Random selection

Well, I was going to show you another of our days out from when I was on leave but decided to show you a random selection of things I've been getting up to instead. Something for everyone, I hope!

So, lately I've been...

Cooking...from the latest book by the Hemsley sisters, Good and Simple. I really needed some healthy and tasty food after the tummy bug and a lot of the recipes appealed to me. This one is their lentil bake and very tasty it was too; even better as leftovers a couple of days later. Also very good was their prawn and carrot stir-fry with a peanut lime sauce. They are part of the coconut oil brigade so some of the ingredients are a bit obscure but it's pretty easy to substitute normal foods. A good addition to my cookery book collection.

Baking...Chocolate and fudge cookies using my favourite cookie recipe. Well, a woman can't live on healthy recipes alone! I made these to use up some packets which had been lurking at the back of the cupboard with all the half-used sprinkles, gel colours and flavourings. I need to develop better willpower in front of the baking section!

Researching...my family history. There was free access to the census records on Ancestry the other day so I looked up some of my ancestors. I can't tell you how exciting it was to find out that one of them, Maria Hatton, was a milliner! Being so into sewing and crafts myself, it was a real thrill to find someone from my past with a creative gene.

Sewing...a new picture to satisfy that creative gene. The pattern is from a past issue of Stitch magazine and is by Stephanie Redfern. I still have all the embellishment and embroidery stitches to do yet and will show you when it's finished.

Gardening...It's been such a glorious day that I decided to tackle the garden. The grass had its first mow of the year and I've generally been tidying and digging. My friend gave me a garden centre voucher for my birthday and I want to use it to buy a couple of new shrubs. Unfortunately that means digging out all the old ones and the endless crocosmia bulbs. Do not ever plant crocosmia as it takes over your garden. It took me twice as long to clear them because I discovered that worms like to hide in the clumps of bulbs and I couldn't throw worms away so I had to carefully pick through every clump.

The most exciting thing in the garden though is the appearance of purple-sprouting broccoli. I mentioned a few weeks ago that the plants had been decimated by caterpillars but I had left them in the ground and hoped for the best. Realistically I wasn't expecting much but, look! Purple bits! It looks like we'll be tasting some after all!

Visiting...John Rylands Library in Manchester to see the Magic, Witches and Devils exhibition. You can see a copy of the booklet on the web site. Lots of fascinating information including a recipe from 1555 for youthful looking skin: water distilled from cinnamon, eggs and donkey's milk!

Buying...a new bird tile by Lee Page Hanson to add to my collection: it's the one on the right. Well, you can't be in Manchester and not look at the shops too. I bought the tile on the left a few years ago. I love how they make a pair with the little and large hearts.

And, last but not least, I've been continuing with the kirigami. As always, a really mixed range of designs and I'm still looking forward to what each day brings.

Well, time to unwind before bed. Next time I'll try to show you one of those days out. Enjoy your week. x

Clifton Country Park

No 30 Days Wild post today as I still wanted to tell you about a day out we had in mid-May. However, there's lots of nature in this post so it fits nicely with the 30 Days theme.

If you saw my post about visiting Rawtenstall, you'll know that Chickpea and I have started following the Irwell Sculpture Trail. Most of the sculptures are in clusters and it turned out that one of them was only a hop, skip and a jump up the motorway from us.

Clifton Country Park is the site of an old colliery dating from 1740. The Wet Earth Colliery closed in 1928 and the land was reclaimed. Some of the sculptures are part of the Wet Earth Trail which takes you around the industrial remains. The first one was this lovely steel Galloway pony. He was very tactile and we couldn't resist stroking him. A real pony would have walked round and round the circular structure all day to winch coal up from the pit.

Next to him is the wheel chamber, built in the 1750s to help solve the problem of flooding. It's pretty deep and you can see tunnels in the sides. It's all fenced off so you can't go down the spiral staircase.

The Collier and Pit Brow Lass stand next to the wheel chamber.

I think this was the remains of the fan house, used to ventilate the mine.

There are other remnants of the area's past scattered in the undergrowth.

The last of the sculptures created by Stephen Charnock is the Starvationer Boat, which gets its name from the fact that the ribs were exposed on the outside of the boat. It was used to bring coal out of the mine.

This would have been one of the canals but was drained and is now overgrown.

Fletcher's folly, built in 1805, was a chimney for the steam winding engine which replaced the pit ponies.

These are the remains of a cottage and the end of the Wet Earth Trail.

I loved the wild, overgrown feel of this part of the park. So fascinating to keep stumbling across brick and ironwork which have been colonised by plants.

Nearby is another part of the sculpture trail. Dig, by Rosie Leventon, was also inspired by the starvationer boats.

The path then takes you along the side of the lake.

And past a field where a gymkhana was taking place.

We stopped for a while to watch. It mostly seemed to consist of different competitions for best dressed pony. We heard an announcement for 'best tail'!

Further on, at the side of the lake is the last of the sculptures. This is what The Lookout looked like when it was first installed.

I much prefer it now that the wood has weathered and nature has colonised the stonework, though Chickpea preferred the pristine condition of the original.

The path now takes you around the perimeter of the lake and alongside the river Irwell.

We took the river path which winds its way alongside the river several feet below and an abandoned, dried out channel, Fletcher's canal, that was part of the colliery workings on the other side. I think this might have been my favourite part of the day. It was just magical, with the sound of the water, the scent of hawthorn blossom in the air...

...and bluebells spreading out before us. The English countryside is just breathtaking at that time of year.

There is a silent eloquence

In every wild bluebell

That fills my softened heart with bliss

(Anne Bronte 'The Bluebell')

Did you know that the sap of bluebells was used as the glue to attach feathers to arrows? I read that recently, just as I read that it's said to be unlucky to walk through bluebells as fairies and goblins would be summoned by the 'ringing' of the bells! I absolutely love this kind of folklore :-)

On and on the path twined until eventually we arrived back at the gymkhana and stopped to watch more ponies before heading for home.

Another place we will definitely return to in the future. I'd love to follow the river path beyond the boundaries of the park to see where it takes us.

Hope your week is going well. I'll probably be back tomorrow with 30 days wild though random acts of wildness have been fleeting so far. x

Day 6: Peregrines and gardens

Day 6 and a day out in Manchester to meet up with a friend. A pair of peregrines have nested on top of one of the buildings for several years and the RSPB usually have a stand with a telescope. This was my target for today.

I'd been looking online for sightings and had heard that the birds had been seen near the Town Hall so I headed there first.

Sure enough there was an RSPB van with two lovely young women inside: this is Hayley. They hadn't set up their stand yet so we chatted about 30 days wild (I was wearing my badge) and the antics of *Spineless Si before moving on to the peregrines. There are 2 pairs in the city centre at the moment. The older pair seem to have moved to the Town Hall.

Their original nest site on top of the CIS building has been taken over by a younger pair. Apparently they have been very active with lots of bonding behaviour: passing food to each other in mid-air and that kind of thing.

Unfortunately for me, neither pair was in evidence today though I scanned the buildings and the sky and went back to the Town Hall later in the day. It was disappointing but I was given lots of information on what to look for and was shown photos of them: they like to perch on the Premier Inn sign and on an old crow's nest on the Cathedral. I'm back in Manchester in a couple of weeks so will try again. There are videos of the nest site from previous years here.

Later, I went over to the art gallery where I was meeting my friend and had a pleasant surprise. The front of the building has been decorated by the National Trust with plants and gardens as part of the Lost Gardens installation.

There was a box of frames for you to take pictures.

So, no peregrines but an unexpected bonus of nature in the city.

Another unexpected bonus was this little urban fox who came home with me :-)

A lovely day all round. x

*For non-UK readers, Spineless Si is a stickleback (small fish) which has featured on a TV nature programme called Springwatch.