A Week of DIY, Gardening and Walking

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.

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.