The Owl and The Kestrel

WHELDRAKE INGS


BIRD HIDE

Today I went on my first outing with the Harrogate RSPB Local Group. I've been volunteering for the group for several months now, attending indoor meetings (usually a slide show) and (long drawn out) committee meetings. I've designed a website for the group and design and produce the group's newsletter. I'm currently working on designing a logo for the group. It was nice to finally actually do some birdwatching.

We went to a National Nature Reserve north of York called Wheldrake Ings. The word Ings is of Norse origin and means "winter flooded meadowland". I was told to take that description literally and wear wellies. Unfortunately I don't own any wellies. Fortunately, it hasn't rained a whole lot lately so the Ings weren't as wet as they usually are. They were just incredibly muddy. We were also fortunate to enjoy sunshine and blue skies throughout the day. We saw quite a few birds at Wheldrake, such as cormorants, shelducks, lapwings and, to my delight, I caught a glimpse of a barn owl.

We spent about three hours at Wheldrake then ate our packed lunches outdoors on a viewing platform near the car park. Brrrrrr.... it was cold there. From Wheldrake we went to another nature reserve, Duffield Carrs, for more birdwatching. We saw even more birds there: mute swans, whooper swans, teal, wigeon, golden plover, ruff, to name a few. In all, we saw over 32 bird species. But there were two special treats at Duffield. While scanning the banks of a marsh for birds I caught sight of a stoat! They are edgy little critters and don't stay still for long, but I managed to get several good looks at him through my binocs. Then as we were headed back to the car park we got a fantastic view of another barn owl. He sat on a fence post and stared right at us. Then swiveled his head back and forth, looking for prey. For an added bonus we saw the owl and a kestrel swooping around in the same field. We couldn't figure out what was going on but decided the owl wanted something the kestrel had caught.

Gloomy Day in Harrogate

In Tokyo they've got snow. In Baltimore and Ohio they've got partly cloudy skies and highs in the mid-40s. Here in Harrogate the temperature hovers just below 30°F (-1°C) and a gloomy fog has shrouded the town all day long. Weather forecasters have been talking about a Siberian cold front heading our way. I've put Beatles music on to help cheer me up. Hmmm... this also calls for a nice cup of tea. I'll go put the kettle on right now.

Lambs!

lambs!
Originally uploaded by Ilja.

One of my flickr contacts has just posted a photo of lambs in a field. You can just barely see the little lambkin huddled up against its mother in the foreground. I was amazed to see that the photo was taken today. I usually don't expect to see lambs until around March. But this is a good and happy sign...spring is on its way. Yes, I must keep reminding myself of that. The temperatures have taken a precipitous dip today.

Tokyo Redux

GINZA STREET CORNER, CIRCA 1948


GINZA STREET CORNER, 2003

Today's my Mom's birthday so she's been in my thoughts a lot. I really do miss her so much. I dug up this photo my dad took when they were in Tokyo. I think it's my favorite photo he took of her. When Brad and I lived in Tokyo I was on a mission to locate the street corner where the photo was taken. Seems like it would have been easy to look up the Ginza Avenue and St. Luke's Avenue intersection, but those street names no longer exist. The street names were designated by the Americans during the occupation. The Japanese use a totally different and very arcane system for designating addresses and most of the streets don't have names. A few months before we left Tokyo I met up with an American who had been living there since the 40s and he was able to identify the street corner using the Okura building as a reference. That building is gone now, which explains why I never could find it during my three years of wanderings in the Ginza. About a week before we left Tokyo, Brad took my picture on the very same street corner where my Mom's picture was taken.

Turkish Baths and Another Tea

CHANGING ROOMS IN THE FRIGIDARIUM


THE MAJESTIC HOTEL LOOMS OVER HARROGATE TOWNHOUSES

Today I and a friend took a tour of Harrogate's Turkish Baths and Health Spa. The Baths, one of three such 19th-century facilities in England, are a stunning example of Arabian-inspired Victorian architecture. The Turkish Baths are an intergral part of the Royal Baths building, parts of which have been redeveloped to house restaurants and bars, parts of which still stand vacant. The extensive redevelopment project to restore the Turkish Baths to their original purpose and full glory was completed in 2004. Amazingly nearly all the fixtures and tiles are original; there were very few reproductions used in the restoration of the Baths. Last summer I attended an innovative live theatre production, Steaming, staged in the Turkish Baths. And last October I went to the Spa for an Indian Head Massage (birthday gift from Brad). The great thing about our one-hour tour today, aside from the insights provided by our guide, was the opportunity to take photos (normally not allowed).

Afterwards my friend and I decided to sample the Afternoon Tea served up by The Majestic Hotel, one of the grandest of Harrogate's grand hotels. It was rather a nice tea, a cut above the one I'd had recently at The Swan, but still not as good as the one JoAnn and I had in London at Fortnum and Mason's.

Slogging Through The Mud

Today my hiking group held its holiday luncheon. We decided to celebrate in January as many of us were either very busy or traveling out of town during December. We started the day of, as usual, with a hike, this time from Bilton through the Nidd Gorge. When I had heard we were hiking the Nidd Gorge I knew we were in for some muddy going. This will be my third time hiking the Gorge. Each time has been muddy. I really HATE hiking in mud. If it hadn't been for the holiday luncheon I probably would have skipped the hike. Today the mud seemed worse than ever. Nigel, our local outdoors expert, also joined us on the walk. I hadn't brought my camera because I knew the Gorge wasn't particularly photogenic and I wanted to be able to keep up with the group for a change. Well, I ended up bringing up the rear again as I stopped with Nigel to do some bird watching along the way. We didn't see much at all except some lovely little dippers in the River Nidd. But sticking with Nigel had its benefits...he knows the shortcuts and before long we were at the head of the group.

The luncheon was held at a place called Dr. B's. It is a restaurant run by the charity Barnardo's. Aside from being a lovely little restaurant/coffee shop. Dr. B's is a training facility for youngsters with learning needs. I have to hand it to those kids. They handled our noisy group of about 40 or so hikers with panache. We did have to wait a long time for our orders to arrive but all the food was really good. Except my main course. It was supposed to be pan-seared tuna with orange coulis and cardamom. What I got was overcooked to the point of almost dessicated tuna topped with a sickeningly sweet sauce that tasted like orange marmelade. Oh, but I shouldn't be so mean. The rest of the meal was really delicious: Leek and potato soup with a tasty cheese roll. Dessert was the highlight: apple and blackberry crumble with custard. Absolutely scrumptious.

Afternoon Tea

Today I went with some friends for Afternoon Tea at the Swan Hotel, one of the larger hotels of Harrogate. There were seven of us and we'd brought four coupons allowing us to have two Teas for the price of one. For any non-British readers out there, Afternoon Tea is one of the grand old institutions of Britain. It's a lovely (and filling) treat typically consisting of dainty sandwiches, cakes, scones with clotted cream and preserves and non-stop tea. The tearoom at the Swan was fitted out with sofas, easy chairs and low coffee tables all in muted tones of brown and beige. Maybe it was our American accents or the size of our party but our waitress seemed a bit befuddled while taking our order. Or maybe she was just new at the job. We were instructed to choose a sandwich from the menu. She then disappeared for what seemed like ages. When she finally reappeared she brought out our treats on triple-tiered dishes along with pots of preserves and butter. There were also small saucer-like dishes filled with a whitish-liquid. What could that possibly be?? We surveyed the array set before us. Sandwiches piled on the top tier. Scones on the middle tier. Toasted teacakes, caramel slices and flapjacks on the third. What was missing was the clotted cream. Or could that whitish liquid once have been clotted?? Sure enough! That was the case. We had to request fresh clotted cream. The sandwiches were tasty, as was the caramel slice. I was underwhelmed by the quality of the flapjacks, teacakes and scones. But even so, we had a great time chatting and yucking it up.

Invasion

I wasted three hours of my life last night watching a new show called Invasion. At least it is new here in the UK, but originally broadcast on ABC in the US sometime in 2005. As the title suggests, the show is about extraterrestrials who invade Earth. I had high hopes for this show. Tales of outer space have been a favorite of mine since childhood when I used to have vivid dreams of close encounters. The intriguing premise of Invasion -- that the extraterrestrials camouflage their arrival on Earth with a natural disaster -- could not save it from mediocre acting and an implausible and derivative script. I kept watching one episode after another hoping it would get better. But it didn't.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

We lived the lyrics this morning. The dawn was breakin'. It was early morn. The taxi was waitin'. Oh but he wouldn't dare blow his horn. Brad's leavin' on a jet plane. And I don't know when he'll be back again... Of course some of the lyrics don't apply. Especially the part about letting me down and playing around. Oh, and when Brad left, dawn was still a couple of hours away.

The alarm went off at 2:50 a.m. By 3 a.m. Brad was up and in the shower. He was down in the kitchen by 3:30 having a power shake for breakfast. Ginger was prowling about wondering what we were doing in what is usually his domain at that time of day. Brad left at 4 a.m. to catch his 6 a.m. flight out of Leeds Bradford airport. It's the very same flight that he and I took last month when we went to Stockholm but this time when he changes planes in Amsterdam he will be heading for the States.

After Brad left I was wide awake. I sat down to watch the telly and soon my eyelids got heavy. I went back to bed for a coupla hours. I only hope Brad is able to fall asleep as easily on his journey home.

After breakfasting I decided to take the Volvo out for a spin. My plan is to take the Volvo out every Sunday morning as there is very light traffic at that time. I wasn't going to take the car out till next Sunday but I was worried about leaving it sit for a week after Brad had that recent problem with the battery. All went well. I devised a route that avoided major roundabouts. Hard to do from our location in the town center as we are only a stone's throw from all the major roundabouts in Harrogate. I do have a bit of a problem with visibility when I am yielding to traffic since I'm seated all the way on the left side of the car on the left side of the road. I'll continue using this local route until I feel more comfortable about taking on the major roundabouts and open highway.

Final Preparations

Brad leaves tomorrow. He wanted to have breakfast at Betty's as a special treat before leaving the UK. But first we had to go pick up the Volvo. We arrived at 8:30 when the service dept. was due to open. We weren't waited on until 8:45. Then when Brad got in the car it wouldn't start. Turns out it was just that the battery had been drained from him trying to start the car so many times and then having to leave the lights on while being towed from Ripon to just outside Knaresborough (over and hour journey). The service dept. gave him a jump start and he was on the road. Meanwhile, I had hopped in the Ford and driven into town to save us a table at Bettys. If you get there after 9:15 a.m. you may end up having to wait in line to sit down. I got us a table and shortly after Brad showed up and we had a delicious breakfast, as usual, at our favorite little cafe. We took a brief stroll through town, then Brad had to run into the office to take care of some last minute details. I finished up about the tenth load of laundry I've done since Thursday. Brad began packing. We took a break in the afternoon for another special treat: cream scones at the Catwalk Cafe...perhaps our second favorite little cafe. Brad is still packing...almost finished. It's hard to believe we will be apart for so long. It will feel strange being on my own again. Just me and Ginger boy.

Yay!!!

The Volvo is ready to be picked up from the dealer. I'm amazed at the quick turnaround. The service dept. ordered the part based on the RAC driver's diagnosis. Something to do with fuel injection. Brad and I will go retrieve our pesky automobile tomorrow morning.

Murphy's Law

Today was Brad's last day at work before leaving for an extended business trip to the States. I say "extended" cuz he really doesn't know how long he will be gone, that will be decided after he is in the States. He has been busy the last coupla weeks getting ready for this trip. Today he said he felt he was finally getting caught up. At lunchtime he and a co-worker took what was to be a quick run to Ripon to pick up some plaques that the office had ordered. That one-hour errand turned into a four-hour hassle. The Volvo died. He had to get towed by the RAC to the Volvo dealer. He called me in the afternoon and asked me to meet him at the Volvo dealer so that he could use the Ford to drop me off at home and then return to the office. While sitting in the dealership waiting room I had a chance to look over the plaques and found three typos. Oooops. I am hoping the Volvo service dept. can fix the car quickly so we can pick it up Friday or Saturday. If not, that means I'll need to pick it up sometime next week. I've never driven the Volvo over here. Sounds like that shouldn't be a problem but the Volvo is left-hand drive and can be awkward driving here in the UK.

Gruesome Viewing

Last night we watched the BBC production of Sweeney Todd. It was exquisitely gruesome. An excellent depiction of London in the mid-1700s. The acting was superb. A real treat, even if I did keep hiding behind the sofa during the gory bits. Afterwards I hopped on the internet to research this odd little drama that has had so many incarnations, some musical. The basic story (a barber on Fleet Street becomes a serial killer and his victims end up as the principal ingredient in meat pies) appears to be an urban legend cooked up (pun intended) in the mid-1900s. The story was originally published in a penny dreadful by an author who routinely based his characters on crime stories of the day, leaving us to wonder if there ever really was such a character as the odd Mr. Todd. The PBS website has an excellent page on the background of Sweeney Todd.

All this made me think of another macabre musical number: Mack the Knife. The song made popular by Bobby Darin has its roots that go way back to the 1700s. Check out the entry in wikipedia on Mack the Knife's genesis.

Wikipedia is now one of my favorite websites. It's a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. That "anyone can edit" part causes some to doubt its veracity, but I think I've always gotten excellent and reputable info from the site.

On the mundane side of life: The dryer arrived at 9 a.m. It's a brand new one. yay! The only thing is it seems to have the same performance as the old one (it takes forever to get the clothes dry). Plus, the door opens the wrong way, making it really awkward to load and unload clothes. Oh well. At least it works!

Clean-up Time

I spent the day putting our house back in order. I took down one last Christmas decoration, the mistletoe, and restored knick knacks that had been put aside for Christmas decorations to their usual place. I stopped off at Morphets to pick up the fire screen I won for £10 by commission bid last week. I'm really pleased with it: a floral needlework framed in mahogany. You can display the needlework vertically on the stand or flip it up and make the stand a table. Yesterday our dryer conked out. I called the Quartermaster warehouse and when I told them the make of the dryer they said it wasn't worth it to repair it. They will come tomorrow morning to exchange it for another. So I used that as an incentive to clean up the utility room. Tonight we're having the lasagna that I'd made and put in the freezer to have when Vince was here. Brad is busy getting ready for his trip to the States. He leaves on Sunday.

Aysgarth Falls

Donna and Ruedi planned another walk for us today; this time from the Aysgarth Falls National Park Centre in Wensleydale. Nine of us showed up for the walk. Once again, the walk was quite a challenge for me. We walked down a hill into a valley, through the quaint little village of West Burton and then up and up and up a mountain. I was huffing and puffing all the way up. But the views were wonderful and all the effort worth it. From our vantage point we could see three dales but today it was overcast and the skies were a dull gray. At the top of the mountain we stopped for a break and a snack. Donna, bless her heart, had brought a panettone to share with us all. She pulled it out of her knapsack, unwrapped it (it was in perfect condition) and sliced up pieces for us to share. We all agreed it was the best panettone we'd ever eaten! Then it was a leisurely stroll down the mountain, past the site of an old chapel and some gorgeous views of the lower falls. The sun began to break through the cloud cover a bit for some great views of Bolton Castle. We were going to have lunch at the tearoom back at the Park Centre but it was quite busy by the time we got there (sometime after 2 p.m.) and we couldn't get a table to fit all of us. So we got in our cars and decided to make our own way back. Jean, Jeannette and I were riding with Marge. We decided to stop at Brymor Icecream Parlour for an icecream lunch. My god, they make such goooood ice cream. And you can go take a look at their contented Guernsey cows in the cow shed. They were so cute!

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

We had a blast at Victor and DaiLou's party last night. They have a wonderful fifth-floor apartment across the street from the Stray. We met Victor's father, a really sweet guy who looked very young indeed. He is a singer and dance instructor. Now we know where Victor inherited his dance skills. Things started off quiet with just a handful of guests. Then more people filtered in. We were the oldest people there till Dan and Marilyn showed up. But they had to leave early, as some others did. Then other folks showed up late but we were still the oldest there. Many of the guests were Puerto Rican...and musically inclined. Victor had several Puerto Rican instruments on hand: (maracas, guiro, bongos, panderatas) and soon they were jammin' with the music on the stereo. The food was great! Lots of good finger food. My empanadas were a hit. Victor and DaiLou served up some mouthwateringly good roast pork -- a Puerto Rican recipe. Two different kids of rice and a tamale casserole. Plus they served a delicious side dish -- something like an empanada but with the pastry part made from plantains. Oh, and I musn't forget the coquito which Victor and DaiLou kept doling out during the course of the evening. Coquito is something like a Puerto Rican version of eggnog made with rum and coconut milk and spices. Exquisite! Oh, and then ther was the homemade flan: one cheese and one vanilla. Out of this world!! After we ate the main meal the music really hotted up. People were dancing and singing and gyrating all over the place. We tried to join in when we knew the lyrics (all in Spanish) such as Guantanamera and Oye Como Va. They sang one song in which each person had to take a turn dancing in the middle of a circle formed by all the other singers. Don't think I'd've done it without all that coquito to loosen me up! At midnight we all made a toast, then someone called for an British song so I suggested Auld Lang Syne. The two English girls at the party didn't know the lyrics any better than the rest of us but soon the musicians turned the song into one with a salsa beat.

We got home at 1:30 (thank goodness we were just a 10-minute walk away) and crashed into bed. Slept in until 10 a.m. and felt fuzzy and groggy all day.

We took the tree down this afternoon. Always a sad time for me. We usually leave the tree up longer than this but it was especially droopy-looking of late.

Brad made our New Year's Day dinner today: grilled pork tenderloin, sauerkraut and homemade spaetzle. Everything was delicious. He is quite the master spaetzle maker!

Vince emailed with news on his foot. It's getting better but the doctors never really could figure out what was wrong. According to Vince the default diagnosis is gout even though he is active and a healthy eater. Oh well, it's good to know he is on the mend. He is looking at rescheduling his trip for March or April. This may all work out for the best with better weather and more attractions open during that time of year.