Musings from a small village

This Crop of Bee Stories & What to Watch

2009-10-21T10:48:00.000-01:00

It’s been a busy few months for news coverage of bees and we have seen many positive pieces promoting their plight. Here are just a few of the highlights plus a suggested film to see.

In July on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square we saw a beekeeper having his one hour of fame through the Antony Gormley’s One & Another Project. Jon Christopher used the opportunity to inform and entertain the crowd. A good job, well done.

August saw Kate Humble writing about her introduction to beekeeping in The Times and then in The Independent we saw in its regular ‘Pet of the Week‘ column – The bee.

The Guardian did a realistic article of what is involved when a hobby becomes a business in the piece ‘The Working Life’.

In September, BBC Radio 4 Farming Today’s presenters Chris Impey did a bit about his bees in the heathers of Derbyshire, while Fran Barnes took delivery of her own nucleus of bees.

Things to look out for

Kate Humble (she gets everywhere) has a beekeeping film which will be part of this year’s Autumn Watch which started on BBC2. Unfortunately I’m not 100% sure when exactly, but I highly recommend that if you get the change, go and see the new film ‘Vanishing of the Bees’. which went out on general release this month. It’s a document explores the worldwide disappearance of the honeybee and its impact and its part of The Co-operative Plan BEE.

I’m off to see it at the National Trust Moorland Discovery Centre at Longshaw Estate, Derbyshire. I’ll even take popcorn.

Let’s keep the plight of the honeybee rolling in the UK press over the next few months.

One of the biggest threats to the UK honey bee is new bee keepers

2009-09-16T14:49:00.005-01:00

With the recent launch of the funky Omlet’s plastic beehaus hive, and the number of column inches in the press devoted to the plight of the honey bee, bee keeping is the new black.

I have no problem with this, as it highlights the issues, and gives us practical help with what we should and shouldn’t do. I do have a problem however, with people with good intensions, rushing in buying hives and bees without thinking it through.

There are many, many ways a new bee keeper can get things wrong and kill off their hive, from not knowing how to check and treat diseases, how to handle bees or even to know when to feed them.

New keepers can be so eager to take a crop off of honey in the first season, that they in fact starve the bees to death.

If you’re keen to become a bee keeper here are three things I would suggest.

Join a local bee-keeping society. - Visit British Beekeeper Association website to find one close to you.
Find yourself a mentor. Work with them for a whole season and get hands-on experience before buying your own colony.
Take the BKKA basic assessment exam. The great way of learning about honey bees and how to look after them.

Things we can do to help bees

2009-07-01T08:11:00.007-01:00

It was recently announced by the Environment Secretary that the government will be investing £10 million to help identify the main threats to bees and other insect pollinators.

Well, I think there are few things we can do ourselves that will help the bee population that don’t cost £10m, don’t you?

Taken liberally from ‘Beekeeping – A Complete Owners Manual’ here are a few ideas.

Plants
Making a small space in your garden for wild flowers is a great start and you can buy a packet of seeds from a hardware store supermarket or gardening centre. But if you can, the following plant flowers are important food for bees too.

Summer flowers – dandelion, dogwood and red clover
Forest blossoms – buckthorn, raspberry, blackberry, wild cherry and germander
Trees – spruce, larch, oak, beech, apple, chestnut, linden basswood and firs
Others – heather, black Locust and cat mint.

Water
Bees needs lots of water. For those wealthy enough, an uncovered swimming pool is ideal. But a bird bath or hanging washing will do. You can use any open container filled with water and place a floating block, wire or some structure for the bees to stand on.

Shelter
Not all bees like living in a hive, so building bee homes for bumble and mason is also helpful.
Bumblebees need a box that’s the same size as a small bird box. It should have two rooms: one filled with wood shavings for the queen to breed in, and the other an empty compartment for the rest of the bees to live.

Bumblebees may nest in tussocks of grass or moss. If you can, leave a grassy bank at the edge of your garden and let the grass grow.

Red mason bees need a box filled with hollow pipes, such as cut lengths of bamboo. They lay their eggs one at a time with a supply of pollen or nectar and a plug of mud between them.

Mason bees use holes in old wood or thick stems for nesting, so hogweed and brambles make good homes for them.

A simple wood pile will make a safe home for various bees and other invertebrates.
Some bees and other insects might make themselves comfortable in your garden shed for the winter while they hibernate.

The Secret Life of Bees

2009-02-12T14:44:00.006-01:00

This week was amazing, full of interesting facts and practical experience. We got to play with bees if playing is the right word. We all got to inspect a hive, use the smoker and look at how to feed them during the winter.

We learnt about the different roles and life cycles the three players in the hive; the queen, the drone and the worker.

The ‘virgin’ queen, after hatching flies off to mate. She has about a two weeks window to do this and with as many drones (male bees) as possible. Once back in the hive she will become too heavy with eggs to fly again. She then gets told where and when to lay the eggs by the workers (her sterile daughters). In the height of summer she can lay up to 2,000 eggs a day!

When the hive gets to a certain size, the queen is told by the workers to lay one or two drone (male) eggs.

It’s a interesting life for a drone. With a reputation for laziness, they’re produced so that a queen can mate and no other reason; apparently they are not loyal to the colony and will clear off regularly to other hives for ‘a bit on the side’.

A gang of drones from a number of hive will meet up in congregations areas (yeah right, isn’t that called a pub?) just hanging out, waiting for a virgin queen to come by. They are twice the size of the workers and eat twice as much as anyone else and adding insult to injure, they do bugger all! But justice is sweet, because in August, they get kicked out of the hive to die.

As for the workers, never a truer name given. They do all the work in the colony from maintaining, cleanliness and rearing the broods, to collecting pollen and nectar. If a worker is born in the winter they will live for 6 months. However, if they are born in the summer they will live for 6 weeks because they are worked to death, literally.

No homework today but we got a leaflet about what to do if someone gets stung (gulp), which got me thinking really hard about this beekeeping malarkey.

Bees, Blue and Bears

2009-01-12T15:36:00.002-01:00

I completely lucked-out on getting on a course run by Margaret Cowley, deputy editor of Bee Craft Magazine, the Official Journal of the British Beekeepers' Association and a keeper of some 20 years.

There were nine people on the course, coming for various reasons from a birthday gift from a son, to wanting to earn a little bit of money and myself just not wanting to suffer any more. A nice bunch of people whose names I have promptly forgotten.

Apart from the basics of: this is a bee not a wasp, equipment overview, different types of hives and how to set up your very own apiary, but for me the highlight was, I don’t want to be a blue bear, thank you.

Bees don’t like bears. In fact they don’t like mammals full stop. Mammals like honey and they can tell you’re a mammal because of our warm breath. Also, you don’t want to be wearing wool around them or anything woolly. Again, mammals are woolly aren’t they? And you don’t to want be wearing dark blue, which I didn’t get to the bottom of, but hey, I’m a newbie.

When I say they don’t like it, they really don’t. It sends them potty and into attack mode. Once you are stung the sting is accompanied by an odour (isopentyl) that incites other bees to join in the attack and sting in exactly the same place. Once they dial you in, forget it.

That’s why beekeepers wear white, have a veil away from their face and never, ever look like bears.

PS: She gave us homework, pah!

Physician heal thyself – anyone for sucking an ice cube?

2008-11-05T14:42:00.002-01:00

Researching via the internet I went to NHS Direct’s http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/ site to get sensible and impartial information. “…You are more likely to get hay fever if there is a history of allergies in your family, particularly asthma or eczema”. No, no one in my family has either.

It went on to say “Hay fever usually begins in the early teens and peaks when you're in your twenties. Research shows that many people become less sensitive to pollen as they get older, and by the time they reach their mid-forties, hay fever may no longer be a problem”. Errrr No. It is the other way around.

After more squirreling, it appears that hay fever is caused by an allergic reaction to the proteins in air borne pollen grains. After much deducing, I narrowed it down to tree pollen which comes out early in the ‘season of hell’, May to you non-suffers. So I’ve found out why I have it so I went to what am I going to do? I couldn’t carry on watery eyed and sniffing like I had been watching Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Kramer vs Kramer and the Love Story back to back. A remedy had to be found.

I was pretty reluctant to take anti-histamines and steroids long term and which I took. But I really wanted to embark on a quest for natural remedies.

These ran from sucking on an ice cube to smearing petroleum jelly on my face and from sucking on a wedge of lemon or lime to a concoction of fresh lemon juice, the yolk of an egg and honey, which makes a "gravy-tasting substance that clears the throat". Nice. The more I read the more I was seeing a common thread though. One remedy was mentioned time and time again. Honey. Or to be more precise locally produced honey.

Local honey made by bees kept near to where the ‘sufferer’ lives or works. This is because the would be from specific pollen, from plants growing in a particular area. If the honey I took daily contains minute quantities of that pollen, then eating the honey little and often should help to desensitize me. Great. Except, nobody made honey locally to me. Not one hive in a 3.5 mile radius. Bu**er.

Well if no one was keeping bees perhaps I could, how hard could it be? What started as an egotistical endeavour ended up making me think about my village and my planet. For five weeks I attended a beginners course to bee keeping. Here’s what I’ve learnt about Apis mellifera (honey bees).

Bee keeping - the antidote to hayfever?

2008-10-29T14:39:00.001-01:00

I wanted to share my experiences this summer into finding a solution to living with hayfever. I’m currently only looking at one avenue – locally produced honey and at the end of my journey I hope to entertain, enlighten and education you. Enjoy.

At 35 years of age, I woke up in the month of May six days straight, with a sore throat, stinging eyes, running nose and still tired. This didn’t shift during the day at work and by the evening; all I wanted to do was sleep.

Miserable tired and annoying, it wasn’t until a friend at work said in passing: “you’ve got hay fever, mate”.

Obviously we all know of friends and family who have hay fever and it’s not the most serious of afflictions one can have, compared to say, a missing limb, brain damage or a terminal illness. Those are serious afflictions. But hay fever? It is not seen as serious, it’s not even a full time 24/7 365 affliction. No, it’s part time, seasonal and only when the weather is nice. Hay fever is seen as a comical condition, but oh so debilitating.

If you don’t suffer from hay fever you really can’t appreciate the pure hell May to September the English countryside is. Numbers of suffers are not clear but some sources quote almost 25% of us in the UK have some form of hay fever.

It was true. I was suffering from hay fever, with full emphasise on suffering. I was in shock, how could I have got hay fever so late on in my life? If you had asked my mother it was because things happen in seven year cycles and I will grow out of it in either seven, fourteen or twenty one years!

I wanted to learn about this misery-educing condition more, what is it, why have I got it now, and what can I do to reduce the effects. So the game was afoot…

New Year?

2008-02-02T15:09:00.000-01:00

Life has funny way of sneaking up on you and twat you in the head, hard. So 2008 sees me no longer working for the company I have been with for the past 13 years. No. After I sat and thought what I wanted, where I wanted to live, where I saw myself in 5 years time, who did I want to be I handed in my notice without a job to go.

But during Christmas much changed.

I now have a job, working part-time from home, I've down sized, I'm looking into fostering.

It feels scary, exciting, comfortable and calming, all at the same time.

Not so much a New Year, more of a new life. Will let you know how it goes.

So Now I have Broadband...

2007-05-18T14:35:00.000-01:00

Did you know what I got for Christmas from one of my friends? Yes broadband. So fed up with my moaning they bought me 6 months subscription. The idea, I guess, was just to shut me up for a while and then I would pick up paying for it. Just realised it's nearl 6 months already.

Which ISP: Tiscali. You remember all the marketing noise around Christmas. Well we fell for it. Boy are they not set up for someone who all ready has wifi. Complete meltdown when I told them I didn't need their poxy modem. THEN when the box arrives, their technology doesn't speaka de language of Apple Airports Extremes! So then I had a hunt for a router that would accommodate my need for speed and their need. But within a month (which is good from all accounts) I was up and running on broadband. Oh happy me.

So now that I have broadband/What have I learnt: Yeah, I get my emails quicker, the down loads for all the spyware, security updates, patches for this application and upgrades for that application all come a little quicker and podcasts are a real option to subscribe to (Fighting Talk and the Now Show are the best). BUT..... I spend more time ensuring my PC is bug free than Surfing. What's that all about?

Then for the last two weeks Tiscali and iTunes Store wouldn't even to talk to each other. Two weeks! If it wasn't for my Uber tech geek IT Manager friend looking around technology forums, I would have never have known it was their pipes and server not me. Two weeks of down service. With no real explanation.

All bit of an anti-climax really. Right got to go, got sort out my credit card details for Tiscali to collect payment. When did credit cards take over from Direct Debit? Can some one tell me.

I want Broadband!

2007-01-08T19:23:00.000-01:00

OK, so you all got broadband. Well whoopee do! I don't. How hard can it be to get broadband. OK so BT rode into town last August and before that we had to have satellite uplink.... Huston can you hear us?

Now it's still a list of less the five suppliers willing to provide it but because of the packages and bundling this and that and downloading maximums and distance from the BT shed, it's now way too expensive.

YES I'm moaning, I know I know. But I just want to join the rest of you on the super highway. Oh Hum.

What I learnt: It's hard being in the country when you want 24/7 broadband access. That and I'm still a technology chick.

Matthew Seaton - RIP

2006-12-27T12:27:00.000-01:00

My best friend Matthew Seaton died today 9:50am after a very very long and painful illness.

His family and I have been living with this day for over two years and it's happened and I'm still not ready.

I last saw him two weeks ago to give him his Christmas card and present. What do you give someone who is bed-ridden, can't eat, use the toilet or move from his bed without been given a massive dose of very strong painkillers.

How we met some 18 years ago is still a little foggy, I guess it's through his boyfriend. When they broke up we had such as strong relationship, we were able to carry on.

I love/loved him so much and over the past year, never missed the opportunity to tell him. I'm proud of his successes including fostering and bringing up three great boys. I have so many funny stories to tell and adventures we had in the UK, Spain and recently in Thailand. As I type now I looking at a picture of him on a boat in Thailand looking relaxed and happy. That is how I will try and remember him.

His partner Tony I admire so very very much because he has lived with this in evidently day and stayed positive, humorous and caring. He has, with the help of his family kept it together.

Matthew wasn't even 38.

Rest in peace at last, my friend.

Window boxes

2006-09-18T17:58:00.000-01:00

Apparently the butcher over the road from me on the main street (we have two butches within 30 feet of each other - go figure) has told me last week that there have been a number of favourable comments about how pretty my window box is from not only visitors to the village but locals as well.

It's only a small window box I only have one window on to the street but even if I say so myself, for a first attempt it's not bad.

I thought I should get into the spirit of village and what is one of the cornerstones of twee stone cottages? A window box. It's a vision of silver, red and green - don't ask what flowers or plants. Not only is it pretty but the second benefit is that and it stops the ramblers sitting on my windowsill eating their cheese sandwiches and drinking their flask of teas. (See previous rants).

I've already got my spring display planted and ready - yellow, greens and white. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Channel 5 free zone

2006-09-18T17:53:00.000-01:00

A part from only JUST getting broadband in the village, life is been good. But one thing I don't miss as a result of moving out of the city is Channel 5 TV. We cant get it... at all. How fab is that?!

The night sky

2005-11-18T15:35:00.000-01:00

On Wednesday night some of you might have seen the spectacular full moon and its halo. Apparently, it’s a natural phenomenon, but fantastic on Wednesday. Perhaps because it was a full moon made it look wonderful and jaw dropping, that I dragged myself, in pyjama, out into the cold and knocked on the neighbour door to come and look.

Here comes the technical bit:
The ring that appears around the moon arises from light passing through six-sided ice crystals high in the atmosphere. These ice crystals refract, or bend, light in the same manner that a camera lens bends light. The ring has a diameter of 22°, and sometimes, if you are lucky, it is also possible to detect a second ring, 44° diameter. Thin high cirrus clouds lofting at 20,000 feet or more contain tiny ice crystals that originate from the freezing of super cooled water droplets. These crystals behave like jewels refracting and reflecting in different directions.
Cloud crystals are varieties of hexagonal prisms, (6 sides) and range in shapes from long columns to thin plate-like shapes that have different face sizes.

Phew!

But it got me thinking. Would I have seen such a beautiful thing if I was still in the city? Perhaps because of the light pollution or the small amount of space one can look up into the sky because of building either side may have meant that I wouldn’t have spotted it. Or perhaps I just wouldn’t be seen out in my PJs.

What did I learn: Just when you think you’ve seen it all, earthquakes, floods and tidal waves, Mother Nature throws a wide ball just to prove to us that she can produce some wonderful things too.

The Country Lanes vs The Race Track

2005-11-06T17:56:00.000-01:00

OK, I know I'm a little late in writing. You would have thought that travel every day up and down winding country single lanes, in all weathers and driving on England's officially most dangerous road (The Cat and Fiddle Road) twice a day would make me a better drive. I thought it would too. Changing gears at speed, taking corners, accelerating out and up and down hills, missing sheep and such, is a great way of starting the day and travelling home after a hard day. Ipod blaring away, normally no more than three or four cars on route.

So when my company decided to have a team building day at an indoor go-karting centre in Manchester (Daytona Manchester) I thought ‘great!’ let me at it.

Most of the people who I work with live in the urban sprawl of Macclesfield or Manchester and hardly get the chance of getting out of second gear let alone using the 5th gear. The journey to work for them consists of sitting in traffic jams, crawling feet forward and stopping. watching their fellow drivers picking their noses, putting on makeup or shouting at the kids in the back.

Where as I get to push my car 60 mph on the open country roads, singing at the top of my voice. I also drive a Seat Leon 110bhp 1.9 DTI. It goes like greased weasel sh*t.

The set up for the day was eight teams of three, racing for 1.5hours endures when the team with the most laps in that 1.5hours won.

In my team there were two other girls. So we were called the ‘Go, go, go girls’ and one team was called ‘Norfolk and Chance’ which I thought was truly inspired (I wish I had thought of that, and you can be sure I will be using it in the future).

The men/boys went immediately into a huddle to decide tactics. What tactics? We didn’t understand and the smell of two stroke petrol fumes must have got the testosterones going, because it got a little silly, if you ask me.

We were given super little goody bags before we started including a key chain, a wooden racing car and a bag of sweets. That’s when it got tricky for me.

I don’t eat sweets at the best of time, so there I was, sugared up with an adrenalin rush and a competitive streak as wide as the Thames. What do you think happened? Of course I went screaming round the circuit giggling to myself, leaning into the corners and got told off more than once for bumping.

If I could see some one in front of me, then I had to catch up and eventually overtake them, and if I heard someone coming up from behind, there was no way I was going to let them overtake me. I took it as personal pride.

So, the up shot was that our team came fourth, and I was not the fastest girl there! I was the second fastest. According to the boys it’s was all down to weight ratio and as the girl who was the fastest was possibly no more that 9 stone, I wasn’t going to win that one.

What did I learn: Just how competitive I am, that country lanes can take you so far, but when you’re talking 10th of seconds between 1st and 2nd, I’m happy eating pies than winning.

Flicks in the Sticks

2005-10-12T09:14:00.000-01:00

To intergrate myself into the community, plus something to in the evening I and ten other people have set up a local Flicks in the Sticks - community based non for profit cinema for the village.

We are now in the third session of six films and it started last week with the thriller Insomnia. We opened the doors in 2003 and was one of the first of the wave of local film clubs catering for a Peak District audience lately deprived of the big screen. The nearest cinema is in Chesterfield some 30 minutes away. But through funding from the Countryside Agency and Leader+ we have our own digital projection equipment, surround-sound audio equipment and special wide screen. Get us.

The film shows take place on Friday evenings at the village hall, and the entertainment includes a short film beforehand plus an intermission for ice creams (provide by the postmaster), as well as post-film refreshments and a gathering and catch up. They really can knock back the booze at these do's.

I'm in charge of handing out film notes and helping the older people in the village into their seats and back out again and coming up with bright ideas. But I also do the setting up of equipment and seating and the break down the following day. Saturday mornings are for carpet bowls league meeting or a whist drive.

In the vilage of only 1,500 of which, we have membership of 120 - the maxium the hall can take. We also have a kids matinee and a black & white British film matinee for the older members with a cream tea at the end.

So the films left for the season are:
O Brother Where Art Thou? - the Coen Brothers’ musical comedy;
Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train;
East is East - an hilarious romp set in 1970s multicultural Britain;
David Lynch’s The Straight Story – a gentle roadmovie featuring one man and his lawnmower; and one of the all-time Italian classic’s Cinema Paradiso.

As you can see a fair old mix bag of stuff to cater for everyone.

I've been on the hunt and successfully found the GPO film 'Night Mail' to accompany the Hitchcock film as a short. You know the one, with WH Auden poem tell of the Royal Mail Post getting sorted on the way to the North...

This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,

Any suggestions for short films to accompany the remain films?

What have I learnt: It's great to give, and be part of something that makes a difference to some peoples life. It doesn't take much to make something happen.

I can't help myself

2005-09-20T12:36:00.000-01:00

OK, OK. You can take the girl out of the city but you can't take the city out of the girl.

I got myself an ipod and so I'm gaily dancing around my living room to Faithless, Underworld or something similar.

I then got the house wifi'd. so I can email from the bottom of the garden in the veg patch, surf in the bathroom and bid for stuff in the kitchen, all without a wire - ain't life grand.

I now have kicked out the CD player and got speakers for the ipod, huge difference clear sound.

Now, at last, BT have brought broadband to the village. Huzzar! So to coin the imortal lyrics of Sir Cliff Richard, I am now 'wired for sound' or not wired, but you know what I mean.

Not much left for me to plug into expect Sky. But Murdock can whistle for my money. And finally because our village is in the back and beyond we can't get Channel five, apparently no love lot there.

What have I learnt: I'm a material girl who loves her toys. Deal with it!

What passes for entertainment

2005-09-16T13:14:00.000-01:00

The other reason for not getting it touch we you was that I entered the Derby Triathlon on Sunday.

Without going into boring stuff I was quite poorly last year and only getting back into things and one of the jobs I had to do was to get fit.

I like goals and challenges me, so I thought I would like to have a go at this triathlon malarky. Sounds fun, I thought about three months ago and on Sunday I completed on. Now don't get too excited I entered as a relay team which meant three of us did the three disciplines:
400m swim
12km bike
5km run

I did the swim bit

So Sunday morning at 7:38am in South Derbyshire, with a bright yellow swimming cap, I was thrashing around a luke warm swimming pool, thinking 'why am I here?'. It was all over in less the 15mins. I could say something here... nah too obvious.

Anyway, our team came in third within our group and with over 600 other competitiors our overall time meant we were 191th. Not bad for my first attempt AND I got to wear a t-shirt. Personally I would have liked a medal but a t-shirt will do.

What did I learn: You can put your mind to anything, if you really really want it. Never say never, and next time I will be doing all sections myself.

late, due to birthday

2005-09-16T13:13:00.000-01:00

I know I'm a little late in talking to you this week, but I have the mother of all excuses, it was my birthday. Not a big one, but equally as important. I love birthdays and I get excited at least a week a head of time.

I had a BBQ in the garden and invited the village basically. I had spent the day before making kebabas, and getting a ton of food ready.

Now I can't go to the the wine merchant as I would when living in the city I ended up at the co-op in the 'town' 4 miles away. The choice was... choice to be frank. But the meats I used were organic, fresh and local, and the taste was out of this world.

But it was my guests who were great and made the evening. I had village people I have only known for weeks, chatting to my friends of 20 years plus. Conversations covered all topics from cricket to bullocks (no really) and from the wifi to best thing to clean windows (vinegar and newspaper). People brought present, plates, chairs, the actual BBQ we cooked on. I have a very small house so don't have a lot of stuff. A little like a expensive flat in the Docklands - a great address for a shoebox.

I was given ipod speakers as a present that were great so that was the music sorted and my neighbour make me a fresh strawberry and cream birthday sponge cake.

What did I learn: Village people pull together, we make our own entertainment and your never really alone.

Bank Holiday Heaven

2005-08-31T10:51:00.000-01:00

I hope you had a mighty fine Bank holiday. Bank holidays are meant to be about relaxing, chilling, eating and drinking too much, visiting friends and recharging batteries. So my Bank holiday, you would think I could tick all of the above as 'done'. But let me tell you, being in a picturesque village, the world and his dog comes and visits every Bank Holiday.

They clog up the roads so I can even get out of the village for fear of come up again a line of caravans on a single track road and have to dodge packs of walkers in matching green. Some one please tell me about this thing with walking sticks. But not one stick, oh no two. One in each hand. I can't stop thinking about Orwell's 'Animal Farm' when I see them. "Two legs bad, four legs good".

It took me 5 minutes to get my car 20 m down the road because of the traffic, children, dogs, walkers and the general great unwashed.

As I also live on the main street (the only street) I kid you not, people look into your window staring quite blatantly. I truly believe that when tourists come to a pretty village, they forget that people acutually live there, all the time. Best one to date was a couple who sat on my window eating their pack lunch and drinking a flask of tea.

It's like D-Day landing in Barbour green. So rather than enjoying the countryside which is normally quite pleasant, I batten down the hatches and hide, until it's safe to come out.

Perhaps I should change this blog from Musings from a small village to Rants from a small village - I would be truer to my art.

Where is Derbyshire

2005-08-23T11:44:00.000-01:00

Some of you readers may not be familar with Derbyshire or even where it is. Well here's a link to get you started. It's very beautiful and green. http://www.derbyshireuk.net/

Welcome

2005-08-23T11:34:00.000-01:00

Hello & welcome

Having lived in many cities, throughout my life, I have decided to move to the country. My village is in the Derbyshire Dales in the UK. What a difference. Between people, thoughts and day to day pace of life.

These differences over the following postings I hope will amuse

Hope you enjoy them.