It was not an auspicious start to our visit when the rain began as we travelled
down the M5 and, when we stopped at the Gloucester services, we were
surprised at how cold it was.
Despite the rain and cold and it feeling very similar to our February visit, we
were cheered by banks of primroses as we turned off the A39 towards Parkham,
a sure sign that Spring had arrived despite what the weather was telling us.
Parkham was then hit by even worse weather the next day with heavy rain and
strong winds. We had arrived with a fully loaded car, including 4 new venetian
blinds to be fitted in the kitchen and bedrooms. I was therefore able to spend
most of the time that first day fitting the two blinds in the kitchen, not a simple
job because of the uneven walls.
Over the next couple of days I also managed to fit the blinds in the two
bedrooms again, quite a challenge with not only uneven walls but also the need
to avoid areas where blinds had been fitted in the past. I was reassured when
2 local DIY experts said that fitting blinds was one task they both found difficult.
I also realised that my task had been made much harder because most of the
drill bits I had brought down to The Granary 9 years ago had become blunted
and definitely needed replacing! I am ashamed to admit that some were
inherited from my father so are probably over 25 years old.
The weather certainly improved over the next few days and we were able to
enjoy several good walks. It gave me a good opportunity to try out a new
phone app for identifying birds that had been recommended to me by a
member of the ornithological society in Knutsford. The app identifies the bird by
analysing the soundwave of the bird's song. I used it walking along the
track through the wooded area toward Bocombe Mill and it identified 13
different species in 10 minutes. Without the app I would probably have
identified a maximum of five or six, including robin, wren, chiffchaff etc. but
would have missed the coal tit, blackcap and black redstart which may have
been passing through on its migration north. If you are interested the app is
called Merlin Bird ID and was developed by Cornell University. It is free with no
advertising!
As well as our usual walks we were shown by friends a new footpath along the
estuary from Skern into Appledore where we were able to enjoy a cup of tea
and a chat in Market St. Tea Rooms before making the return journey back to
the car.
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| Appledore from Instow |
Once the weather improved and the DIY jobs inside the house were completed,
I was also able to tackle the garden where weeds had become firmly
established over the past 6 weeks or so. After many hours and 4 large bags of
garden waste later the job was finished, hopefully when we return next month
there will be only a small amount of weeding required.
We set off for home tomorrow and the weather forecast looks good. It always
seems harder to leave Parkham on a sunny day but we shall be back in around 3
weeks when the King will have been crowned and villagers will have enjoyed
their Coronation Celebrations.
