Old John's Memories

17:04:01 o'clock BST
Feeling Sad

Hi there everybody.

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking you all for your kindness and encouragement to a blog that has now had over 2000 hits.  Without your encouragement, I do not think that I would have ever been able to get started with my blog.

I cannot leave this site without also, if there are any readers, thanking the AOL staff who I have found to be very helpful.  It is with sadness that I have felt the need to leave my server and look for another one but the truth is that my broadband rental is shared with my son and our collective view is that we must try to go on to pastures new.

I have found, through answering comments from my readers, that I feel I know you all and that I should, if it is possible, continue to keep in touch with you and because I value your friendship I am going to see if I can access the following blog sites.
The first one I tried was called Linkfifty and can be accessed at www.linkfifty.com.  This site, as the title suggests, is for people over the age of fifty but I have to admit I am still trying to find my way round this site.

The second site I am looking at is called www.thoughts.com
This site, although I have not done much 'silver surfing' on it, seems to be used by many young people and may not be for me but I will, if I can, link the sites in to my normal blog.

 

Once again, I thank you all for your kindness.

 

By for now,

 

John.

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19:27:39 o'clock BST
Feeling Frustrated

Hello everybody.

Many of my usual readers have tried to access my new blog site

www.thoughts.com/oldjohn

and are finding it difficult to either access or comment. 

I am sorry, I should have given out instructions but, to be honest, I am still feeling my way round the site yet.

All I can tell you, at this moment in time, is how to access the site, from the above address and how to make your own comments.

To make your own comments click on Blog Title, scroll down to the Add Comment box.  Make your comment and then click on submit.

PS.

Don't worry if you cannot access the new Internet blog, I will, if I can and at a later date, find a better link for you all to use.

Over the past 12 or more months, on the old Blog, there have been well over 2000 hits and I would like to take this opportunity of thanking every one of you for using the site.

By for now,

John. 

 

 

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19:11:10 o'clock BST
Feeling Frustrated Hi there.

As you may have guessed, from my journals, I have been frustrated with some of the problems I have been getting when using AOL as my Internet Provider. 

Looking back through my diaries, I have noted that I have been with AOL for four years and, in view of some of the problems I have been getting, I have now decided it is time to change my server but I will keep you all informed as to when there is to be a change taking place.

In the mean time, I would like to thank you all for the kind things you have said about my journals and thank you for sharing some of your wonderful memories with me. 

I feel as though I know you all and it would please me to be able to, through my journals, keep in contact with you.

By for now.

John.

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19:23:54 o'clock BST
Feeling Happy On Friday morning, I awoke at first light and when I when down stairs to look out over our garden, I noticed that there was a Cockerel crowing in the distance.  The weather did not look too bad so I decided to see if I could get out of the house in double quick time.

I had not travelled far when a lucky black cat ran out in front of the car and my intuitions told me that I was going to have a wonderful walk.

My journey out, down bending and twisting leafy lanes, was devoid of traffic and instead of speeding up, to get to my destination quicker, I slowed the vehicle, wound down the window and drank in the clear dank morning air.

I ran into a thick low mist that kept fogging up the car's windscreen, from the outside, and when I reached my destination, the same fog hung and hugged the fields like a scene out of a horror film set.

Although it was cold, it did not bother me for I was dressed in my winter coat.  Some people do not seem to be phased by the cold and, before I had gathered my thoughts and got out of the car, another vehicle pulled into the car park and when the driver pulled himself out of the, how can I say it, scrap car, he was only wearing a short sleeved shirt and a pair of Shorts.  I wondered, while he was out walking his dog, if the man was going out jogging but he was not a young man and I dismissed this idea and thought that he must, as he was getting ready to take the dog out, misjudged how cold it was going to be.

When I began to walk, I was surprised to see that fishermen had bet me to it for they were already set up and casting their lines in the hope of catching an unsuspecting early morning feeding fish. 

I stopped for a moment, to make a few notes, and when I looked up the mist came in thick and it's cold dankness momentarily stopped my pen from working.

When I first arrived at the site, grazing cows and sheep seemed to be more tolerant of each other for they were all close together.  Now, fifteen minutes later, the hurd and the sheep were evenly spaced out and eagerly taking sustenance from the already brown tinged damp grassland.

Woodpigions and Crows were eagerly feeding at the sides of the lanes and could not care less about me being close to them as they foraged for food.  Robins were trilling and many other tree perching birds were twittering and calling; it was as is the whole bird population was coming alive at once. 

I was about to walk off into the woods when I remembered how wet the morning dew was and, so as not to get wet, I walked on into an area where there were dry and stable footpaths. 

In front of me, the sun was just breaking over the tops of the conifer trees and when I came to my first lake, it was as calm as a mill pond.  There was no water lappage and it was very quiet and tranquil for me, as I looked out over water, to see colouration that would have done any of my water colour painting trials justice. 

Close to where I was standing, a Heron stood motionless looking out over water that did not have a ripple on it.  The Heron, still dry, was looking for its first catch of the day as it stood, like a sentinel, and I imagined that it was looking into the water to see where it could make it's first catch, 

To my left, from a shrub that I could have touched if I had been inclined to stretch out my hand, summer visitors, such as Chiffchaffs, called and a family party of Long Tailed Tits joined them while lethargic feeding geese grazed to my right.

Although I could easily see Great Crested Grebes and Swans out on the calm water, the mist made it difficult to see anything else and I decided to turn away and make my way towards the wooded areas. 

Before moving on, a Twitcher came to the site (a person that goes out birdwatching to see rare birds so that they can add them to their bird sighting numbers.) 

In his haste to be the first person to see what birds were on the site, he overlooked the obvious and also frightened off the Heron.  If he had been quiet and had a slower pace, he would have been able to see all the local birds that were on site. 

I decided to stand quiet for a few more minutes, while the Twitcher was out of my way and, only inches away from me, now that I was close to a tree, Whitethroats and Willow Warblers flitted from branch to branch and disregarded my presence.

The newcomer, to the scene, soon upset the equilibrium of the site and I decided to move on. 

To my amazement, when I walked to a path that was straight and allowed me to see ahead of me, I saw the Twitcher marching along as if there was not a moment to spare. 

I felt the need to distance myself from the man and stopped at the side of a clump of shrubs.  In the centre of one of the shrubs, there was a one note call, from a bird that I did not know, and I stayed, for a while, to listen but a passing dog walker disturbed the bird so I moved on.

I noted that some of the exposed shrub's leaves were already turning brown which was a sure sign that colder mornings were just round the corner.

At about 7.30 am, now with the sun warming the air and burning off the fog banks, I made my way down a wooded lane where squirrels and rabbits bounded around in front of me.  A pheasant called, in the distance, and I heard my first barking dog of the day. 

I came to a clearing where I saw a large field that was, only three weeks ago, still in full crop.  Today, the crop had gone, the soil had been re seeded and tilled ready for the next growth to come through.  Now that there was no crop to hinder the view, the panoramics had completely changed. 

When I moved on more rabbits scampered around as if unaware that I was close by. 

I moved to a high spot and in front of me there were open grassed fields and wooded areas as far as the eye could see. 

There wasn't a cloud in the azure blue sky and, as the rising sun's heat gathered pace, different nasal senses wafted on the breeze. 

Dead grasses and Brackens were drying out and flowers, we gardeners call weeds, were also giving off their scents. 

While I breathed in the wonderful smells, I took in a deep breath and also closed my eyes.  For a brief moment, I was in a dream like state but was soon brought back to reality after being startled by the raucous sound of a restless Jay that momentarily dropped in a tree close to where I was standing. 

In the distance, a haze, we would, if we were at the sea side, term as being a sea fret, could still be seen but the sky line was getting clearer all the time. 

On this morning's walk, apart from picking up one midge bite on my hand, my walk had been near perfect and, as far as I was concerned, could not get better. 

When I looked down at my watch, as I began to walk back in the direction that I had come from, I noticed it was only 8.30 am. 

I went back to the lane I had come on and, in the distance, a beautiful pedigree puppy was eying me up and I could see that it was unsure about me so I ignored it and carried on making notes.

When I looked away from my notes, a few seconds later, I could see that the pup had made it's mind up about me and wanted to make a fuss.  I spoke to the dog but made no attempt to pat or stroke it then saw its owner.  The dog owner was sensibly dressed for the countryside walk and had a walking stick with here similar to one used by a sheep herder. 

The two of us stopped for a chat and it transpired that the lady and her husband used to have a farm nearby.  For a few years, they worked the land in another part of the country and when they felt that they were too old to carry on, they bought the farm where the lady had been born which was not far away from where we were standing.  What a wonderful story!

I could tell by the lady's attitude that she was content with here life and, these days, when hustle and bustle seems to be everywhere, she is to be envied. 

I really enjoyed my walk but the pleasure, as I typed up my notes, has brought all the wonderful sights and smells flooding back to me for a second bite at the cherry.

I hope you enjoy reading about my early morning walk as much as I have enjoyed writing about it.

By for now,

John.       

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16:13:13 o'clock BST
Feeling Frustrated Hi there to all of you.

Some time ago, I said that I was having problems with AOL and, I am pleased to say that my problems seem to have been resolved now.

Having said that, there are some of my readers that I cannot contact after they have replied to my blog when I try to reply to them to thank them for their kind words. 

I have been told, from another source, the people I wish to contact and cannot may have full mail boxes.

I have to say, deleting my old messages, from my mail box, is time consuming because I can only delete one message at a time.

Are there any other AOL members having the same problems and if so do they know of a way to block delete several read messages at a time?

John. 

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16:18:36 o'clock BST
Feeling Surprised In the village where I live, the council have decided that it is time to fall into line with many other towns and villages throughout the UK and we now find ourselves, not before time in my view, sorting out our waste before it goes to the tip.

There are different coloured bins to use and the bins go out for collection on dates that stagger depending on which bin is going to be collected. 

Usually, my family and I are very organised and have no problems in setting up our own systems for any new thing that may come forward but, on the first fortnightly domestic waste collection date, I forgot to put the bin out and there was no collection, in total, for three weeks. 

Of course, 'yours truly' is now the person that is given the task of making sure the bins are put out at the appropriate times.

Household waste is now only collected every two weeks and this shows, to me, that the system is working well.  My only complaint, if it really is a complaint, is that the bin-even though it is as clean as a whistle inside-does smell when the lid is opened.  I have tried to solve this situation by washing out, every time, with disinfectant.

From time to time, I have put food scraps, in the form of cabbage leaves we do not use in the cooking process, in the compost bin and there does not seem to be a problem here. 

My compost bins, of which I have two now and which are regularly turned to help natural bacteria do it's work, are at the top of my garden and, in an effort to make sure I am not attracting vermin, I have been going out to the top end of the garden at different times of the day and, latterly, after dusk.

Yesterday, Thursday, I decided to put my head out of the back door, which leads out into the back garden, to make sure that there was nothing lurking.  To my surprise, I could hear something in the garden but I could not see anything.  I called my son.
"What's that sound."  I asked in an almost whispering tone.
He shook his head and raised his shoulders to suggest that he too had no idea what was going on.

Throwing caution to the wind, we turned on the outside light and there, only meters away from us, we were able to see a large Hedgehog. 
For a time, when it knew we were there, the hog took no notice of us and scampered, while looking for food, around in the open for all to see. 

We stood in silence so that we did not chase our new garden friend away and, while we watched, the prickly little animal stopped, here and there, to feed but, for some reason, after lifting it's head and sniffing the night air, it decided to move into the densely packed planted boarder and although we could see the odd plant moving, as the hog pushed passed it, we could not see the Hedgehog.

For a few minutes, while my son was able to set his camera, on his Mobile phone, we stayed indoors with the light off.

When we went for another look, now with the light on again, we noted that the hog had somehow been able to get to the other side of the garden where the light was less helpful to our eyes. 

It was not until we had been watching for some time that we noticed that this hog was smaller than the first one and we wondered if it may be a different animal so we stayed with it.

An hour later, we were able to see both hogs and what a wonderful surprise that was for the two of us.  I do not think I have ever seen two hedgehogs together before.

Without realising it, while my son tried to get a good shot of one of the animals, time slipped by and when the church bells chimed twelve in the still night air, we could not believe that we had being trying to get a look at the hogs for about one and a half hours. 

On several occasions, my son said that he would have to go so that he could go to bed and said his final good nights at 12. 30 am.  I stayed with it a little longer and, to my delight, I saw the smaller of the two hogs go under the large shed I had had erected about 18 months ago. 

I am now wondering if the hogs may be residents in our garden and, if I can keep awake, I am going to try to have another Hedgehog watch tonight.  If I see anything I will let you all know.

By for now,

John.    

   

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20:35:18 o'clock BST
Feeling Happy

Due to domestic problems, I have been unable to go out for a while for we have yet to be able to get our everyday belongings out of the many boxes we packed away so that major works could be undertaken to our home.

To be honest, for it is going on for six weeks now, we are beginning to tire of the whole experience and long to be able to get back to some kind of normality in the house. 

I know we have, at the side of people who have had their homes flooded, nothing to complain about but I just feel a little 'down in the mouth' at the moment and would like to be able to find some of my belongings.

Having said that, the work that has so far been completed, in our home, is first class and we are very thankful to the professionals who have come into our domain.  They have been courteous, helpful and also sympathetic to our needs. 

Today, Monday, even though the weather was gloomy, I felt I had to get away from it all and let the work men go about their business under the watchful eye of my wife.

When I set out, in the afternoon, the weather was unpredictable so I catered for it by putting on a fleece and also throwing a rain coat into the boot. 

When I reached my car journey destination, and as I opened the car door, the weather had changed again; it had become too warm to have both coats on.

Eventually, I reached a particular part of my walk that took me to the side of a large lake.  Close to the edge of the lake there was a makeshift seat, made out of carved tree wood, where I sat for a while.

On the lake, there were lots of birds and in among about 150 grazing geese, there was an Egyptian Goose.  Tagging along side of this goose was a bird that looked like a Canada Goose but it's neck was a tan coloured brown and it's body was almost white all over.  I wondered if interbreeding had taken place here.

Although I did not sit on this seat for long, by the time I decided to move, all feeling had gone out of my hands and I felt the need to put my hands in my trouser pockets to try and get them warm. 

I was amazed to find that the weather temperatures were fluctuating so wildly. You would never have guessed that we were having our summer.

Once I began to walk, as I put on a spirt, the feelings soon came back to my hands and all was well again. 

I walked on, to get out of the strong winds, until I came to an old wooden hide and when I entered the shelter there were too more people with the same idea as myself. 

These people, a friendly and easy to get on with couple, had come from Norfolk and were visiting the area, I had gone to, and had taken to birdwatching with a very keen interest.

The gentleman, of the duo, was 'Digiscoping' and I took the opportunity to ask him if he knew what 'Vignetting' was and I was grateful to learn that here was a man who, like me, took the trouble to learn as much about something, as is possible, before making a purchase.

I was suprise, on several fronts, how informed the couple were for they were among only a hand full of people, I had ever spoken to, that had heard of Charles Warterton of Walton Hall.

Charles was a man way ahead of his time and it has been said that he was the first man in the country to create a nature reserve. 

Although Charles was a wealthy man, he believed, when he went into jungle country, that he must first toughen himself up so that he could live like the natives that were going to help him as he looked for birds animals that he had not seen before.

Charles would scrim up trees, presumably to get fit, and also sleep with a log under his head, where a pillow would normally be, long before his next intrepid trip to probable uncharted waters in parts of the world that some people may well have never heard of. 

Round the Hall, where Charles lived, he spent a great deal of money to have a high wall built all the way round his land. 

At the back of his land, there was and still is a canal and it is thought that the wall had been built to keep Bargees out of his land.

There has been lots of information written about Charles and yet relatively few people seem to have heard about him.  Of course, in the growing numbers of people who have begun to love nature and the outdoor life, as I have for over forty years now, Charles has become highprofile and we could, if we were able to, learn a lot about the ways of nature if only we could tap into some of the knowledge that he had gained.

After spending some time with my new found friends, I looked at my watch and found it to be time to be moving on.  Has it happened, I was beginning to feel the cold again so I made my way to the car park and the warm car.

I made a slight detour and walked into a sheltered area with trees at either side, there were a few species of butterflies around but, due to my butterfly books still being packed away, I thought it best to walk on and just enjoy looking at the butterflies without trying to identify any of them.

To my amazement, when I reached the car park, my new friends had also managed to get there and, while we were chatting, I explained to them about the U3A in the hope that they would find the University of the 3rd Age a place of learning and a place to meet new friends.

On this occassion, I was unable to make my usual detailed notes, of my walk, but there were, as well as the Canada Geese, about 200 Lapwings on site. 

Earlier, when the floods were with us, I was fearful that all the Lapwing chicks had succummed to the dreadful weather conditions but, thankfully, there were more Lapwings on site than I thought would have been after a dreadful breeding season. 

I am still unable to reply to people that have been kind enough to write a comment to me, about the information I have been putting in my Blog, so please do not think that I am not writing to you because I have forgotten you.

By for now,

John.   
  

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19:50:32 o'clock BST
Feeling Frustrated I am sorry for not being able to get to my usual readers and please do not take my information as if it is aimed at you personally. 

The truth is, I cannot send any information to anybody other than through my journal.

Every time I try to send a note to any of my readers I receive notation telling me that their mail is full and I am unable to 'Send' to them.

I am also receiving information asking me to send my bank details, as if I would, and when I had this problem before, about this time of year last year, I had to get my son to phone AOL. 

A long telephone conversation later, the matter was cleared up and we were told to ignore what was being asked of us. 

If it is not AOL-as I was lead to believe when this problem occurred before-would the sender please stop sending this frustrating and irritating information!

If the message is authentic and it is AOL sending it to me, then I would say that there is something wrong here.  How can they lose my transaction information? 

I am getting very weary of being messed around here!

 

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21:17:53 o'clock BST
Feeling Happy This morning, I awoke at 6 am and because the sun was streaming in through the half open curtains, it sent a signal to my brain that said I was to get up and go out.  Although I was carrying my binoculars with me, I decided to take along something to sketch with too,

We are, due to all the domestic upheaval, still living out of boxes and none of us know where anything is any more.  The first thing to come out of the shed was a large piece of A2 drawing paper which was far too large for my needs but that is all I could get so it had to do.

Has it turned out, I had picked the perfect morning to go out and sketch for there was only a light breeze and there was hardly a cloud in the sky which gave me wonderful early morning light.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, I was able to sit down on a wooden bench that had been erected by one of the wardens. 

The area I had chosen was idilic for the land sloped up and the tree lines seemed to go on to infinity.

While I was putting the final touches to my first attempt of quick sketching, I was visited by a young man who was out walking his two black Jack Russell type dogs.  Although the dogs came to see what I was doing, they quickly moved on and they were no trouble at all but their master was perturbed to think that they may have been disturbing me which I thought was a lovely gesture on his part.  No matter, I soon convinced him that his dogs were no trouble to me.

While I was drawing, I noticed that the wood was very peaceful and tranquil too and when I looked down at my finished product I was pleased with the illustrative lines that were on the paper.

From there, I moved on to another area that had a path and lots of good tree lines and, on this occasion, I had to stand to do my task.  To my surprise, and out of know where, a young woman came walking out of one of the darkest parts of the wood.  I could hear here before I saw here for she was on her mobile phone. The young lady had two dogs and when they saw me, in the distance, they began to bark at me but, by the time they were up to me, they became friendly and began to bound up at me but, as luck had it, my drawing paper did not faultier from my loose grip. 

Soon, the dogs were gone and I was quickly putting down squiggles and lines that I felt would bring my picture to life and, as it happened, it did just that and I was pleased with the way I was able to marry the two locations into one.

From there, I walked for some time and when I found a suitable spot, again standing to draw, I began to quickly draw making sure, at all times, that I had a sharp ended pencil to make my life easier.

From there, I was able to draw the old rickety bridge, I described in my last walk, but my arm, from trying to keep the A2 pages held down firm, was beginning to ache and I was losing control and the drawing did not come up to my expectations.

I did two further drawings and because the two were not up to the standards that I was looking for and expecting to get, I thought I would give up the task for the day. 

Before being able to get out of the area, I had to negotiate the steep hill and at the top, while I was catching my breath, I spied a small wooden seat hewn out by an axe. 

Sitting, to do this drawing, was much easier but the wood was coming to life with people; some on cycles and others on foot.  Try as I would, I could not get this drawing to work so I decided to move on and move out of the wood.

I had left the wood and was walking on the winding leafy lane, I added to yesterday's journal, when I caught up with slow moving couple of people who were coaxing the best out of their old dog. 

When the lady saw my large drawing pad, she asked me what I had been doing and I immediately knew there was empathy between us and this was later confirmed when she said that she too was a watercolourist. 

We exchanged views and ideas until we reached the car park where the three of us parted and went our own ways. 

By this time, about 11 am, the reserve's car park was getting full and busy with people undertaking to do many different activities.

I had gone to the wood, to try and introduce 'composition' and interest to my drawings, and it was not until I was able to have a look at the drawings, at home, that I realised I had done better than expected. 

The important thing, for me, is that I had learned to get round one or two problems, I did not know existed, when working out doors.

I carnt wait until I can go out again.

By for now,

John. 

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15:23:29 o'clock BST
Feeling Worried Thank you to all the people that have been and are reading my Internet journal.

You may be aware that I try to write and answer to everybody's comments but, for the past few weeks, I have been unable to; there seems to be a problem with my answers being blocked when I try to send them.

If you have been waiting to here from me I am sorry but, so as not to offend, I thought it best to inform you of my difficulties.

John.  

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