Kingfishers are wonderful birds and have seen a few recently.  I am currently working on a poem on this wonderful bird-I may share it with you all in a future blog if I manage to complete it.

Hope to do an update on my story tomorrow.

Today’s Quiz all on Birds -you can probably have a good guess at all of them.

a) What four South American countries have the Condor as their national symbol?  b) Which species of owl is found in every continent apart from Antarctica?   c) Which country has more species of flightless birds than any other?  d) Halcyon is a name for what bird in Greek legend?  e) The Anglo-Saxon name Ruddock is for which common British Bird?

A Sandy Denny song for today’s title! Despite the dull misty weather we have made the most of it and packed plenty in. We had a productive session in the garden first thing and followed by a good ride around the Longney Loop. I went bird watching at Splatt Bridge this afternoon and although visibility wasn’t great had an enjoyable afternoon. A couple of hazy photos of a Buzzard and a Stonechat below.

Yesterday’s Quiz answers on losses  (no new quiz tonight)

a) Out of 130 Spanish ships from the Armada half of them didn’t return.  b) Churchill lost 187 seats in 1945  c)  Steve McClaren was the Wally with the Brolly d) Little Big Horn was where Custer met his end.  e) Lord Cardigan led the ill fated Charge of the Light Brigade

No I haven’t done anything unprofessional or gone to the shops in my nightwear at least I don’t think so. It was watching my football team this afternoon, I think they forgot to get off the bus! They gave two goals away in the first ten minutes all gift wrapped and carried on in than generous vein for the rest of the game. It is lucky there is no proverbial cat around at the moment!

One good thing to report our first Blackcap of the winter appeared today in the garden it was a male-hopefully will be around to be photographed in the coming days. We rarely see them in the garden in the summer but I see plenty around locally then but we always get a male and female during the winter.

Yesterday’s Answers on Fog

a) John Carpenter directed the film The Fog    b) Sandberg wrote the poem  c) The Great Smog of December 52 killed 12,000 people in London. d)  Lindisfarne sang Fog on the Tyne e) It was written by band member Alan Hull

Today’s Quiz I thought should be on losses following my comments on the football.

a) The Spanish Armada was a famous loss how many ships out of the 130 that sailed did they lose?   b) The 1945 General Election was a famous victory for Clement Attlee how many seats did Winston Churchill lose?  c) Who was “The Wally with the Brolly” after a famous England football defeat?  d) Where did General Custer suffer his last stand in 1876?  e) Lord Cardigan led his men to what catastrophic defeat?

The fog never really lifted today meaning we had to alter our plans. We had intended to cycle into Stroud to buy cheese from the Shambles Market (we often do this fortnightly). I made an effort around midday but the fog was really dense around Frampton Green so decided to play safe and returned home. So it was jobs around the house and some writing till settling down to watch some cricket from South Africa this afternoon which was good!

Yesterday’s answers on speed 

a) Florence Griffith Joyner is the fastest woman runner doing the 100m in 10.49 seconds. b) The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest animal with 242 mph recorded when diving  c) Shoaib  Akhtar had the fastest ball recorded ball at 100.2 mph or 161.3 kph d) A greyhound can run at 45mph  e) A Sailfish is the fastest fish

Today’s Quiz is on Fog of course

a) Who was the director of the film The Fog?  b) Who wrote the poem The Fog that starts with the line ” The fog comes on little cat feet……..”  c) The Great Smog of December 1952 killed how many people?  d) Which group first sang “Fog on the Tyne? e) Which group member wrote Fog on the Tyne? 

What a super day. Love frosty Winter days. The Buzzard above looked great sitting up in the tree. A Kingfisher shot across in front of me up as I walked by the canal-sadly it was so quick I didn’t get a picture but it is good for the soul when you see that bolt of blue.

Even though sport can now have limited crowds I’ve just replied to a survey of season ticket holders at Luton to say I won’t be returning any time soon-not sure if travel is really possible and I think it would be sensible till wait for the vaccine.

Yesterday’s Quiz answers on distance

a) 3 miles in a league   b) 8 furlongs in a mile  c) M1 Motorway is 193 miles long  d) It is 86 miles between Luton FC and Birmingham FC  e) The Moon is 238,855 miles from Earth

Today’s Quiz is on Speed

a) Usain Bolt holds the world record for the fastest man who holds it for women?   b) What is the fastest animal in the world?  c) Who delivered the fastest recorded ball in cricket?    d) What speed can a greyhound run at?  e) What is the fastest fish in the sea?

Well actually it should be the Proclaimers new song “I Would Cycle 5,000 Miles…..”because today while cycling with Clare (her birthday ride) I got to my 5,000 miles for the year which was my target and still a month to go! We timed our ride for the afternoon and got lovely sunshine which was good for the soul after a dismal wet morning.

Yesterday’s answers on water -you could probably tell I was struggling with questions!

a) Polar Ice Caps hold the most fresh water b) Growlers are small submerged ice-bergs (you might have had a beer container as your answer)  c) Indian Ocean is the 5th largest d) Common Frog is the amphibian e) Deep Purple (the band )

Todays Quiz is all on Distance  (some classic imperial measurements that are probably obsolete now!)

a) How many miles in a league?    b) How many furlongs in a mile?   c) How long is the M1 Motorway (will give you 5 miles either side)?  d) How many miles between the mighty Luton and last night’s opponents Birmingham City?   e) How far is the Moon from the Earth? 

An exhausting morning helping restore the area around a couple of ponds nearby. We had to make sure a large area of exposed liner was effectively covered. So ended up with an aching back!

I watched the football tonight and a pity we didn’t win as I think we played our most fluent football. The Mighty Hatters just seem to keep drawing at home! Not sure I understand the reasoning about letting us go into stadiums at this stage (albeit with a reduced capacity).

Yesterday’s Answers on Mistletoe

a) 85 species in Australia  b) It was a mistletoe arrow/spear that killed Baldur  c) Oklahoma has Mistletoe as its emblem  d) Herefordshire has Mistletoe as its emblem e) Mistle Thrush and Blackcaps love the berries.

Today’s Quiz is on Water

a) Where is most of the Earth’s fresh water located? Is it streams, lakes or polar ice caps?  b) Whilst at sea boats occasionally encounter “growlers” what are “growlers?” c) What is the world’s fifth largest ocean?  d) What is the most common amphibian to be found in British ponds? e) Who released Smoke on the Water?

We were walking around the Frampton Lakes today and I decided to take pictures of the Mistletoe. This part of the world has many trees with Mistletoe Balls prominent on them-possibly because of so many orchards in the West Country. Apparently there is more than 1500 species of Mistletoe!  So guess what the quiz is today and the pictures in the blog (also one picture looking across Court Lake!)

Anyone out there in a school who wants some free virtual  Christmas Story Telling please get in touch a.s.a.p

Mistletoe Quiz

a) How many species of Mistletoe are there in Australia -three choices 52 or 101 or 85?  b) The Norse God Loki tricked Hodur into killing Baldur with what weapon made of Mistletoe? c) What U.S. state has Mistletoe as it’s floral emblem? d) Mistletoe is what English county’s flower? e) Which two species of bird are thought to be responsible for spreading Mistletoe across this country (one is obvious the other adores the berries).

One of those precious weekend November days today! Good to see so many people making the most of it. Our super village is a magnet for visitors on these lock down days. Clare and I made the most of it by going for a lovely morning cycle ride.

I have just finished Philip Pullman’s The Secret Commonwealth and I did get thoroughly immersed in the book I was disappointed the story was left hanging in the air so will need to get the third book in the trilogy (the first book was a more stand alone story). My current reading is completely different A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles those of you who know me know how much I love my cheese!

Yesterday’s Answers on Bullies (No Quiz questions on a Sunday!)

a) Harry Flashman from Tom Brown’s Schooldays b) Cruella de Vil wants Dalmatian skins  c) The Ugly Sisters (a part I have played in panto only one of them!) who gave Cinderella a hard time d) Professor Moriarty is Sherlock’s enemy  e) Draco Malfoy picks on Harry Potter

Had a wonderful surprise looking out at of the window this lunch time to see a Treecreeper on our Crab Apple Tree. It was at least five or six years since we had one in the garden. The picture above and the one below are what I managed to snap. Lovely birds!

Just watched an entertaining draw between the Mighty Hatters and Blackburn Rovers which I think was a fair result.

Yesterday’s Quiz on Rain

a) My Fair Lady is where The Rain in Spain comes from  b) Nimbus is the Latin word c) Iris is the Goddess of Rainbows  d) The Old Man is Snoring  e) Travis sang “Why Does It Always Rain On Me”

Todays quiz I thought should be on bullies as it is in the news (I have left out the Home Secretary!) -there are a couple of “Pantomime Villains” thrown in

a) Who is the notorious bully in Tom Brown’s Schooldays?   b) Who wants to skin Dalmatian Puppies?  c) Who bully Cinderella?  d) Who is Sherlock’s deadly enemy? e) Who picks on Harry Potter at school?