I have spent some time of the last few days looking for Spring Migrants. I usually see Wheatears by the Severn -I’ve been five times now with no luck! I’ve also looked for Yellow Wagtails just up from our house- saw them regularly last Spring and again no luck! You never know might have an Osprey tomorrow!

Think I have made a decision on the cover for my book. Hoping to see another draft cover this week. Once it is confirmed I will share it on here.

Finally the sporting dreamland was completed today by Gloucestershire Cricket Club winning, two wins out of two now.

The only cloud on the sporting horizon is the greedy European football clubs who look like they want to wreck football as we know it completely.

Sorry folks it is a gloating sporting blog today. My wonderful football team the Mighty Hatters played our near neighbours (run by dodgy money from Italy) off the park with a superb footballing team performance. It feels like we have finally arrived back after the painful journey my club have been on. Still smiling five hours after the game! I am hoping that tomorrow Gloucestershire finish  my sporting weekend with a win in the West Country Cricket Derby!

I was still smiling on my ride this afternoon with my pal. The weather was perfect sun shining, no wind and the temperature was just right!

Punch lines to yesterday’s corny jokes!

a) A Pig’s favourite move is a pork chop!   b) The man who kept being knocked by a bike was in a vicious cycle!  c) “Break a leg” is said because every play needs a cast!  d) The photo was in jail because he had been framed!  e) A Witch’s favourite subject is Spelling!

Well possibly not. In a different life I used to love Friday night either because of the anticipation or just thank goodness it is the weekend! Since the virus struck it hard to notice that Friday has arrived!

We did go on Rodborough Common hoping to enjoy a blanket of Cowslips. Plenty of Cowslips but not quite out properly because it was quite cold so we will try again next week.

I asked a young Ned today for feedback on the draft cover for my book Pig the Legend. He also gave me a joke so instead of a quiz today complete the punch lines below (they are all corny)!

a) What is a pigs favourite move? (Ned’s joke)  b) Why did the man get hit by a bike every day?  c) Why do people say “break a leg” when you go on stage?  d) Why did the photo go to jail?  e) Which school subject was the witch’s favourite? 

A selection of recent pictures today and the answer to the Shakespeare Quiz below. Some flowers in the garden (cowslip and fritillaries)!

Pictures from yesterday’s bird watch, first picture is a female Black-tailed Godwit she was quite a long way from us and I didn’t get a decent picture of the male who was stunning in his breeding colours. The other picture is one of the Great White Egrets we saw.

We had a lively Book Club discussing Hamnet with some real differences of opinion on the merits of the book. Love a good debate!

Answers to the Shakespeare Characters from two days ago.

a) Macduff killed Macbeth after “Birnam Wood came to Dunsinane!”   b) Falstaff of course is the jovial braggart (a great role to play!)   c) Banquo’s ghost haunted Macbeth d) Romeo was a Montague  e) Calphurnia and Portia were the wives of Caesar and Brutus

Had a wonderful morning bird watching with a friend near the River where there are many scrapes for waders. The sun was shining and  birds kept appearing! The air was full of varied bird song, the highlight was the booming of a Bittern (just makes you smile to hear it) Several new migrant warblers were in the bushes, on the scrapes Lapwing, Redshank, several species of Duck, Great White Egrets and Little Egrets (the common one that you mainly see in the UK), Peregrine flew past, a magnificent Common Crane looking resplendent in the sun and two absolutely stupendous Black-tailed Godwits.

Quiz answers tomorrow-just come off a brilliant vociferous Book Club Zoom discussing Hamnet, it is always good when you don’t all agree.

I mentioned in a previous blog that I had just read Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell – we are discussing it at Book Club tomorrow. I found the book compelling, intriguing and was totally entranced from the beginning.

For me it had echoes of a book we read at Book Club a few years ago and that was Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Both O’Farrell and Miller took stories we all grew up with (Greek Myths and Shakespeare’s life ) but actually don’t know that much the tales about apart from the received wisdom passed on down to us. They both treated some of the characters with sympathy and gave them much more fully dimensioned characters. O’Farrell certainly develops the character of Agnes and gives her a hearing that history has denied her. I am trying not to spoil the plot to any potential readers out there but the ending is emotional!

I haven’t read anything else by O’Farrell but I certainly will now.

Quiz on some of Shakespeare’s Characters. (if you know Shakespeare it shouldn’t be that difficult although e might stretch you!)

a) Who finally killed Macbeth?    b) Who was the fat, good humoured braggart in Shakespeare’s Henry lV and the Merry wives of Windsor?  c) What is the name of the ghost that haunts Macbeth?   d) What was Romeo’s surname?   e) in Julius Caesar what are the names of the wives of Caesar and Brutus?

I said I would do odd snippets of Peru from time to time.

So the Nasca Lines are amazing shapes etched in the desert of Southern Peru.  There are over 300 figures with names covering an area of close to a 1,00 square kilometres. You can only really see them from above and these shapes were made about 2,500 years ago -there are many theories to why they were made but my blog isn’t really the place!  Were they made for visitors from an other world? The picture above isn’t mine it is of the Spider (I did take some through the plane window but they were not great-one below.)  It was quite an adventure flying in the small plane pictured below-this was before the flight, while we were still a normal colour! The pilots in a past life were often drug smugglers and used to flying in remote spots, good that they have good employment now taking tourists up!

Once we were up in the air it was amazing taking in the views with our pilot saying “On the left -spider, on the right astronaut…. etc” He would bank the aircraft to help us see out of the windows which was an interesting experience (hence why the picture below is before!)! It was strange to see vultures flying below us looking very small!

We will start with a picture today! The Andean Condor was taken when we visited Peru seventeen years ago. Another photo at the end. I decided to put it into the blog because I’ve just been watching a Condor on a nature programme. We had to get up in the dark early morning to get to the top of Colca Canyon by sunrise. As the sun came up and slowly warmed up the canyon we eventually saw the birds coming up from below us. My heart really did soar! I can’t really put into words how emotional I felt to see these majestic birds drifting on thermals up close to us. One of the most memorable things I have ever seen. Another picture at the end of the blog looking down the canyon. I may do some snippets of Peru over the next week or so in my blogs.

Finally Saturday night is always better when your team wins! It was a poor game and the mighty Hatters were struggling for all of the first half. Three wonderful goals soon had me smiling!!!!

Had a lovely ride with Clare this morning enjoying the blossom and the flowers. We knew rain was forecast so we were pleased managed to get it in before the rain. First rain for a while! We enjoyed another view of the River this time from near Purton..

I started on the sequel that I mentioned yesterday. Mainly sketching out ideas and some research although I managed a tentative start on writing but it is a draft idea.

My quiz team won again last night ensuring we will finish either 3rd or 4th in the league which is a great improvement on the last year!

Hope you all managed yesterday’s quiz on Rivers the first question was an interesting one!

a) The River Mersey’s name is derived from the Anglo Saxon “Boundary River”   b) The Taff flows through Cardiff  c) The Volga flows into the Caspian Sea  d) Cologne is the biggest city on the Rhine  e) Texas is the state that borders the Rio Grande

I have mentioned that the last couple of days I have been playing around with a story I wrote a little while ago. Well I think apart from a proof read I have finished it. I have been refreshingly motivated working on this so much so for the very first time with one of my stories I am thinking of a sequel! I have started jotting down some ideas and already it looks like I am having the characters older and pursuing new lives-we will see how this develops!

No picture today despite having a good walk and later a cycle ride! A quiz instead!

Decided it had to be a River Quiz with my recent pictures!

a) Which river derives its name for the Anglo Saxon for “boundary river“?  b) What is the name of the river that flows through Cardiff?  c) Into which sea does the River Volga flow?  d) What is the largest city on the River Rhine?  e) The Rio Grande serves as a natural border between Mexico and which U.S. state?