Somebody’s Watching Me

Have you ever had the feeling that somebody’s watching you? I had that feeling today while I was sitting in the front room. I looked out of the window to see this little fellow sitting on the dividing fence:

Squirrel

He sat there for a while, just watching me. Then he jumped down into the front garden and had a little look around. He jumped back onto the fence then went down into next door’s garden and that was the last I saw of him.

It’s the first time I’ve seen a squirrel in the front garden, they are usually in the back garden eating the bird food. I hope he doesn’t come back and start eating the flower buds, cheeky thing.

A Green Fair In The South Park

On Sunday there was a Green Fair in the South Park so Billy and I decided to go and see what was there. We would have gone on our bikes but we knew there wouldn’t be anywhere to secure them so we walked instead. There are only about half a dozen bike racks and with it being a green fair we expected lots of people would go on their bikes. As it turned out there were quite a few bikes chained to trees and posts when we got there so it was maybe just as well we walked.

There were stalls like this on two sides of the field and about half way up the third side:

We went to all of the stalls and picked up lots of interesting leaflets about butterflies, birds, wildlife and places of interest in and around Darlington.

I haven’t read them all yet but have already found some useful information in the ones that I have read. I found that there are some Community Woodland areas that I didn’t know about which I will probably cycle to some time soon.

I picked up a little booklet with some local countryside walks in it. Most of them require you to drive to a place, leave your car in the car park then go off on your walk. I would prefer to get there on the bike but there’s no guarantee that there would be anywhere to secure the bike in the car parks and I don’t know if the routes would be suitable to cycle on. There is at least one walk that starts close enough to home for us to walk to so we may try that one.

One of the stalls was giving away bicycle lights and torch keyrings so we both snagged a set. We could have had loads of pens but didn’t bother, we must have enough pens in our house to last the rest of our lives.

There was a stall about honey bees, with different parts of a hive on display. There was part of a hive with a glass front and the lady at the stall told me to put my hand on the glass to feel the heat from the bees.

There were also pots of honey for us to sample but I didn’t try any.

There were some big birds:

There was going to be a flying display from these birds but it wasn’t going to be until quarter to one in the afternoon. As it was only half past eleven we decided to go for a burger while we waited but quickly changed our minds when we saw the price of them – £3.50 each. We were going to hang about for an hour or so and wait for the flying display but it started raining so we just walked home instead.

It wasn’t a bad morning out and I came home with lots of reading material but what was disappointing was the lack of provision for bicycle parking. Considering it was all about being green, wouldn’t you have thought they would have expected people to cycle there and not have to chain their bikes to trees and posts?

In The Back Garden Today

It seems that everything in the garden is growing before my very eyes. Every time I look out the plants seem to have grown bigger. That’s what a bit of warm weather does I suppose – not before time.

Here are a few things from my back garden today:

Buddleja

Flowering Currant

The flowering currant hasn’t flowered. Maybe next year.

Forget Me Nots

Mini Apple Tree

Muscari

Peony

Wallflowers

Wallflowers

The most exciting thing in the garden at the moment is that Mrs Blackbird has built herself a nest in the Lonicera Nitida (I think that’s what it’s called). I was quite surprised to see her flying backwards and forwards with her beak full of leaves and stuff. The Lonicera is only about five feet high and I practically brush past it every time I go out there but she obviously thinks it’s a safe place. It’s quite convenient for her though, I put food out every day and there’s a bird bath so there’s plenty of water. She must be used to seeing me and isn’t scared by me or she wouldn’t have built the nest there, would she? My only worry is the cat that keeps coming in. I caught it the other day standing on it’s back legs with it’s head up inside the tree – it had obviously found the nest. I chased it away but it will probably come back. I will just have to hope that the blackbird and her chicks, when they arrive, will be OK. I took a photo of her in the nest from a distance with the camera zoomed in. I didn’t want to get too close.

Mrs Blackbird in her nest

 Hopefully I’ll be able to photograph the chicks when they arrive.

St Cuthbert’s Church

On Monday after we’d had a look at the classic cars on display in the market square, we went over the road to have a look around St Cuthbert’s Church as there was a sign outside saying it was open for the public.

Before going inside we went for a walk around the churchyard, where there is a statue to the memory of those killed in the Boer Wars.

I have always called this The Unknown Soldier, whether or not that is it’s proper name I don’t know.

The building of the church is believed to have been completed in 1240, with the spire being added some time in the 14th century. In the year 995, the site of the church was the resting place for the body of St Cuthbert on its journey from Ripon to Durham.

The inside of the church is very impressive. At the far end is the sanctuary and on the wall is what at first glance looks like a painting but is actually a mosaic:

In front of the sanctuary is the chancel, with stalls at either side:

I probably shouldn’t say this but I couldn’t help but think of all those old Dave Allen sketches when I saw them.

The pulpit is very ornate:

The most stunning part of the church are the beautiful stained glass windows. Here are a few of them:

You can see the rest here

I’m glad I saw the sign about the church being open as I would never have thought of going there.

Classic Cars

We’ve been checking the local newspaper every day to see if there are any events happening in the town that are free. Today there was a display of classic cars in the market place so we went into town to have a look.

The cars were all immaculate and the engine bays were spotless and shining. The cars were all very popular, especially with the older folks and there were lots of people milling around and taking photographs.

Naturally I took my camera with me, so here are a few photos of some of the cars we saw:

Austin

Ford Popular

Jaguar

MG

Mini

Morgan

Morris

Rover

Scotts Greys Coach

State Trooper

Triumph

Vauxhall

Volkswagon

Wolseley

After we’d looked at all the cars we went over the road to St Cuthbert’s Church which was open for the public to have a look round. The stained glass windows in the church are wonderful but I’ll save those photos for another post.

We had an enjoyable two or three hours and it didn’t cost us a penny.