The second Bank Holiday in May treated us to so some nice weather. The tug of war has been delayed to August, so instead a BBQ was organised in the circle. Well attended and fun with the usual suspects, drinking and feasting.
I seem to have failed in blogging. Maybe it’s the wet weather, or recently the unseasonable cold weather. Today the sun has shone, the wind has abated, and it was almost reasonable for a walk, though still on the cold side (made double figures at 11 Celsius).
So we did go for a walk, using our newly acquired passes that allow as to walk around the private grounds and lakes at Wotton Underwood. We had a good couple of hours ramble around The Lake, spotting birds as we went. Yes it has the very original name. No, we did not bump into Tone and Cheri, or their armed police guards. Identifications of birds will be placed in the gallery in due course. Yes I did identify the Swan!
Christmas is over, with the real Boxing Day nearing the end. Family has left and Rosemary and I are left alone to eat our turkey and bread sauce sandwiches. This Christmas has been a white one with snow on the fields, and -10C frosts and hot wood burners toasting our toes. Friends in the pub to share a pint or two, Selina and Phil to share a turkey with. Alas did not manage to persuade Selina to run to the village shop. Yes, an evil plan hatched by her parents, the shop does not open on Boxing Day.
Here are a few pictures for you, I have even take a departure from the norm and condescended to include some people in one or two shots.
It was a tad nippy last night. The mercury fell to -11C or in old money 12.2F. That temperature is also 471.87 Rankine, -8.8 Reaumur and 262.15 Kelvin.
The Plough and Anchor pub almost caught fire last night. They had installed a wood burner, but placed the flue against the wood lintel. This was smouldering quite fiercely when I entered the pub. The chef was spraying water inbetween the stonework and the wood. Pub talk was all about the Crooked Billet and the planned New Year rave. Let’s hope it goes ahead without any trouble.
Today it has started to snow and has been doing so for the past 3 hours. The traffic on the main road is now quite limited.
The annual tug of war match between Wotton Underwood and Kingswood was held on May 31st 2010. I have at last loaded the pictures to the website.
https://www.blasdale.com/blog/picture-albums/blasdale-picture-gallery-2010/2010-tug-of-war/
This morning we set off to go up to London to go to the V&A to see a couple of exhibitions. Went to our new Chiltern Rail station. Instant suspicion, only two cars in the free car park. No trains cos of engineering works and no railway-run bus link from that station to one with trains. Drove to Haddenham. They had bus links, but the next “train” wouldn’t get us into London until nearly 2 hours later and the tickets were £23.80 each! Decided not to bother, too expensive & too little time there. Prefer a lunch out at those prices. I looked into a railcard. It gave 1/3 off but only to the holder & it cost £26 for a year. I don’t catch that many trains. No wonder few people use public transport.
Fantastic, my Bike voucher has arrived, I can buy my bike now. Rang the shop, out of stock, won’t be getting it now until after Glastonbury. I’ve ordered a racing bike, millions of gears and carbon fibre forks, I can pick it up with my little finger. All road users, you have been warned, here comes Tour de Buckinghamshire with team Blasdale Tour in his yellow jersey.
The country residence of Tony Blair, the Wotton fete on his back door.
Tony Blair's spy camera, monitoring who enters by the back gate.
Back view of Tony Blair's house
Visited Wotton Underwood for their open day. Looked around a few of the gardens, participated in teas and cakes and purchased a few items at the book/bric-a-bracstall. Alas this year the
trains were not running.
We had a tour around Wotton House, guided by the owner. This gave us excellent views into Tony Blair’s garden. Alas all we saw where two rather bored armed policemen enjoying the sunshine. Rosemary said she didn’t think much of them as garden ornaments. Tony Blair and Cherie Blair were not is residence at their country pad.
Greenfinch at the feeder
Trying out some action shots with my new Canon EOS 550 on the local bird population. (Feathered variety alas.) One wonders with all those extra pixels whether a new pro lens is in order. Looks like I will have to keep on working a while.
Some more wildlife at the local oasis.
Needless to say, as soon as I went indoors, two pairs of Goldfinches arrived, but not the Greater Spotted Woodpecker who is often to be seen on the peanuts. We’ve also had Long Tailed Tits who were charming. The Greenfinches are highly aggressive and bad tempered.
Wednesday produced another inch of snow during the day. Not a nice day, always overcast, few photo opportunities. As evening came, the sky started to clear and the mercury plummeted. I have not seen minus 10 for many years. The wood burner definitely had to be run a little higher last night to keep the house warm.
This morning Rosemary went to work, she did have to walk the last few hundred yards. Steve attempted to go to work, but failed the steep hill out of the drive onto the main road. So yet again he is WFH in this ski clothes. Given a chance the camera may be aired.