web Design course in a few weeks, so maybe I;m just getting in to practise for that.

Sent off my TMA for Creative Writing, but am not holding out much hope for a good mark. Only got 68% for my poetry. John said that’s good, but I’m not getting very enthusiastic comments either. I’ve lost enthusiam myself for the course, and lost confidence in my ability, and just like a kid I don’t feel like putting much effort in to the final ECA. (Extended Course Assessment) I know (!) I’ll pass, but there’s no way I’ll get a distinction  so why should I work hard?

On the Swan front, they are definitely nesting next door. I have a few photos of the nest as it progresses, but the photos are a bit boring. I’ll waith until there are eggs before I post any.

I was mowing the front lawn moss yesterday, and discovered a duck sitting on a nest, so couldn’t do all the lawn in case I disturbed her.

Went to WI last night and had an inspiring illustrated talk by someone from the Associated Country Women of the World

http://www.acww.org.uk/

It was so inspiring, and made me think, what have I done with my life? Oh well. It’s a bit late for me to start saving the world now.

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11/04/2010 by Aileen.

Hectic week. Let’s go back a bit.

All the family arrived on Holy Saturday. Everyone except Martin went to Mass on Sunday where there was a noisy family liturgy. Liam and Kieran wouldn’t go in to the Children’s Liturgy, even though I was  doing it. (Or maybe because i was doing it!)

Traditional greasy breakfast afterwards, followed by roast lamb in the evening. Think we chatted and went to the playground (some of us) in between.

As John had to be in Stoke Mandeville hospital at 11am on the Tuesday, the original plan was for him to drive down with Martin in our Ford on the Monday, and for Fiona to stay on another day and take me, Liam Kieran and Alexander down in their Land Rover.Ali and Eric were escaping back to Scotland then. But Fiona wasn’t feeling too well, and not sleeping at nights with little Alexander, so Martin didn’t want her driving us all back. So she went back with Martin and John, and I drove the pair down on the Thursday.

John had his ‘procedure’ on the Wednesday as planned, but was told he wouldn’t be out until towards the end of the week, so we left it till then and drove him home on the Friday.

On Thursday night I had to finish off my Open University assignment which was due in at 12 midday on the Friday. Did it. Load of old rubbish, but I just want to finish this course. I’m not getting good marks and feel very discouraged.

We drove kids up to Penrith on Saturday, where their mum and dad picked them up. Back home. Opened the wine. Need to sort the house now.

On the Wednesday I took the kids to their beloved Honeysuckle Farm where they jumped on hay bales for hours and hours. Saw a few animals too.

Before we picked John up from hospital Martin treated us all to a slap up meal in a pub just outside Stoke Mandeville. I forget the name, but it’s the one John and I escaped to 18 months ago, when John was in hospital for all those weeks.

The kids were so good.. They were a bit quarrelsome on Saturday morning before they left, so were obviously feeling very much at home! Best behaviour before, which is always a bit unnerving as they’re two healthy little boys.

On the nature front - the swan who lost his mate has found a new one, and they are nesting at the bottom of next door’s garden. I have a clear view, so will be posting photos as things develop.

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02/04/2010 by Aileen.

Four swallows on the wire outside the front garden today. Back from the dead three days too early. They look a bit bedraggled, but they’re there.

Will write more later, but got to get the ironing out of the way ready for the weekend.

Bye.

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