C is for cycling

 

Yes, I know cycling isn't really an autumn word but it's a topical word here in Lincolnshire as the first couple of stages of the Tour of Britain are in this county and yesterday the race came through Caistor.

For various complicated reasons I couldn't watch in Caistor but I went to the nearby village of Waddingham and sat (on my trundle truck) on the village green to watch.  We (my cousin R and I) were there about half an hour early as a lot of roads were closed.  We could neither of us believe how many police motorcycles came through.  Everything was very light hearted and fun: however one highlight was a white van whose driver had ignored the road closure signs and driven through the village.  A motorcycle cop stopped hm and an argument developed between White Van Man and the bobby.  White Van Man wanted to go through and make a delivery but Motorcycle Cop was having none of it and, despite being very irate, White Van Man had no choice and had to get off the road.  Maybe the sniggers of the crowd weren't to his liking either but the cool courtesy of the cop was commendable.  (Got a few "C" words in there - did you notice?)

But R and I were not there to witness to how wonderful our policemen are: we'd come to see the race.  It's slightly "blink and you miss them" as they whizz past.  Less than a minute between the first and last of 108 riders.  They'd already been up and down a lot of hills on the Lincolnshire Wolds and they were heading back to Lincoln.  There they rode up Steep Hill which is just what it says, and it is cobbled.  

I was glad to make my way back to the car and then on to a local hostelry where R treated me to lunch.

A pretty good day out.

Exit August

 

Phew, what a scorcher!  Our hottest day here was 13th August at 35C, well short of the 40C I recorded on 19th July 2022 but the heat has been much more prolonged this year.  Most of the cereal harvest was harvested in July, weeks ahead of the usual time.  And it has been much too hot to sit in the garden except in the evenings.  

But I have managed to do a few things.  I had planned days out at nature reserves and National Trust properties but couldn't risk the heat.  The best thing has been restarting swimming - we had to stop when oil prices meant the pool couldn't be heated and somehow we hadn't restarted but we have now - I've swum four times during August.

I've bought a new Trundle Truck.  This is a folding jobby which I will be able to take on some public transport, including trains.  I'm keeping the old one too as that is more robust and better suited to nipping around Caistor.

I've met with friends for coffee or lunch on eight occasions.  I'm definitely a lady wot lunches!

I went to a barbecue to celebrate the marriage of D & S.  I babysat D's brothers the night he was born over thirty eight years ago.  He was very ill and needed urgent surgery as soon as he was born so this was an occasion of real joy.

And I am again in demand to lead worship each Sunday.  It's the third time I have covered when this particular group has been without a regular vicar and I really queried if they wouldn't prefer a different priest rather than an old crock like me.  They are lovely: someone comes to help me carry my gear from the car and they put several chairs in strategic places so I can sit down when I want to.  In several churches they put a table so that I don't need to go up and down steps to the usual altar.  Preaching still brings me deep joy and I thank God for the care, appreciation and generosity of these lovely congregations.

Normanby Hall and Park

It's a long time since I went to Normanby Park.  There are lots of villages in Lincolnshire which are called Normanby and this one is near Scunthorpe.  Today has been a near perfect day so my trundle truck and I paid a visit.

Normanby Hall is an elegant mansion built around 1825.  It stands in a large park with wonderful, shapely, mature trees which have ample space to show off their beauty.  

One of the best things (from my point of view) is the robust paths through some of the woodland.  It is a real treat to be able to ride my trundle truck through woods.  The paths have a hard, man-made surface which means that even if there has been rain, they can still give a wonderful opportunity to wheelchair and mobility scooter users.

This bit is for Kirsten from "Letter from home".  Recently she wrote about some cardoons which had been saved from the builders who are making alterations to her house.  I thought she might like to see the wonderful specimens being grown at Normanby.  

I will be going back to Normanby as I have bought a season ticket but I feel slightly miffed.  They don't have single person tickets, only doubles.  I feel this is another singles "tax".

COWS

 No, not that sort of cows! Companions On the Wolds, if you please.  

This group has been running for several years and started as a social group for widows.    Although I am not a widow, I tag along as a chaplain.  Not much pastoring is needed from me as these lovely ladies take the newly bereaved under their wings and do mutual caring, but still, I think I am useful to have around.  

They meet monthly.  A meal is often part of the programme but sometimes they do crafts or go on visits.  Pottery painting and a garden visit are on the agenda in the next few months but today we just went to the local golf club for lunch.  

There's a Knit and Natter group as an off shoot as well.  The K & N group also includes quite a few ladies who aren't widows.  I don't often go to their meetings but I do knit for them.  They send items to various charities.  My particular interest is the Salvation Army in their work with homeless people.  I knit scarves for them, bu others knit blankets, teddies, and anything else we are asked for.

A lovely day out

a small section of the beach

Every year I visit the seals at Donna Nook.  It's one of their favourite breeding grounds and it's a National Nature Reserve managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.  It's a bleak place, always cold with sad looking mud flats but the seals find it wonderful.

pups investigating each other

The first time I went I took binoculars as I wanted to be sure of seeing at least one seal.  I needn't have bothered.  According to last week's pupdate there are at least 1499 pups, 1522 cows and 495 bulls on the beach at the moment.  I couldn't see them all but I could see far more than I could count.

They have white fur when they are born although initially it is yellow with amniotic fluid.  The mother loses up to half her bodyweight feeding her pup so they never have twins.     

Pup feeding from mum.

The site is very well managed with lots of wardens to answer questions.  There's a double fence between humans and seals so we can't touch them and they can't bite us.

And there's a bacon butty and soup wagon to create a perfect end to a freezing cold visit!

Curiositeas.

 

So many High Street shops have closed but I've noticed one type of establishment continues to flourish, and that's small, independent eateries.   We've got a lovely one in Brigg called Shipley's Curiositeas.  It's a tea room and cake parlour (that's their own description). 

Curiositeas has gloriously kitsch decor.  Bunting, old china cabinets, lacy tablecloths and wonderfully mismatched china all set the scene for some great local food.  It tend to appeals to an older clientele and both staff and customers are friendly and chatty.

Yesterday I met with a cousin and we went to Curiositeas for a lovely relaxed lunch.  We each had salad followed by Lincolnshire Plum Bread with cheese but we could have had soup, sandwiches, toasties, baked potatoes and fantastic cakes.  There's nothing very fancy or "messed about", just simple home cooking beautifully served.

When I first retired Shipley's was a greengrocer's but it struggled to compete with the likes of Tesco.  Shipley's Curiositeas has a special place in Brigg.  Long may it serve.

Bomber County

During WW2 Lincolnshire became known as Bomber County as so many bombing sorties were flown from RAF stations in the county.  About twenty years ago the (then) Lord Lieutenant felt that there ought to be a memorial in Lincolnshire to the courage of the RAF personnel who served here.  The International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln is his lasting legacy.  

I've wanted to visit the memorial since it opened in 2017 but never got around to it but yesterday was the day.  I went with a women's group and we had a tour of the site.  I've no doubt that I'll be writing more about the centre but I wanted to share a few photos.  Some are mine, some from other sources where I would not be able to do the subject justice.  

The memorial stands on a hillside overlooking the city of Lincoln.  Lincoln’s Cathedral provided a landmark for crews both leaving and returning from missions and, for those who failed to return, the Cathedral was often their last image of home.  I wanted to show a view of the city and of some of the memorial poppies.  

This photograph isn't mine but was taken from the air.  The aircraft outlined is a Lancaster bomber, used extensively from the county's airfield's during the war.  The red bits are ceramic poppies.

The dominant feature of the memorial is the spire.  It is surrounded by walls engraved with the names of the almost 58,000 men and women who lost their lives serving in or supporting Bomber Command.  

Ice Cream

 I'm a Companion on the Wolds (COW)!  This is a group loosely organised by the church to offer companionship to women who have been widowed. (I'm just a pastor for the group.) There are about fifteen members and they meet roughly monthly.

Last month we had a very interesting tour around a beehive making factory.  Yesterday we met at a local ice cream parlour where the ice cream is made on the premises.  They have a small cafe where we had soups and sarnies and then we had a talk on ice cream making.  Even better we sampled about eight ice creams.  There was coconut, wold gold, mango, fruit of the forest, tiramisu, rum and raisin and I can't remember the rest.  

I'll be going back!

Christmas in June

 Why wait to have Christmas in July?  Let's have Christmas in June!

Last Christmas my friend E and I decided to have a special day out rather than give each other Christmas presents.  We both have more than enough "stuff" so it seemed like a good idea.

One of the great things about it is that we gave each other the gift of anticipation.  For six months we have talked about our day, thought about it and come up with great ideas.  

We decided to go to Eden Hall, a day spa in Nottinghamshire.  It's many years since I went although E went a few years ago with one of her daughters.  It's about an hour's drive from home.  We decided that a little pampering wouldn't come amiss.  

Neither of us would have spent £119 on the other's Christmas present but this seemed worthwhile.  £119 was the basic cost of the day but I also treated myself to a massage and we each had drinks.  

Will we have a treat as our Christmas presents to each other next year?  Absolutely!

Q is for Quite close to home

I'm hoping to go on a cruise some time in the next couple of years so I've decided not to go away for holidays whilst I am saving.  In the mean time, I am having days out "quite close to home".  (OK, I'm being "creative" about my alphabet!)

Gardens at Gunby Hall

I'm a member of the Scottish National Trust, which might seem a bit odd for a Lincolnshire Lass like myself but the National Trust would charge me £91.20 while the Scottish National Trust asks only £62.40.  I can use my Scottish membership at English properties: the only thing I don't get is a members' handbook.  I'll cope!

The lake at Clumber

There are only two suitable National Trust properties "quite close to home" with Gunby Hall being 36 miles away and Clumber Park being 44 miles.  I say "suitable" because there is little point in my going to properties where I can't use my trundle truck.  I have visited both this year and will probably go back.

Far Ings Nature Reserve

I'm also a member of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and visit some of their reserves.  These are usually free to visit although some charge parking.  And I've visited other nature reserves too.

Sunflowers at Baumber

Then there are privately owned properties like Baumber Walled Garden.  That's free but no picnics etc allowed.  That's fair enough - they have a cafe and need to make their costs somehow!

So, I manage to get days out, usually just for the cost of my petrol and I take my picnic and flasks.  

And my knitting

Then I sit and people-watch and doubtless people smile when they see a dotty old lady knitting, and I hope they see the kindly smile on my face too.

H is for Humber Bridge

 

I've driven over it, walked over it, ridden my trundle truck over it and sponsored numerous charity pram pushers to cross it.  It's nearly a mile and a half long and when it was opened in 1981 it was the longest single-span road suspension bridge in the world.  (It is now the twelfth longest.)  

I realised recently that I had never been under it. So I went to visit it again today.  I parked at Far Ings Nature Reserve and from there got on to the top of the levee running either side of the estuary.  After a week of glorious sunshine, that was the moment it started to rain!  Not a deluge, just a drizzle.  Enough to soak me.   But I was determined to go under the bridge.  So I did.  But not for long.  I thought there might be a cafe with a bacon buttie at Far Ings.

Far Ings is a national nature reserve managed by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.  There are reedbeds, meadow and scrub, freshwater and saltwater.  It's on a major east/west migratory route for birds and it's a breeding site for numerous species including kingfishers, bittern, marsh harrier, bearded tit, Cetti's warbler,  and barn owl.

I couldn't see any of those today as I just sat in the viewing room at the visitors' centre to keep dry.  But there was no cafe or a bacon buttie.

Instead I went to the Humber Bridge Garden Centre which is in an old brickworks.  The ornamental walls are built of local pantiles.  Aren't they lovely? 

And the bacon buttie I had there was lovely too.  

Donna Nook

 I've had one of my favourite days out last week.  I went to Donna Nook.

This little chap is just a few minutes old and is still stained yellow

At first sight Donna Nook isn't very appealing.  It's an RAF range on a salt marsh next to the North Sea.  Salt marshes next to the North Sea have very limited appeal in November!  Or rather they have very little appeal for humans.  Halichoerus grypus thinks it absolutely wonderful!

Halichoerus grypus?  That's the hook-nosed sea pig or grey seal.  Donna Nook is a favourite birthing site with over 2000 seals born last year.  The site is managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and, thanks to their efforts, seals and humans co-exist very peacefully.

There's a double fence between humans and seals and the seals seem to regard homo sapiens as being provided for their entertainment.  There's less than a metre between them and us, necessary to stop us touching them (our smell on a seal pup might make its mother abandon it) and to stop them biting us (their teeth are like those of dogs).  

Quirky Garden

 Not from here is the Walled Garden at Baumber.  It's one of the quirkiest gardens I've ever visited.  

The tea room and snack shack are both built from reclaimed doors and windows.

Despite being several miles from the sea there are beach huts and a boat.

And, despite being thousands of miles from Egypt there's a Pharaoh and a crocodile.

I shall be going back very soon!

Enjoyment and Grief

 Hi Everyone!

It’s time I did another post.  I hope you are all fit and well as can be. 

The world’s a funny place at the moment.  Global warming is giving us a few problems as is the conflict in Ukraine.  Everything is going up: petrol, energy, food, but let’s not dwell on that.  I’ll do my best to make you all feel better in yourselves1

OK, the enjoyment.  This came about because at long last I took my good friend the vicar for a day out.  We went somewhere I hadn’t been for about forty years – our county show in Lincolnshire.  I drove to the vicar’s so she could take her car along with her mobility scooter.  We arrived at the showground by 7.40am which enabled us to park right by the entrance.  Already a queue was forming but we were allowed in thanks to the other very good friend who gave me free entry tickets.  The first thing the vicar wanted was a bacon buttie (she always gets her priorities right).  As she may tell you, I never refuse food!  Then we decided to split for a couple of hours.  She wanted to go shopping and to look around the many, many stalls and exhibitions.  I went to look at the animals.  With it being a red-hot day we both had water with us.  While we went our separate ways, I met another good friend who had arranged two members badges for me and the vicar so we could get free food and drink in a posh part of the showground.  The vicar had a glass of water, I had a coffee but it was such a nice thought and we could mingle with the gentry!

After six hours in the blistering heat, I knew the vicar must have had enough so we made tracks for home.  I do hope the vicar enjoyed her day out with me as much as I enjoyed her company.  Oh dear. There I go again, being nice to her!

Now to the grief.  Well, she has now stopped saying things about my hair or lack of it and now she’s on her high horse about my eating habits.  Can you tell me what’s wrong with porridge with a nice slice of corned beef on it to give it some oomph?  Or may porridge with (yummy, yummy) barbecue sauce on? 

My cooking skills came to the fore last week when I got out my biggest pan and put a pack of low-fat mince in and seared it.  (Can you see my culinary terminology is improving?)  I added water and a Stock Pot plus an Oxo, three onions, two shallots, (both chopped of course) broad beans, peas, mange tout peas, swede, leeks, thirty-nine small new spuds, a tin of sweetcorn, a vegetable Cuppasoup, onion gravy granules, runner beans, an apple, and three glugs of Jamieson’s whisky and then simmered it thirty minutes.  When it was ready 1 got two slices of seeded bread and poured the mixture over.  Oh, what a delight for the taste buds!  And the best part was I had enough for five more servings.  If any of you would like to pop in to sample my culinary efforts it’s in boxes in the freezer.  Sorry to tell you, the vicar doesn’t think much of my cooking.  I think it’s unique!  (Note from the vicar: I hope it is unique!)

Now when I visit my friend, she gives me a menu of three or four items to choose from.  What a kind person she is.  I’ve been nice to her again – that’s twice in one post!).  I’ll have to be careful.  She always has the upper hand anyway but in being nice, I am digging myself a big hole which I might not be able to get out of.  We still chat every morning, mainly to check we’re both still breathing.

Well, I hope I’ve made you all smile: happiness is a cure for most things but if that doesn’t work the next things are all FREE – fresh air, exercise and God’s wine (water).  Get plenty of these and it will help you to have a long and fruitful life.  Take care, look after your neighbours.  And, Vicar, enjoy my niceness while it lasts.

God bless you all.  That’s you as well, Vicar

 

Jack

Into July

 

One thing I forgot to comment on in my last post was blogging itself.  Back in May I decided to give myself a kick up the proverbial and I resolved to do twenty posts before the end of June.  Well, I managed seventeen.  Not Bad but Could Do Better.

My July hopes are directed towards crafting and making things.  I've usually got my Christmas cards made by the end of July so that has to be a priority.  I've got a day booked to make cards in company with my cousin and I'm looking forward to that.  

I also want to make a few Christmas presents and to build up a small stash of gifts for when I need a quick "Thank You" or "Happy Birthday" or whatever.  I've been sorting the room where I sew so now I want to enjoy the fruits of my labours.  There is still, however, more sorting to be done.  

A few days out would be great.  I want to get out before the school summer holidays.  Children are great but they can't cope with the idea that while they stand staring at my trundle truck I can't move!  It may be that I will be called for surgery before long so if I'm having days out they need to be soon.

I've got a session booked with my spiritual counsellor.  I haven't seen him since before the pandemic and I have much to reflect on.  These last sixteen months have been "gift time".  However, covid infection rates are rising again and, although I have been fully vaccinated, I still feel very vulnerable so I may face further seclusion which I want to use well.  

And maybe I can keep up the blogging momentum!

That was June!

 I keep hearing about extreme hot weather in various parts of the world but Lincolnshire has missed out on the heat - I had the heating on for a brief period this morning as I was so uncomfortable.  

But June has been quite a good month.  We had our annual family picnic at Clumber Part.  Four more people had planned to come but chickened out because the weather forecast was foul.   As it happened the five of us and Zola the dog didn't see any rain.  

My weight loss has continued at about a pound a week so I am happy about that.  I haven't tried to walk much as I await surgery but as yet I don't know when that will be.  

I've been very busy decluttering and have disposed (by various means) of six hundred items since March so the house is losing weight as well!  

The garden is flourishing thanks to You Know Who.  At the moment I'm harvesting just spring onions and salad leaves but soon there will be more.  Yum!!

I've been venturing out a little more and have visited friends as well as going to a few shops.  I had the privilege of taking the funeral of an old schoolfriend's mum.  This lady was wonderful and she used to hide us in her house when we bunked off cross country running all those years ago.    What's more she lived next to the headmistress!  The funeral was my  thank you after all these years.  

I also helped a couple re-affirm their vows after twenty years of marriage.  And at the same time I blessed their baby granddaughter who has a great grandad you may have heard of - Jack!  

Early to bed and early to rise . . .

 . . . can be pretty boring!

I'm an extreme lark.  I usually wake sometime around 4am and when I wake I really am totally awake.  In the summer I make myself stay in bed until at least 5am but in the summer I get up any time after 4am.  In some ways it's great.  I get loads done before most people are even conscious, but sometimes it feels as though I have to wait a very long time for the rest of the world to have its essential first cup of coffee.

This morning I was up at 4.05am, a time which many people think shouldn't exist.  I sorted my finances, did a few surveys, entered 189 competitions, answered my e mails and then thought about other things to do.  

I decided to go to Brigg.  In fact I was in Brigg by 7.30am.  A quick look around the fruit stall on the market and a visit to the hole-in-the-wall and I was ready for anything but the shops weren't open.  Hmm.  So I decided to go for a (trundle truck) ride along the tow path.

Even in the town centre bushes and wild flowers have been allowed to grow but the cut grass shows them to perfection. 

In the quiet morning I could see the beauty around me.  I felt this native elderflower was as gorgeous as any foreign rhododendron.

The wild roses are at their peak at the moment and this bush flowered generously.  

I thought this gentleman had a very good idea taking advantage of the picnic table as he enjoyed a flask of coffee,  

And I was still able to join the queue waiting for Lidl to open and eight.

And have a very nice snooze after my lunch.

Places

Gunby Hall

This morning I read a post by Sue at My Quiet Life in Suffolk which I thought was brilliant.  She wrote about tennis (not interested in that, I'm afraid) but then she gave a list of local places she hopes to visit in the near future.  Sue describes herself as proud of being Suffolk born and bred and she knows her county really well.  It will be interesting to see her reports of the places she visits and maybe if I plan a holiday in Suffolk, to re-read her many posts about local places of interest.

Clumber Park

Well, I'm proud of being a Yellow Belly, - in other words I'm proud of being Lincolnshire born and bred.  I know my county pretty well and earlier this year I made a list of local places of interest which I hope to visit before too long.  

Gunby Hall

Clumber Park

 Elsham Hall Gardens

Thornton Abbey

Normanby Hall

Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve

Whisby Nature Reserve

Cleethorpes, 

Baumber Walled Garden.

All these have areas which can be visited on my trundle truck but some have areas which will be inaccessible to me.  Some of these I have been to before, some will be new to me.  I wonder if I can visit them all before the end of the year?

A Bit of a Treat

 

 

This could be a long, lonely winter so I need to take good care of myself.  I can't visit friends but I can visit places.  On Monday I visited Gunby Hall Gardens.

 The NT is trying to make open spaces available and safe so at the moment one has to prebook to visit their properties.  I went to Clumber Park a couple of months ago and Gunby is the other place within reasonable distance.  Gunby is a lovely place less than an hour's drive away.

I had a pootle around the gardens on my trundle truck.  Truth to tell they would have been even lovelier a few weeks ago but they are still pretty good.   

Much of the work is done by volunteer gardeners although the NT has professional staff as well. 

There's a one way system and many areas are completely roped off.  Wouldn't it be delightful to sit in this little shelter and enjoy the garden!

I enjoyed my day but I think I shall leave my next visit for covid free times.  People are very kind and no-one tried to make me feel uncomfortable on my scooter when I was in the way but I found it hard to relax.  I'd hoped to sit and people-watch but there were very few benches.  

I've got an idea of somewhere to visit next month which has very wide, open spaces.  

Central Bark

I went to Clumber Park today - the first time I have been more than three miles from home in over 130 days.  Clumber is a delightful National Trust property about forty miles away.

Most of the time I just sat and people watched.  Or bird watched.  Or sewed.

There were plenty of birds to watch, especially waterfowl.

People kept a good distance and behaved sensibly

There were beautiful flowers even in the kitchen garden

This one's for Rambler.  And Benji.

And I was amused to find a new dog-friendly cafe