Goodbye, beard!

Tonight I shaved off my beard. It was a sad moment and one I’d mulled over for a while. I like having a beard, especially when, like today, the weather’s freezing and sleet is pounding down. However, beards, like long hair, are high maintenance, and I’m not that sort of bloke. As such, my beardContinue reading “Goodbye, beard!”

Storks in nest

For me, there are four signs that Spring has truyly arrived, two of which I witnessed today, and all are from birds. The return of the storks, house martins, cuckoos and golden orioles means that summer is not far distant. Today I saw a couple of European white storks (Ciconia ciconia) preparing their nest andContinue reading “Storks in nest”

Sandy has a visit from rescued dogs

My Jack Russell, Sandy, was ecstatic today to have a visit from a brother and sister pair who are still puppies. My wife’s cousin’s husband found them abandoned at the Polish border and brought them home. They’re a very mixed breed pair but they’re very sweet. I hate it when people just dump their dogsContinue reading “Sandy has a visit from rescued dogs”

Spring remnants of Winter

Still the grass and bushes are bleak, with the remains of bird-eaten berries decaying on the twigs. The blue skies have gone and the overcast has returned, making it feel more like late Autumn again – especially following the snow shower last Sunday. I really hope Spring kicks in proper at some point.

Spring flowers

The first wild flowers have begun growing in the garden following Winter. Sadly, no snowdrops or crocuses or daffodils yet, but several little blue and purple ones (along with dandelions, daisies and buttercups). Today we switched on the water and, thankfully, no pipe or tap had burst during the cold months. Now Spring has startedContinue reading “Spring flowers”

Riding the Eclipse

What a day! The Spring Equinox, a Supermoon and a solar eclipse… none of them compare to finally getting Feisty, my motorbike, back on the road after a long winter. Three days this week we’ve spent messing around with batteries, finally I ordered a new one and then discovered we had to fill it withContinue reading “Riding the Eclipse”

Cloud layer through airplane window

I took this photo of the cloud layer yesterday as we flew back to Rzeszow, Poland via Ryanair. Frost on the window caused pixellation. Flying is no longer fun and seat space is cramped (plus you cant smoke). I much prefer driving back across Europe to the UK as there’s a huge emotional surge asContinue reading “Cloud layer through airplane window”