Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Moorgreen Woods - 63F and 3mph S wind - Sunny !

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This morning Y and I ventured out for an hour and went to the woods in which Helen C had mentioned bluebells. We followed her excellent directions but then, having parked the car and, while following a path we bore left instead of right and went up this hard-core hill (see centre shot) unnecessarily. Eventually we retraced our steps and were amply rewarded by a lovely walk which we intend to revisit. There are so many good walks in the area and although I had several sit-down pit stops thanks to my wheels we covered quite a distance.

For the collage I managed to capture a female Chaffinch and a Speckled Wood butterfly. Across the top is today's mystery bird. Although it had a reddish head I'm fairly sure it wasn't a Goldfinch. Also it had a sweet and complicated song which more or less rules out a Woodpecker, and anyway, it wasn't quite big enough.

The day has been idyllic. The chilly wind has almost gone away. Merely a leaf-rustler which you can't feel at all in some places. Walking down the path in the central collage shot it was great to feel the sun on your back.

In my bedroom I have set the lay figure to guard my glass bottle-top. I had a nap this afternoon but not a lengthy one.

I haven't heard from the WoW-ers yet but I guess that wherever they went they would have enjoyed the lovely weather.

The Budget will not be discussed. As the Matt cartoon said this morning "Is it possible to be alarmed and bored at the same time?"

My responses to your previous comments

Bob ...... I couldn't discover much about Tomasto but I agree it sounds interesting. You and I both love words that sound as if they should be something else. Only this morning while looking for something to spit my prune stones into I had the experience with Ramekin. The word sounds as if it should be a little helper, like Santa's elves.

Tomasto incidentally is a large American family mostly in the New York area.

And I am firmly with Yvonne over the question of Christian names. Why should we be bullied into 'forenames' anyway when we live in a Christian Country, where the Church of England is The Established Church. As I have said before, with strangers I will settle for either Mr. Marsden or Sir.

I have noticed that Consultants for instance always get it right. It is only when we are being addressed by people from the shallow end of the gene pool, like hospital receptionists, that a rude informality creeps in.

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Quotation time .......

"Oh thou monster ignorance, how deformed dost thou look !"

Shakespeare - Love's Labour's Lost


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5 comments:

Unknown said...

My reproach to Nick Clegg yesterday paid off - when he advised me today about his response to the Budget, he addressed me as 'Mrs. Marsden' ......

Graham: a tremendous effort today - and I got in plenty of walking at normal pace as I 'scouted' different paths.

Looking forward to seeing Steven tomorrow so he can bring me up to date on his golfing weekend with friends (He doesn't play golf ....)

Jill is having lovely weather in Durham so she won't think badly of those of us who live north of the Watford Gap. She's always denied this - but when I moved to Nottingham in 1962 and said I was going to a ballet performance - she said 'Do they have ballet up there?' ...........

jbw said...

When referred to as 'sir' you have to be careful to check the spelling to make sure it is not spelt 'cur' !!! Again, it depends on whether to person speaking is from the 'shallow end'.

bob said...

Farewell Jack Jones

Nice collage.
First thought on top/centre bird was Goldfinch (mine has not reappeared but the crazy Chaffinch has returned with a henmate who distracts him from his reflection.

Is Ramekin not abbreviated form of Rumplestlitskin?
Enrico Tomasto, of course!
I just opened the door and invited Jester, “Do come in,” reminding me of the Guernsey born Spurs centre-forward (1946 to ‘58), Len Duquemin.
There was also a Joseph Duquemin, Guernsey stonemason and survivor of the Titanic.

As a non-Christian, my preference is ‘forename’.
I wonder how British Jews, not to mention Muslims, feel?
And I was brought up to avoid, so far as possible, calling anyone ‘Sir’ (other than sarcastically).

Yvonne:
Was there ballet before Billy Elliot?
Ah yes, ‘Red Shoes’.

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Good Tuesday victory for Stags’ youngsters.

“Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson: you find the present tense, but the past perfect.”
(Historian Owens Pomeroy, quoted in Melbourne Herald Sun).

Rob said...

The Cote de Granit Rose stretches along most of the northern Brittany coast - do you remember our visit and the house squeezed in between the rocks? I must try and find the neg and send you a copy. You can find out more info at http://www.france-for-visitors.com/brittany/cote-de-granit-rose.html

Did you really mean to put together your final paragraph and the Shakespeare quote?

Socialist Worker
Loves dignity of labour
Not on first name terms
Rob

Helen C. said...

I'm pleased you found the Moorgreen bluebells eventually. I went to Hardwick Park for a walk today where there are just a few bluebells but, along one side of the lake, lots of marsh marigolds which looked lovely.

I'm with Bob on the forename/christian name issue and always object strongly if someone asks me for my 'christian' name.