Feeding time photos

Having nothing better to do this morning, I took some photos of a few of the birds dining out. In saying I have nothing better to do, the reality is that I have a box of coursework which requires marking in preparation for moderation after Easter. However, anything else seems an attractive proposition when faced with work of that kind and I have been busily finding other things to do rather than face the task in hand.

Having listened to Simon Mayo podcast the following sounds like a good book for young adult readers.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0141382392/ref=ord_cart_shr/202-7465233-3165423?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Endymion Spring Matthew Skelton

Supposed to be similar to the Philip Pullman books.

Identifying ducks

Durlston and Radipole Lake

Radipole Lake is near the centre of Weymouth and the weather was kind enough to allow me to walk round the reserve without worrying about my lack of wet weather gear. Visitors are greeted by the sight of dozens of mallards in the car park and staff at the RSPB rooms are equally friendly, if not quite so numerous.

The reed beds are impressive and I was able to watch a pair of great crested grebes going through their courtship rituals.

At Durlston the wind was whipping in from the sea and as a result there were fewer birds and people about than expected.

End of season win

The final game of the 7 a side league gave us an ultimately comfortable 3 - 1 win leaving us ideally placed to just avoid any chance of promotion after a four win sequence. The first half was combative in a football sense with neither side establishing superiority but they scored a breakaway goal with Kev unsighted to leave us facing a deficit for the first time in a while. As we kicked off they were encouraging one another to keep the game tight but an equalizer came immediately from the restart with a right foot shot firmly hit home by Iain.

Given his debut by Kevin in an astute piece of management, Darren, Matt's brother, scored a few minutes later following good control and an assured finish, not attributes often associated with our play! His presence and skills meant that David was not missed as much as could have been the case but there were a few nervy moments before Iain got his second and the clincher on the final whistle.

In Glen's football the destination of the league is still unknown as Chickerell's final game of the season was postponed due to the bad weather. Both They and Rossgarth will play on Sunday to decide the outcome. Their games, several miles apart should see the Dorset FA using a helicopter to take the trophy to the winning ground I expect.

We win again

Three wins on the trot after a comfortable 5 - 1 victory over the bottom placed team. It was a very cold evening once again but the rain kept off as Thirty Plus continued their charge up the table. Thankfully we avoided some of the complacency that tends to creep in when playing the teams near the bottom and there was some decent football played. The goals were shared around with Dave, Iain, Dom, Matt I and Kevin scoring. Kev decided to play out for the last few minutes and might have had a hat trick in that time but Dougie manfully filled in as keeper and maimtained an enviable record of keeping a clean sheet during his stint.

His advice - go down early - which has so many other applications in wider life as well as on the football field.

Another footballing weekend

On Saturday morning Glen was at football training followed by our visit to Dean Court to watch Bournemouth play Yeovil in a relegation battle which truly matched that billing. Despite the generally poor football, the Cherries were the better of the two teams and were worthy one nil winners. I took a few photos of the action including a sedate Bournemouth crowd living up to the widespread stereotype of what residents of the area should be and some goalmouth action.

One of the Bournemouth defenders looks rather similar to long serving defender Paul otherwise known as 'Arn' complete with ponytail. Adam Griffiths is Australian though and has never been caught tying his ponytail back in place from a free kick leading to a goal for the opposition unlike Paul.

Rossgarth had their league champions decider yesterday and it turned out not to be the decider as the sides contested everything in a drawn match. Rossgarth took the lead not long after half time with a goal from Tom and had one or two other chances to score again although the closest came from a speculative shot from outside the area which glanced the top of the bar before going out for a goal kick.

Chickerell played well too and equalised deservedly from a scrappy corner which was aloowed to bounce through. There were few chances for them to claim a winner despite the closing minutes being dominated by them. The draw was a fair result and means Rossgarth are two points clear with one game for each side to come. Both teams are assured of a top two finish at least.

It was a much better game to watch and enjoy than the Bournemouth game the day before.

Thirty Plus win again

Following the encouraging signs of the previous week, we managed to build on our success with a win over the second placed team with goals from the two Matts enough to see off a spirited comeback from the opposition who scored with seven minutes remaining.

On balance we could have gone on to score more but it was a good all round performance and an interesting one with fresh impetus arising from the new formation. The two Doms played at the back and defended solidly throughout and the chances created against us were few and far between. Certainly there were no clear cut opportunities. In midfield Matt scored the opener with a quick bit of thinking as the keeper spilled the ball from a free kick. I have to report that the free kick was a fizzer full of venom and guile and not a simple shot which the keeper should have held onto easily. Whether or not I have to report the truth is another matter but I know Dave would want it to go down as a vicious shot.

The second came from a cross met with a deft header from Matt C. Idon't recall too many headed goals from Matt in the past putting this in the Trevor Brooking category 1980 Cup Final against Arsenal.

There were several other chances and an outbreak of passing, resulting in creative football the like of which we've not seen for a while. A good evening all round. With games against the bottom two sides to come, this is probably the last win for a while as we seem to play to the standard of the opposition . It would be nice to think we'd end with two more wins and just avoid promotion. No one wants the effort of having to play a better standard.

Sunday football and snow

There was a light fall of snow overnight yesterday but it cleared quickly
leaving just a bitterly cold afternoon on which to watch Glen play Parkstone in Rossgarth's latest game. They won comfortably by 4 goals to 1 leaving next week's game as the championship decider almost. A win for Rossgarth would see them winners of the league while a win for Chickerell would see them needing to win their final game the following week to confirm their status as champions.

New Pond

A few weeks ago Maisie decided to cool off in our pond and punctured the liner causing it to leak out about half its depth. As a result my desire to enlarge the pond received fresh impetus and over the weekend Alison and I have been digging out a new hole for the new and improved version.

In emptying out the old one I found nearly thirty frogs and kept them overnight in an old tin bath along with the copious amounts of spawn already laid.

The photos show the work in progress with the depth in the larger part at least two feet with an additional trench adding another nine inches. The shallows are six inches deep and there are a couple of shelves to support plants later. All round the pond we dug out a small amount of earth to allow us to level it properly and to ensure we could bury the liner from sight successfully.

The pond is now five foot wide by six foot long and is lined by a butyl liner which is more expensive than the previous liner but has a lifetime guarantee along with greater flexibility. Hopefully the dogs will leave this pond to the wildlife. I recovered two of their toys from the bottom of the pond as well, a rubber hoop and a rugby shaped ball along with two golf balls.

The work completed so far leaves us with the paving stones not yet properly in place and work to be done on the soil excavated from the hole. That can wait a little longer. My priority was returning the frogs and spawn to the pond as soon as possible.

Keyhaven

Alison and I spent a couple of hours in the rain and wind at Keyhaven near Milford on Sea yesterday. I managed to get some photos of the birds with the best two being the two black headed gulls which obligingly hovered overhead without depositing anything below as I looked up.
There is a photo of a Little Egret which has rather comical looking yellow feet as well as two curlews wading through the tidal mud.

The only other time we've been to this place was a walk organised by grandad in which he nearly killed us with all the small children treking to Hurst Castle across a gravel embankment. It seemed a long way as it was but walking on it was very hard for all of us, especially the little ones. Add to the mix a baking hot summer's day and you can imagine the griping and moaning that accompanied the endurance test. It ranks quite high in my list if least favoured places along with the service station at Knutsford.

Potterne Park and Moors Valley

We all went dwon after Glen got back from school and had a bit of a kickaround with the football before going over to the station at Moors Valley. Unlike the end of the week when it is cold and wet, the sun was out producing lovely long shadows.

Football

A good couple of days for the boys of Rossgarth and the 'boys' of Thirty Plus. Glen's team were playing at Lytchett and expected a tough game with the home fixture bringing about a fortunate 3 - 2 win a few weeks ago. Strangely the close fixture suggested by that earlier game did not materialise in the first half with Rossgarth playing well and deserving their 2 - 0 lead in which they were barely troubled. The opposition defence were very poor and looked likely to concede more in the second half.

It was a surprise therefore when Lytchett came out with renewed vigour and left the result in doubt until the final minute which was a long time coming after numerous interruptions. This was due to a number of injuries, one of them looking quite serious to one of their players from an accidental clash and another less serious but the result of nothing less than an assault similar to the one by German keeper Schumacher in the 86 World Cup finals. It marred an otherwise enjoyable clash which left Rossgart as 2 - 1 winners.

Looking at the website later that evening showed that the leaders, Chickerell, had lost heavily to Wareham leaving Rossgarth top of the table and guaranteed second place at least.

Thirty Plus enjoyed a far more comfortable victory although there were a number of flashpoints once again. Against a team which had lost just once in the league, Thirty Plus, with just the one win, played with calm organisation to run out 6 - 0 winners. It was a feisty affair with two penalties awarded to us following a very poor challenge against Matt from a throw in and the other after several attempts to bring me down in the area. There loud complaints about the injustice of the decisions but they were based on nothing more than a desire to moan at the ref having absolutely no basis in fact whatsoever. Dougie almost got involved at one stage and Matt became similarly annoyed but it didn't detract from our best performance for a while.

We tried a new formation, 2 - 3 - 1, with Dom and Dougie in defence, Matt C, Matt I and Dave in midfield and me upfront. Kevin returned to goal after his brief but successful sojourn in attack (he did score even if we lost a couple).

The opener came from Dom with a low struck shot from the edge of the area and was quickly followed by a stooping header from Simon who ghosted in at the back post following a corner. He is difficult to pick out as many readers will know. The first penalty was converted by me and a second headed goal from a corner saw Simon thwarted as he rose for the same ball as me. The hat trick came from a twisty run which brought back memories of decades past (albeit at an even slower pace than back then) and Dave finished things off from the penalty spot with the last kick of the game. A good game for all with better linking between midfield and attack allied to stubborn defence at the required times. Kev had just the one testing save to make and he pulled it off with aplomb.

Ilkley Moor

After the trip to Haworth, we stopped off at Ilkley on the return journey and enjoyed some spectacular views although Glen was still trying to play football on the steep slopes and lost his football temporarily in a stream. You can see from one of the pictures that it was very cold as the icicles hang by the waterfall.

Haworth and the Brontes

Alison, Glen and myself went to Yorkshire for a few days to have a break after the last few weeks. We were taken to Haworth on 2nd March and enjoyed a look around the village and the home of the Bronte sisters. The pictures show the bedroom of their father and the churchyard. The church itself has beautiful stained glass windows and the village is very picturesque.

The weather remained cold throughout our visit but it was beautifully sunny apart from the following day when the snow came at last albeit just a light showfall.

Photos from Bits and Pieces

You can see some of the greylag geese in flight alongside views of the Petty house and Stuart's rebuilt mini.

He built the car up from the chassis onwards.

Bits and Pieces

Blacktoft Nature Reserve

The first day of March and it was freezing in South Yorkshire. However, the snow had fallen back in Woodlands while at the nature reserve there was just a biting northerly wind which meant our time walking was very limited.

The birds included a large number of greylag geese and wigeon. It was the first time I’d seen a Little Grebe and Reed Buntings.


Glen and I took a trip into Petty Motors and inspected Stuart’s mini which he built up from scratch. It looks fantastic and hopefully that comes across from the photos. On the way back to Rawcliffe we gave Georgina a lift back and gave the car the pleasure of a carwash to return it to its original black rather than the muddy brown which has spread out over it in the last few weeks.


Jane and Keith’s home is quite something and it is shared, along with Georgina and Stuart, with 10 cats, some of which are shown in the pictures. They have a number of goldfish which have to be pretty hardy to survive the freezing weather we have now.


Thirty Plus slumped to another defeat, 3 – 2, at the hands of a team that had not managed to win yet this season. Two goals from Kevin including a penalty and great strike left footed from distance, leant some respectability to an otherwise below par performance. Maybe it’s the cold weather and the onset of rheumatism but the spark seems to have gone from the team presently.