owl

Suffering from the damp etc as are we all. Dehumidifier is doing its best but I may need to run central heating for a bit instead of just halogen heater. I went to the reserve today, visitor centre ok but many of the reserve paths are flooded, some to nearly 2 ft. The Idle has breached banks in a number of places and all the waders have left the lakes and moved on to the flooded fields.

Good morning xx

Damp and foggy here, but thankfully the floods at Retford are receding. I am not doing my usual volunteering at the Idle valley reserve until the river level has dropped a bit more, as there is nothing useful I can do there without a 4wd. At least there is no need to watch for poachers and illegal fishermen right now, would be no fun for them to be out at present.

Roads round here are mostly passable now. I took Finley to my nearest nature reserve, which is well landscaped from a former quarry and has good drainage and a gravel path through the middle. He enjoyed the walk and I was pleased to see a black tern, a rare visitor here. A few local birdwatchers were taking photos. Further along, the river Idle was at least 4 ft higher than normal.

People can be so stupid! Makes me so cross, when the police and emergency services are struggling, that anyone goes out against advice for stupid reasons. Local rivers have burst their banks. Chesterfield, Dronfield, Worksop, Retford have floods.

Flood warnings for river Idle, trees down in places, I expect our village will be cut off before long as all the approach roads go through dips and hollows.

Sorry I missed you this afternoon, Jazz x

I have just been looking at the photos of Stonehaven on BBC website. Been ok here today after heavy rain last night, but I was in Tickhill this morning which has a mill dam and stream running through the village. It flooded badly about 16 years ago, and defences have been put in place since then, but the water level is already quite high.

Good morning, all ok here, rain has stopped for the moment but much more to come. The dehumidifier is working hard.

Got everything in here, ready to sit out the storm. Hope power stays on but have backup lights etc ready.

Hope you can get some improvement. Not surprised an egg fell down chimney if you have pigeons on roof, they are prolific egg layers.

Blackmagic, that is truly horrible. I am glad we only have one of them here.

Glad no accidents, and that you are not flooded out. A friend and I went yesterday to see a hooded crow, which is in a field of pigs not far from me. They are rarely seen this far south. Redwings and fieldfares are arriving for the winter.

Good morning everyone x

Good afternoon, planning a visit to the reserve as 19 cattle egrets have landed there this morning. We used to get the odd one, then small groups, and now the word must be getting round that it's a nice place to be.

That's a pity x

Don't worry, your liking for it will come back. The bug may have affected your sense of taste. get well soon xx

Good morning everyone xx

Thank you Jazz, and the same to you xx

Feeling the chill, not acclimatised to temperature drop yet. Cold, windy and very wet here in N Notts.

Sorry to hear that Jazz, hope eye unit can get some improvement for you. We are on an even keel here, not getting as much done as I would like but a little bit of decluttering each day, and a bit of gardening whenever it is dry enough. Just walked Fin in village yesterday as didn't want to drive in the high winds.

Doing well, then

Who are those little ones?

Happy birthday to Honey and Cooper. Jazz, I hope scan went OK.

Happy birthday to both of them xx