I hopped into my neat little Nissan Micra, and popped over to All Cannings. (The old Morris Traveller has finally gone, closing the door on over fifteen years of adventures in it, and many roadside emergency repairs. "Don't you miss it?" people ask. "It was fun," I say, "But now I've got a heater that warms more than just my left knee on a good day...")
Gill, at the village community shop, had asked me to do a picture for them, and we wandered around the village admiring the varied building styles, and meeting the cows at Manor Farm where they produce the milk for the Moo2You vending machines they have in these parts.
The rooks were busy repairing their nests, and it was too early to tell from their labours whether it is going to be a good summer (nests high in the tree, foretelling balmy days) or a rotten one (nests skulking in lower boughs).
Here's the finished picture, which will presently be available as a tea towel from that village shop, yet another reason to go there.
It's fine country for a bimble. At the moment there's a good chance you'll see golden plovers flocking; and peewits will probably be nesting presently around Allington. And there's a great egret taken up residence on the canal. There it is, loo, in the picture.
Talking of bimbling, I got a rather excited email from Richard Beard a few days ago:
Gill, at the village community shop, had asked me to do a picture for them, and we wandered around the village admiring the varied building styles, and meeting the cows at Manor Farm where they produce the milk for the Moo2You vending machines they have in these parts.
The rooks were busy repairing their nests, and it was too early to tell from their labours whether it is going to be a good summer (nests high in the tree, foretelling balmy days) or a rotten one (nests skulking in lower boughs).
Here's the finished picture, which will presently be available as a tea towel from that village shop, yet another reason to go there.
It's fine country for a bimble. At the moment there's a good chance you'll see golden plovers flocking; and peewits will probably be nesting presently around Allington. And there's a great egret taken up residence on the canal. There it is, loo, in the picture.
Talking of bimbling, I got a rather excited email from Richard Beard a few days ago:
Be still my beating heart. Look at us, officially approved by the OED. As flagged by one of my former graduate teachers in Cambridge. What are the chances of anyone ever finding it?
Hooray!!!!
https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/251031
and lo, we are indeed in the OED, and so is my little Traveller. I wonder if the new owner knows of her illustrious literary career?
