ORANGUTANS

You might remember the close shave we had back in May with a HUGE limb falling off the majestic Beech tree that sits just as you come into our garden, which is at the front of the house. Thank goodness the tree doesn't belong to us - it's costing a fortune! Here are a couple of pictures from that day:

Well, six months later, phase one of the work to reduce its size has started, with these men of the forest flitting about as if it were the safest job in the world. My heart was in my mouth watching then from our kitchen window, but after two days, the task is completed and our garden is much lighter as a result. Also, we can now see out onto the moor from the house; before all we could see was the lower hanging branches of the tree. Here are those Orangutans......

We pick up the 'new' car tomorrow. Suddenly a ridiculous sense of loss regarding the Renault is entering my being; perhaps because we took possession of it on OB's first birthday. It is a pile of steaming crap but it has history. It stinks of dog and damp and horse and the parcel shelf has a Snippet shaped indentation where he likes to lie. I'll get over it.......On a lighter note, the Great Spotted Woodpeckers are back at the feeder at last. I took a picture this morning but it was SO dark they aren't worth showing you. So, instead, until next time, here are a couple of the moor from yesterday. I love the lone pony in the first one. 

COLD

Winter is here. Heavy frost and cold air that can produce a cough if sucked in too deeply. The ground is like iron in the morning, softening by lunchtime. The ponies, when fighting over food, slither over and get up again with no sense of the embarrassment we humans might feel. The Renault is on borrowed time, so scraping the ice off the inside is only something I will have to do a few more times. We went to see a VW Polo on Saturday, only six months younger than the Renault-ecosystem, but with all its parts intact, and will be collecting it this coming Saturday. Here are some frosty pictures:

Oak

Beech

Snippet

Madam Lady Jane

Morning sun

Gorse

Moss

Dead grass

More grasses

Acer

More Beech

The plant whose name I can never remember in the garden

Marjoram

Fern

Today was the first day the Golden Plover flock were absent from their usual patch, a seemingly fruitless area of scrubby grass, but here they are yesterday.

A pair of Stonechats have appeared. I've not seen any for months; perhaps they've been recovering from their multiple broods over summer. No breeding colours present now.

Today I noticed smoke in the distance. Perhaps they are swailing over near Hound Tor and Haytor (seen on the Horizon). You may remember a picture in the spring of a farmer friend cutting fire breaks up here in preparation for swailing, but then it rained incessantly and the opportunity was lost. 

The Army were flying over us again today.......

.........and gone.

In the garden we have a pair of Bullfinches visiting but, unfortunately, they refuse to come close enough for me to get a decent picture. Still, anything is better than last year's Snow Bunting shot, which brings me out in a sweat every time I think about it!

I need to clean the windows AGAIN as these look a little grainier than I would like. Double glazing + grime + feeding station at weird angle + reflection of tap = not so great shots. However.........

Blackbird male

Chaffinch female

Dunnock

I wait with baited breath for the post each day for the arrival of some of the cards, including the rainbow sheep, whose printed success is in the balance I think. Because we're rather remote, the guarantee of its arrival before midday doesn't really apply, with our postie usually rolling up around 1.00pm. Nice of them to come at all quite frankly. I feel the same way about the rubbish and recycling; it's a miracle. So, until next time, here are Snippet and Jack enjoying the dry weather yesterday.

COMELY COWS & RENAULT FLORA

All but a few straggler sheep are off the moor for the winter and so, I thought, were the cows. It seems not. A herd have been hanging around here for a couple of weeks now and are omnipresent. It doesn't matter where I try and walk, there they are, some with very new calves, right in our path. Having heard the statistics about the number of people killed by them in the name of protectiveness, I'm walking lot of extra in detours. Sometimes, however, there's no avoiding them but they seem pretty benign. Their coats are unbelievably thick but I can't believe how the calves are going to manage once the weather gets REALLY bad. I found a half eaten carcass of a full grown cow today. I'm sparing you the photograph as there were uneaten bits hanging off here and there. Not long dead then and some of those calves are really tiny. Not my problem but I do worry about them. Here are some pictures of the hairy ladies and their offspring.

This is the very situation that should be avoided!

And now for the horticultural delights on and in the Renault Megane:

Moss and TWO types of Lichen

It could grow into a tree one day....

I may need to clear some of this out but what's the point?

More moss and perhaps a new, plastic loving lichen evolving there on the left?

Really quite attractive moss. Can you see the sauna situation inside there?

Sorry - terrible picture - but this is the plant emerging from the rear carpet. I just couldn't get it to focus on its beautiful foliage.....grrrr

More lichen......at least the air is clean around the filthy car

And finally grass, which appears to have been mown since the last time I looked at it, by what, I cannot imagine.

A few more pictures from the last couple of days. Snippet is rather camera shy at the moment and is setting a VERY bad example regarding coming when called.....

Before I go, I seem to have many 'links' appearing at the end of each post, under the comments box. I've noticed something about a threadcatcher on other people's blogs too. Does anyone know how they get there? Every time I try to get rid of them, I get an error page. The list seems to be growing too. Well, until next time, have a lovely weekend and here are the two dogs on the move....being watched....