Tag Archive | Lubenham

30 Days Wild-Day 1

Jun1

It has been too warm to roam far today so, as it was my turn to walk the pooch, I decided to go really wild and turn it into a nature walk. I took my camera and enjoyed the experience so much more being more mindful of our surroundings. I noticed the different smells and colours along the hedgerows. The trees in the churchyard with different shades of green really showed up against the clear blue sky and it made me think how many shades of green I have in my paint box- not that many.

I am lucky to live in a village which prides itself on its dedication to keep the village looking beautiful and well tended all year round and in addition to the usual summer and winter bedding shows, the volunteers for Lubenham in Bloom have created a wildlife garden, incorporating a small insect hotel, and a separate bug hotel in the church yard. A bug hotel is fun to make and can be any shape or size and many of the items will be hanging around home and garden already. I will do a separate post on these later in June.

We have a stream/river running through the “back” of the village which often floods in the winter but after a very dry and warm May is running very low. This means you can see the mud banks better and all the holes excavated by, I assume, water voles. I stand to be corrected as I am no expert on water wild-life. A bit further on we walk along an old railway line which starts off in a lovey shaded area where the path has been taken over on either side by trees. Thick ivy covers the ground so its lovely and cool even in the warmest weather. Heaven for dog walkers. A pile of railway sleepers provide a wonderful home for all sorts of insects and wildlife but as I dont like creepy-crawlies I’m not looking too close.

The shaded path opens out into an open walkway, which should now be part of AdamSmile, taking us into a field where the dog (Jasper) can run off the lead. The field is a mass of buttercups and along the typical British hedgerow we find Cow Parsley, Vetch, Nettles, and a variety of grasses growing waist high. Above these are the blackberry and elderflower bushes, both of which can be used to make wine, as well as blackberry and apple puddings in the autumn! Elderflower cordial is also popular and is really easy to make.

Buttercup meadow
Elderfowers
Baby Blackberries

I have a hate-hate relationship with grasses as they are the main contributor to my hay-fever in summer when the pollen count is very high so I try and give them a wide berth if possible.

Grasses
Thistles
Briar rose

 

We found a patch of thistles which Eyore would be quite happy to tuck into and a lovely briar rose-typical of an old-fashioned English hedgerow.

Altogether Jasper and I had a lovely walk and it was a real pleasure taking note of all the different wild flowers and trees instead of walking by.

We must do this more often.

 

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My wildlife garden 12 months on

Jun17

Some of my more resilient readers will remember that this time last year I requisitioned the piece of ground that hubby used to grow vegetables on for my wildlife garden. Hubby didn’t have the time, and I am more interested in hedgehogs, birds and frogs than vegetables and so, over the next few months, a wildlife garden it became.

Only 12 months after my first efforts, I agreed to open my garden to the public on our village Open Garden Day. I was a bit worried that no one would be that interested and wasn’t expecting many visitors. Hah! how wrong can a person be? In this case I was hopelessly wrong and desperately ill-prepared for the masses that descended on my small garden.

Between 11.00am and 5.30pm we had a constant stream of visitors that were interested in how to attract wildlife into their gardens. For these enthusiasts, my garden is perfect. I was in the lucky position of being able to develop a garden from scratch purely with wildlife in mind, and although I didn’t plan it formally, the garden which evolved organically is beautiful and what’s more important, definitely attracts the wildlife. I am very proud of my efforts but am even more in awe of the plants that have established themselves so comfortably in the last year and presented a garden to be complimented last weekend.

More details of how I achieved the end (but ever evolving) result in later posts but here a just a few photographs of the finished product as at 11 June 2017.

View from under the apple tree
Bug Hotel
Woodpile with resident hedgehog
Hedgehog house
Bug B&B
Cup & saucer bird feeder
Towards the pond
Belfast sink pond
Mr & Mrs Scarecrow
The pond
The pond
View from halfway
Faeries moved in!
Pond area
Robin’s nestbox
Frog hole in the ground
Plants for butterflies
My leaky wellies put to good use
Trellis planter
Bug and bee house
My garden
Exhibition in my garden
Teasles for the butterflies and bees
The butterfly diner
View from the pond area
Pine cones for ladybirds
nesting material (dog hair) for next Spring
Funky planters
Frogs
Lovely native yellow iris
Sedum flower
Margarets old decking made into a planter!
Orange and purple-cool
Goldfinch-my favourite
Double joy

The Olympic Torch Relay

Jul2

The Olympic torch has just travelled through my village and I am so glad that I went out early and stood in the wind and rain to grab a prime position. The torch arrived right on schedule passing through at 3.50pm on its way to Leicester where it will spend the night.

People started to arrive very early on this afternoon and as I wanted to get a good view and take some photos I walked round with an hour to go to select my spot. Local schools sent home at lunchtime so they could see the torch and join in the flag-waving fun. Despite the poor weather, everyone enjoyed themselves and even the police motorcycle outriders joined in by waving to the crowds and giving high-fives as they drove past.

We could buy Union Jack flags and hats and the Coco-Cola bus was giving out free frisbees and souvenir bottles of coke.

Local guy Rob Gomez arrived first, running slowly along the high street flanked by the flame security convoy, and when he reached the corner of High Street and Foxton Road, the two torches “kissed” as Rob handed the flame over to David Willson. David was waiting for a good 10 minutes and had spent all that time having his photo taken with the crowd. Adults and children alike clamoured to touch the torch and have their picture taken and David did a great job keeping everyone happy.

It was a great sight to see and everyone I spoke to said that coming to see the torch had stimulated their interest in the upcoming Olympics starting later in the month. The torch is an ancient symbol of the Olympic Games and seeing how people reacted to it today I also suspect that it sprinkles magic dust over us all as it passes by so that the excitement and anticipation gradually builds as it travels across the country reaching a climax in London on 27 July. No one could fail to be moved by the sight of the flame as it flickered obstinately in the strong wind and heavy drizzle. Resilient and determined to stay alight until its job was done,  these are the qualities that our Olympic and Paralympic athletes have already shown to reach the Games, and which they will need in buckets if they are to fulfil their potential after training so hard for so long.

Good luck to all our athletes-this is your moment to shine.

The Olympic torch is coming to Lubenham….

Jun18

On Monday 2 July, the Olympic Torch relay comes through my village, Lubenham in Leicestershire and will pass about 50 yards from my front door before making its way up the hill to Foxton. This will be day 45 out of 70 when the torch will be travelling between Coventry and Leicester.

The torch is expected in the village between 15.45pm and 15.55pm and the Torchbearers through and around the Market Harborough area  include local citizens Dean Barnett and Rob Gomez who both get their “moment to shine” on home territory.

We have flags secured to the lampposts and traffic cones are at the ready.

Did you know?

  • The Torch will come within 10 miles of 95% of people in the UK.
  • The relay involves 8,000 Torchbearers.
  • The Torch will be transported by steam train, horse and zip wire.

We are looking forward to seeing the Torch and Torchbearers and understand that there will be a “kiss” of  2 torches outside the village pub, The Coach & Horses.

Not long to wait now……..

   

So long December, welcome 2011

Dec31

It doesn’t seem five minutes since I was writing ” So long November, hello December” promising to make this last month of 2010 a more sedate and calm affair. What a laugh. Despite my best intentions, it seems like I have been busier than ever, but then that’s what New Year’s Resolutions are for.

December was dominated by the weather. Snow, ice, blizzards and sub-zero temperatures like I’ve never experienced (since I was born in February 1963) all combined to wreak havoc with my travel plans  making my final 2010 visit to my colleagues in Scotland impractical. Christmas was white, albeit that no snow actually fell near home that day, but we still managed to keep to our original plan of having a Barbecue instead of the traditional roast. The snow did melt in time for our annual Lubenham village walk which led to copious amounts of sludge being brought back to the pub for well-deserved stew and dumplings. It’s not nice being hosed down in December in the car park !

My fund-raising Santa Run scheduled for 5th December in Greenwich Park was cancelled due to the dangerous conditions, but I did fulfil my part of the bargain by completing the run on my treadmill resplendent in Santa costume. Another first and I raised a total of £1,500.00 for the Depression Alliance.

I am still enjoying writing my Blog and I am never short of things to say, just the time to write. In the New Year I will be spending more time trying to keep fit so I may not be so prolific with my posts in 2011…we’ll see.

Yet more lovely new friends this month; Andrew may be regretting his Facebook friend request which he fired off early in December. I’m not sure he fully realised what he was letting himself in for being a fellow (very depressed ) Aston Villa fan of 40 years standing and having so much in common. Andrew I apologise now for being so verbal and opinionated but you seem to be coping admirably! I also welcome Carole, fellow depressioneer as well as Will Gibson from Reading University hoping to climb Scarfell Pike on New Year’s Day to raise funds for MIND. What an inspiration this guy is.

Will’s Fundraising page

As well as welcoming new friends, I had to say “Goodbye” to two friends at work, both of who have fantastic new opportunities awaiting them in the New Year and thoroughly deserved too. Whilst I will miss Nicky and Emma when visiting Birmingham, I wish them all the best in their new roles and know that we will keep in touch regardless. “Good Luck Girls-Kick Ass”.

Dream Alliance won’t have the chance to defend his Welsh National crown this year, the race is postponed until January 8th. I will still be cheering him on and will no doubt have a few pennies on his back (but can’t watch) hoping that he repeats his remarkable feat of last Christmas-a real Dream come true.

All in all not a bad month and Christmas was far less stressful than usual. Perhaps that was because I ignored it as far as possible but now feel very guilty for not sending my son a Christmas card. Next year, I may feel more festive and do the job properly. Or I might be able to persuade the family to decamp to Iran. Now that would be a really cool Yule.