A green woodpecker

Today, Donna and I walked in light rain from our home to the Ambiance Cafe in the Riverside Park; it takes all of five minutes. The weather has turned much colder, yesterday I was able to work in the sunshine in the garden and it felt like summer. To do the same this afternoon would demand jeans and a warm, waterproof jacket.

Sunrise over St Neots

Here's a sunrise scene from the day before yesterday. The sky was an extraordinary colour in areas near the horizon and this telephoto shot homes in on that specific part. The trees are poplars, and with their leaves gone the classic poplar upright habit and branch structure are plain to see.

Evening sky

Evening in St Neots

St Neots during the evening twilight on 22nd November.

The sky is clear with just a few grey clouds; overhead is a deep, deep blue becoming paler and brighter towards the western horizon. And the last hints of light from the setting sun provide a pinkish tinge.

This photo is taken from Cambridge Street looking towards the Market Square.

There are signs of life in this scene too. The nearly bare branches of a tree are the most obvious of these, but the lights and buildings are clear evidence to suggest that people cannot be far away. In fact, the streets were still bustling at the time the photo was taken.

What a beautiful world we live in!

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A white ceiling!

Progress in the new kitchen

The kitchen looks loads better with the new window fitted and a couple of splash coats on the ceiling. Compare this photo with the one taken on November 20th.

At last we are beginning to see things getting slowly better rather than slowly worse! And the new space is going to be really useful with several internal walls gone.

We're still hoping everything will be finished before Christmas, the critical date for that is 5th December when the worktop templating has to be done for pre-Christmas fitting.

Any later and the fitting will roll over to the end of December or even early January.

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Jupiter over St Neots

Jupiter in the eastern sky

Jupiter has been low in the eastern sky over St Neots in the early evening. It rises higher and heads south as the night draws on.

It will look much the same anywhere in mid-northern latitudes, a very bright star-like point of light to the naked eye. But steady, unlike the stars that shimmer and twinkle.

It's hard to imagine that this little point of light is actually a planet big enough to hold a thousand Earths! It is roughly ten times the Earth's diameter.

If you could visit Jupiter and look at the Earth we would appear less than one hundredth as bright and would be very hard to spot in the glare of the nearby Sun.

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Getting plastered

Plaster drying in the kitchen

Here's the current state of our kitchen.

Much of the plastering is done now and the ceiling is getting quite dry. Soon we'll be able to get on with the decorating.

As you can see, the window opening is still boarded up, but we expect the new window to be ready any day and things will look much better once it's fitted.

Donna's even starting to get a little excited about progress now. It looks like a brand new room!

Darryn has worked extremely hard; he's managing the entire job and bringing in other trades as necessary. When the work is done we will be so glad to get the house tidy and get back to normal!

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Half and half

Maple leaves falling

Right now some of the trees have half the leaves still on the tree while the other half are lying on the ground.

This sycamore in Eynesbury has deposited leaves in a circle on the grass. They are such a lovely, luminous, summery yellow.

We are at last stating to get frosty nights and it's only a matter of time before all the leaves will be on the ground.

Then winter will start in earnest. But so far it still feels like autumn, and very nice too.

This year's leaves will decay and act as a mulch for next year's spring flowers. There is absolutely no waste in the natural world. And that's more than can be said for human technology.

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Jim and Pam's 25th

Party at Jim and Pam's

Tonight was Jim and Pam's 25th wedding anniversary.

Jim had prepared a big party for over a hundred guests, hosted in their house and garden. A marquee filled much of the garden with the rest of it pressed into service as a kitchen and serving area.

In one corner of the marquee was a disco. People congregated in the house itself as well as in the front and back gardens.

Children were happy to play on the bouncy castle in the front garden.

Many of the guests already knew one another, a reflection of Jim and Pam's widespread circles of friends, both church based and in the wider community.

Donna and I knew many of the people there through one route or another. It was a truly great evening and everyone had a lot of fun.

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The River Great Ouse

It's lovely to have the river passing through the town. Of course, towns often developed at river crossings and St Neots was no exception. In mediaeval times there was a ford here; it was controlled by the monks at the local priory and the Market Square grew up immediately outside the priory walls.

The River Great Ouse in St Neots

On a fine day like today the river reflects the blue sky and that really enhances the view. On an overcast day the river looks grey and dull. It's amazing what a clear sky and a bit of sunshine do to liven things up!

There's a lot of life on and in our river. Along with moorhens, ducks, geese and swans, the river is full of fish and other water life.

Water lilies grow in the shallow parts along the banks in certain places where the flow is weak, and other kinds of waterweed are visible too.

Boat traffic is entirely pleasure craft, although in past years boats were used to carry goods to and from nearby towns - Bedford, Huntingdon and St Ives.

I'm glad the river is there. I like to walk to the River Mill Tavern in the evening or into town for shopping; and the paths along the river are by far the best way to do it. It avoids the noise and fumes of the road traffic and it's peaceful when the world is frantic and busy.

The river is a great asset.

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The River Mill

We walked to the River Mill Tavern in Eaton Socon for an evening drink, then home along the river bank to make our evening meal.

The River Mill, Eaton Socon

The River Mill is a popular spot. It's an easy walk from the caravan park so holiday visitors sometimes come here to drink or eat. The food is good, not cordon bleu by any means but adequate and nicely prepared and presented.

Once a week they have live music, and the tables outside overlook the canal basin with it's range of pleasure craft, many of them narrowboats.

I suspect there's a regular local clientele too, and others like us who live locally but only pop in for a meal once in a while.

I suspect that if I came here regularly I begin to recognise faces and learn some names. Most British pubs have a community atmosphere of some kind and I imagine the River Mill will be no exception.

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A busy day ahead

I took a friend to Hinchingbrooke Hospital this morning. He needs special shoes and had to visit for some measurements.

The foyer at Hinchingbrooke Hospital

There's no hospital in St Neots, our nearest one is Hinchingbrooke on the edge of Huntingdon, a twenty minute car journey if the roads are clear, a bit longer at times of peak traffic.

Back at home I need to get the automatic watering system working and replace some broken glass. As I was mowing the grass yesterday evening a stone flew up and took out a large pane.

Then there's some weeding to keep me busy and I have to make a trip to town for food shopping and to drop in some paperwork at the Open Door office.

I also need to visit the tip, clean the car, pay in some cheques and finish a blog post on Journeys of Heart and Mind, so it seems like a busy day. Enough writing about what has to be done, it's time to get stuck in to all those tasks!

This evening I plan to be doing a Lyfe study at The Bridge House pub with a few friends. It's been good so far, this will be our third meeting.

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The Old Falcon

The Old Falcon Inn is a landmark in St Neots Market Square. Except that for the last eight years it's been more of a blot on the landscape because it's derelict and uncared for.

The Old Falcon Inn

It's a sad story. The old inn has a long history and is a listed building. It has a plaque on the front proudly announcing that the district and county councils with English Heritage paid for its refurbishment in 1983. The plaque states, 'Historic Building Restoration'.

Part of the inn dates to the fifteenth century though it's been substantially extended and modified since then.

Since 1963 the inn has been owned by a limited company which appears to be moribund.

The present owner has struggled to get the necessary permission to redevelop the property. Dennis Whitfield bought it in 2005 and eventually managed to persuade the local authority to allow the demolition of a boathouse at the rear (the property backs onto the River Great Ouse). The agreed plan was to aquire a strip of land from the dentist surgery next door so that a walk could be built connecting the east end of the town bridge with the south-west corner of the Market Square.

But the dental practice won't sell the strip of river frontage. The deal has fallen through. Dennis Whitfield is tired of waiting (after eight years) and is giving up.

The Falcon is now up for sale and an Estate Agent's board (Giggs & Company) is visible at the back.


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The Rocket Park

Donna and a bunch of her friends from Open Door went to a women's day in Bedford, Ash had volunteered to look after Leanne's kids for the day so she could join them; I'd offered to give Ash a hand with this and they spent the day at our house.

Working the mechanical digger

Donna had left out a big box of craft materials, and that along with a pizza and spaghetti hoops lunch occupied much of the time. But for part of the morning I was at 'The Rocket Park' with one of the girls as she is really, really keen on the play equipment there.

The photo shows her shovelling sand on the little mechanical digger. I'd have loved one of these when I was little, but they're a relatively new idea. Simple but fun.

Why is it called 'The Rocket Park'? It's not an official name, just what the kids all call it. One of the larger pieces of play equipment is a big climbing frame in the shape of a rocket nose-cone. There are climbing walls, ladders, scramble nets and bars in the lower part and an upper floor with a central opening to access it. All the children love it.

Sometimes simple things are all that's needed to keep children occupied for hours. That was certainly the case today! And, if you think about it, far better than time spent in front of a TV or games console. And I had the opportunity for some conversation with one or two parents.

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Traction engine in St Neots

This not a sight you often see these days, a steam traction engine on the streets of St Neots. From the date on the front of the canopy, this one was built exactly 100 years ago.

A one hundred-year-old traction engine

Traction engines like this one were used for transport sometimes, towing a trailer like this one. But far more often they would have been put to work in the fields, this one on a vegetable grower's land in nearby Gamlingay.

They were used for pulling large, multi-furrow ploughs across a field. Two engines would take turns to pull the plough through the soil, winching it slowly but relentlessly back and forth.

This example was probably built locally, perhaps in Bedford, and would have worked the land until the 1930s or 40s when early tractors would have taken over. Although a tractor could not turn so many furrows at a single pass, they were more manoevrable and only one man was needed to do the work.

The day of the steam traction engine passed away and many of them would have rusted away and been scrapped. A few survived (including this one) and many of the survivors are now in the hands of enthusiasts who restore them and keep the polished and active.

This one was most likely on its way to a local vintage steam fair.

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Moving the movies

St Neots is having a six-screen cinema, originally due to be finished this autumn. But something has gone wrong and it will be delayed until early next year. The photo may give you a clue.

Old and new positions

Believe it or not, the new cinema was being constructed in the wrong place. At first it appeared that the developers, Turnstone, were at fault. Perhaps they misread the plans?

But no, they faithfully began building accurately in the wrong place - the fault seems to be with the architects. The plans were wrong.

Some of the local residents complained because the building was going to be some 800 mm closer to their properties than agreed. The developers decided the right thing to do was move the steelwork (it was almost complete by then). So the cinema framework has been partly unbolted, large sections moved as single pieces, and bolted down onto new concrete pads. It's been amazing to watch.

The photo shows one of the vertical steel beams in its new position with the old position marked in blue.

Sadly we will have to wait a little longer for our cinema. We were hoping to see the second part of 'The Hobbit' here this winter, but now it'll involve a trip to Huntingdon.

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