Mike’s Music Monday #52

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Please note that this post was scheduled well before the Coronavirus outbreak, so please don’t be offended by the title of the song…  (I did think about swapping it for another song, but it is quite humorous in a ‘dark’ sort of way).

OK – some of you may be glad to know that this is the last in this series. (Hooray, I hear you cry).  I know it’s not been that popular, but it has filled in some gaps, which I may well fill this coming year with some other random posts (yet to be determined).

Anyway, for my last song, it seemed appropriate to play this one by Just Jack, called the Day I Died.  I had the pleasure of watching Just Jack live at the D Club in Lausanne some years ago.  He introduced this as a ‘happy song’, so who am I to argue.  Whatever, I think the lyrics and video are superb.  (In case you didn’t know Just Jack (Allsop) appears at the end of the video, as the medic who shakes his head).

 

Spring is in the air…

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When I look out of the window today, it seems inconceivable that only a week ago it was snowing and we had around a foot (30cm) of snow covering our garden.  However the temperatures have risen quite sharply since and all that snow has now gone.  Our daffodils are starting to emerge and there are signs of Spring everywhere.

Over the weekend we were pleasantly surprised to see at least a dozen different birds in and around our bird feeder.  We had the usual Great, Blue, Coal, Crested and Willow/Marsh* Tits, who are regular winter visitors, but in addition there were several Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Blackbirds and Rock Buntings plus a Robin, a Greenfinch and a Pied Wagtail.
*I never can tell the difference.

Most of my photos were not particularly good, but I did also go for a short walk up the path behind our chalet yesterday and I thought I’d share a few of the better images for you to enjoy.

 

South West Coast Path, Day 6, Weymouth to Abbotsbury

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I mentioned on Day 1 that there were 2 reasons why Pete had chosen to do this part of the SW Coast Path and the second reason was that the first ever ‘proper’ book that he’d read as a young boy was called Moonfleet, which was set in this area of the country.  It was written by John Meade Falkner in 1898 and is a tale of adventure, smuggling and a search for Blackbeard’s lost diamond.  But overall it’s a story of loyalty and a great friendship between the two main characters, John Trenchard and Elzevir Block.

Pete had sent me a copy of the book just before Christmas for me to read as ‘homework’ before our trip and I’m glad he did, as it really added to the enjoyment of our walk.  The Old Fleet church is featured in the book, as is the Moonfleet Manor.  There is even an Inn in the book called the Why Not? (and Why Not? indeed, I always say 😉).

Pete and I also met up with two of his old University pals, Jacky and Alan, who now live in Dorchester.  We met them and their dog at the Moonfleet Manor and they walked a section of the route with us.

South West Coast Path, Day 5, Isle of Portland

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On day 5, Pete and I had the pleasure of walking without our rucksacks as we did a circular route around the Isle of Portland.  As you can see from the map (pic 22), the ‘Isle’ is not really an island, because it’s connected to the mainland by a causeway, created by a rather incredible coastal formation called Chesil Beach.  The beach is 18 miles (or 29 km) long and is up to 50 ft (15m) high and 220 yards (200m) wide in places.  It’s made up of shingle or pebbles, which increase in size from north west to south east.   Behind the beach is a shallow tidal lagoon, called the Fleet.

South West Coast Path, Day 3, Worth Matravers to Lulworth

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The pictures in my previous post were a bit dull and grey for a ‘Sun’day, so I thought I’d improve the mood with a few brighter (& almost comical*) images from Day 3… 😊

I’ve never stuck my head out of a car travelling at 70mph, (and I wouldn’t recommend it), but I now know what it must feel like.  We had been warned of winds of over 50mph but some gusts must have been stronger than that.  Luckily it was coming from the sea, otherwise we would have been in grave danger of being blown off the cliff.   We would take one step up a hill then a gust would take us 2 to the right.  Our next 2 steps would aim to get back on track, only for the wind to drop, or be even stronger and we’d either topple left or go even further right.  So it was that we zig-zagged our way up many of the slopes.

*You can tell how strong the wind was from pictures 9 and 10, where a waterfall was being blown back up and across the path.  We both got soaked!  The windsurfers (pic 11) were very happy though and the shower in pic 19 came and went in less than 2 minutes.

Please note, if you ever consider walking this section of the path, the route goes through the Ministry of Defence Lulworth (firing) Ranges which are only generally open at weekends and some public holidays.  Otherwise a 30 mile detour is required.  For more information on opening times and weekend closures, please check here.

South West Coast Path, Day 1, Poole to Swanage

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I’ve just returned from a week in the UK, walking the first (or last) part of the South West Coast Path with my very good mate, Pete.   The full route is around 640 miles (1,030 km) long and goes from Poole in Dorset to Minehead in Somerset (or vice versa).  Long time followers may recall that the 2 of us and 4 other friends did the other end of this long distance path in 2015.  (Though I now see that nobody ‘Liked’ that post, so maybe I should call a halt here… 🤔 … Er, no way…!)

With 6 days available, our ultimate destination would be Abbotsbury, though I had an extra day before flying home, so I also walked ‘back’, away from the SW Coast Path, to Dorchester.

Pete had selected this particular section of the path for 2 reasons*, the first being that he had spent 4 of his summer holidays as a child in Swanage and he was keen to re-live those happy memories from the past.  So it was with great excitement that we set off on the short ferry crossing from the Sandbanks area of Poole to Shell Bay, around 1pm, to walk the 6 or 7 miles (10 or 11 km) to Swanage.

*I will divulge Pete’s 2nd reason later in this series.  (Oh, the suspense…)

Logistical footnote: Pete had travelled down that morning from York , by train, London Underground and train to arrive in Bournemouth (rather miraculously, on time) around 12 noon.  By contrast my journey had been by Postbus, train and plane (by the wonder that is Easyjet to Bournemouth airport), again arriving around 12 noon.  I then caught a taxi to Sandbanks, picking up Pete on the way.   As George Peppard, or ‘Hannibal’ Smith, if you prefer, often said in the A Team “I love it when a plan comes together.” 😊

 

Walk from Euseigne to Sion, Valais, Switzerland

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While the upper part of the Val d’Hérens is covered in snow, the lower part of the valley is completely clear.  So, with the sun shining brightly, I decided to take my camera for a walk down the path from Euseigne to Sion.  Although it’s a walk I’ve done and posted before, I was certain I’d find something new or unusual to photograph and I wasn’t disappointed.

The early morning frost made for some interesting images and one of the wooden bridges had been dislodged due to a landslide last year, making it unusable.  However, I have no idea why there was a sweeping brush propped up next to the small shrine.  (See pic 24).

Fun in the snow

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Firstly let me wish you all a very happy, healthy and peaceful new year.

My brother, Steve, has been visiting us this past week with his wife, Beverley, and their two sons, Gabriel and Sebastien.  Last Friday didn’t get off to a good start with snow falling all morning, but it did mean the boys could get to build a rather large (6ft/2m tall) snowman in the afternoon.  I say ‘boys’, but as you can see from the first few pictures, it was mainly Steve who built it, while Seb and Gabe did what brothers do – throw snowballs at each other.

From then on though it has been blue skies all the way and we’ve been out walking, cross-country skiing and downhill skiing.

With the sun shining brightly, as each day went by, the snowman started to tilt more and more.  Picture 29 below was taken on new year’s day (looking a bit how I felt!) and, even today, it’s still defying gravity by leaning at around 45 degrees.

Stockholm

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Jude and I have just returned from 2 weeks away, visiting Stockholm and 3 different parts of Finland.  We flew to and from Stockholm partly because Easyjet didn’t fly from Geneva to Helsinki, but mainly because Jude was looking forward to sailing between the 6,700 islands which constitute the Åland islands that lie between Sweden and Finland.  (No, I didn’t know about them either until we organised this trip).

Anyhow, below is a summary of our time in Stockholm where we meandered the streets, visited the Skansen Park area in Djurgarden (which has a replica village from the late 1800’s and a small zoo) and visited the National Museum.

Before going we’d read that it was very difficult to spend actual cash in Stockholm.  So we didn’t take any and easily got by with just a pre-loaded Debit card.  (I still don’t know what a Swedish Krona note or coin looks like).  Be aware though that Stockholm is quite an expensive place to visit, though the above two attractions are both free.

Below, in a slight departure from my usual posts, I’ve included three separate photo galleries – the first is of the City then Skansen and thirdly the National Museum.

Skansen:

National Museum, Stockholm:

Val de Rèchy Walk, Val d’Hérens, Switzerland

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I’m quite often pleasantly surprised when I go out for a walk and last Thursday was no exception.   Although I didn’t manage to capture a picture of Cynthia’s fritillary, which is quite common in this remote valley, I did get some, albeit long range, photos of 3 different birds.  (I’ve made my best guess at each, though I’m sure there is at least one person out there who may be able to identify them for me…?)

One of the reasons I missed the Cynthia’s fritillary was because I was distracted by a herd of over 20 yaks, with no apparent shepherd looking after them.  As you can see from pictures 17 to 21, I managed to overtake them as they headed to the nearest watering hole.

Most of the butterflies were just by the roadside where I parked my car!