Search This Blog

Saturday 25 March 2017

Lady Day

Today, March 25th, is Lady Day. Years ago, this marked the start of the year. The UK tax year starts April 6th, which was Lady Day before calendars changed. This day had great non-liturgical importance too. I remember my parents moving house on Lady Day 1959.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Day

Thursday 23 March 2017

Cowslips

The first cowslips have appeared here and, by any measure, we are now officially in spring. The clocks go forward this coming weekend.

100 sand martins (birds) have been seen in Devon. These are migrants often seen returning about now. I remember my dad telling me when he first saw these over the golf course. He died in 1987 sadly. I miss him.

Wednesday 22 March 2017

365project - a photo a day

For several years now my wife and I have (separately) taken a photo every day and submitted them to 365project. For $19.99 a year you can make the images private so only the people you choose can see them. You can then also have more albums if you want.

Some of the photos sent in are "arty", but many are just a record of ordinary life. Looking back over the years, you can see what you were doing.

Often the most mundane subject matter is popular. Some years ago I remember a photo of mine of a mole hole being widely viewed, whereas something I thought would interest many turned out not to be.

We mainly do this for a record of what we did rather than to be particularly popular. It is great fun. The secret is not to take things too seriously.

Heathers in UK gardens

Heathers are usually associated with moorland.

At this time of the year, heathers are in flower in UK gardens. This show was in a nearby garden on our small Close. 

Sadly, they do not look so good all year around. They look very good at the moment and make good ground cover.

Tuesday 21 March 2017

Martin McGuinness Dead

Martin McGuinness has died of a rare heart condition at the age of 66. In his younger days he was a key member of the IRA and wedded to violence.

In later years he was deputy first minister in Northern Ireland working with Ian Paisley and was one of the "chuckle brothers", showing that mutual respect between two very different people is possible.

I am sure to the end he was very much in favour of a united Ireland, but he came to realise votes not bullets would bring this about.  He changed, as did Ian Paisley.

My hope and prayer is that those that follow will walk in the path of peace. Jaw, jaw is always better than war, war. This applies whatever your political beliefs.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-39185899 .

Rare sunny day

We live in the last bungalow on the left overlooking the restored windmill. The windmill is nearly 200 years old. Today we have had a rare sunny day, although the rest of the week looks rainy. We are lucky to have a nice spot.

The museum, of which the windmill is a just a small part, goes on and on. It must be one of the very best local museums in the whole country. It is open from Easter to late October on Thursdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. If you visit, you may be surprised by what is there.

See http://www.burwellmuseum.org.uk/ .

Monday 20 March 2017

Visitors to Cambridge

As a famous university town, Cambridge gets a fair number of visitors. With BREXIT, I guess the money now goes even further.

This was a group of visitors from the Far East outside St Johns College. Of course, you have to take a few photos! This café, Le Pattesier, just opposite St Johns, serves decent meals at decent prices, with a smile.