MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER  49

 

 

I have been busy the last couple of weeks having a Grand Reorganisation. A few years ago I had a desk in our hall, built into a kind of cubby hole, but after a while I decided that I felt a bit cut off working down there when everyone else was having a good old gossip in the living room or dining room, so I moved my computer onto the dining room table – ‘Just for a few days.’ Those days became months, and then years, and it was only on very special occasions – such as Christmas – that I moved the computer and printer off the table. We eat our meals in the kitchen, which actually is more practical and also more cosy.

 

Dining room clutter



My desk, the cubby hole and surround became a dumping ground for ‘things’ – magazines, files, books, craft materials and boxes of all kinds of stuff, until it threatened to topple if anyone dared tiptoe past. Eventually I thought ‘enough is enough’, decided I wanted my desk back and consequently have been sorting through the chaos. In a way, it’s quite exciting – I have found notes and letters that I thought I had lost, and only yesterday unearthed a Furby and a small doll. The doll promptly shed its head, arms and legs in all directions, so that’s another job that needs doing – finding a new elastic band to hook her together again! But the heap is at last going down, and I have found heaps of paper for recycling. Tomorrow my daughter has volunteered to help me shift three plastic filing cabinets lurking in the far corner of the cubby hole – it will be interesting to see what is inside. Then, once more, I will be able to work at the comfort of my desk with its comfy swivel chair. And we will be able to use the dining room for its proper purpose!

 

I found a furby!

 


 

On the winners' podium at Silverstone!

 Just like an express train, Christmas is rushing towards us, creating a whirlwind of ‘Things To Do’. Get the turkey, bake the cake, decorate the house, put up the Christmas tree and buy the presents.  Present buying is always difficult, and sometimes I must admit I take the easy route and get tins of biscuits, or bath products, or novelties. Recently I have been buying ‘Experience’ days and have received some too. They are wonderful, and provide plenty of memories. Just a couple of weeks ago my husband and I were hurtling round the race track at Silverstone. Okay, it was in a mini bus, but even so……! We saw the racing car workshops, stood in the pits, visited the media hub where banks of television screens showed every bend and straight of the circuit, and even posed on the winners’ podium for a photo!

 

A workshop at Silverstone

 

 

 



With a Harris Hawk at the Raptor Centre, St Ives

Some of the Experience sites sell really exciting gifts. You can travel in a speedboat up the Thames, take a helicopter flight across London, ride in a hot air balloon, have a flying lesson, drive a tank or, um, even have a cream tea!  You can do other exciting things like driving a train or being a zoo keeper for the day, or just have a leisure experience involving being pampered in a spa.

 

In September, as I’ve mentioned in a revious blog, we were at a raptor centre where rescued hawks and owls are taken. There we helped with the weighing of the birds and ended up, with thick leather gauntlets for protection, flying owls and enormous hawks. The feeling as a barn owl glides on whisper-quite wings towards you and lands on your hand is amazing. It's exciting flying the big hawks. There are centres in many places of Britain where you can experience these special days.

 



Tiger milk feeding at the Isle of Wight Zoo

A couple of years ago I did a tiger milk feed at the Isle of Wight Zoo, at Sandown. This entailed me standing next to a wire mesh fence, with no other protection, squirting milk from a pump into a tiger’s mouth. Well, actually, five tigers in all. It was the most incredible experience to be so close to these magnificent, stunning creatures, to feel their hot breath and look into those beautiful, liquid eyes. Of course, before I did the feed I had to sign a form to say that I wouldn’t sue the zoo, should the tiger decided to take a bite of me through the mesh….  The two tigers shown here are Ayesha and Diamond. Diamond has a lovely sandy coloured coat as he carries a white gene.

 

Feeding the handsome Rajiv at the Isle of Wight Zoo



Feeding lemurs at Paradise Park Zoo Broxbourne

In the summer, my husband and I took part in a ‘Meet the Lemurs’ day at a different zoo, Paradise Park at Broxbourne. We entered the cage carrying bowls of fruit and were soon surrounded by elegant grey lemurs with ultra-long black and white striped tails. They sat on our shoulders, arms and heads as they reached for the fruit with their long fingers, and bickered with each other if they suspected one was taking more food than it should.  We have also done a monkey tour there, which covered other creatures too, and I was able to stroke an armadillo.  Yu can buy gift experiences from many attractions, or alternatively visit a site, such as ‘Buy a Gift’ on line.

 

Next year my husband will ride on the footplate on a steam engine in Devon, and then return in the observation Pullman coach. He is really looking forward to that experience; it was the gift I gave him for his birthday a couple of weeks ago. Much better than a pair of socks!

 

MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 48

 

Casper

Yet another excursion has been made from the bower – last week, I spent a few days alongside my daughter in Hampshire.

Diamond

We had expected bad weather as our journey down on Sunday took place in continual heavy rain, but next morning we awoke in our motel at Stoney Cross to skies holding a hint of sunshine. By 9.15 am we were waiting at the ferry at Lymington, ready to cross to the Isle of Wight, because we wanted to visit – for the umpteenth time – the zoo at Sandown, which is run by Charlotte Corney, the girlfriend of naturalist Chris Packham, and which has been owned by her family for several decades. The zoo is particularly noted for its tigers, many of which are rescue or retired animals, though some have been there since they were cubs. Amongst them is Zena, the white tiger, Diamond  (whose parents carried a white gene, making his coat a superb pale gold colour) and Rajiv, who was once a ‘star’ in the entertainment world.  There are several others too, and on the day that we visited we were fortunate enough to see one of the handlers training the tigers, using a clicker and a pointer, to present their noses to the wire, or to sit or lie down – this all helps if they need veterinary treatment at any time.

Rajiv

 I have a soft spot for Rajiv. A few years ago I did a milk feed of the tigers at the zoo, and Rajiv loved it so much he was practically grinning! When I reached his enclosure on Monday, though, I couldn’t see him anywhere. So I called, ‘Rajiv, Rajiv’ – and suddenly this enormous, gorgeous tiger came lolloping towards the fence from behind a clump of bushes. And to my absolute joy, he began ‘chuffing’ at me. Chuffing is a bit like purring, tigers do it when they are happy and trying to communicate. So I chuffed back and, I think, we had a conversation, though I’m not sure what it was about! Amongst the other animals at the zoo is the magnificent white lion, Casper, often to be seen lying on an enormous rock in his enclosure, monarch of all he surveys. Recently, his sister, a white lioness called Frosty, came to live at the zoo, too.  Charlie Brown is a ‘normal’ sandy- coloured lion who enjoys lazing on top of a safari vehicle that is parked in his enclosure. On Monday he seemed to be getting bossed around by the beautiful lioness Nahla. Naturally, there are many other creatures at the zoo, including several breeds of lemurs, jaguars, wallabies, meerkats, porcupines, monkeys and a beautiful raccoon. There is also a collection of domestic animals and various reptiles. We caught the 5pm ferry back to the mainland – there was a stunning sunset on the way back, as well as a double rainbow.

Fly Agaric

The following day was so lovely that it was difficult to believe we were almost half-way through October. The dew was so heavy on the grass that it looked like frost, glittering in the sunlight that filtered down between the trees. It was slightly misty, too, adding an ethereal feel. Everywhere we looked, we could see fungi; there was one spectacular scarlet Fly Agaric the size of a tea plate. Other fungi were yellow, purple, pink, cream and brown – I’ve never seen so many.

 

 

Red Deer

We walked along the Forestry Commission land by the Canadian Memorial cross in the New Forest, admiring the autumn colours in the sunshine. The sky was blue, with no clouds at all. As we walked we kept stopping to photograph yellow trees, golden bracken, pretty fungi; there was so much to see. There were lots of chaffinches and long-tailed tits, too.  After walking for half an hour or so up the hill, we veered off to one of the smaller paths to look through the trees across some rough, bracken-strewn ground towards a wood in the distance. Suddenly, we realised that we were being watched!A magnificent red deer stag, together with several hinds, were in the bracken. We stood and watched them for around ten minutes, before the stag bellowed and the herd moved off – then, far away, we saw another stag and some hinds, and then all the deer melted away into the woods. Just magical!

Beautiful autumn colours

Fungi on fallen tree

When we finally reached the car, we drove to Bolderwood which is where Fallow deer are often seen. There is a viewing platform there. Sure enough a stag and a few hinds were there, though quite a long way away. We also went to Millyford bridge where there is a fallen tree that we first discovered last year, all covered in fungi and moss. Very atmospheric! Later we went to Burley, a pretty village in the New Forest and we were surprised to see a herd of spotted pigs crossing the road led by a farmer! We ended up at Mudeford Quay, just as the sun was setting. The sky was bright red and looked stunning seen through the masts of the sailing boats.

Sunset at Mudeford

Now, back home – though not in the bower today as it is definitely chilly out there – I have been busy writing, I’m pleased to say that two of my books have been listed on Amazon Kindle this week. The first book is volume three of my collection of short stories; ‘Twisty Ends and Tangly Tales 3’. The second is a full length romantic novel, ‘Tintagel Fantasy’ – and for three days only it is FREE to download onto your Kindle, computer or ipad.

Tintagel Fantasy

http://tinyurl.com/poa7h4d

 

Twisty Ends and Tangly Tales 3         

http://tinyurl.com/ner8xsw

 

MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 47

 

Surprisingly, as we are now into October, there have still been days warm enough to sit in the bower. There have even been butterflies, dragonflies, newts and frogs around, to say nothing of a small wood mouse who has discovered that by climbing up a conifer it can leap onto the bird table.

Wood Mouse visitor to bird table

 We visited the Raptor Centre in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, for an experience day. It was quite a family affair – my daughter had treated my husband and I to the event (as a wedding anniversary present) and as there were two of us doing the experience, we were given two free tickets, so not only daughter came along, but son did too.  He made a swish arrival in his ‘Back To The Future’ De Lorean, which always seems to intrigue people. It’s a nice-looking car, even if you do have to sit low on the ground in a semi-reclining position!

 

With a Scops Owl ready to be weighed

With a Burrowing Owl

Practically all of the birds at the centre are foundlings, unwanted pets or have been rescued from unsuitable homes. We were each handed a leather gauntlet, because most of the birds have extremely sharp talons. First we took a pair of Scops owls for weighing. These are small owls that, in the wild, feed mainly on insects and caterpillars. They also take small mammals and frogs. It is important to regularly weigh the birds to check that they haven’t lost – or gained – too much weight, so that they are in optimum condition. We moved on to the Burrowing owls; these small owls seem to have extra-long legs. They are often active during the day, unlike many other owl species. I was handed one of these, while my husband was given a Little owl. We were told that owls weren’t wise like legend would have us believe; in fact the brain of the Little owl is around the size of a peanut. However, its Latin name, Athene, is the name of the Greek god of wisdom  (Athena/Athene) – and this owl does do one very clever thing. When Little owls catch mice, they only eat a tiny part, leaving the rest hidden in a tree near their roost. As the mouse decays, it attracts flies and maggots – a built-in food source for the owl, who prefers insects. So instead of regularly having to hunt, it only needs to hunt every week or so. It is either clever, or lazy! These two were weighed as well.

 

A beautiful Harris Hawk

Next we went to a large aviary which contained two huge Turkmenian eagle owls. My husband was given one of them to hold, but apparently both are rather naughty, one was prone to baiting (deliberately falling off the glove and fluttering upside down), the other tended to grip the glove very firmly. He carried the baiting owl (yes, it did bait!) to the weighing shed. Then we each held a Harris Hawk while the keeper explained about their habits. Most hawks are loners but these had learnt to hunt in flocks so that they could attack larger prey if they needed to. They could down a small deer or a fox, or similar-sized creature. The females of the raptors are invariably much larger than the males.

I so loved this young Tawny Owl!

We were told that we could have our photo taken with (practically) any of the birds at the Centre. My husband went for the biggest, most spectacular he could see (he would!) – it was a Bateleur snake eagle. I wanted to have something British, so settled on a young Tawny owl. I have always been fond of Tawnys, they seemed to feature in so many of my childhood books. Soon I was holding one, and, I might add, was most reluctant to hand it back! Now it was time to meet something larger, so we were given Lanner-Saker  (hybrid) falcons to hold. These were very large and beautiful birds with exquisite markings. A short break followed, which we spent photographing some of the dozens of hawks and owls that were on display. Then it was time to do some flying. Well, not us personally, but the birds. First we flew the Harris Hawks – there were five being flown at once, so it was very exciting. The birds seem to rush at you, yet land so perfectly onto the glove. They were gentle hawks, despite their huge beaks and talons. We watched many other birds being flown, including kestrels, which demonstrated their renowned hovering technique.

Hovering Kestrel

Flying a barn owl

By now the wind had increased a bit, but the barn owls were brought out, and we flew them between us, going from one to another as we enticed them with a chick’s foot (!). Even when an owl flew right overhead there wasn’t a sound from its wings. Most amazing of all was standing there just watching that beautiful, white heart-shaped face looming towards you – what a magnificent sight, although I doubt that a mouse would think it so wonderful!

I really enjoyed that visit to the Raptor Centre, and, just like many others, have always been very fond of owls. Itis a shame that we don’t get owls around the bower – very, very occasionally I have heard a Tawny owl in the distance. If only one would roost in the nearby oak tree, then that would be really special!

Some of our apple crop

 

 



It might look weird, but it works brilliantly!

Changing the subject completely, the apple crop has been amazing this year. We have one apple tree, which is at least 50 years old. It used to be at my parent's house, but after they had it for ten years or so, the decided they needed the patch of ground. So we carefully dug it up and transported it to our garden. It has thrived, but this has been the best year ever for the crop. I don't know the variety, it is an eating apple with a soft sweet flesh. As we have nowhere to store a quantity of apples, we decided to peel them, stew them and freeze them. We used our Heath Robinson-like apple-peeler, which works excellently, and soon had piles of apple rings ready to freeze. We can look forward to lots of apple pies and crumbles this winter!

Eagle Owl

 

MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 46

 

Originally, this was thought to be Mary Arden's House, but recently it was discovered that she lived in the house next door

I was absent from the bower for a few days recently, when I visited the lovely town of Stratford-upon-Avon, staying at the local Travelodge, which had been newly decorated and was very smart. I went with my Husband, and we discovered that it was far cheaper to buy a ticket to see all 5 of the Shakespeare attractions, rather than pay individually. It cost us just over £20 each, little more than the price of two individual visits, and with the added bonus that the tickets are valid for a year, so we can go back and do it all again for free!

 

 

The first place that we visited was Mary Arden’s Farm. Mary Arden was the mother of William Shakespeare, and married John Shakespeare around 1577. Today this working farm is run using Tudor methods and implements, and with rare breed creatures such as curly haired pigs. For a long while it was believed that the attached house was that of Mary Arden, but then it was discovered that she actually lived in the property next door. The farmhouse, now known as Palmer’s (the owner was Adam Palmer, a close friend of John and Mary). It is quite large, with four bedchambers, two parlours, a hall and a kitchen.

 

We watched a falconry display there, and saw the cook preparing a Tudor meal, cooking over the fire. She cooked such dishes as pottage. When a large bell was rung in the farmyard, the workers came for their lunch and they sat round a large wooden table, presided over by the Steward. We visitors clustered around to watch them eat the authentically-cooked Tudor meal!  As they ate, the steward and the cook explained the customs of the day and how, contrary to belief, the Tudors were refined in their behaviour, and also followed basic hygiene such as hand washing before meals.

 

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

Later, we went along to Anne Hathaway’s cottage. This beautiful, thatched, timbered cottage surrounded with flowers couldn’t be more British if it tried. This is where Shakespeare’s wife-to-be lived, and it’s more than likely that he knew the cottage well. A guide explained what to look out for, then we climbed the narrow stairs to see the upper floor, complete with a four poster bed and a charming carved cradle. Downstairs there was the old kitchen and the parlour, and, thanks to the guide, it was easy to imagine everyday life in this place where Anne and William probably did their courting. Outside, the gardens were stunning. When we went there were masses of sweet peas, just coming onto the end of the flowering season. There was also a magnificent willow sculpture in the shape of an ‘o’, through which you could take a superb photo of the cottage, and there was a graceful willow bower, almost, though not quite, as lovely as my own bower!

William Shakespeare's Birthplace

Shakespeare’s birthplace stands in the heart of Stratford-upon-Avon, on what is now a paved pedestrian walkway. This is the house that tourists tend to throng around, although I was lucky enough to take some photos when the coach trips had left. It seemed odd, incidentally, to see tourists taking photos of each other pretending to speak on the phones in the red kiosks nearby, or posing by the red pillar boxes! However, I am sure that they think that we do odd things in their countries.

 

 

After a short introductory video presentation, you pass through to the main house. Here you can see the parlour, hall and bed chambers all furnished as they might have been in Shakespeare’s day; it’s very atmospheric. Shakespeare’s father was a glover, and so one room, his workshop, displays leather gloves the necessary tools. A guide explained how the leather was prepared and cut. The gloves were sold from the window to passers-by in Shakespeare’s day, as there was no shop. Particularly interesting are the glass windows on display upstairs that were removed some time ago, all etched and signed by visitors from past centuries. I was very taken with the small troupe of actors in the gardens, who would act out an extract of any play or sonnet that visitors requested. I enjoyed the house very much, though I didn’t think it had quite the warmth or the charm of Anne Hathaway’s cottage.

 

Old School, Startford-upon-Avon

 

We walked past the old school, which might possibly have been the school that William Shakespeare attended. It was a magnificent Tudor building, bowed and bent as the centuries have taken their toll, which added very much to their charm. Then we came to Nash’s House and New Place, in which Shakespeare’s granddaughter lived, so the connection is not particularly close. Sadly, New Place, which was the house Shakespeare’s later purchased, doesn’t now exist. It was pulled down in 1759 so you can only see the patch of ground. Nash’s House felt bare, it didn’t have such a friendly atmosphere as the other Shakespeare properties did and much of it was like a small museum with various oddments in showcases. However, the beautiful knot garden was well worth seeing, it was a mass of colour.

 

Hall Place

 Finally we visited the fifth house with a Shakespeare connection, which was Hall’s Croft. This was a friendly house, and was once the home of Shakespeare’s daughter, Susanna, who married a physician, John Hall.  Furnished in Tudor style, there are some beautiful pieces of furniture here including an intricately carved child’s highchair. There is an interesting display of medical bits and pieces, including the text book that John Hall wrote in 1657. It seems that there is quite a lot of restoration needed to keep this lovely house safe, so let’s hope the money can be raised. The gardens are pretty, too, though it was raining when we visited so we didn’t really get to look round them.

 

Considering the thousands upon thousands of visitors to Stratford-upon-Avon each year, it's amazing that these old houses are still standing and that, although there were plenty of people around, we never felt hustled.

The bower in Anne Hathaway's garden

Musings from the bower 45

MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 45

 

 

In case anyone is wondering, I am still brooding in my bower but have been unable to post due to my browser suddenly becoming incompatible with Blogger! Not being of technical mind, I had to wait till my son could come and sort out my computer. However, at last, it is back on track, and I can woffle again! The bower is still pretty, and although the clematis has now ceased flowering, the honeysuckle is a mass of crimson berries and there is a passion flower and a mock orange, though the latter, also, has no blooms now.  Nearby are some buddleia bushes (which nowadays we are meant to refer to, for some scientific reason, as ‘buddleja’), one deep purple and another white. These are large bushes.  There is also a tub containing two patio buddleias, one white and the other pale mauve. The other day I noticed a beautiful pale yellow buddleia in a garden – gosh, I’d love one of those. We are certainly having a ‘Butterfly Summer’ – the garden has been full of butterflies drinking their fill on the buddleias, especially peacocks, large and small whites, commas and small tortoiseshells.

 

 

We visited Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge recently, just to walk around the grounds. They were beautiful as always. The dahlia garden was a riot of colour, as was the herbaceous garden, and the white-trunked birches in the winter garden bore pale green leaves, looking so pretty when the sun shone through them. The mill stream was green with duckweed, and there were plenty of yellow water lilies with their large, butter-cup like flowers and thick oval leaves, perfect for moorhens to walk across. Which they were – there was a family of moorhens and their babies happily mooching about the greenery on the stream.  Some of the dogwood seems to have been cleared away in the grassy area by the river, making it easier to get to the small pond nearby. The cyclamen will be out very soon; a few were already showing pink along the paths, a reminder that autumn is on its way. We decided not to visit the house this time, but it is an interesting place, well worth looking round if you haven’t done so.

 

Polecat at the British Wildlife Centre

Young red squirrel at the British Wildlife Centre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of weeks ago we went to one of my ‘special places’ – the British Wildlife Centre at Lingfield, Surrey. Red squirrels climbed up my legs and over my arms, and I spent a long while watching a stoat running in and out of a hole. A baby polecat slumbered in the sun, otters chased each other in their lake and across the grass, an enormous marsh frog grinned vacantly and the wildcat kittens were gorgeous – though, as their keeper explained, they inherited the wildness and they could not be handled or even touched. We bought sandwiches in the café, and then took them along to the picnic tables near the roe deer enclosure, as it was such a lovely day. Later, we walked through the wetlands trail, along the new boardwalk, seeing quite a lot of butterflies and birds.

 

 I’ve seen quite a few butterflies and dragonflies lately, with trips to Hatfield Forest and to Wicken Fen. On one of my tips to Wicken, which is near Ely, Cambs, the boardwalk had a peacock butterfly every couple of feet, and as I walked along, they would spiral up and settle behind me. Dragonflies were abundant, many of them coupling or egg-laying, while some enormous ones swooped, reminiscent of early fighter planes! At Hatfield Forest a tiled roof was a suntrap for small tortoiseshell butterflies that flattened their wings against the warm tiles so that their bodies absorbed the heat trapped underneath them. The thistles had decided to seed, so there were swirls of thistledown – very pretty, though it made me a bit sniffy as I suffer from hay fever. Through the trees we glimpsed a group of fallow deer, the sun illuminating the white spots on their backs and showing off the bold black and white markings on their tails.

 

On the 17^th August, my daughter and I were up very early as we had to drive to Coventry and set up our Doll Showcase stall (we produce a quarterly doll magazine) at a doll and toy fair. The fair went off very well, and it was interesting to see the old toys. I bought a small wooden piano, just like one I had as a child – I can still play ‘Pease Pudding Hot’ on it! I also bought a toy washing machine and cooker. The washing machine is made of a heavy type of metal, with a mangle attached with sharp rivets while the cooker is made from tinplate. It always amuses me to think of how we played with such ‘dangerous’ toys as children – no one worried about sharp edges in those days – and we survived.  I was reading the other day that German kindergarten children climb trees at school – I can’t imagine ‘elf and safety’ allowing that here!

 

Over the bank holiday my husband was demonstrating a railway layout at the model railway club near Hoddesdon, Herts, of which he is a member. It was the club’s open day and was very well attended. There were lots of model railways there as well as a ride-on train for youngsters, a tombola and an excellent refreshments stall, which was doing a roaring trade. There were model boats being sailed around the boating lake, too. My daughter and I went to see how he was getting on, he had a queue of children waiting for a go to operate his train. It struck me as a quintessentially British affair – all it needed was a few Morris dancers and the thwack of a cricket ball on willow!

 When I visited my son recently I left my trainers behind. (My son has a cream carpet and so is very fussy about footwear! So I took a pair of lightwiight canvas shoes to slip into but went home wearing them.) Next time I visited, he was away and we had called in to water the garden and of course to collect the trainers. I searched and couldn't find them at first - then discovered this box obviously waiting for me. My son has a strange sense of humour - I wonder who he inherited that from?!