Christmas MeMe

I read Mary's blog (Forest Walks) and got tagged. Anyone who reads this can also consider themselves tagged!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? - I like my presents wrapped but gift bags are lovely too
2. Real tree or artificial? - Artificial
3. When do you put up the tree? - Usually a week or so before Christmas
4. When do you take the tree down? - twelfth Night (Jan 6th)
5. Do you like eggnog? - No
6. Favorite gift received as a child? - I always loved getting a new book.
7. Do you have a Nativity scene? - No
8. Hardest person to buy for? - My father-in-law
9. Easiest person to buy for? - Mum
10. Worst Christmas Gift you ever received? - hankies when I was a kid
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? - Both
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? - Can't choose one - I'm a real softie with Xmas movies - so I've a few - Miracle on 34th Street (both versions), A Christmas Carol (with Alistair Sim or Patrick Stewart), The Bishop's Wife, A Wonderful Life
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? - As early as I can to take the pressure off as we buy for a lot of relatives and friends. I have been known to buy a Christmas present in July! This year though, I didn't start until mid November.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? - No
15. Favorite thing to eat/drink at Christmas? - Chocolate Ginger
16. Clear lights or coloured on the tree? - Clear
17. Favorite Christmas song? - Silent Night
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? - Both, but i would rather stay at home
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? - Yes! Don't want to give them away for everyone else but here are a few clues. 1. Good at a disco, 2. Mister Fox's wife, 3. In a hurry, 4. In the night sky, 5. An arrow from his bow will make you fall in love, 6. Rhymes with the answer to number1, 7. A type of kebab (or german for thunder), 8. German for lightning
20. Angel on the tree top or a Star?- Angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? - Christmas morning always!

I tag everyone who reads this!

TYSON FOUND - SAFE & WELL

A happy ending for Tyson, he has been found and has been reunited with his owner.

STOLEN BORDER COLLIE

Urgent, please, please help if you can. Friday evening, returning home from the Championship Show at the NEC, Ross Green stopped at a service station, just off the M1 at J13. Whist paying, he saw a white youth jump into his car, a DARK BLUE VAUXHALL VECTRA ESTATE, Reg. No. KJ55 XFZ. Ross ran out, tried to smash driver window and then managed to open rear passenger door but as he did so the youth started the car and sped away towards the M1. In the back of the car was his and Judith Gregory's Black & White Border Collie, Tyson, (ShCh Tonkory Guinness)
Police are searching but the service station was just a mile from the M1 and the driver could have gone in either direction. There was approx 150 miles worth of fuel in car. Please keep an eye out incase you see either the car or Tyson. If so, please contact Ross Green, tel no: 01234 838380 and/or the police. And pray for Tyson's safe return. This is a tragedy for both Ross and Judith.Urgent, please, please help if you can. Yesterday evening, returning home from the Championship Show at the NEC, Ross Green stopped at a service station, just off the M1 at J13. Whist paying, he saw a white youth jump into his car, a DARK BLUE VAUXHALL VECTRA ESTATE, Reg. No. KJ55 XFZ. Ross ran out, tried to smash driver window and then managed to open rear passenger door but as he did so the youth started the car and sped away towards the M1. In the back of the car was his and Judith Gregory's Black & White Border Collie, Tyson, (ShCh Tonkory Guinness)
Police are searching but the service station was just a mile from the M1 and the driver could have gone in either direction. There was approx 150 miles worth of fuel in car. Please keep an eye out incase you see either the car or Tyson. If so, please contact Ross Green, tel no: 07703 503242 and/or the police. And pray for Tyson's safe return. This is a tragedy for both Ross and Judith.

FURTHER INFORMATION IS THAT THE CAR WAS PROBABLY DRIVEN SOUTH AND COULD HAVE BEEN DUMPED IN THE RICKMANSWORTH.

One month later

Looking back at November, I realise I have spent quite a lot of time at Blashford Lakes nature reserve. This place is a real gem, it's so easy to while away an afternoon there. Five hides in various habitats, pleasant walks through trees, around lakes etc. It has so much to offer I can see us returning many times more. I have seen my first great spotted woodpecker and my first jay. Getting really close to some of the woodland birds is a real treat. Some pics for you later.

On the art front, I am still no closer to doing any work on my little robin, he lies folorn, no doubt gathering dust, on my drawing board. He was going to be this years Christmas card but too late now - maybe next year. Of late I find I am torn between photography and drawing, although I can't draw at present because I need a daylight lamp, I also haven't the inclination. Maybe I'm just choosing the wrong subjects and should stick to drawing dogs.

more photos

The next five photos are all of the beautiful Sika deer at Arne.

otter at Longleat

kingfisher at lower test nature reserve - I was delighted that after an hour or so of flitting about, he finally landed - just for a few seconds, right in front of the hide AND I had the tele converter len on the camera!
long tailed tit at lower test
one of two comical and friendly donkeys at cadmans pond - they kept mugging Mary for dog biscuits
chaffinch at cadmans pond

one of many piglets let out for pannage in the New Forest
Mum with her babies (I am always petrified seeing them wandering across the roads.

Tiger at Longleat Wolf at Longleat
Longleat lion

Catching up ~ again

It's been a long time again, I know and this will just be a quick update with a few pics. The robin is at a standstill for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I have been out and about so much, making the most of any decent weather. Second, the light in the room I draw in is so bad and I still haven't got myself a daylight lamp. My eyes are bad anyway so trying to draw without decent light is a big no no. I have had a few very special trips and will let the photos speak for themselves, except for saying that the few hours spent at Arne were truly magical. To be that close to the Sika deer was amazing, such a thrill.

The London Eye from Westminster Bridge

A cormorant on the Thames, right in the centre of London Tower Bridge
A red squirrel on Brownsea Island
Clouded Yellow butterfly on Brownsea Island

More pics in the next post.

I got tagged

Mary of Forest Walks tagged me with this series of birding questions.

1. What is the coolest bird you have seen from your home?
I once had a peahen walk up my driveway, peer in at the dogs then turn around and walk away again. Just this morning I saw a heron circling in the air before it came into land out of sight across the road.
2.If you compose lists of bird species seen, what is your favourite list and why?
I've just started making lists of the birds I see at various places. I was thrilled when I saw my first egret and even more so when a kingfisher landed in front of the hide I was in.
3.What sparked your interest in birds?
I've always loved wildlife but more animals than birds. My interest in birds has come to me rather late in life from my mother, fuelled recently by my passion for photography and art.
4. If you could only bird in one place for the rest of your life where would it be and why?
Living in the New Forest there is a huge diversity of birds and I am happy to be here watching birds and other wildlife.
5. Do you have a jinx bird? What is it and why is it jinxed?
No, I don't.
6 Who is your favourite birder? and why?
I don't know many but I enjoy watching Chris Packham, he is very enthusiastic about everything he sees.
7. Do you tell non-birders you are a birder?
I'm not really a birder, certainly not a twitcher. I just enjoy all kinds of nature and I do tell all my friends what I've seen. If they think I'm crazy then that's nothing new. LOL

I'm going to tag Jan of Down Yonder Green Valley.

Catching up

I think you will be giving up and not visiting any more, it's been so long since my last post. I just re read it and saw what I said about finishing the memory book that weekend. LOL, that was a joke - I spent 3 to 4 hours a day for the following 10 days before it was finished. It was worth it though - my parents are so thrilled with it. Today my sister visited and brought it with her so I could see the finished result (I'd had the book sent direct to Mum and Dad). It is lovely, good quality & beautifully finished.
I've had a few excursions now that Mary is back from Canada so at least I have some photos to post but have done very little to the robin. Now I have no reading glasses for a few days so cannot draw anyway. Our excursions include the usual walks, the local nature reserve, another nature reserve near Lymington and our big trip to London. I will save London for another post and just show you a few nature pics today. It was a thrill to see deer so close at Fritham, a Black tailed Godwit (and the Kingfisher again) at the reserve. We saw the heron at Eling and the little bird, which I am assure is a Wheatear, at Lymington.

At long last.......

........I have started my new drawing - I've only done the line drawing but at least it's a beginning, getting me out of the rut. I hope now that I can get on with it quite quickly though as I still haven't finished the memory book I won't get much done this weekend. I'd like the memory book to be finished and ordered by tomorrow night and that's going to take all my time - fortunately Clive is away this weekend (in Pontsticill) motorbiking with some friends, so I am free to spend all day on it and forget about cooking etc.

Anyway, here is the line drawing - I have enhanced the lines for your benefit, they are actually very faint. My thanks to Jan for allowing me to use her lovely photo.

Memory book and macro pics

Another week plus has gone past since my last post, I can't keep up with things recently - the time is going so quickly.

I have been busy the last couple of days, working on a "memory book" as a gift from me and my two sisters to my parents on their diamond wedding anniversary. Sixty years of photos to look at, decide which ones to use, either photograph them or scan them, edit any which need it etc. We then had to fathom out how to actually design and make up the memory book - I'm using the company that prints my photos so we were able to upload the photos direct from my computer but that in itself took close to a couple of hours. My sister travelled down from London on Saturday and was here for eight hours! We were working solidly for virtually all of that time - and we are only half way through! So I have the rest of it to do, placing the photos and adding captions. I'm very tempted to order a book for myself - it was great looking through all the pics, brought back so many memories. But don't expect much in the way of posts this week either!

I'm still getting to take a few photos while Mary of Forest Walks fame is away on holiday, just local ones but there's plenty to take. Here are some of my recent favourites. The hoverfly was minute - barely longer than my little finger nail.

egret, heron and swans

I've got myself in a muddle - the swan photos were taken before my Wales trip, the heron and egret after. The afternoon we went to the pond the Cob was having a session of preening, splashing and flapping his wings - a fantastic sight. Watching the swans and their seven cygnets throughout the summer has been such a privilege - I know I'm going to feel really sad the day we go to the pond and they're no longer swimming about.

I shan't have much to post over the next three weeks, my dog walking friend and fellow photographer and wildlife enthusiast is off on a fantastic holiday to Canada!

When I view my blog, sometimes it's not showing the photos - can others see them?

Wales weekend

Apologies that I haven't updated my blog for a while, a combination of several day trips, and then the last five days in Wales have kept me busy. I went to Wales with three friends, one of whom has a motor home. We went primarily for a big dog show and stayed on site at the Royal Welsh showground near the village of Builth Wells. There is an interesting looking quarry on the hillside above the campsite - when we returned home I looked it up on the internet - it is Llanelwedd quarry. It has provided the stone for many of the buildings in Builth Wells and had the first occurrence of laumontite in Wales. Most of the weekend was spent lazing about or walking the dogs on the hillside though I showed Taivas on the Saturday which typically produced the worst of the weather. My friend kindly ran Taivas for me as I'm struggling to get around the ring at present. This combination of me showing and her running worked well, Taivas qualifying for Crufts for the second week in a row. We had eight dogs with us, all of them more or less behaved themselves!

A magical afternoon

I don't think I've stopped smiling since yesterday afternoon - a quick trip to the local nature reserve and we saw a kingfisher. Not only saw one, but it perched in front of us long enough to get some photos. A simple pleasure maybe but for me it was very special. Then a heron flew in too! I expect you have guessed that I'm still not drawing but I hope you like these photos. The Beautiful Demoiselle visited my garden this morning and Tom the alpaca was at the gardens I visited last week, oh and what I think is a meadow pipit was on my walk this morning at Kings Hat. It obligingly stayed still just long enough for me to get a shot, though from a long way off.