Happy New Year

And so it is New Year's Eve, that time when we all stay up to see in the new year.

Well not me. I can never understand the point, i'll be tucked up asleep.

BUT hang on its a new year which means yet again I start a new Bird yearlist. I have know idea why I do this as I often can't be bothered to drive 20 miles to tick something. Still I'll be up early tomorrow to head somewhere to start ticking.

As far as this blog is concerned it'll be more of the same, holidays, birds, churches and pictures:D

Anyway I do hope that all my readers have a great 2009 and that all of your hopes and dreams are fulfilled.

If it's not one thing...

Well Dad has been to the Doctors again. The clot is not dispersing quickly enough so its operation time.

Apparently it'll involve a few days in Hospital which understandably he is not looking forward to.

FYI

The National Trust have a couple of useful/interesting links on their site.

One is a series of walks to Walk off the Turkey.

There is also a list of National Trust properties which are good for Snowdrops. I can particularly recommend Anglessey Abbey in Cambridgeshire, I was there last February.

This is the voice of the Mysterons.....

I didn't have dinner with Dad Sunday lunchtime instead we had it at night. I arrived just as the afternoon film was ending and it was followed by a compilation of episodes of Stingray.

Hang on Stingray? Ruddy 'ell that's my childhood!! Actually I was never a big stingray fan but shortly after it there was a programme about the creator of Stingray Gerry Anderson and his work.

For those who don't know Anderson was best known for a series of puppet shows for Children in the sixties. The two works I remember, with much affection, are Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. I had a Dinky model of Thunderbird 2 and a Captain Scarlet SPV !!

In this age of CGI Anderson "Supermarination" puppets might seem old hat but that is a little unfair. Anderson's "heroes" are a follow on from the 1950's comic book hero Dan Dare.

Thunderbirds tell the story of International Rescue an organisation created to help people in grave danger using hi-tech machinery. It has lots of bangs, flashes, rockets and excitement and yes it is excitement. They showed an episode of Thunderbirds immediately after and very enjoyable it was.

To see an example. Frightenly I remember this!!

Captain Scarlet is darker and in my view the better work. A team of explorers accidentally destroys an alien base on Mars. The Mysterons threaten terrible revenge. As they have the ability to replicate and then control any person or object they first kill or destroy, through their power of "retro-metabolism", they use it to conduct a war of terror on the Earth. Captain Scarlet is killed by the Mysterons and replicated however when the replicate falls to "its" death he doesn't die and the original personality restablishes itself. The replicate body can repair itself and can sense the Mysterons.



There have been remakes of both but neither were as good as the originals.

Yes I know i'm 40ahem and I still read comics and enjoy this sort of thing. Why not? I guess todays kids find it all terribly dated but this old fogey thinks its great fun.

It was a year today

Sigh, it was a year today that Mum passed away, not something you can forget and less so at this time of year. You can't help remember that last Christmas Day you were rushing to and from hospital.

Of course its MUCH harder for dad. You "know" you will outlive your parents, whereas he always expected to go first (high blood pressure and diabetes) and they were married 55 years and known each other for 61. And of course he finds the house empty.

Someone asked me last night how I coped, well I just think of how she was at the end and I know she never wanted that.

I'm going to have dinner with Dad tonight and of course I'm thinking about Mum.

Last Forest visit for the year.

I dragged myself out of bed this morning and headed to Hatfield Forest for the last time this year.

Woodland birds seen included Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatch, Marsh Tit and Fieldfare. The partially frozen lake had the usual Mallards, Coots, Moorhen, Canada Geese, Black Headed Gulls and a pair of Great Crested Grebes (I presume one of the breeding pairs). These were joined by Tufties, Gadwall, Shoveller, Pochard and Teal. Duck variety is always greater in winter.

I do like the first Mallard pic.

And that's Christmas over.

I did very little except go for a walk Christmas Morning and look VERY briefly around some sales for an hour Boxing day morning. My chief job was tea and coffee maker which I dutifully did and even got up of a morning and brought dad tea in bed!!

I did read a fair bit.
P G Wodehouse - "Aunts aren't Gentlemen" *** - ok but not one of his best.
Charles De Lint - "Promises to Keep" ***** - a short novel about the young Jilly Coppercorn.
Marion Zimmer Bradley - "Winds of Darkover" - *** entertaining short fantasy novel.
All 3 books were under 200 pages each so I'm now 2/3 of the way through Agatha Christie's a Pocket Full of Rye

This morning I departed chez Dad, it was VERY frosty but frost means clear skies !! Sun!! and of course as soon as the camera appeared so did the cloud - ARGH.

Anyway I strolled around Rye Meads and Amwell. Snipe, Water Rail, Stonechat, Siskin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Coal Tit and Kestrel being the highlights.

Happy Christmas

And its that time of year again. As I said yesterday I'll be decamping to Dads.

I hope you all have a HAPPY CHRISTMAS what ever your religious beliefs or lack or them.

Tis the season.....

And so here I am in the office and colleagues there are none and nor will there be! As a good little manager I've let my staff take the day off and I am covering this office on my own(I do have two guys covering the other office). Well most of them have kids and anyway I take my leave when the sun is shining. Well meant to be shining!

Apparently a warmish October meant a second breeding season for Hedgehogs and there are lots of little ones about many caught out by the recent cold snap. Apparently Wildlife Aid in Leatherhead Surrey have had 50 handed in so far, a new record. Click here for a VERY cute pic!

Ramblings

My Boss is on holiday for the next two weeks. I mean how dare people take holidays, that's what I do!!

I promptly put in my entire holiday request for 2009/10 into the system, hey future planning!! They'll take place beetween April and October. I haven't actually booked anything mind just the time off work. I have printed some accomodation for hols with Dad and I'll show him them tonight.

As the boss is in Ireland I wasn't expecting approvals to the new year but they came back approved within an hour. WEY HEY!!

I was sitting in the office yesterday lunchtime reading when a colleague came up to see me. Of course reading in ones lunchtime is no great sin but I guess when you are a middle aged manager you can expect funny looks if you are reading the Judge Dredd Megazine (a comic).

I decamp to Dads tomorrow evening for a few days. Plans? uhm to do very little, I'll take the camera and may take some local pics over the few holidays.

The telly looks rubbish, still there is a new Wallace & Gromitt and a Dr Who special.

Out of interest why does every North American wish me Happy Holidays? or Season Greetings? It's Christmas!!! Muslim and Hindu colleagues have no problem wishing me a happy christmas and can't see the problem either.

hey ho.