Rutland birds

Surprisingly, as Rutland is in the centre of England, we have a rich avian tradition, led by Rutland Water which hosts the annual UK Bird Fair. As well as the VIP birds such as egrets and ruffs that tend to keep to the Water, other exciting species, such as red kites, buzzards and oyster catchers are now spreading out into the countryside http://www.rutlandwater.org.uk/recentsightings.html.

The most exciting sighting for me was last friday. I took Annie for our usual walk around the fishing pond, and as we crossed the meadow toward it I watched what I first assumed to be a kite (now quite common around here) drifting lethargically ten feet above the field. I soon realised it was the wrong shape to be a kite or a buzzard, and when I got really close saw that it was white underneath. An Osprey! Still doubting my own eyes that our poxy little pond next to the RAF Cottesmore runway would be honoured by such a visitor I stood next to the water and watched as the bird flew back and forth above. Then emitting a cry, it plunged down to the surface of the pond, scooped up a fish and flapped slowly off. WOW! When we continued our walk around the pond I came across a fishing platform with a fish skeleton on it - presumably "my" osprey had fed there earlier. [I didn't take the picture sadly]

Of more exotic species, a parrot recently escaped from a house in Cottesmore, there is at least one peacock in the village (isn't there in very village?) and I have just spotted on our back fence what, after an extensive web search, most resembles a female mynah bird (see pic below). As they are indiginous to the Himalayas this seems unlikely, but the only other plausible explanation is a female green woodpecker carrying a piece of carrot. Any ideas?

Rutland hots up and some hairy moments

Currently Rutland is basking in 30 degree sunshine, which would be lovely if it weren't accompanied by 90% humidity. Fortunately the three feet thick walls of our stone cottage do a pretty good job of keeping the air bearable indoors, although the fluffies, already frequently only discernably alive at mealtimes, decorate the floor like bizarre canine shooting trophies. Walking for Welland has ground to a halt; the last time we attempted a long walk in the heat Phil got sunburnt, Annie got heatstroke and had to be given a cold shower and I got cross. And that was only 20 degrees. We will be starting again as soon as it cools down a bit, as now http://www.ridewelland.co.uk/ is live more rides are needed to populate the site, especially holiday rides (of which there is just one so far).

The wine job is still keeping me busy; two shows on consecutive weeks (BBC Good Food at the NEC and Taste of London in Regent's Park) were exhausting but great fun and quite lucrative. I also got my first temp job last week - a day and a half doing some mindlessly dull admin for the people that make Tesco's ready meals. My main aim is to make enough before September and my TA job to keep me off the dole; that's £240 per month so not that difficult! I still have some saddles to sell too (I ALWAYS have some saddles to sell - at one point I had seven for two horses. Now I have three for, erm, no horses) although I don't know if I can bear to part with all my saddles, they are such beautiful things. Not the synthetic Thorowgood, but the soft, smooth Free n Easy dressage saddle (£1600 new) and the intricately tooled Australian stock saddle will be sorely missed. Especially the FNE which fits any horse. Hmm. Maybe we're not quite that desperate yet.

Now for the hair. One of my money saving initiatives has been to get my hair cut without a blow dry and dye it myself. So far this has been reasonably successful as I have stuck to a one tone colour (dark blonde). So instead of about £80 my hairdos have been about £30 a time. Rather bored by he monotony of my haircolour I recently purchased a home highlighting kit promising "vanilla ice" and with a picture of a girl with subtle sunkissed highlights on the front. The procedure was pretty fiddly, and after an hour and a half of covering myself and the bathroom with dye then bleach I washed off in excited anticipation. Quelle horreur. Not vanilla ice but agent orange. It was 2pm by this time, and I have an interview at the school starting at 8.30am tomorrow morning - I simply couldn't turn up looking as though, well, I'd tried to bleach my own hair and it had gone wrong. After a quick ring round I secured a place at Creme in Oakham for a colour (but no cut or blow dry) and two hours later emerged with wet hair determined to find somewhere who would cut me too. Around the corner Tonerre obliged and I inadvertently discovered a great cost cutting tip. A bit complicated this, but here goes. In the past I have had a colour, cut and blow dry at Creme and it has cost about £80. Today I had a colour only and it cost £36. Because they couldn't fit me in for a cut I went to Tonerre who charge £25 for a wet cut (no blow dry). However because my hair was already wet, they cut and blow dried it for £17.50. So I got a colour, cut and blow dry for £53.50 instead of £80. It's kind of brown with highlights by the way.

Now onto today's picture - this was taken on one of our walks a month or so back in Southwick Wood (East Northants). Not very seasonal, but the dappled shade and cool bluebells have made me feel a whole lot fresher.