Weekly wildlife

We have had quite a week of wildlife encounters, most of which I failed to photograph. You will just have to use your imagination in picturing the scene. However, the sharp-eyed reader will already have spotted some feathered friends here, so I should start with those - even though they were the last encounters chronologically.

Indeed, the swallows are back, and apparently once again nesting in the new site they found last year after losing our old barn. These two sweeties look to me like youngsters from that brood; I'm pretty sure the parents were a bit older than these.

Earlier in the week we ran into a hold-up when a group of lambs decided to wander into the middle of the road on Strensall Common. I was really sorry not to have the camera. Every time we inched the car forward to move them, they just ran on down the middle of the road. Then their mum called them and they wandered off.

We have had quite a few hold-ups generally, due to tractors, caravans and lambs. However, with the oilseed rape now flowering spectacularly, we have been driving through fields of gold, bright even on the rainy days. However, if we have to stop for long we pretty much always get to see a rabbit; one of the roundabouts had quite a few baby bunnies sunning themselves early in the morning. And the local barn owls are very busy at most times of day just now, so we have been seeing them gliding across the road a few times.

All this frantic activity is quite exhausting, so I'll leave you with another picture of our lovely swallows. It's a bit sad the drainpipe is coming out of its head, but sneaking up on it to take the picture is hard enough, so don't expect composition as well!

Early walk

This morning both I and the Significant Other were awake at our weekday time of 6 am, and ready to get up. Outside, the birds were chortling and the sun was shining, so obviously we went for a walk. And just as obviously I took my camera. You just never know what you might see.

When I was a child my parents lived in a house opposite a row on horse chestnuts, and I loved those trees: shady in summer, conkers in autumn, and glorious candles of flower in spring. We have a couple of horse chestnuts in the village, and here is one of them. Gorgeous!

Just around the corner, near the church, there was more blossom, this time on the laburnum, set off nicely by the railings. These are Grade II listed, along with some of the buildings in the Flamingoland Park which date back some time. The Park was originally the home of the Lord of the Manor, and has some interesting architecture underneath the modern accretions.

Much of the estate was sold off in 1938, and further sales happened later after the 2nd World War. The houses in the village were mostly owned by the Lord of the Manor until then, so our house, for example, only became freehold in the 1960s, and we are only the second family to own it directly. You can see some of the sale information at the Kirby Misperton History website.

Further along the road, the oilseed rape was in full flower as well. It causes quite a lot of trouble for various allergies, such as hayfever, although strangely it seems to be the one thing that does not set my own hayfever off. Anyway, it was shiny and bright in the early sun so I snapped away, but I'm afraid my camera doesn't do it justice.

For some time now I have been trying to get a picture of one of the barn owls in the area, and today I caught one of them at breakfast, being watched by a local bunny. They were a long way off, so the picture is not clear, but for now I am happy with what I did manage to get. The bird was being coy about the camera, and had its back to us; but it peeked over its shoulder and so its fate was sealed. Maybe it was worried the bunny might get a taste for small rodent instead of cabbage.

May at last

Well, dear friends, here we are in the merry month of May and time to catch up on the fortunes of those of us here in Misper Towers.

The world of work has been rather intense resulting in me neglecting my bloggerly duties; but just when you thought it was safe to return to the blogosphere (how do people know it's a sphere, and not, say, a dodecahedron?) - I emerge, blinking, from my dusty office, seeking the invigoration of fresh pixels.

Well, what has been happening? We had a rather nice rainbow drop in to celebrate the end of April.
A hasty snap was all I could manage, so apologies for the rather dodgy quality.

But, splendid as rainbows are, the real excitement is the opening of a second pub. I'm not sure if we are quite ready for the cut-throat business practices of the urban commercial environment, and this has certainly caused quite a bit of comment.

As a small village - probably no more than 250-300 drinking age adults (if you include the residential site at Flamingoland) - it seems unlikely that 2 pubs would be essential, or even viable. However, with the volume of traffic between Easter and September, the proposition changes completely. Over a million people visit in a year, and some of them are quite thirsty. Frequently their children are also thirsty, if only for sugary pop. They all usually need to be fed, and many prefer to sit down in more comfortable surroundings, particularly if it offers a large TV to amuse the young ones. So it remains to be seen whether these summer migrant flocks can sustain 2 establishments sufficiently for them to remain operational through the winter.

My own researches have been positive, however, as the new pub sells Black Sheep. Mmm.

Peaceful holiday

I hope you have had a peaceful time over the Easter holiday, whether you observe it or not. We spent it quietly, visiting friends in the village and family nearby, consuming cake and chocolate, tea and wine. The weather did not let us down - traditional holiday grey with spatterings of rain. As a result my best-laid plans vis-a vis the ice cream van did not bear fruit; when it came calling along the lane I really wanted hot chocolate and warmed hot cross buns dripping butter onto sticky hands rather than ice cream running freezing fingers through my veins. Ah well, maybe next week.

Meanwhile, the blossom is coming out on the pear tree and the hawthorn, and the fish in the garden ponds are starting to show an interest in feeding again after their long winter sleepiness. Despite the damp and grey, we have had the windows open and fresh air pouring into the house. Being able to take deep breaths of spring air is so lovely; I can almost feel the sap running through me. If I'm not careful I'll start to send out new shoots.

Time to eat!

For anyone who is interested, there is now a Kirby Misperton Kitchen vegetarian community on LiveJournal (see blogs list on this page). Those of you who fancy sharing recipes which don't involve eating things that have faces may wish to look at it.

If you do eat things with faces, that's fine too. But those recipes won't get added!

The first ice cream van of summer

I don't know about you, but when I was a child I used to listen out for the first cuckoo of spring, or watch for the first swallows. In fact, until last year watching for the swallows was a favourite pastime as they used to nest in our garage. There they would raise a brood or two, teaching them to fly, swooping down at us if we looked like going too near to the nest site, and generally entertaining us through the summer months.

In fact here is one of the little scamps, taking a break on our dustbin. Apologies for the quality of the picture - it was a hasty snap through the kitchen window. Those little chaps don't stay still for long, I can tell you.

However, that wasn't what I was going to tell you about.

Today we had our first true visitor of summer - the ice cream van. It has been a beautiful day today. Laundry has dried on the washing line, and warm and sunny weather has been enjoyed by all. With the opening of the local tourist attraction, traffic has increased exponentially along the lane, and strangers have been seen wandering through the village. But the final clinching proof was that van.

The ice cream van first came one Sunday a couple of years ago, the driver having taken a wrong turn at the roundabout. Now it's a regular on Sundays during the tourist season, and much appreciated. So we had a cornet, and felt like winter was in retreat for a while. Next week, if it comes back, I might even lash out and have a "99". Mmmm.

Paradise is in Yorkshire!

We recently started to get an organic vegetable box delivered; we used to get one years ago, but haven't had one recently. However, I finally got around to trying out the offering from Paradise Farm, a local farm which delivers boxes in this area.

Obviously this is not really an ad for Paradise Farm - although if you are local and want to try it out, I would say I think they offer a good deal. The thing is, I really like getting a veg box. Under this scheme we only get local veg, so it's seasonal; in the past, with other boxes, we did have veg shipped in from various foreign places, mainly the Netherlands. However, the thing about seasonal veg is that you need to come up with lots of ways to cook the same thing, and in the winter that tends to be root vegetables.

Personally I enjoy the challenge, and as we are all pretty fond of a good curry, it isn't too difficult to come up with 101 Ways with Swede. As Spring is making itself felt now we are starting to see other items such as rocket, wild garlic and Jerusalem artichokes.

The other benefit, apart from the alleged health one, is that I am saving money on groceries. I hadn't realised how expensive their veg was!

But I wouldn't be managing as well if it wasn't for yon t'Interweb providing lots of recipes to try. Progress, eh? This is proof it's not all bad.