Looking Ahead – 2022

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Christine Lucas

Truthfully, I’ve been feeling rather overwhelmed and worried about what the future holds this new year. There was and still is some health concerns regarding David, and then there’s the squeeze on the cost of living here in the UK. However, I’m fed up of feeling sad and was wondering what to write for my next blog. I have to admit my previous posts have not been filled with much joy! So, I decided to write a post that looked ahead with optimism, to all the good things I’ve planned for 2022. Here’s with faith my hopes and plans for the year go ahead.

Hopefully, I’ll finally get to see Hans Zimmer Live! Booked in 2020! It’s easy to almost forget that I’d booked tickets to see this as it was supposed to be for 2021.

I love going to the theatre and have not been since 2020, so I went and booked seats for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Liverpool Empire. I’ve read the Mark Haddon book but can’t remember the synopsis. I’ll have to read the book again before watching the play!

To celebrate our 16 year anniversary, I’ve booked a few days away to The Lake District this March. Of course we are staying with Phil and Helen, the lovely proprietors of Hermiston Guest House. I hope to revisit some lakes such as Ullswater in preparation for a forthcoming YouTube project.

The Knowsley Borough of Culture celebrations, have planned a sculpture trail of 30 pairs of owls and cats in commemoration of Edward Lear who penned the famous poem The Owl and the Pussycat while staying at Knowsley Hall with the then Earl of Derby in 1871. So, I will be looking forward to following this trail as I’ve not been on a sculpture trail since the robins at Nottingham and The Snowman Trail at Manchester in 2018! It’s been too long!

Much to David’s consternation, I loved staying at the lochside cabin by Loch Venachar, The Trossach’s. So when a week in August became free for me, I just had to book and plan another swim holiday to Scotland. This time booking a rather pricey boathouse on the shore of Loch Tay. I simply can’t wait to stay at this luxurious cabin and experience some wonderful Scottish wildlife and scenery!

From https://lochtay.co.uk/lodges/osprey-lodge/

2022 also sees the 10 year anniversaries of both the passing of my father Graham, and of buying our first home. Where have those 10 years gone?

Of course I’ve lots of other plans inside my head, I wonder if any of them will be realised?

What exciting opportunities lie ahead for you in 2022?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

10 Years of RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch!

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Christine Lucas

This weekend was the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. I’ve participated since 2012, when feeding the garden birds helped me through a bereavement. Since then, I’ve seen some wonderful visitors to our urban yarden.

In 2012, two blue tits sparked my feeding frenzy and every day since then I’ve left seed out for the garden birds.

Steven the herring gull is a recent superstar of the yarden. He started visiting after the 1st lockdown in March 2020 and since then he has brought his spouse and six of his babies, along with him. He gets fed left over eggs, chicken, cat and dog food and fish. He is a very spoilt gull but my aim is to just supplement his food not be a replacement.

In 2012 I was amazed when droves of goldfinch charms began visiting the feeders. During the past years I have spent hundreds of £££s on sunflower hearts for these gorgeous and gregarious finches.

My favourite garden bird is the dunnock. Sporadically, over the years the yarden has been host to one or two dunnocks who are a joy to watch hop about the undergrowth.

Over the years swathes of starlings have alighted upon the yarden, devouring the fat balls on offer. Numbers of up to 20-30+ are not uncommon. Their delightful squabbling is a feast for the eyes.

David is a friend of the pigeon, once war hero, now lowly street scavenger. Hoppy was a prima donna among the pigeon superstars who frequented our yarden. Sadly she passed away in 2021 but her memory lives on to this day. She is buried under the honeysuckle and this spring will become a beautiful crocus.

This January 2022, the yarden has been eerily silent. Where there were large charms of goldfinches feasting on sunflower hearts, only a lone bachelor visits. I’m not sure what has happened to my visitors? Is it the impact of the avian flu epidemic or have they just found better feeding grounds? Sadly, I am not so excited about this years RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, though being my 10th anniversary, I should be celebrating. Here’s the data from my 2022 Birdwatch.

I did the count 11am to 12noon on Sunday 30 January 2022. The weather was cloudy but mild and then gradually became calm and sunny. It was a very quiet garden birdwatch. Over the hour all that visited were the regular pigeons, Steven the gull and a curious magpie who was on the look out for monkey nuts. I knew this years birdwatch would be my worst to date, there just isn’t the variety that usually visits, which makes me feel sad. A lone goldfinch, robin and two blue tits all visited afterwards, which didn’t sweeten the mood.

If you participated in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, how did your count go?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

A Year in Photos – 2021

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Christine Lucas

I can’t quite believe it’s that time again, time to sit down and reflect on the past year. Though we have had far more freedoms than 2020, sadly Covid-19 is still hanging around and affecting daily life, be that buses not running, Asda delivery being three hours late to appointments being rescheduled. In some ways 2021 has been far more stressful than 2020, with concerns over David’s health. However, we have both tried to use our time together wisely. Like anyone’s year, we have had some ups and downs, from pet finches passing away to our boiler breaking, laughing during family games nights and silly fun during the summer in our £3 paddle pool. Below, find 12 pictures from my 2021.

January:

Our 2021 got off to a great start. Just before lockdown three was announced, David and I took a trip to Formby Beach with Riley and blew away the new year cobwebs!

February:

February was a slow month. Though I didn’t actively participate in Country Walking’s #walk1000miles this year, I did take daily walks. On a cold February day, I dragged a less enthused David and a more excitable Riley to our local park, Sefton to feed the coots and gulls.

March:

Though the UK was still in lockdown during March, Liverpool hosted River of Light, a trail of 11 illuminated art works dotted along the waterfront. David and I, with Riley took in some of the sculptures.

April:

To our sadness our boiler decided to give up the ghost and broke in April. It beeped at us scarily, so we switched it off and hunted for a new one. We had had this boiler since we bought the house in 2012 and it had been used by its previous owners, so it was time for an overhaul. It took us three weeks to decided on a new replacement but ‘touch wood’ everything has been working smoothly since it’s installation.

May:

Eager to restart my cold water swimming season, come the Spring Bank Holiday, David and I took a two hour drive to Snowdonia, for my first swim at Llyn Gwynant!

June:

Though June is undoubtedly all about The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild, June for me was a very traumatic month. Five years on from helping Hoppy the pigeon, and seeing her regularly since then, we took her in a second time after noticing she had become sluggish and was having difficulty flying. We fought for two long weeks to treat Hoppy but sadly we couldn’t save her, and she quietly passed away 😥 I shed many tears for this beautiful soul. She is now resting under the honeysuckle in our yarden.

July:

I revisited the Anglican Cathedral’s art instillation of thousands of Peace Doves. Each dove had a message of love or remembrance written on it. Many of the art exhibits I’ve visited this year have had light central to their displays. From the dark days of 2020 to an emergence of light in 2021?

August:

August is David’s birth month and we spent his birthday walking along the paths of RSPB Leighton Moss. We never saw the bearded tits but we did have a nice walk in nature and David tried out his new telephoto lens.

September:

During the Covid restrictions of 2020, I had to cancel my much awaited trip to the Trossachs. Luckily, we managed to book for 2021 and in hindsight we had much better weather! I took in over 10 swims and we watched some beautiful sunsets from the loch-side cabin. It was perfect!

October:

October is my birthday month and since it’s around Halloween, I’ve always loved this time of year. For my obligatory birthday swim, I took in the tremendously inspiring Snowdon Massif from the cold waters of Llynnay Mymbyr.

November:

David and I managed to get in another short break before the end of the year, and spent a few days in the Lake District. As the weather wasn’t great on our journey north, we took in a visit to Safari Zoo and saw one of my favourite animals, the red panda!

December:

For the past few years I have tried to do a Christmas swim but been unable to make plans. Thankfully, this year I managed to get to a very cold, misty but beautiful Bassenthwaite Lake and have my first swim in December. It was baltic!