Five Weeks

We've been here five weeks today.  It seems to have passed very quickly but at the same time, living in Leicester seems like an age ago. The variation in weather has been very striking - our neighbour Pete told us jokingly during the first week that the sun always shines in Whatstandwell, and it did seem to for the first couple of weeks. Sue got the lawn cut, and several times I had my lunch in the garden, enjoying the sun. I remember the walk in Bradford Dale when I was sure that Spring had arrived.  I also remember getting sunburned at Wembley last year at the Johnstones Paint Trophy final, which was on 25th March, so we are entitled to think that Spring is near.

But today Winter is back with a vengeance, with about 7cm of snow and more forecast.

Matlock Walk

Did a walk that started at Matlock, went up over High Tor, down into Matlock Bath, across the road up to the Heights of Abraham, and back to Matlock. Lots of ups and downs.

To Nottingham yesterday to make the Apple salesman in John Lewis very happy. We both bought fancy new Apple devices. Hence, dear reader, you are viewing the first IPad posting on this blog. We took the tram from the Phoenix park and ride; an excellent service, 45 mins from city centre to home.

History

There's a lot of it round these parts. I like the fact that Royal Mail is still using a bit of kit which is over 110 years old.

We have.....

...a table.  It seems like such a small thing - it's a small table - but it was very strange not to have any table of any kind in the house. Now we have this extending table in what we can justifiably call the dining area of the kitchen.

Arvicola amphibius

First sight today of a water vole on the canal. We used to see them on the Cromford Canal when we were kids but they've since become as rare as turkey teeth. Now they're back.

I used the train yesterday to get to Leicester to see City play; Sue had the car. 15 minutes walk to the station, 25 minutes to Derby then across the platform to the Leicester train, another 20 minutes to Leicester, and a relaxed stroll to the King Power. Or that was the plan. Apparently the Derwent Valley line is never late, but yesterday it was, so I missed my connection, had to wait for the next Leicester train, which was also late. So I was six minutes late for the start of the match.  Ironically the only one of the three relevant trains that was on time was the one I missed.

We've been using the 'multi-fuel' stove in the evenings.  We've decided that coal is the best fuel to use.  Logs are good, but we get through a huge number in an evening, and we don't have a lot of room to store them.  Having said that I may have found a cheap source so we'll probably fill the limited storage space that we have and use those for a while. Coal burns slowly and gives out a lot of heat. Smokeless fuel doesn't give out much heat unless you pile it up in the grate and open all the vents for maximum air input to get it glowing.  So at the moment, all things considered, coal wins.

We're really well positioned for good food; there's an excellent artisan baker in Crich and an independent butcher who does a vast range of home-made sausages.  He also stocks local and regional cheese, for example a Cheshire-like Hartington cheese called Peakland White which we tried. We're looking forward to systematically working our way through them.

 I like this lock I found on a gate on the footpath up to Crich.  I wonder who was the last person to lock it and when that was.
 I found the crocuses on the same path, at the top of the 97 steps (Sue says there's 97; I keep losing count).

Trams, History, a Present and More Shopping

One of the best walks from the house goes down through the quarry, then up to Crich Stand (we always used to call it Crich Memorial - I remember going there for a armistice parade when Dad was in the Sherwood Foresters - round here you have to call it Crich stand). The walk takes you round the back of the tramway museum, and across the tracks, so apparently you have to keep an eye out, but since the museum hasn't been open since we got here the chances of being squashed by a tram are minimal; I haven't actually seen one yet, even in the distance.

You can go up the tower for an excellent value 20p, but we're saving that for a clear day. The view from the bottom is stunning so I can only imagine it's exceptional from the top.  Allegedly you can see as far as Lincoln Cathedral.

I've learnt a bit about the Sherwood Foresters - the regiment was formed in 1881 when the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiments combined. 11,000 fell in the Great War and the current monument was opened in 1923, primarily as a memorial to them.  230 were killed and wounded in a single action in the Easter Rebellion, when volunteers who had joined up 3 months before to fight the Kaiser found themselves, half-trained and poorly armed, marching through Dublin when they were attacked by a well armed and much smaller force led by De Valera.

 

Sue had a house-warming present from Neil; it was addressed to me but must have been intended for Sue because I am, of course, already fluent.

Guess where we ended the day - Ikea. I'm losing track but I think that's four visits since we got here.

(By the way, Donna never made it - soon she will, I'm sure).