Pages

Sunday 29 March 2020

Life in one Lincolnshire Village

Owl Wood is top left

This aerial view shows almost the entire village. 

The houses and cottages back on to the village green, rather than the more usual arrangement, which is to have them facing it.  I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that some people have lived in the village for many years without even realising there is a village green - for the entrance is hidden, unless you know where to look.     The village hall is further along the road, so no clue there!

The only other village asset is the local pub, the white buildings, bottom left.

Of course even the pub has had to close for the duration of the restrictions.   They are still providing takeaway meals, with contactless payment and collection, delivery for those who cannot collect.  A useful service, but not one I use.   

Best of all, they have organised grocery shopping, along with fresh fruit and vegetables from their local suppliers, which is a wonderfully useful service.

I placed a small order last week, just to see how it would work out; it was quick and efficient and the fruit and vegetables were in perfect condition.   I am very grateful for their hard work in setting it all up, and so, I imagine, are a lot of other locals.    Thank you D & K.


Arnold, the old rubber tyre horse.


This peculiar creature is a rubber tyre horse, Arnold.  He lives in Owl Wood and belongs to my grandchildren. 

The other day I noticed that he seemed to have grown a beard - you can't see it on this shot.

I peered inside and found that the wrens have been busy building a nest, right at the back, where I hope they will be safe from cats, rats and squirrels.

Wrens nest, inside the 'horse's' head.













I wonder how many hours of work went into making this nest - lovingly lined with moss and feathers.

Blue tits have taken up residence in the boxes at the back of the house, but I am still not a hundred percent sure about whether the owl box has got squirrels or jackdaws inside, all I know for sure is that it is not owls.

We set up the wildlife camera last night, to monitor the squirrels nut bucket, we had a suspicion that they were not all going to the squirrels...


This is what the camera caught last night - a very large rat.

I told you the cats had been slacking in their duty.   In her younger days Sparky would have dealt with this one but I think she is too old and stiff to tackle it now and Millie doesn't really 'do' rodents, unless they are small and sweet.

The wind seems to have dropped now, so with luck I may be able to get this posted to the blog.   Our internet connection has been pretty dire for a few days, not that it is ever particularly good, but at least it worked.

Stay safe, well and happy.
x






21 comments:

  1. What a nice view of your village. How did you get that? Drone?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A drone, I believe. It was taken to showcase the pub and their holiday cottages, I borrowed it from them.

      Delete
  2. Time for a tar trap to sort the blighter out. I killed one that was being a pest a few months ago, not see one since

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A nice clean kill is my preferred method, fingers crossed!

      Delete
  3. Lovely view of the village. Hope you can deal to the rat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a funny little village, but I feel rooted to it these days.

      Delete
  4. Thank you for such a sweet post, and I do hope the wrennies stay safe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A wren has been inspecting a clog I hung in the wood pile, fingers crossed! Trouble is the Wrenery is rather busy with us in and out, a continual stream of birds visiting the buffet. Whether this is a deal breaking I have no idea?

    LX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your wrenery is beautiful; if the wrens don't fancy that clog I wouldn't mind moving in myself. ;)

      Delete
  6. I hope the dear wren stays safe in her nest. What a great place to set up home! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It should be safe and dry. Clever little birds.

      Delete
  7. Perfect place for a nest.
    Strange about the houses not facing the village green. I wonder why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Once life returns to normal, and our monthly gathering are permitted, I will see whether anyone knows the answer to that little mystery, Sue.

      Delete
  8. There is a real mystery around the village green, most peculiar. Internet connection is hit and miss here too. Hope the nest remains safe. Rats are a problem, thats for sure. Take care and stay safe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a fairly large green for such a small village, the entrance is hidden between the old blacksmith's building and a bungalow, a simple green pathway which looks private. Very odd.

      Delete
  9. I have seen one of those tyre horses somewhere else and can't think for the life of me where.......is nature amazing with the places they find to make nests?

    How interesting that your village green has houses that face outwards, I wonder how common that is?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The grandchildren have had a huge amount of fun on the tyre horse. He was originally called Galahad by my grandson, then granddaughter took him over and renamed him after the old horse who used to live next door - hence he became Arnold. He will be having a bit of a rest this year - wrens rule!

      Delete
  10. That's a very enterprising Wren! What a quiet and safe spot for her family.

    Nice to see an aerial view of your village. I am quite intrigued by the village green being at the back of the houses.

    Good to hear that you can get groceries via the local pub now. Small independent shops have stepped up to the mark here too, and we can now get deliveries from the places we normally use, and our local shop will deliver too.

    We are being very frugal on the food front - even the cats are on a diet!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. People and small local businesses are being very creative and helpful, which makes me glad that we have always supported local shops whenever possible. Even the watermill in the next village makes pizzas and cooks them in their wood-fired oven, contactless collection and payment, just a couple of nights a week, but I guess it is helping to keep them afloat and help people out.

      One day i hope to discover the reason for the odd arrangement of houses.

      I must admit that I am enjoying the challenge, making myself use up those dried goods from the back of the pantry shelves, all leftovers, etc. My cats would eat me if I tried to put them on a diet!!

      Delete

Lovely to hear from you.
I will try to answer comments in the next post.