The humble Mallard

There is a small duck pond very near my house. As a rule there can be anything from 2-3 to a dozen mallards. There was a family of Moorhens earlier in the year but as of today 1 moorhen. I saw a female Mandarin duck there 4 years ago and occasionally a grey wagtail.

I often see an elderly chap who walks aided by a walker. It is one you can use as a seat. He only walks a few hundred yards I guess but I often see him sat by the pond watching the mallards with a smile on his face. We nod and say hello.

The humble Mallard gives him joy as it does many others

The Mallards ready to entertain 

Cotswolds Villages

The plan was to visit Worcester today but it was a bit foggy so I decided I  couldn't be bothered to drive far and so just pottered a round 3 Cotswolds Villages

Burford. 

I'm sure there are more coffee shops (although none are chains... ok there is a Starbucks but that is on the A40 and not on the high street   and "posh" shops than there were years ago. But then the Cotswolds is where the money is. I do like the number of independents  and specialist food shops  

The tomb of Henry VIIIs barber. 

These are believe to be natives of the Amazon and would be the first illustrations of such in England

There was work going on and so I couldn't get close to the Tanfield tomb

Bourton on the Water

The Venice of the Cotswolds and as packed. A grey Tuesday in November is as good a time as any and it is relatively quiet. Everything about Bourton is aimed at tourists. Lots of touristy cafes and touristy shops. Whereas the other Cotswolds villages keep the car park pricing down Bourton knows it will get tourists and they will pay. Oh you want to go to the loo ? that'll be 40p. Still if I lived there I'd want the council to get all the money it could get out of them.

Lower Slaughter 

A pretty village "just across the road" from Bourton there are a couple of hotels but really nothing in the way of tourist tat. Alas the old mill tea room has closed. There is a coffee van there now which opens....Wednesday to Sunday LOL

It took a while to get this shot as there were two groups one with a male taking photos of 3 younger ladies and one with a chap taking photos of two women one of whom was wearing some of head garland.... they took a while at the mill and on this bridge finished got in cars by the side of the road and dashed off to their next instagram moment. I noticed a few of these in Bourton as well.

Yes I know I am a tourist taking photos but they just stand there for ages posing.

I wandered back and went to the garden centre just outside the village for a coffee.

A nice lazy day