TracEy gets Racy! & "How The fallen are mighty"

I really must make the effort and go and sit in the garden tonight to watch this perseids meteor shower reported here by Sky (get it, Sky! meteor shower, Mmmmmm). Being an "oldie" and around for a while I have witnessed a few comets and stuff but there's always a bit of excitement when you see a shooting star.
Mind you sitting there and seeing nothing could be a little tedious!  Its a bit like when I go out the back of our cottage at dusk you often see small bats zooming around catching the bugs.  When its dark though they are obviously still there but not visible.  Sally bought me a, "surprise pressy" bat detector one Christmas, it picks up the echo locating squeaks they use to navigate with.  First time I used it in the pitch dark I could hear the squeaks but saw nothing - - - rather a good idea but standing there in the dark, you feel a little foolish!  Might use it tonight while waiting for the meteor's! lol

At the Fun Factory (Local sainsbugs supermarket) yesterday my boss, "lets call her TracEy" was doing what they term "trading the shop floor"  Its a duty all the managers perform and generally they are the "shop whipping boy" or duty manager the customers see.  One strange part of it is, they get to wear their, "ordinary" clothes, hold it though! as with "all things Sainsbugs" there is a protocol!
So there she was in dark skirt and a white blouse that she has worn a number of times before.  "Sacre Bleue!" though she has stepped over the protocol line!
Purely Scutllebut you understand but it "got around" that a, "higher manager", lets call him Mike had mentioned that her blouse was out of protocol because he could "see her lingerie underneath!!!!"
I was relating the story to the "in store cleaner", "lets call him Dave" who many a time gets "directions to clean from Mike!" and he retorted, "Wow thank goodness I've got my dark coloured boxers on!".  "Back to the Burka then TracEy!!!

Cyclists! - - -

Living in the rural, small road environment as we do here in Darley Dale cyclists can be less than welcome as they lead a convoy of vehicles up and down the local roads.  Ok great way to get around etc etc etc but the government announces they are to spend £148 million  by 2015 promoting cycling in cities and more to the point "National Parks".  It will be interesting to see where the money really go's!

"How the fallen are mighty" might be a good way of describing Chris Huhne's return to our newspapers.  He gets a job "reportedly " a 6 figure salary for working "2 days a week" with Zilkha Biomas Energy  Nice work if you can get it !!!!!!!

Finally - - - We were watching a bit of TV last night and spotted the Jay on our bird feeder.  Its previous visits had been lightening fast and my attempts to get a pic had been unsuccessful with the still pic cam on the website   I then realised that I could "grab" a pic from the live webcam  so here a couple I got last night

 Lovely bird, I might try putting some food on the "tray" around its visiting time in the hope it feeds off that and stays a little longer, although the presence of the other birds might keep it form visiting - - - hey ho

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Oz politician - foot in mouth disease & loadsa pics

An odd Sky News story this about a man and his son living in the jungle after fleeing from the Vietnam war 40 years ago in the Vietnam war.  It seems amazing that he could have survived so long, he doesn't look to be in such a healthy state.  I guess maybe his son decided it was time he came out - - -

 Its not only politicians who can open their mouths and put their feet firmly in there.  A severe case of  foot in mouth disease afflicted this would be Oz politician Stephanie Bannister 

In the pic above on of her parties officials has told her to keep her mouth shut as he tells the press she is stepping down.  Maybe she pop over here  - - - she might do well! 

Lots of challenges on my shift at the Salt Mine (Sainsbugs Matlock) today with some really mind numbingly requests from customers, e.g. "where would your frozen Yorkshire Puddings be"!!!! another asks where a particular item was while actually looking at it on the shelf! Still it makes for interesting banter with the other colleagues.  

The Peak Organics project organisers Jenny & Vanessa mentioned wanting some cardboard to put under their path covering membrane.  A few enquiries at the shop and I was being helped to load a cardboard bail into my van.

That should help a little! 

The bread oven finished recently is still drying out and Jenny fired it up to help it along 

On the bird feeder front the effort and moving the feeders around to catch a pic of the Jay we spotted has not come to much.  He spends such a short time on the peanut feeder that i cant get the still pic quick enough.  The squirrel though doesn't seem to mind the peanuts having been moved, i got this pic a few minutes ago. 

He really Is just hanging by his tail and feet as he eats a seed or nut with his paws.  The pigeon looks to be waiting his turn! 

I managed a few hours logging the other day and as it was an early morning start the pics a quite nice 

The sun trying hard to burn off the early morning dew from the grass here 

Nice pic across the valley, my logging spot is dead centre at the bottom of the pic you can just see my blue wood stash cover. 

The going is pretty tough just now as i'm clearing blackthorn and hawthorn not much firewood but lots of thorn's! 

Boris the defender down by the bonfire, this will be burned in a month or so.  

Finally - - - 

This stash is almost full so the rest of the felling will be just to clear the ground and the trunks will be left whole to be chopped into firewood next year.  

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Bongo Bongo follow up! & Customer hysterics!

There's a disturbing little story covered by the BBC about Bird flu being passed between humans It appears we have a new strain of the virus H7N9 where there have been 133 reported cases with 43 deaths in China. "Experts" are stressing though that it does not mean the virus has developed the ability to spread "easily" between humans.  Oh well I guess that's ok then!

How does a dead 4ft shark turn up on the New York subway

Wags have put a cigarette a ticket and a can of energy drink in the sharks mouth and then posted the pictures online however no-one seems to know where it came from!

The "Bongo Bongo" comment made by Godfrey Bloom the UKIP MP the other day referring to aid we give to some "3rd world countries" going awry has had a fantastic followup in the Mail.  There's a whole raft of "allegations" some with proof of huge amounts of money that has been misappropriated!

 Way to go Godfrey!!!  This man will go far!!!

The shop (Sainsbugs Matlock) was its "usual self" today with customers being their "usual selves" until I was approached by what can only be described as a "Hysterical Pensioner".  I guess he was older than me so you would think shopping was a laid back, got plenty of time to do it kind of thing?

He kicked off with "You are the only person on the shop floor that I can find", "Go look elsewhere!" passed through my mind as I straightened up from stacking some bread and gave him my "usual greeting" "Hello there how can I help you"
To cut a long story short he banged on about not being able to find his favourite coffee.  A subject dear to my heart because our store has completely changed the brands and flavours it sells in the last week or so and my favourite has gone as well.  I "Empathised" as we are trained to do and wandered down to the Tea & Coffee Isle.
With dramatic sweeps of his arms and a squeaky voice getting higher by the minute he explained that "My favourites not there"  " Ok we obviously don't do it any longer" I thought but said "yes it doesn't look like we have it as there aren't any gaps and its not here" I was telling him something he already knew but didn't care any longer as his voice rose another octave when he said "well that's not good enough for me!, I'm going to have to choose something else now!"  Yes Sir I said that's right, good morning" and I wandered back to my.  It is frustrating I know when something you have all the time disappears but hell teeth "Deal with it!"

Talking later to "Dave", Yes the colleague who does the booze who's name is really Vaughen! and he says, "here's one I had this morning".  He was poking some bottles onto the shelf when this customer approaches and says one word questioningly, "Belgian?" obviously meaning Beer, "No" says Dave stony-faced "I'm English actually!"
Like it !!!

Finally - - - We have noticed for a couple of evenings that around 1930-1945 a Jay has been

attacking the peanut birdfeeder on the webcam.  It doesn't hang around long enough to get caught in the still pics and we don't see all of it because of the location of the peanut feeder.
In an attempt to catch a pic I have moved the peanut feeder along one space and will set up the still pic grabber so that I can operate myself - - - fingers crossed.

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Bongo bongo land comment! & Hard work at Peak Organics

All the news tubes are following this one but here's the Sky News story on the Bongo bongo land comment by Godfrey Bloom a UKIP MP.  Probably not the best comment of his his career but there's "no such thing as bad publicity", more than likely rings true here. I mean, who is he - - - is it me?

He has a point though we send aid to Pakistan but they have F18 fighters in their air force (he says), we could do with a few!
The picture in the article though does have a vague resemblance to Vistor Meldrew

Don't you think? - - - "I don't believe it!"

Last day off today before back on a weeks worth of shifts, its been and up and down week with the weather and noticeably cooler the last 2 mornings.  6.6c this morning just before 0600.  Looking at my records (yes, sad isn't it!) I notice that on the 31st Aug last year we had a frost and the temperature was a very cool 2.9c at a similar time.

Finally - - - I did my first day helping our the ladies from Peak Organics yesterday.  The idea was to clear an area close to their boundary so that a path can be made all the way around.  They were absent due to preparing for the Bakewell Show where they have a stall.  Its on Tomorrow and Friday (7th & 8th) - - - worth a visit!

Here's a couple of pics on completion of my toil.

This the before pic, I should have stood out from under the trees for a better view of the overgrown wall

 After some considerable time i managed to clear the area finding all manner of bottles, plastic, bricks, stone and metal.  the wall in the pic was completely covered in brambles which I either chopped off or pushed back over into the next door garden which is a little overgrown itself.  This is the North wall.  

Up onto the East wall and a similar tale here only the debris thrown over the wall by the neighbours contributed to the stuff to be moved.  

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

A Toilet App?! & Cruising down the river

We get a number of different visitors to our birdfeeders

although my introducing a new food invited an unwelcome one - - - Wasps.  At work there were some 3kg bags of mixed dried fruit normally used for making hot cross buns. Realising they would be out of date before they would be used the company allowed colleagues to buy them so I picked up a couple.
Great food for the birds I though and they were quite popular. Some however fell on the ground and attracted hoards of them.  I have removed the fruit and will introduce it again in the winter.

Our Vegetable produce from the garden is starting to gather pace

here some courgettes and a couple of peppers are off to the pot.  The Tomato's are out in force but taking their time in ripening just now

Further afield heres a story from the Mail about an exotic garden in Derby just a few miles south of here 

A lot of effort has obviously gone into this and the before pic is something to see, completely bare!
Although our garden is nowhere near this we have recently put up a screen/fence and the effect it has given is quite amazing.  When you open the door the garden view hits you all in one go.  We only have a partial screen just now.  We will evaluate its effectiveness in the winter weather to come and then consider adding it up the whole of the North side of the garden.

The story normally associated with glaciers

is that they grind away the mountain they are sitting on.  This story from the BBC indicates that the ice actually protect the summits from erosion.  It suggest uncoverd rock is worn down by the rain and weather 10 times faster!

Technology on an epic scale, is the only way I can view this story from the BBC Controlling your Toilet with an App!

 All is not well though for the Japanese manufacturer because the toilet can be controlled by any "Smartphone" which has the app.  Mmmmmmm!

Finally - - - We sauntered down to the pub on Sunday to meet a friend and I was watching a group of young people preparing to try rafting down the River Derwent.  Rapid Horizons launch largish rubber boats from the car park of the Square and Compass .  It looked great fun and i believe they go as far as Matlock Bath which looking at the way the river snakes its way down the valley must be a 5 or 6km trip

 The briefing phase 

Then away they go after negotiating Darley Bridge 

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Dont mention ze war! & We have Steeplejack - daws!

I noticed in the news that a local man from Buxton is missing in the Peruvian mountains  The Sky news story relates how he disappeared on a popular route and has not been seen for a week

The story go's on to say that there have been 5 deaths in the same area between May and July this year.

The Chinese are trumpeting their latest Tallest tower with a dizzying view from near its summit as the final bit is put into place

I always remember while visiting Hong Kong we went up the Sky 100 building, great views but not for the person that doesn't like heights!

A night time view from "The Peak" in Hong Kong shows Sky 100 on the far left!

Nearer to home we have an event across in the Peak Rail centre.  There's a 1940's weekend which announced itself to us with a burst of machine-gun fire yesterday as we were sitting in the garden!
One feature of it is a full scale battle re-enactment with lots of explosions and guns firing

 These pics are from an earlier year: Above the battle is in full flow and below a group of people in period dress follow the battle from a distance

 I was doing some early morning work the other day when on my PC when I heard a strange "clunk" from the kitchen.  While wandering around investigating i heard the same noise and realised it was something dropping onto the roof. 

I walked outside just in time to see 2 jackdaws flying away from the chimney stack.  They had been pecking away at the mortar holding down the chimney's and dislodged some of it.  

If you click to enlarge the pic you can just see a 4 or 5 inch piece of mortar sitting on the stone ledge.  They came back later and pitched that bit down onto the roof?! 

Finally - - - The hard work by the Peak Organics crew the other day has been completed and here's a pic of their completed bread oven. 

Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam

Wolves helping Bears in Yellowstone Park & Peak Organics build a Bread Oven

I tripped over this BBC News story about Wolves helping Bears in Yellowstone Park it seems that when the wolves were wiped out in the 1900's by the trappers it started a chain of events that meant the Bears started having a hard time.
Elk, who the wolves used to eat boomed and started eating the early season berries which the Bears needed after waking up from winter hibernation.

Wolves were reintroduced in the 1990's and it appears the Bear numbers have started to increase.

A bit of a freaky Sky News story relates how a swarm of bees attacked a couple of people 30,000 (did somebody have time to count them?) bees attacked a couple exercising 2 miniature horses.  Even retreating to a swimming pool horses included failed to stop the attack.  Eventually fire-fighters arrived and sprayed foam on the bees to stop the attack.  Unfortunately both horses died from the stings.

We still continue to have this wonderful summer weather and are taking full advantage of it. Yesterday I left early to get a little logging done before it got "too hot"

I found these small mushrooms (3cm caps) enjoying the early morning dew before closing as the sun hit them later

The pile grew a little yesterday, the trees I'm clearing now are hawthorn and blackthorn which is a slow and some times prickly painful task!

The pile now has its proper winter cover and will have a few poles on the top to help it stay in place in the Autumn and Winter weather.

 My old pile of twigs for the bonfire is getting to large to add to and too far away so I started a new one yesterday.  The trees on the right are all coming down as part of the project.

I made the blog on the Peak Organics website and popped into their area yesterday afternoon at the top of our garden to look at their course students building the bread oven.

 Here they have laid the fire-bricks on top of the base

In this one the sand which will form the inside of the oven is being piled up.  Once its the correct size the outside of the oven is built on top of it.  When its dried the sand is removed.

They'll be completing the job today when there's talk of some Pizza's!!!
Enjoy the day  

Follow this link to see  our weather website
Or this one just to see  the streaming birdfeeder cam