Alan Williams's Blog, page 66
August 21, 2015
August 19, 2015
Allotment Update & Swimming With Dogs
I’ve been a little slack posting here, so by way of a couple of videos, here’s an update on some of what I’ve been up to. I hope to have some news on the job front soon, and will cover that separately when I do.
We took the dogs to Emsworth for a swim yesterday. Only really the first time that Ruby has properly been swimming. The video is fairly low quality as I didn’t want to take my expensive camera out over the water with me, so I was using an older one, that I was less worried about drop...
August 4, 2015
Surprise Buzzard & Sparrowhawk
Buzzards
My morning dog walks are tending to be a little longer at the moment as there is no train to catch to work (at least for now). The chance to take a little longer and walk a little further is good for my mental health if nothing else. When I get back I tend to sit down and look through the job alerts that have come through, earmarking any that I am going to submit an application for, and if there is nothing else to do (the last two days, I’ve been preparing a proposal for a client), g...
Being Positive
Always Looking Up
Yesterday marked an unusual day for me, for the first time since 1994, I found myself technically unemployed. I took voluntary redundancy from my last employer, after 17 years with them, and yesterday was the first working day that I have been out of full time employment.
Now I’m hunting for jobs, I applied for three yesterday as well as preparing a proposal for some self-employed work that I’ve been asked to do. The latter needs finishing today to submit to the client. I mu...
July 31, 2015
I Say Tomato
A Label That Doesn’t Quite Reveal All
I wasn’t going to grow any tomatoes this year. The previous couple of years, have resulted in such a dismal crop of fruit, that it really wasn’t worth the effort, so I thought I’d take a year off from tomatoes and just grow cucumbers instead.
That was until two separate people offered me a couple of plants. I changed my mind, not because I was particularly expecting any greater success, but because I thought I’d just give it a go, and I never like to turn...
July 30, 2015
Little Brown Job
Young Robin
Little Brown Jobs (LBJs) are birds that are often difficult to tell apart at first glance, either because they are similar in marking or are juveniles and have yet to develop their adult plumage.
I was sitting at my desk this morning, glancing out of the window, trying to find some words to describe my mornings walk and deer sighting, when a butterfly passed under the window and paused on the grass outside. Basking in the sun it opened and closed it’s wings and seemed to settle fo...
Deer, Oh Deer
Walking the Fort
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about not seeing deer on my way to work in the mornings. I’ve been on “leave” the last couple of weeks, my official last day in my current job is tomorrow, which has obviously given me more time to take longer morning walks with the dogs.
This morning we were on our way around the fortwhen I heard something crashing through the bottom of “the moat”. Being Summer the vegetation is now green and lush, and it is difficult to see any distance, but I...
July 25, 2015
July 21, 2015
Book Review: Common Ground by Rob Cowen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It has taken me a while to read Rob Cowen’s Common Ground, because I’ve wanted to savour it. It reminds me of classic natural history books such as J A Baker’s “The Peregrine” and Richard Mabey’s “Nature Cure”, both of which I’ve reread this year, and so are fresh in my mind.
Common Ground takes the reader through a journey of the area of land on the edge of town. Rob Cowen takes the reader there through a series of chapters on different aspe...
July 20, 2015
Teaching Ruby To Swim
To Emsworth, to walk on the shore. Threw balls into the harbour as the tide was in and started to teach Ruby how to swim. She hasn’t quite gotten it yet but I think she will. There’s a lot of splashing and she hasn’t worked out how to use her tail as a rudder, but she will. Back to the car with two very wet, but very happy dogs.
Brought in all the towels from the car when we got home, and left the car windows open for a bit to air out the damp dog smell.
A fun afternoon.
(Regretting not getti...
