Wednesday 4 July 2018

'Town Life'

Although I have in theory moved into town, it is only a very small town and at present I live on the very edge of it (I believe there are plans to build further behind where I live).  If I climbed over the wall (highly unlikely) I would only have to cross three fields to be back on the farm and my post code has only changed one letter.   But the wild life is interesting.

When my friends from Holland were here we were regularly serenaded by a beautiful Song Thrush each morning as we ate breakfast.   And - joy of joys - last evening when I shut and locked the patio doors before going to bed I was entranced by bats flying up and down across my garden.   They were obviously after insects - their speed and dexterity never cease to amaze me.  And, as I watched, a Barn Owl swooped down over the wall.   The sky still had the glow of sunset and seeing these in such a setting was magic.

I had watched a programme on Orkney - it made me want to go there.   The scale of the excavations is enormous and they are gradually uncovering clues, all of which point to the structures predating Stonehenge and all of which suggest that Orkney was once perhaps the most important place in Britain.   One thing was really interesting.  Some of the stones weighed a ton or more and they were experimenting as to how these stones were moved from a to b (often a long way).   They came to the conclusion, after trying various methods, that perhaps the best - or at least the easiest - method seemed to be by pulling them along the ground which had a bed of slippery seaweed.

My gardener has just been (and obviously, because I am not doing anything much today found me still in my dressing gown reading The Times) and watered my garden for me and is coming back to do it again this evening.   As he was doing it a young man from Yorkshire Water came to test my water supply.   He says Yorkshire is probably the best place in the country for water at the moment - so maybe it will not be a hose pipe ban next week!

13 comments:

jinxxxygirl said...

To live on the edge of things is a wonderful place to be Pat... Especially when you are one to enjoy Nature as there are many comings and goings.. We lived in TX 20 years and we've gone thru many times of water restriction there and even in CA we had times like that... So far.. 'knock on wood' in AR we have not had that... We have been blessed though with VERY rainy Springs.. This is the warmest Summer by far though since we moved here and i can't say i like it at all! lol One can only hope for an early Fall!... Stay cool Pat.. Glad to hear you had some help from the Gardener... I need to sit down and write you a snail mail letter. :) Hugs! deb

Derek Faulkner said...

Interesting what you say about there being plenty of water in Yorkshire because there is a lovely photograph in today's Telegraph of a young girl playing in the dried-up riverbed of the Wharfe in Yockenthwaite, N. Yorks. Is that anywhere near you.

thelma said...

Watched that programme, it is lovely to think that the great centre of the South really owes its existence to the most Northern outposts of the Orkney Islands.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Being surrounded by people and yet enjoying a country atmosphere seems to have been a good move for you.

Sue in Suffolk said...

Sounds a perfect spot. The rest of the country will be wanting to borrow water from Yorkshire if it carries on being so dry!

Heather said...

I don't think I have seen a barn owl since I was a child. That must have been a special moment for you. Very overcast here and a few spots of rain. Even that small amount makes it smell fresher.

angryparsnip said...

I must look up the Orkney Islands.

cheers, parsnip

Bonnie said...

Your information on Orkney is very interesting to me. I love the study of things and areas that were around so long ago. I think I should have been an archeologist! How nice that your gardener is better and helping you. This heat can be hard on us. We've been in a heat wave here for a while now. Enjoy your week!

Aril said...

I loved Orkney when we visited. It was everything I'd hoped it would be and more.
Arilx

Gwil W said...

Whenever anybody mentions ancient monolithic stones I always think of the disaster that befell Tony Blairs so-called millennium stone. It was on its way from Wales to Stonehenge and had to go across the River Severn on a raft when it sank to the bottom of the channel never to be seen again. The stone destroyed Blairs millennium moment of self glorification! Maybe the stone knew something?

Hildred said...

Such a nice, and interesting, post, Pat. This afternoon my son and I watched a couple of small wrens making a nest in a birdhouse I have hanging from one of the garden trees. Bats and owls I think are out of the question, - our village is small, and I have a nice meadow at the back, and then a creek and a little woodland before the land goes up to the benchland above, but I think it is too built up for wildlife. However, we did have almost fifty years on the farm, so i am content with my memories.

Librarian said...

I love your description of the "magic" scene in your garden in the fading evening light, with bats and owls - wonderful!
Last night, I spoke to my mother-in-law in Ripon. She is worried about a possible hose pipe ban, and as she is very fond of her flower garden, she even said she would not adhere to it but keep carrying buckets of water out, not using a hose pipe, so she would get away with it formally, she joked.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Gwil - I just didn't know that. Prophetic indeed.
Derek - Wharfedale is not so very far away from here - just a little bit South - maybe twenty miles or so ad through beautiful countryside into Wharfedale. The river Wharfe
in Wharfedale is rarely very deep and the bed is very stony so children often play there. Lovely place for a picnic in summer.