Number 678 the blog continues...

As we leave May behind....

Our mummy duck still has all five of her ducklings and proudly displays them each day on the river.

Well, what an excellent bank holiday. It was decided that we’d have a communal bbq on the green for holiday Sunday, just as we did for New Years Eve. How we battled against the wind; a child on each leg fighting to keep it firmly on the ground as adults furiously knocked the securing pegs into place. In the end we had to sack the tent and settle for a gazebo and coats!!!! Nevertheless it developed into a fun afternoon/evening with all the children having great fun and parents and grandparents enjoying the selection of food and drink. There’s still only me that enjoys Tina and Brents home-made cherry wine but hey ho I’m not complaining. By popular demand Tom produced one of his now famous curries and, as is the case each time he makes one, it didn’t last long at all. So all in all, we beat the weather, didn’t get any rain and had another enjoyable get together.

Another feathery creature that has become a popular sight is the magpie without a tail. He is such a noisy bird and I’m not sure if the noise is to try and frighten predators away from his vulnerable state. The other magpies don’t seem to like him at all and continually chase and peck him, poor thing can’t fly so has heck of a job running away and hiding. I suppose it’s not so surprising that he’s so noisy, I think I would be the same if someone was continually pecking me although Tom said how quickly one gets used to it!!!! No comment!!!!

The next walk for the Rossendale Ramblers is Sunday 01 June, 9:00am meet @ Kay Street car park for a medium graded walk of 11 miles at Shining Tor and Goyt Valley.

Next Wednesday walk is 04 June, 9:00am meet @ Whitaker Park for a medium graded walk of 9 miles at Sedburgh. For further info visit: www.rossendaleramblers.com

Have fun!!!!!

Number 678 Guest House - the blog continues

Well, an eventful past few weeks.

For the first time we had football supporters staying with us and believe me we were very concerned. However, we were thrilled with our Rangers supporters. What a great bunch of chaps, here purely to have a good time and cheer their team on. Despite the fact that three of one party didn’t arrive home till 4am they were so darned considerate of other guests. When one chap went to bed and fell soundly asleep, rather than disturb him and of course other guests, his room-mate shared a room with two others in the party. It wasn’t till breakfast time and we let them use the spare key to open the bedroom door that they realised he wasn’t sound asleep, he just hadn’t come home, ha ha. Mind you chaps, you still haven’t returned the keys!!!!!

What a pity our guests couldn’t return back home to Scotland with a win under their belts. Ne’er mind lads, next time, eh???

Tom and I then went up to Scotland for a week. We had a super week staying just a short distance from Oban at a wonderful bed and breakfast, http://www.collaig-house.co.uk/

If any of you want a restful holiday with wonderful hosts then I would definitely recommend Collaig House. Julie and Jamie really looked after us. I seemed to have a mental block where my laptop was concerned but fortunately Jamie came to my assistance on more than one occasion, thanks Jamie

The best part of our break was the fact that we very rarely had a ‘phone signal. Tom has wanted to fly fish for so long that he decided to take a lesson at Inverawe, the picture says it all!! Despite not catching a single fish, on our last day and following just one hour tuition he caught three trout!! (The fish are lay on the rock) How sad that we can get so excited about fishing, lol, but they were beauties, we even weighed them: 2lb, 2lb 2oz & 2lb 4oz, it was brill. We gave one to Julie and Jamie and brought two home, one of which we had for dinner on the night we arrived home (it was delicious) and the other is in the freezer where it will stay until our next Jacobs Joint when we (Tom) can show off.

Once again Jonpaul made a great Basil Fawlty stand in, thanks again, son.

Our mini greenhouses have come up trumps; the lettuces are coming along brilliantly and today the leeks have gone in.

I’m really naffed, we haven’t had any frogspawn and therefore no tadpoles. However, today I saw our chicks for the first time paddling down the river after mummy duck. Only five chicks this year and the sad thing is that probably only two will eventually make it and avoid the other animals.

Well done the reds. Tom wa somewhat tired this morning at breakfast after staying up and joining in the excitement and Jonpaul was slightly hungover and was certainly not looking forward to his flight. Mind you, I think they would feel that the morning after was well worth the night before!!