Post Furlough Return To Work....

OK, yes I've been a bit absent the last couple of weeks, and with genuine reasons. Normally I pop on on a Wednesday afternoon after my weekly hospital visit, but with the current climate, I'm at work until the hospital appointments resume, and, working has been variable days and times, which means fitting in shopping and other tasks around my work hours, oh and not forgetting the HS2 road closures, narrow lanes etc as they ramp up their work!

So, I'm well, and I hope you're all well?

Any gossip, please tag it here.....

My local reserve I understand has been overwhelmed with visitors, so I've kept away, because in places, social distancing is not practicable. That's nature, not a fault of the reserve, making some paths very narrow. Long term, it doesn't look like things will get much better quickly, especially as a nearby town is experiencing uncontrolled Covid-19 cases, but not deaths, and if Leicester is anything to go by, if a localised lockdown does occur, then i will be impacted.

Lets hope not.

I've not been too busy with the camera, but here's a few, and some interesting rare visitors included....

A large white butterfly enjoying one of the new lavender plants

A peach of a sunrise....

The next two sunrise pics were taken about two mins apart.

A hiding pond lily

And a blooming nice lily

The newly planted erysimum and lavender plants are filling out nicely,

And the big surprise visitors, long tailed tits, of which at one point, we had at least ten on one feeder!

This pic below, there were two just out of the the image, which I didn't see til afterwards.

One cutely waiting its turn...

This one gave up waiting and found another feeder...

And once the feeding frenzy had died off, this one came back....

Take care and stay safe and I'll hopefully catch up with more posts over the weekend.

STOP PRESS!

More LTT's this afternoon!

  • Ditto to what Nigel said, good to hear Mrs PR doing well.
  • Thank you all.

    Incidentally, for those interested, my application for early retirement has been accepted, it will be just before Christmas. It is something I'm a little apprehensive about, a whole new chapter about to start, though I feel if it wasn't for Covid, after almost 45 years year working, 22 of which with my current employer, who have been very good to me, particularly post-accident, then I would probably be a lot less apprehensive.

    Take care folks, I've some photos to sift through and will post very soon.

  • Well done, a countdown to Christmas and retirement. I am sure it must be very daunting after working for all those years, but you will have lots of time to get used to the change, having time to yourself, doing what you want, when you want. I always remember something a friend said, that someone had said to him, once you retire take 3 months off, don't go doing too much all at once, get used to the big change and give yourself time to relax and decide what you want to do. Good advice I think. I am sure you and Mrs PR will be able to fill the time. Good luck.

    Look forward to the photos.
  • I suppose that will help get you into the swing of things - being off for Christmas and then just not going back! Anyway, enjoy it.
  • Mike, I can understand a bit of concern about retiring; it is a big change but you can do it. Shortly before Mr GB retired we were fortunate to see a notice about a 'retirement fair' to be held at a local hall. There were maybe 30 or more groups there who were looking for people to join them. Many were groups attempting to do something to make life better for other people or for the environment and many were of interest. Mr GB found several to investigate and he signed up with one group. We also found a couple of groups which we both joined. And he also volunteers with another group which we had become members of a few years before he retired, a bird of prey centre devoted to conservation and with a hospital as well. Maybe there is something similar to that fair where you are, or some group near you which could suggest a few things you could consider (unless you already have a sufficient number of hobbies (in addition to your photography!) or volunteer work already to keep you occupied when you are not looking after Mrs PR!) Best of luck with your retirement. You know what they say--many retired people are so busy they cannot figure out how they ever had time for work! (I stopped working for pay many years ago, but I have always been fortunate in that I am never bored and have no difficulty in finding something of interest to do!)

    Edit:  I've just thought--Are you, or both of you, members of your local RSPB group?  We've joined 2 local groups and they have talks and walks.  One group has begun having talks on Zoom and that has been very successful.  They probably could do with more volunteers, too.

  • Lynn L said:
    Well done, a countdown to Christmas and retirement. I am sure it must be very daunting after working for all those years, but you will have lots of time to get used to the change, having time to yourself, doing what you want, when you want. I always remember something a friend said, that someone had said to him, once you retire take 3 months off, don't go doing too much all at once, get used to the big change and give yourself time to relax and decide what you want to do. Good advice I think. I am sure you and Mrs PR will be able to fill the time. Good luck.



    Look forward to the photos.

    I like that idea of three months off. Thumbsup

    I've had a couple of others say much the same, take time to adjust and enjoy, so come on Covid, leave us alone so I (and others) can visit the reserves safely again.

  • Unknown said:
    I suppose that will help get you into the swing of things - being off for Christmas and then just not going back! Anyway, enjoy it.

    Cheers Nige.

    What would be nice if restrictions were eased to facilitate more than six indoors, so we could visit our son (who we've only seen twice this year), his partner and her family, but realistically, that isn't going to happen.

    Whatever, I will make the best of it, life is too short not to. Thumbsup

  • Unknown said:

    Mike, I can understand a bit of concern about retiring; it is a big change but you can do it. Shortly before Mr GB retired we were fortunate to see a notice about a 'retirement fair' to be held at a local hall. There were maybe 30 or more groups there who were looking for people to join them. Many were groups attempting to do something to make life better for other people or for the environment and many were of interest. Mr GB found several to investigate and he signed up with one group. We also found a couple of groups which we both joined. And he also volunteers with another group which we had become members of a few years before he retired, a bird of prey centre devoted to conservation and with a hospital as well. Maybe there is something similar to that fair where you are, or some group near you which could suggest a few things you could consider (unless you already have a sufficient number of hobbies (in addition to your photography!) or volunteer work already to keep you occupied when you are not looking after Mrs PR!) Best of luck with your retirement. You know what they say--many retired people are so busy they cannot figure out how they ever had time for work! (I stopped working for pay many years ago, but I have always been fortunate in that I am never bored and have no difficulty in finding something of interest to do!)

    Edit:  I've just thought--Are you, or both of you, members of your local RSPB group?  We've joined 2 local groups and they have talks and walks.  One group has begun having talks on Zoom and that has been very successful.  They probably could do with more volunteers, too.

    All good suggestions, employer used to do retirement classes, which I know were very good from those who have been to them. But due to Covid19, they've been stopped, or I would have been on it.

    I'm not a member of our local group, I know there is one, nor am I a member of my nearest reserve, which I've not been to mainly because they have narrow paths and have become very busy with lots of people. It may seem negative, but I'm trying to do my bit to slow the spread of Covid19. Hopefully things will settle down next year and I can get out more, but I'm under no illusions, it won't be gone for a long time.

    I was mentioning to someone else on the forum, about Natural History Societies, we used to have one here, but an aging membership and no new blood meant it closed. I haven't been a member for decades, but I did look them up sometime ago. They used to have some very good informative talks during the winter months, while spring, summer and autumn they had good day trips, either car sharing or hiring a coach.

    Once Covid19 is settled (it isn't going away for a long time, but hopefully will settle down enough), I think we will all settle.

    It would be nice to meet up with the good people I converse with here, perhaps one day that will happen. I'm not averse to travelling, nor am I averse to getting up early.

  • With the weather and Covid19, oh and the rapidly depleting days at work, the photos have been a little few and far between, but here's a few to brighten the days up.

    A recent drive to a nearby coppice to capture some autumnal scenes and there was some Romany Gypsies camped on the roadside. They were camped near to work about a week ago, and as all true gypsies, gone the next day and left no trace.

    The images were screen grabs from the cars dashcam.

    And the autumnal scenes I managed to get

    From yesterday, which was a dull wet day, this little robin was making the best, having a bath in a puddle on the patio.

    Apologies for the poor quality, the light was poor, the weather was rank, and the rain on the kitchen window kept distracting the autofocus.....

    The robin could stand up clear of the water,

    it just loved to lie down and have a splash....

    Stay safe every one

  • Good that the travellers respect the place Mike. I do love the Robin having a good old bath in the puddle, and the autum colours in the foliage on the trees with the green and vibrant red of the holly berries, is lovley.