Day Twenty-four: It’s Christmas Eve, my favourite time of the year! I still feel all the excitement for the day before Christmas as I did as a child.
There’s nothing better than to sing Carols around this time of year, which is why we attended the recent Carol Service at the local church. It was a bit different from services I remembered but still a nice way to celebrate the season.
How will you be marking this exciting day?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
Day Thirteen: Today’s photo prompt is Christmas movie. There are so many Christmas movies that I found it hard to pin it to just one. So I decided to pick two.
Love Actually
All forms of love are in this feel good movie from 2003. There’s young love to unrequited love and even love betrayed. With a stellar cast and excellent soundtrack, what’s not to love about this film?
Krampus
Now to the extreme with this 2015 fantasy horror/comedy starring Toni Collette. Krampus is the demonic opposite to the giving St Nicholas. Whilst St Nick doles out gifts to those who have been good, Krampus visits those who have been bad! I enjoyed this film for its mock horror.
What are your favourite Christmas movies
Thanks for tuning in,
Christine x
Phew! These weeks come around quick! It’s time for another Sunday Sevens. Thanks to Natalie at Threads and bobbins for creating the series. 🙂
Upcoming Event:
Dippy on Tour – Birmingham 2018
On Tuesday I booked tickets to see Dippy the Diplodocus on tour at Birmingham’s Museum and Art Gallery. The ticketed event is free but booking is essential. Dippy was the centrepiece to the entrance hall of London’s Natural History Museum since the 1970’s. Recently the skeleton has been replaced by the inspirational skeleton of Blue Whale, Hope. David and I are booked to visit Dippy this August. I particularly liked the comment on Birmingham Museum’s page regarding this event: Not all dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago. One group survived and evolved into the birds we know today. It made me happy that David and I have 10 healthy dinosaurs in our aviary! 🙂
Snow:
On Thursday we awoke to a pleasant surprise here in Liverpool. It had snowed during the night and continued throughout the morning, though the snow was gone by lunch-time. 😦 While it snowed I took a video of the visiting birds to our yarden. Recently, we have not seen as many small birds as usual. I hope the predation of cats is not deterring them. 😦
#walk1000miles:
Christine and Riley at the park
This week I’ve managed to walk 36 miles. Bringing my annual total to 362 miles. On Friday David and I took Riley on a good 45 minute walk around the local park. Even the rain didn’t deter the fun we had!
Beauty:
This weekend, while David and I were shopping for Mother’s Day gifts, I spied rainbow roses on sale at a market stall. I had seen bouquets of these rainbow roses online but never in the shops. David kindly purchased one for me. I just can’t stop looking at it. It’s so pretty!
Terracotta Warriors – at World Museum Liverpool:
Terracotta Warriors – Liverpool
This Saturday, we had tickets to see the terracotta warriors event at Liverpool’s World Museum. I was very excited to see this much anticipated event. However on the day we managed to sleep in! (Ooh!), though not too much! We were lucky to have plenty of time to get to the museum! Our visit was for the 10am showing and thankfully all went smoothly and we got to the event in time.
We watched a short video introducing the history and culture of China before the doors opened and we were allowed to see the exhibition. I have to praise the organisation as though we did not dawdle, we were not rushed through the displays of artifacts dating back some 2000 years. There was a lot of information to take in. I can see myself visiting again. Have you visited the event? Even visited the actual site in the Shaanxi province? Do share your experiences.
Mother’s Day:
In celebration of Mothering Sunday, David and I both visited our mums. However we also took in a visit to the family dogs as well. We walked Riley 1.5 miles on Crosby Beach and then visited Bennie, David’s doggie nephew. I had recently purchased two Kong Squeezz Zoo toys for Riley and Bennie, as the last toy we gave Bennie, he chewed to pieces! I hope this toy fares a bit better!
So, that was my week, how was yours?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
By no means is this post sponsored by Haith’s – Bird Food Specialists since 1937. However, after previously testing their wild bird food, (you can read all about that here). I decided to purchase some of their foods for our indoor aviary, which houses seven finches, with two in the ‘naughty’ cage! Overall we have a mix of nine foreign finches.
We regularly offer millet sprays to our birds. We usually buy Chinese millet from a local pet store. On perusing Haith’s Cage and Aviary website, I spied French red Anjou millet sprays. Though a little more expensive than the Chinese millet I was won over by their deep red colour.
Haith’s delivery is supper fast. On receipt of my goods, I couldn’t wait to give the finches their first taste of the red Anjou millet. Needless to say the new millet went down a treat!
With two of our ladies laying eggs at present (in rather unsuitable places I may add), I purchased Haith’s foreign finch tonic food. This blend is to support staple foods and is enriched with nutritious seeds to help with a balanced diet. Like their wild bird seed, the foreign finch food came SUPERCLEAN™. You can read more about Haith’s cleaning process here.
To help with digestion and aid in egg production I also purchased some granulated charcoal.
We are very happy with the purchased products from Haith’s. The birds are loving the new tonic seed and red Anjou millet. I will definitely purchase these items again from Haith’s in future.
Thanks to David for taking the pictures!
Christine x
Happy New Year from Christine, David and Artie!
Here’s the annual video of our memorable moments of 2017!
I must say 2017 has been a wonderful year! From joining in #walk1000miles, to seeing Hans Zimmer at the Liverpool Echo Arena. We may have had our sad moments but the happy times more than compensated for them. The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Day Wild was indeed wild, with barefoot beach walks and making our first elder-flower champagne. We visited new nature reserves and of course no year would be complete without a wild swim or two.
I want to thank you all for coming on the journey with me!
I wish you good health, wealth and happiness in 2018.
Thanks for all your support,
Christine x
Recently a friend shared a picture of Red Pandas being fed grapes on my Facebook wall. It made me reminiscent of when I fed Red Pandas in 2010 at Paradise Wildlife Park. I paid £99 for 30 minutes with their then Red Pandas, Ros and TJ. So I decided to write a post about the experience.
Feeding a Red Panda
Looking back at the memory I believe I was very fortunate to have got so close to one of my favourite animals. As you can imagine the 30 minutes went past so quickly. Part of the experience was to collect the pandas’ dinner, a bowl of fruit, vegetables, pellets and panda cake, which is a mixture of essential nutrients added to their meals. We then visited the Red Panda enclosure. The Red Panda’s habitat had tall trees in which they could rest among the boughs or seek privacy from one of their nest boxes on a purposely built platform.
On our arrival both Red Pandas were looking eagerly for their lunch. It gave me such a buzz seeing both cute faces peering down at me. Ros seemed more used to human contact than TJ, who was much more reserved.
Feeding Red Pandas
While I fed each panda, the zoo keeper, Matt gave informative facts about Red Pandas, where they come from etc. I was surprised to learn that they have adverse effects to anesthetic, so any operation carries a higher risk for Red Pandas.
After feeding slices of pears and apples to the pandas, it was time for them to have their favourite food, young shoots of bamboo! I held the leafy branch up to TJ while Ros bravely came down to feast on the lower leaves. I even got to stroke Ros. I was ecstatic! I had read before the encounter that touching was not allowed, but I was offered the chance to feel how coarse and dense a Red Panda’s fur really is. They need the insulation for the cold climes of the Himalayas.
Feeding bamboo to Red Pandas
Stroking a Red Panda
More recently there are many other UK zoos and wildlife parks offering the chance to meet their Red Pandas. Paradise Park in Cornwall have a similar experience where the Red Pandas can even sit happily on your lap. Something to think about in the future. A possible present for me next year David? :p
I hope you have enjoyed my reminiscing? Has there been a time when you came face to face with your favourite animal? Do share your experiences with us below.
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
P.S. If you are interested in more information on the Red Panda, a past post, My Love for the Red Panda, has many facts about the history of the Red Panda, anatomy and conservation.
Today’s Sunday Sevens (devised by Natalie at Theads and Bobbins), will be a mishmash of pictures and info. I hope you don’t mind?
Work: This week has been heavy on the workload. With only working 18 hours a week, a full days work is squashed into just 3-4 hours daily. Feeling slightly under the weather and tired has made for a hard week to get through. However spirits were high at the centre I work at, as they celebrated 40 years since their opening. As part of their celebrations a local artist George Brooks was commissioned to draw caricatures of staff and people who access the day centre. Here’s my mug shot!
#walk1000miles: While in previous weeks I have been breaking my own record mileage. This week I have found less time, nor the inclination to do much than the bare minimum. My mileage for this week has been 26 miles bringing my annual total to 683 miles. Not bad but I hope to do better this following week.
New Life: For the past three weeks our blue-faced parrot finches have been laying and sitting on eggs. At first there were eight eggs laid. Then as the weeks progressed they threw a few eggs out of the nest. On Thursday David was replenishing their food and water when he stooped to have a look into the nest. ‘There’s a baby!’ he whispered.
Baby Blue-faced Parrot Finch
‘What?’ I asked disbelieving. David nodded for me to have a look and I gazed at a tiny, naked creature writhing about the eggs. Even though the baby was blind its bulbous black eyes seemed to protrude from its head. I still can’t quite believe that our finches have had a baby. I wonder what the future will hold for the little nestling and whether there will be any siblings?
An update: Sadly our little nestling only survived two days before we found it dead. RIP little one. 😥
Metamorphosis: What with hatching eggs, fledged goldfinches, pigeons and starlings visiting the feeders, it has all been about the young ones this week! Summer is amazing for seeing new life! I recently noticed a chrysalis attached to a jasmine leaf. We could see the colour of the butterfly through the transparent casing. About two weeks ago on the very same plant I had taken a picture of a green caterpillar. The chrysalis would be the next stage of the metamorphosis!
On Friday during our daily perusal of the yarden David noticed that the chrysalis was empty and the poor, newly emerged butterfly, a large white was sitting on the floor. We picked it up and placed it on a buddleia.
We noticed it had a crumpled wing and I later read that if a newly emerged butterfly ended up on the floor, it could reduce its chance of having pristine wings. It takes a day for the wings to harden and take shape. I hope that our new friend hasn’t damaged its chances of survival. I also noticed that it had just one antenna. I read that it could have been due to a deformity in the chrysalis. The antenna helps determine smell and balance. We left the new butterfly clinging to the biddleia. Hopefully it will be able to warm its wings, the crumple unfold and be able to feed and go on its merry way. Only time will tell.
Another update: This one a little happier, (though only a little). The large white butterfly is still with us. It moved from the buddleia to the floor again, though I did see a white butterfly flutter about the rockery plants earlier in the day. Whether that was our little friend I don’t know. David took the butterfly indoors and fed it sugar/water solution. David noticed that one antennae is under developed and that the butterfly does not have control of one of its front legs. The prognosis for survival is poor, but we shall keep an eye on the butterfly and keep feeding sugar/water. That is all we can do sadly.
I was reading up on metamorphosis and what happens inside a chrysalis. Enzymes are released dissolving tissue but keeping essential organs before remodeling begins. National Geographic have an interesting report on 3D scanning of the process. You can read it here.
Book I am reading: I’ve finally picked up Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize winner, The Goldfinch. I’m only a few pages into the narrative but so far I am enjoying Tartt’s writing style. Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?
The Yarden: To cheer myself up I decided to visit a local garden centre and purchase some perennials for the yarden. There wasn’t much of a selection but I came away with an achillea (yarrow) and chrysanthemum, both had the RHS Perfect for Pollinators sign.
Looking forward: I have a few days away booked to Keswick this coming week. I am so ready for a little break away. Need to recharge my batteries or I feel I will crumble. Look out for blog posts on how the planned swim/walks pan out!
That was my (rather upsetting) week, how was yours?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
It is thanks once again to the lovely Sharon from Sunshine and Celandines for informing me of this Saturday’s #photoanhour challenge. I don’t use Instagram much, so here’s my photo an hour in blog form.
Photo and Hour – 18th February 2017
8am to 9am:
It always seems that these photo an hour challenges fall on days when I have nothing planned! My Saturday began like every other day, with me getting up to make my breakfast. Granola and black coffee, a perfect start to the day!
9am to 10am:
We visited my mum (next door) and spotted a lone daffodil standing proudly in her back yarden.
The weekly shop
10am to 12 noon:
Saturday is usually grocery shopping day but once we had unpacked the day’s purchases, David and I headed for the M62 and for garden centres/pet shops around Widnes. One of the garden centres we frequent, White Moss stands opposite the imposing Fiddlers Ferry (coal) power station.
Fiddlers Ferry Power Station
12 noon to 1pm:
Clipsley Pets and Aquatics
Sadly we did not find what we were looking for in Widnes, so we drove to pet shops in Warrington, before stopping at Clipsley Pets and Aquatics, in Haydock. We have been visiting Clipsley for the past three years and have bought most of our aviary from them. We visited today with just the intention of looking!
1pm to 2pm:
Who’s in there?
Travelling home seemed to take ages, more so with excitable new friends sitting in these boxes! 😀
2pm to 4pm:
After a busy morning, the afternoon was much more relaxing. David and I watched on while our new friends settled into their new home. Welcome to the aviary, Set (Gouldian Finch), Leaf (Blue Faced Parrot Finch) and Paris (Owl Finch). How beautiful are they? After all the sadness of the past few weeks, they have made me so happy! 😀
4pm to 5pm:
With the sun trying to break through the clouds, David and I pottered about the yarden. I re-planted an Euonymus Japonicus which was looking sad at the front of the house.
5pm to 6pm:
After doing some housework and before cooking the evening’s meal, I enjoyed a moment of calm by looking up at the clouds coloured by the setting sun.
6pm to 7:30pm:
This evenings dinner was a one pot stuffed pepper casserole. I just substituted the beef with bulgur wheat and topped David’s off with a chicken breast. It made for a wholesome meal.
7:30pm to 8pm:
I ended my photo an hour challenge by sitting in the living room and watched as the finches paired up and explored their new surroundings.
Finch aviary
How have you spent your Saturday?
Thanks to Janey and Louisa for setting up the challenge.
Christine x
With Christmas done and dusted for another year and both having the week off work, David and I decided to travel to North Wales for a day trip.
Llyn Gwynant at sunset
We returned to Llyn Gwynant and the surrounding area. I found a moderate walk on the National Trust website that overlooked Llyn Dinas.
It was a beautiful winters day. The rugged Snowdonian landscape looked like Martian terrain in the golden light.
It was pretty evident that many people had also decided on visiting Snowdonia National Park, rows upon rows of parked cars lined the verges. Luckily we managed to find parking ourselves (outside Caffi Gwynant Café) before we embarked on our walk.
The first part of the walk began on the Watkin Path, deemed by some to be the hardest path towards Snowdon, due to loss of defined path and loose scree near the top.
The walk meanders through ancient oak woodland, before approaching Cwm Llan, with well defined paths that follow the fast flowing Afon Cwm Llan waterfalls.
Somehow we missed a turning, (there weren’t many way-markers,) so we continued along the path in front of us which wound through the valley. We past a commemoration plaque stating the opening of the route in 1892 by the then Prime Minister, William Gladstone, then on towards the old ruins of a slate quarry before the path drew steadily upwards.
Ruined quarry buildings
By this time we knew we had taken the wrong path, and had walked further than we ought, but as the path was not too steep we decided to keep going.
David on the path to Snowdon
On our walk we saw many other people traipsing the same path towards Snowdon, and drawing higher, we heard the whooo of a train from the Snowdon Mountain Railway (even though they say on their website that they are closed!) Perhaps it was a phantom train? As the summit of Snowdon came into view, I could see the train station and visitor centre. It was quite exciting being on a walk we had not planned.
At some 800m above sea level, David and I sat down to have lunch. We pondered on how much further it was to the top and would we get there before sunset. We also had to consider our ability. I am not the best walker/climber. So we decided not to aim for the summit but to go to the ridge and see what was on the other side.
We found Llyn Llydaw on the other side, stretching out far below us. I was ecstatic. Llydaw is one of the llyn’s I want to swim in 2017!
Llyn Llydaw
From the ridge we turned back and started our descent. It took us another good two hours to walk back to the car park. We were both buoyed by the walk, amazed that we had managed to get 3/4 of the way up the tallest mountain in England and Wales. Today however, we are stiff and sore.
Accidentally taking the path towards Snowdon has made me realise that maybe some tarns in the Lake District are not so unachievable as I believed. Roll on spring/summer 2017!
Have you managed to climb Snowdon? If so what path did you chose, apparently there at six paths?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
Wast Water
It was August Bank Holiday here in the UK, and once again David and I headed up to the Lake District. The weather, unusual for a bank holiday turned out to be pretty impressive. Blue skies, hot sun, we couldn’t ask for a better day!
We were up before sunrise (again) and headed out at 6am for our three hour drive! Our destination was the lakeshore of Wast Water, touted in a 2007 ITV poll as Britain’s Favourite View. The scenery is indeed inspirational. To the north, Wasdale Head features the giants Yewbarrow, Great Gable, Lingmell and Scafell Pike. Along the eastern side, Whin Rigg and Illgill Head form the Screes. To the south is a leisurely lakeside walk towards Low Wood and Lund Bridge. It was this path that David and I took on our arrival.
A cool breeze that blew across the lake, created the perfect opportunity to try out my new fleece in preparation for autumn and winter walks.
At the southern point, under the shade of trees I noticed roses scattered along the lake-shore. It got me thinking how many have faced a watery death at Wast Water. After an online search I found that in 1976 a woman had been murdered and her body was dumped at Wast Water, only to be found eight years later still preserved.
In 1945, three airmen lost their lives during a nighttime navigational exercise which saw their Gruman Avenger crash into the Screes. And again in 1973 a Piper Cherokee G-AZYP also crashed into the Screes with no survivors!
Wast Water is the deepest lake in England at 258 feet (79 m) and is a divers haven. Yet even as recent as 2013 the body of a diver, in search of the infamous gnome garden was found. So nothing for me to be worried about then as I planned on doing a swim!
David and I found a nice stony beach on the western side of the lake, where later we would enjoy a scenic picnic with coffee. The choice of location to swim was actually a poor one as the water was very shallow. (No sign of the deepest lake here!) I found I had to wade quite some distance, slipping over mossy rocks before managing to swim. You may be questioning my type of swimwear, especially for a lake that is renowned to be the coldest. I had plans to do not just one swim but two!!
The water wasn’t as cold as I was lead to believe. Indeed I stayed in the water for my longest swim at around 20 minutes. I breast-stroked with mountainous giants before me and floated looking up at the blue sky as swallows and grey wagtails flittered past. It was indeed a magical experience. I stumbled back onto land giddy and blissfully happy! I could have stayed at Wast Water all day but I had plans of swimming another tarn!
From Google images and maps, Greendale Tarn looked like it had everything going for it. It was isolated, surrounded by mountains and didn’t look like too much of a walk. However with my rudimentary walking skills at best, a two hour walk there and back ended up being three! There is free parking for about 10 cars next to the cottages at Greendale. The start of the walk overlooks the Screes of Wast Water. The going was steep to start off with as the path wound around ferns and bracken. We past Herdwick Sheep who made walking over the boulder filled path look easy. I stumbled and tripped my way upwards, while to our left was the fast flowing Greendale Gill.
Two hours later and we were standing beside a tarn with disappointment on our faces. Instead of finding a peaceful idyll, we gazed upon a body of water that looked reedy. A pond-like smell emanated from the surface. If there were any trout in the water they were well hidden. I could not find an entry point that didn’t have reeds lacing the banks. It was very off putting and I decided (sensibly?) to forego a second swim, much to my consternation! However, looking at the positives from the day, we had enjoyed the walk, even if I did crawl most of the way up and slipped on the way down! The picture of Greendale Tarn makes it look so much more appetising than it really was!
Greendale Tarn
Wast Water maybe my final swim of the year, what with September and autumn around the corner. I do hope not. Maybe I can squeeze in another swim before it gets too cold?
What do you think?
Christine x
Christine Lucas 