Today’s picture features our neighbours Jules & Phil, and our drive guests Sarah & Clive. We have been having a morning natter for a while now, breaking the monotony of social isolation. Everyone brings their own drinks and stays 2m apart to stay within the guidelines.
The subject matter varies greatly, depending on what’s happening in our bubbles and the world in general, but just recently one topic comes up time and time again, which is the way the media portrays news stories.
Surely if we had some good news now and again it would lift peoples spirits and improve the mental health of the population. I am a firm believer that 99% of the population (irrespective of race, religion gender etc etc) are just nice, normal people.
Why does the media seem to focus some much on the remaining 1%?
Today’s picture is of the ‘Daneromi’ Trophy (from the first 2 letters of Dave, Neil, Rob and Mike). We have been playing golf together for a while, and late last year we got a little trophy which is awarded to the winner after each game.
I had a ‘purple patch’ and won 3 times on the trot, and on Monday the trophy came back to our street, but unfortunately to the house next door where Dave lives :).
Our little trophy has been living in a sanitised bag for a while. Hopefully, it will soon be able to get some fresh air.
We all play with friendly banter, and although there is a little competition, it is very good-natured. Hopefully it will come back in the near future, but judging on how I played today it may take a while. It is a strange game, where one minute you can’t do anything wrong, and the next hole it looks like your playing for the first time. Ho-hum.
So I shifted our motorhome on to the drive for a few minutes to give it a clean, but when I looked around these 2 had parked their MoHo and made themselves at home!!!
OK, so a little exaggeration……
Our dear friends Clive and Sarah found themselves stranded due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Like us, they had set off to travel around Europe, but they had planned to be away for a year, so rented out their house prior to setting off. When the chaos hit, and campsites (along with everything else in Europe) closed, they, like so many others (including us), made a dash back to the UK.
Hopefully their adventures around will be able to recommence soon, but in the meantime they are very welcome to stay with us, although I may need to check into rehab afterwards
I am no gardener, and quite un-observant normally, but I did notice lovely little flowers on a small tree we have on the front lawn.
Apparently it’s common name is a Flamingo willow, but the proper name is Salix integra ‘Hakuro-nishiki’. It is a is a deciduous shrub or small tree, with branches that droop slightly at the tips, reaching a height and spread of 2.5m. The narrow, lance-shaped leaves, to 10cm long, emerge pink in spring, maturing to variegated shades of pink, creamy-white and green before turning predominantly green as the summer progresses. Yellow catkins are borne on bare stems in spring and the stems, particularly of the new growth, turn an orange-red colour in the autumn. You can read more about it here
Here is a photo of one of the flowers, with the overall plant in the inset.
Firstly, an apology. I have missed a few days but will endeavour to catch up over the next few days.
Life has been hectic with our lounge being decorated through last week and other jobs that required doing, but thankfully my head is appearing back above the surface.
Today’s picture is of one of our chickens sitting on the roof of their smaller house, admiring the new grass growing.
One of our lock-down jobs was to give the chicken area a major renovation, which included installing a fence / gate solution to keep them in one side or the other. We have got a grass / clover / herb mix for them to munch on but they need to be patient and let it become more established, otherwise they’ll dig all the roots up.
Hopefully this will help during the wet winter months when the chicken run becomes a bit of a quagmire.
In this case, the grass really is greener on the other-side….
Our fig tree is doing rather well. It was in the garden when we moved (16 years ago), and seems pretty happy where it is situated in a quiet, sheltered area by our summerhouse.
There are over 750 known Ficus species in the world, native all across the globe.
Nearly every species of fig tree is pollinated by its own distinct species of fig wasp, each a fascinating example of co-evolution.
Although the average female fig wasp is less than two millimeters long, she must often travel tens of kilometers in less than 48 hours to lay her eggs in another fig—a truly heroic journey!
Fig trees are keystone species in many rainforests, producing fruit year round that are important food sources for thousands of animal species from bats to monkeys to birds.
Fig tree flowers are actually hidden inside the fruit, which led many early cultures to believe the plants to be flowerless.
Figs have played prominent roles in every major modern religion, including Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.
Some fig species are trees, others are vines, shrubs, and even epiphytes.
Female rhinoceros hornbills are sealed into the hollow trunks of trees to brood by their male partners, who also deliver them figs to eat through narrow crevices.
Strangler figs grow their roots downward from the tops of their host trees ultimately killing and replacing them.
A banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) can resemble a small forest thanks to the false trunks grown from its aerial prop roots. The largest one on record is growing in India and spans more than four acres.
Lots of exercise today, and we were very lucky with the weather.
Today’s photo was taken this morning when we set off on a 9km socially distanced walk with the dogs and 4 friends from home. We are very fortunate to live where we do with so many fantastic walks around. If you want to follow the route it can be found on wikiloc here
It was also really nice to catch up with friends that we haven’t seen since before we went travelling in January.
We returned home and after a well earned cuppa, said goodbye to our walking companions before I jumped in the car to play golf with 3 other friends,
A great day, but I must say I am happy to sit down this evening and slob.
Today’s post was brought about by the planning of a walk for tomorrow, but in today’s digital world, how long will they exist for?
There are apps now which have OS maps and I do use them when out and about, but it’s nice to be able to use a paper version now and again (or am I just getting old 🤣).
Anyway, mission is accomplished, and hopefully we’ll have a decent walk tomorrow without many “discussions” on which way now?