Notes From The Middle of September

• Thank you to everyone who commented on the holiday photo posts. It's lovely to see that they brought back memories to folk who had visited or lived here in the past .

• Decided the large fir cone definitely had to go from the Autumn display so I pulled out the coloured artificial fabric/paper leaves that have been used every year for around 8 years. I gave them a bit of a wipe with a damp cloth to refresh and it now looks much better.  In October I'll add in the few Halloween bits.





• The British Heart Foundation charity shop  in Stowmarket, which has been there for years, closed down with no notice. The volunteers were just told 'This shop is now closed'. I believe they did the same thing in Diss a few years ago. Very odd. The shop is still full of stuff.

• Very mixed Autumn weather this week, very windy on Monday and Tuesday and wet and nasty on Wednesday and really chilly. Then milder on Thursday and positively Hot on Friday. Difficult to know exactly what to wear everyday. 

• I've spent some time this week feeling ugh!  Have I become intolerant  to something I eat that previously hasn't affected me? Didn't have much energy in between jobs, so plenty of reading time. I read two of my own books while waiting for the mobile library to bring my reservations. Also watched the World Athletics Championships from Japan. How they run in that heat I've no idea.

• Because of the weird stats numbers I've been looking more often and  last Saturdays post had a crazy number of page views...........over 7,000 by the time I wrote this post. I hope AI is enjoying my ramblings and adding them to their knowledge of how to speak Suffolk!

• Ed Sheran and his family are deserting Suffolk to go and live in the US - he's the main sponsor for Ipswich Town FC - hope he doesn't abandon them. He says it's while he's touring and writing Country music - so maybe he will be back eventually.

• Now I've reached the right age I've made an appointment for shingles vaccination next week, are there any side effects that I should know about?

• We need some more people for the Keep Moving exercise group, people are not coming as regularly as they once did, some weeks recently we've been down to just 7 or 8 of us. Three ladies are poorly, two more came once and then never again. Perhaps I will put a message on the local face book or next door website pages again, it worked at the beginning of the year. 

• I managed to get through the whole week without seeing any TV coverage of the State visit here from a certain person. That's a win in my opinion.

• Quite a lot of garden clearing done this week, cutting back one of the buddleias and a lot of other bits until the garden bin was full again. Then I got the grass cut on Thursday, it was getting long due to me being away and it mustn't get too long or the battery mower struggles and I have to get BiL to cut it - try not to let that happen as he is always so busy.

And here we are at another weekend, decent weather is forecast - best to make the most of it with the equinox on Monday there's no getting away from the fact that Autumn is really here.

Back Monday

RSPB Minsmere

 I'd not been to Minsmere the RSPB reserve on the coast here for a very long time. It's completely changed with new visitor centre, cafe and shop.

Unfortunately it wasn't a good day for spotting birds - for me anyway- I'm sure others did better. The dry weather had dried up the 'scrape' which is the usually huge area of shallow water over mud that wading birds enjoy. The reeds are so tall that I couldn't see over them from one of the hides and the morning sun reflecting on the water didn't help and I just didn't have the energy for walking too far for some reason.

Even walking through the woodland it was really quiet , the only birds I heard were a robin and a wren and elsewhere I only saw a moorhen, mallard ducks, magpies and crows and one solitary goose.

Oh well.

A few photos.

That's Sizewell Power Station in the Distance. The distant sound of pile-driving for the new Sizewell C could be heard from Minsmere and from the my holiday lodge site. Luckily only in daytime!

I went in the cafe for a warming cup of coffee and a ginormous sausage roll - I cut in half and took away for later. 

On the wall  there are some very unsettling pictures that tell part of the history of the RSPB.. Originally set up to stop the use of feathers in hats and other fashion items.

  

The one above says between 1870 and 1920 64,000 tons of dead birds were imported into London alone.

The Society for the Protection of Birds, triumphed with the Plumage Act of 1921. Making it illegal to import dead birds into Britain.

The dry weather this summer hasn't helped the waders and other birds that usually breed in this country.

Back Soon

Dunwich Heath

 National Trust land - saved for the Nation, but £6 to park as I'm no longer a member.

This is an area all along this part of the coast which is protected heathland. I don't think I've ever seen the heather so colourful before

The view north to Dunwich village, Southwold in the distance and the cliffs that fall into the sea every winter.

The heathland was beautiful in the sunshine

This collection of buildings were once cottages for the coastguards. Now they are holiday lets and tearooms and shop all belonging to the National Trust

National Trust info HERE

Back Soon