Squirrels and Sand

Hosted by Cecily and Angie

Photos are copyright of Maggie May

We started back at school following the summer holidays, on a Thursday and during the following week, there were two inset days that fell on the Thursday and Friday. This meant no school for the children and non for me on the first of the two days.

The childrens' dad had an offer of a few weeks work, so Granddad and I decided to take the girls to Weston Super Mare on the bus.

I think it must have seemed a long drawn out journey for them as they are used to going in the car everywhere much more quickly. However they were quite excited about going on the top deck of a bus and being able to see over all the hedge rows.

It was a beautiful day and we took a picnic and spent a long time making sand castles and paddling. The water was warm and shoals of little fish came into the very shallow water of the safe paddling area that has just been reconstructed for children. Within a short time seagulls began swooping down and eating the fish.

We made a lovely building and a moat but while we were eating lunch, some children jumped on it so this is all that was left, much to the annoyance of the girls.

The following day, I had to go into work for the first half of the day, for training. We asked Amber and Millie what they would like to do in the afternoon after I got back and they asked to go to Brandon Hill to feed the squirrels. This is a very lovely spot, high on a hill in Bristol. This beautiful part of the city is in the central area near the University and museum.

Granddad and I are obviously feeling our age when we climb up the very steep hills. Come to think of it, Bristol is all hills! Anyway, there are lots of seats to sit on while we catch our breath.

The squirrels were very tame and came out in threes and fours, taking the peanuts that we had brought, though this proved to be very difficult when the pigeons arrived. It was then a competition as to who could get a nut to a squirrel and not a pigeon.

This picture was very weird because the squirrel was shrieking in a very loud and strange voice. I had never come across that sound before, so whether it was a mating cry or a cry of anguish, I do not know. It was like a bad distress call. Maybe some reader would know?

At the time of the trip, Bristol had several dozen pianos left in unusual places around the city and this one was on a hill with a view for miles around, behind it. The girl who was playing fairly well gave permission for me to snap her from the back.

The pianos were part of a project to promote music and give ordinary folk a chance to play in public. In some areas one or two pianos had been vandalised but on the whole this was a very popular idea and most of them were left alone.

Of course the girls had to have a go too.

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily. Why not drop in and some some really good photo stories.

The Inset Day

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

What can two small but energetic girls do when there is a non pupil day at school?

Well....... we can play with the dolls house and the barbies!

We can try our hand at painting! Not quite finished yet!

We can go to the park and look at the view. Isn't it lovely? 

 
We can get Granddad to help us feed the wild life.

We can try and stop the pigeons from getting the nuts that we brought for the squirrels.

We were lucky that it didn't rain in the park and we had a really good time.

We had to climb down some steep steps and Grannie said, 'Don't go so fast as Grannie and Granddad cannot keep up and we could break our legs if we slipped.'

One of us said, 'That would be awful because we wouldn't have a bus ticket to get home!'

They thought that was quite funny but we didn't get it! Grown ups laugh at the strangest things!

Just as we jumped off the bus, near home, the sky went black and the rain tumbled down. We had to run very fast, so as not to get too wet. Then we had to take off our trousers and jackets and dry them because we did not run fast enough!

Half Hour Before Work!

I was busy cooking earlier when I saw butterflies through the kitchen window and I couldn't leave what I was doing.

Earlier, when the grand daughters needed me, I saw a wood pigeon having a bath in the bird bath. Two collared doves were sitting ridiculously  on the bird feeder stand, trying without success to find a way onto the sunflower seed container and the fat ball. That would have made the perfect snap.

Yesterday a squirrel ran along the back fence. However, if I were to open the back door, all wild life would panic and disappear.

I had half an hour to spare before work. I could have spent it blogging or I could have read the new book I was about to begin.

I decided to get my camera and to lie low in the garden. As usual, not a creature in sight. Just then, a butterfly fluttered over the hedge. Why didn't I have my camera open? It went further down the garden and landed on a flower! My perfect snap! This was further down the garden and I would need to scramble down the rockery and would probably risk breaking my neck as well as the camera. I went the long way round. It was sitting perfectly still on a flower. I took aim ........ Blast! It knew I wanted a picture and I'm sure it was laughing at me as it flittered back over the hedge. The birds were around as they were chattering in the trees but did not come into the garden.

I heard the dreaded clock chime the hour. I had to leave for work and marveled at just how quickly half an hour goes by.

I reluctantly left, and noticed there were bluebottles in the house because I had left the back door open!

I did take one picture while waiting for wild life in the garden though, as I got bored! I hope you don't mind a photo of my washing while you are waiting for my perfect photo of a butterfly on a flower!

A Trip to the Museum? Or was it Play School?

This is a photo of another small corner of my garden and has nothing to do with this post!

I had promised to take 5 yr old Amber to the museum the other Saturday while the other members of the family had to be somewhere else.

It was the first warm, sunny day after weeks of rain and cold, so we decided to take a picnic. At the very last minute Grandad decided to come too.

We caught the bus to the city centre and the cheerful, kind driver smiled at Amber and let her go free and of course, we pensioners used our bus passes.

Grandad suggested that we go to look at squirrels in the nearby park. Amber said, "But we're going to the museum!"

"It's on the way, Grandad explained and we had to climb a very steep hill and when we got there we were very out of breath and there wasn't a squirrel in sight!

"I want to go to the museum!" wailed Amber.

We turned back down the hill and Grandad was disappointed to be leaving the park so soon. "It's a shame we have to be inside on such a nice day," He remarked, a bit acidly.

We arrived at the Museum and went inside and Amber raced round the different sections while we quickly followed, our eyes trying to adjust to the rapidly changing scenes. Just as we got interested in one thing, something else caught Amber's eye and she wanted to move on.

We came to a children's play area with books and dressing up clothes and children's toys. I read stories and helped Amber to change into an Indian sari and pretty fairy outfits. She stayed there a long time and I noticed Grandad looking at his watch rather a lot.

When we got hungry we left the museum and sat on a bench outside to eat our picnic and started to open our food and drink containers. Before long a pigeon with a bad foot came to join us and ate some crumbs and it wasn't long before more birds arrived, several with damaged feet and they had difficulty walking. We started to speculate what had happened to their feet. Had someone who hated pigeons managed to stamp on their feet? Or did they get their toes torn off in some kind of netting? We felt sorry for the disabled birds and tried to give more crumbs to them. Eventually lunch was finished & we tidied our rubbish and went back into the museum.

Grandad was looking forward to browsing round this time to look at the things he was interested in. Amber led us back to the play area and when she had tired of that, stumbled on an art corner. "I want to draw a picture," she said. So we sat down and we coloured pictures. She signed her name and even left a comment on a little card. "I like butterflies, love Amber x"

We spent so long colouring, dressing up and having stories that it was time to go! Amber had a Birthday party to go to at 4 o'clock and I'd promised to get her home in good time.

Reluctantly Grandad left the museum and I suggested that he came back during the week while I was at work. "You can stop and look at everything you like," I enthused.

We had to pay for Amber on the way back. Isn't it funny how one driver can be really pleasant and kind, yet another more grumpy and not so generous?

We arrived home in plenty of time to get Amber dressed for the party and I made a pot of tea."Do you know?" I said, "I had such a lovely time at the museum!" Amber nodded enthusiastically. Grandad gave me a funny look as he'd not really seen anything! He never did go back during the week, though.