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Thursday 2 February 2017

Cambridge

Cambridge is famous for its Backs and Colleges. This is a view along Trinity Street. Lots of bikes!  Kings is about 400m further along on the right.
At this time of the year there are fewer visitors around. In the summer it can be heaving.

Tuesday 31 January 2017

Burwell Cottage

Although our village (Burwell, Cambs, UK) has grown a lot in recent years, it still has some lovely cottages like this one.  Some parts of our church are around 1000 years old and the oldest house dates from around 1200AD. I suspect this cottage dates from the 1700s, so is quite new!

Sunday 29 January 2017

Village Walk

This morning, we did a walk around the village. We saw a little egret (the first I've seen in the village) and a buzzard. Until the 1980s little egrets were rare in the UK. The churchyard trees looked very bare and wintery.

The 2 horse chestnut trees were planted to commemorate the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. I have no idea when they were planted, but they are very old. Both our children and grandchildren have enjoyed collecting conkers from these. No doubt village children have been doing this for generations. There is something humbling about this. Dust to dust....

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

In all, 10 unique bird species seen, but some very commonly seen birds were not seen in the hour from 3pm to 4pm. I twice tried to submit my results to the RSPB, but on both occasions it told me there was an error.  On another page it said I had submitted the results! CRAP.

Aconites

This winter seems much colder than last. We have yet to see a daffodil out and the snowdrops are later. Yesterday I saw the first aconites out, in a garden not far from us (see picture).

We are seeing more birds from Scandinavia like fieldfares, redwings, starlings and waxwings. The latter I have still not seen.

Each winter we see some of these birds, but usually they come as it is very cold in Scandinavia. Seeing lots here often suggests a cold winter here.

As yet, no snow here.


Saturday 28 January 2017

Growing amaryllis house plant

Our amaryllis, grown from a bulb, is really growing. It might be in flower next week?

Our lounge (where it is) is pretty warm - usually 22-26 deg C most evenings.

The longest stem is 44cms, so it has grown 5cm since yesterday! You can almost watch it growing!

Friday 27 January 2017

Famous Five (for adults)

In several places recently I have come across "Famous Five" books designed for adults. Depending where you buy these, the prices are from about £2.99 to £8.99. They are cheapest on Amazon. As a child, I enjoyed the Enid Blyton "Famous Five" books. The adult books have really made me laugh. I might buy some.