Living Roof. Northern Lights

Friday our living roof was installed. It is 22 years since we had our roof fitted, so it needed changing. We decided to combine the new roof with this living one, made up of sedum plants. Should be interesting seeing how it grows etc.

In the evening we had one of our whisky evenings with a couple of Quaker friends - Carol and John. We were so into the chat, that we neglected to know about the northern lights appearance, let alone go out and look at them. Oh well. People in the street saw them well.

City Scene

I went to Quaker meeting on Sunday. First time for a while. Afterwards I walked through town and found a big wheel had landed in Parliament Street. Coupled with the pollarded trees it gave the scene a mid-European feel to me: Strasbourg maybe.

Tandemania

We have been using the tandem more recently. This was Rowan's climbing tree on the cycle track from York to Selby, back in the day.

Spring

A walk at Escrick in the spring is a beautiful thing. Bluebells in the wood. Chiffchaffs, blackcaps, whitethroats and treecreepers all around (thanks to the Merlin bird identification app). Buzzards, kites, sparrowhawks and kestrels are common enough in the area, but the marsh harrier I saw was a real bonus in this neck of the woods.

Gig

Last week Andy, Tina, Shin-Sook, Peter and us went to Pocklington (a Wolds market town to the east of York) for an Italian at a local restaurant, then to see Jah Wobble play at the Arts Centre (where I had a photo show a few years ago). It was a really unexpectedly brilliant gig. Improvised pieces that I wanted to just go on and on. We all enjoyed it.

Ahead of the installation of our living roof, we have been tidying up a bit. I was in the garden, Danielle on the deck.

NYOS

 

Three weeks until my second Open Studios of the year, this one is for North Yorkshire. York and North Yorkshire got a Labour Mayor last week, so it is a happy place.

Perfect Day

The last days of our long weekend and we headed to the North York Moors for a walk through Langdale forest. Just great to be up there again with spring making its way forward towards summer. This gem of a valley is just near Blakey Topping. 

We got home in time to watch the third stage of the Giro drinking the first wine from the annual Giro case of wines made on the route of this years race. Then to finish a perfect day we watched Perfect Days, a brilliant Wim Wenders film set in Japan. 

Bank Holiday

We had a band practice last week, went well, a hot day though. This weekend Danielle and I have had a great time at home - doing the garden, visiting the soon to be community woodland on the outskirts of York (renamed the New Forest by me), sharing a pint or too with a friend who supports Ipswich (promoted to the Premier League) and having a barbecue in the nearly-spring weather.
 

Wetlands

Everywhere is sodden. This is normally the Pocklington canal on the right, a ditch in the centre and a field on the left. This year the water is everywhere, a few 100 metres on from here the three bodies of water were joined, and my wellies were just about tall enough. Discretion won and we cut the walk short. I did see a short eared owl though, so that was some recompense.

Trundle pt2 b

The bad news was I had a front tyre flat, at speed that led to me very nearly crashing; one of those situations where time really does slow down. The following thought process took place within a second or two. "oh, what was that? my front wheel is sliding away from me, I am going to crash badly, I have managed to stay upright. I have bellowed very loudly, I am ok"

The good news was that there was a mini park of benches and a water fountain, meaning I could have lunch, fix my wheel, wash my hands and move on.

Trundle pt2

 The second part of my cycling Trundle was from Doncaster to York, on the sustrans route that I first used when we moved to York from London 26 years ago. It has always been a favourite route with sections on old railway lines, canal towpaths, old pits etc. It inspired me to write my Elmet book. 

This was the first time I had been on it for a good few years, and it was great to find that a lot of it had been resurfaced and resigned. The whole area is sodden at the moment, this is the river Went, which is normally a stream you hardly notice beneath a stone bridge. Not this year.