It is rare for snow to affect life here in the balmy South very much. This morning was different. Overnight we did some babysitting.
“Why are you called baby sitter?” asked our grand daughter, “You never sat on us, even when we were small.” [Read more…] about Snow Bound
I was fortunate in meeting with my local Councillor recently (Valley Park ward, Test Valley Borough Council) and in the conversation we touched upon the thorny subject of housing development.
Apparently, there is a proposed new development up in front of the planning committee currently which effectively tacks on around 300 homes to the edge of the Knightwood Park development as it borders Castle Lane – [Read more…] about Land Off Castle Lane – North Baddesley – Proposed Housing Development
By Emma Golby-Kirk
In these days when the roar of motorway noise disturbs the peace of the otherwise tranquil suburb of Chandler’s Ford, it is hard to imagine the excited anticipation with which residents awaited the building of the Chandler’s Ford by-pass back in the 1960s.
In December 1967 the Otterbourne-Chandler’s Ford by-pass was opened. This six-mile stretch of dual carriageway created a fast link from Compton to Bassett. It cost [Read more…] about A Playground Of Concrete And Cranes
Photoblog:
What I appreciate about Hiltingbury is the beautiful wildlife and especially the comical Greater Spotted Woodpecker, who visits several times a day. [Read more…] about The Hiltingbury Woodpecker
Eastleigh is to have a new housing development for the fields along Chestnut Avenue & Stoneham Lane. One thousand, one hundred dwellings on 62 hectares [a hectare is 10,000 sq metres] or 153 acres. That is 18 houses per hectare or 7-8 per acre.
What will it be like, this new development?
Of course it will have to have “affordable” housing [Read more…] about Houses For Eastleigh
Today saw the first serious gales of the winter. All summer and probably for many years, trees have been rotting away inside their trunks.
Fungi feast on the lignin and cellulose material that gives wood its strength until the outer, living, wood is no longer strong enough to stand the stresses of bending.
The force of the wind on leaves and [Read more…] about Another One Bites The Dust – Rotten To The Core
Have you had to learn new things because of your children or grandchildren?
Horses have never featured much in my life. Not since, as a boy, I was put on one and sent off onto the beach at Cleethorpes. The horse ambled into the middle of a tidal puddle and sat down. I fell off into the cold water and the horse ran away. [Read more…] about Learning From Children – Horse Play
Off Vancouver Island last Monday, we saw a Killer Whale with baby. It went on to take a seal – this type of Orca is a mammal (rather than fish) eating one. Baby seals and dolphins are its main food.
Oddly enough an adult seal on seeing an Orca will take to land. Baby seals [Read more…] about Neighbourhood Killer And Child
The rambling rose and Russian vine had made a great thicket on our pagoda so I got out the electric trimmer. Branches fell away and the jumble of twigs was beginning to take a reasonable shape.
The blades skimmed through another mass of branches and left a pigeon on view eyeing me angrily. It shuffled and flew off leaving two eggs in a primitive nest. [Read more…] about New Arrival
The ubiquitous tuk-tuk makes Asia work. Just a motorised Rickshaw, a driver, a bench seat for 2 passengers and an engine. No doors, no safety belts, no baggage space, no in car entertainments but what a lot of fun.
The warm air blows around you, when stuck in traffic you can strike up a conversation with the people in the tuk tuk alongside you. [Read more…] about Tuk-tuk: My Transport Of Delight
Three cities, Kandy, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa form the three angles of the Cutural Triangle.
Kandy has Temple of The Tooth, Anuradhapura is the site of an ancient kingdom dating back to 600 BC and is the site of arrival of Buddhism about 200 years BC. [Read more…] about The Cultural Triangle Of Sri Lanka
Photoblog:
I took this picture in our back garden this afternoon in Hiltingbury.
Sunday morning in Kandy, Sri Lanka, time to walk out around the lake looking smart, long trousers of course; only tourists wear shorts. On an energetic day we walk to town but this means braving ‘The Tunnel’.
The tunnel is dark, damp and has deep drainage channels on both sides. Water drips from the roof and there is barely room for pedestrians and cars. [Read more…] about Kandy Lake vs Chandler’s Ford Lakes
“What’s for dinner?”
“Your favourite tonight; mealworm and mash.”
“Did you get those nice mealworms from Waitrose?”
“Better than that; these are our first crop of home-grown from the shoebox in the garage.” [Read more…] about Mealworm and Mash
Now is the time of the foxglove. It grows naturally and is therefore regarded by some gardeners as a weed but it is a noble flower. Upright and stately in a royal purple colour it rises above others as a bright symbol in shady places.
Why Foxglove? This strange name for the flower has been around since the 14th century and was sometimes called ‘folksglove’. [Read more…] about The Foxglove
I have just gone through a period of losing things. At least I hope I have gone through it and will not lose any more essential and valuable objects. Some years ago odd socks would appear and no matter where I looked the partner for it never turned up. After hanging around in my sock drawer for a while I would throw the sock away.
The next day the other one would turn up. [Read more…] about Lost and Found
While waiting for a Planetarium show at the Winchester Science Centre with our grand-daughter, we decided to kill some time along the River Itchen.
We parked nearby the river at Itchen Stoke and were hoping to find some ducks for Lucy to feed with the remains of her packed lunch.
As it was, there were no ducks around and so [Read more…] about Swans and Cygnets on the River Itchen
I promised to give a breakdown of the costs of my holiday flying a glider.
The glider is a Duo Discus, 2 seater and near the top of the range in terms of performance.
I travelled down alone but came back together with my co-pilot and the glider in its trailer. [Read more…] about Gliding Holiday Costs
It is not only gliders we see flying at the airfield at Santa Cilia in Spain.
Here are four other types of flight.
The Spanish army brought their helicopter for the troops to practise abseiling down from 50 feet up. [Read more…] about Not Only Gliders
A clear blue sky with not a cloud is sight suggested a difficult day of soaring. Thermals are usually under clouds and if there are no clouds, are there any thermals and where are they?
Thermals are large bubbles of warmer air which rise from the ground. If you have ever watched a lava lamp you have an idea of how they work. Unlike a lava lamp you cannot see the bubble. [Read more…] about Soaring The Pyrenees
