Wrapping up 2011 with the family…
For the festive season the RSPB kindly asked me to leave Forest Lodge. So, I spent a couple of weeks in Exmouth with the family, including the first few days of 2012. Despite this being a year of significant changes (if you follow the Mayan calendar), I think it’s going to be a good one.
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- Nice meal Mum
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- Exmouth estuary
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- New Year’s day elevenses
Time to head North for the winter
So, it’s time to begin my winter placement at RSPB Abernethy. While I’m in Scotland I’ll also be doing a couple of Trees for Life weeks, but for most of the next 6 months I’ll be based at Forest Lodge, near Nethy Bridge. I have stayed here before back in February 2010, when I was lucky enough to see fantastic amounts of snow. I’m hoping for similar weather this winter.
On my way North I stopped off in Cardiff for Tim’s 70s/80s themed birthday party (unfortunately my photos from this, some of which are hilarious, are temporarily unavailable due to the weather at Abernethy getting the better of my mobile – they are now posted here), before meeting up with Lee at John’s, and then driving the rest of the way here today. It (RSPB Abernethy) is every bit as big as I remember, but, unfortunately, a lot warmer.
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- My last meal with the family before my trip North, but someone else is stealing all the attention
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- Lee, c’mon, we’ve not seen each other for years…
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- John’s bees
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- John’s butterfly
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- Lee gets up for an afternoon cycle in Delamere forest
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- Nice bit of downhill, don’t ask me to ride back up it though
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- Beautiful
Garden and allotment shots
Some things I found in the family garden and allotment.
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- Wasps (and hornets, Vespidae) are great for the garden as they eat garden ‘pests’. The male doesn’t sting, so find out it’s sex before upsetting it.
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- One of the more attractive plants in the allotment, Weasel’s snout, or wild snap dragon (thanks Helene for the id)
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- The absolutely amazing looking Araneus diadematus
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- Turnip sawfly (Athalia rosae)
Some family pics
Before heading North for the Autumn season, the Exmouth clan popped round for some lunch. Here are some pictures, mostly for you Mum…
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- So we’re off to see the Red Arrows fly-over
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- And so, Exmouth watches while they fly over, and don’t come back…
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- The Flynnster with Zachary Quack and Bobo
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- Here’s one for you Mother.
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- Lolo
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- The more eccentric side of the family.
Creatures of the allotment
Before leaving for Scotland I spent some time up the allotment, with Mum. I hoped to get some shots of insects in action. These are some of the (mixed) results…
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- Harlequins (invasive non-natives) are now a common site in Exmouth
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- This hoverfly is cleaning it’s back with it’s back legs
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- A garden spider. I love spiders.
Snow in Exmouth! And a new camera.
Two things I really wanted for Christmas, but knew were a bit beyond Santa’s budget, have turned up in the last couple of days. Yesterday a new camera, with zoom, and today, more importantly, some snow finally fell on Exmouth, after hearing about lots of it falling elsewhere in the country. The camera is a budget digital compact, but should still do better than my phone. The snow was just a thin covering, but was much better than nothing. Here are some pics. The camera’s instruction manual is fairly lengthy so some of them may still fall short of it’s full potential…
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- I wake up, open the curtains and… it’s snowed, c’mon!
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- New zoom facility – I also took this shot, of Phear park, from the same bedroom window.
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- Exeter Rd
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- It’s snowed, so most of Exmouth decides to go out to check it out…
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- Zara building a snowman
Off to Scotland again…
Time to head North again. An impromptu family lunch is organised and I’m waved off.
I stop at John’s for the night, feeling like I’ve forgotten something. I get to meet Jane, and Stella comes round for dinner. I try to persuade John to come on the forthcoming TFL week…
Bicton Park
Mother very kindly takes myself and Han & the kids to Bicton Park. It’s a nice place. Lots of trees to id, but not enough labels – only the trees that have been deemed significant during a visit by someone from Kew show name tags. The tallest tree in the park is a Grecian Fir. My favourite, though, is a Mexican Pine, of which I have no pictures. I did take some photos though – they are below:
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- Willow is looking forward to identifying some trees
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- There’s also a museum of old farming… stuff.
Riverford Organic Kitchen
Mum and Paul very kindly treat me to a meal at the Riverford Kitchen. These guys ( www.riverford.co.uk) produce organic veg (and meat) boxes. I used to live off them when I was based in Bristol, and found that I could just about get away with not having to use supermarkets. Contrary to what people might think, this saved me money – vegetables and fruit are generally cheaper than processed food, it saved the environment, my food tasted fantastic, and it meant that I felt healthier.
Now the rest of my Exmouth based family try to do the same.
Eating organic food has hit the headlines recently as there is apparently no evidence to suggest that organic food is better for you than non-organic. For me, this almost completely misses the point. Organic farming methods are considerably more sympathetic to the land, and in an age when we have the choice to live sustainably, or to destroy the environment we live in, producing organically seems to me to be a straight forward decision.
Getting back to the Riverford Kitchen… when we arrived a menu was hanging from the wall listing a choice of dishes, Squash and Goats cheese Flan, Potato Gratin, Roasted veg, Chilli Spinach and Cumin, etc. As I sat wondering which dish to go for I was told that we would be provided with ALL (six) of the vegetarian dishes at our table. So, no decision necessary – it was just a case of how much of each dish could I get on my plate.
There was also desert. I left with that post Christmas meal bloated feeling. Did I mention organic food tastes good?
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- The Riverford kitchen is visible in the background…
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- Six meals in one, C’mon!
Kids update
I spent a bit of time round Han’s, making Willow smile (not hard), and feeding Flynn. Here’s how they look at the ages of 6 and 20 months respectively…
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- Isn’t that the crazy finger gesture of a metalhead?
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- Hmm, I see you’ve failed to consider the bias of the observer in your assumptions regarding the large number constants…
Digging the allotment, and some Slow Worms!
Mum and Paul have an allotment here in Exmouth and are planning to put some fruit bushes in before Christmas. So, I was drafted in to dig the area where said bushes will go, and increase the size of some of the other dug patches.
The allotments are a hotbed of sexagenarian and septuagenarian activity. I don’t know if it is this or the fact that a certain type of people are likely to apply for an allotment, but the people on site all seem very civil, sharing ideas and shouting hello to each other and passers by. My kind of people.
However, I was surprised to note how many of them had driven there. The allotments are situated at the top of hill, but are pretty much near the middle of town. My Mum always walks up the hill to them, but for others perhaps green fingers doesn’t necessarily equate to green thinking. There are also some, unsurprisingly, old fashioned views on Stinging Nettles and Ragwort, two plants which encourage visits from insects.
The highlight of the two days was coming across first some young, and then an adult Slow Worm. I can’t remember ever having seen a Slow Worm before, and they are gorgeous. I was very disappointed at having disturbed them. Hopefully, with the carpet they were under relaid on a different part of the site, they will still find the plot an acceptable place to hang out.
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- Before…
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- …and after I’d finished with it.
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- This appears to be the mother (?) Slow Worm drooling over some slug eggs
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- I love these things.
Life since the office 
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