Rotten Weather for Dogs and Fishermen.

 

The photo shows little Maxi the dachshund, wading through a big puddles!  This scene just about sums up the weather in the Devizes area.  The town itself stands on top of a hill, and does not flood, but at the bottom of the hill it is another story.  I took a 3.5 mile walk on Sunday morning with S and Maxi, going down the road side of Caen Hill, and then walking back up on the towpath beside the flight of locks.  At the bottom the path was flooded, and whilst we were able to wade through, Maxi was soon under water to tummy level, as her legs are only 4 inches long.  (10.16 cm)

 

We walked past the trees we planted a few weeks ago, but had to guess at which ones were ours.    I think mine are the first four, from the left in the front row.  Since our planting session, the whole field has been filled with saplings, although the ones at the very bottom of the field are now under water.

 

It's nice weather for fish too.  The canal is kept at a constant level with the use of overspill weirs,  although these have water flooding over the top to fill the pounds below.   These brave fishermen at the bottom of the flight,  have given up the television and the warmth of their homes,  to stand for hours in the rain on a Sunday morning,  trying to catch fish they will immediately throw back into the canal! 

 

Brave souls man a narrowboat in the top of the lock, on their way down to the bottom of the 16 locks.  The towpath was very muddy and slippery, which makes this activity somewhat dangerous.  The flight closes on January 2nd for essential maintenance,  so many narrowboats will be making the descent today and on New Year's Day to avoid being moored in Devizes for a few weeks.

Signs of Spring in Devizes.

I eventually got out of my front door at 2.15pm this afternoon, after hours and hours of torrential rain had kept me shut up in the warmth of Chantry Court.   Words cannot describe just how awful it is, it rains all day,  day in day out!  Today I imagined what southern Ireland must look like, where in some places it rains for 364 days of the year, and the country is so green that it is named, "The Emerald Isle."   The grass here is becoming very green, and this afternoon I also noticed these green catkins hanging from a willow tree.   Should these be emerging at this time of the year?  I think they are too early, but then it is very mild here at 9c. 

The towpath was as muddy as usual, which meant that I had to take extra care when walking under the bridges and stepping too near the canal edge.   The sun eventually emerged for 20 minutes or so, and then promptly disappeared again, hopefully to reappear tomorrow, if the cloud clears and it stops raining.  I walked about 2.5 miles today, and hopefully tomorrow I can do my "Caen Hill Circular," a walk of about 4.5 miles.

I walked home past the "Crammer," the pond on "The Green," an open space in the middle of Devizes, which is used for the circus when it comes to town, and also for festive funfairs and social gatherings.    The sun was setting at this point, and the swans were too busy preening themselves to notice me as I walked by.  The two ducks seem to be heading off somewhere to the left of the photo, maybe they think it is spring, and are into ducking production!

Christmas Lunch for 70 at the Nursteed Centre.

Three lady reindeer sit and wait for the arrival of our 30 guests for lunch at the "Nursteed Centre" on Christmas morning.   Many volunteers had spent Christmas Eve preparing the room with decorations, and laid the tables with crackers and festive centre pieces of holly, ivy and Christmassy flowers.

 One of the many cakes especially made for the occasion by friends of organiser.  We were inundated with donated gifts of food and drink from local businesses, which included crackers, drink and enough mince pies to feed an army.   After the lunch a singer and her partner on the guitar played and sang for the guests.

After coffee and mince pies, a session of bingo followed, and once again all the prizes were donated by local businesses.  It was a wonderful day, if exhausting for we helpers, and everyone went home at 4.30pm having enjoyed a special Christmas Day.  We might do it again in 2013. (after a good rest!)

"Happy Christmas" from Vicki in Devizes where, just for a change, it is raining!

I wish you all, wherever you may be, a very Happy Christmas Day.   

                       This is posted on Christmas Day, the blog has got the date wrong!

Please don't eat too many sprouts, as they can be bad for you!    This morning at 11am I shall be at the "Nursteed Centre" in Devizes, where I'm helping at a Christmas lunch for those elderly people who would ohterwise have spent Christmas Day alone in their homes.  I'm a "table mate" meaning I will sit at table with five ladies and gentlemen, help serve their meals, and generally make the day happy for them.   After lunch there will be music, and later a Bingo session.  The occasion finishes at 4pm, when everyone will be taken home on the local mini bus,  which is specially fitted out for carrying the elderly and disabled,  and loaned by "PHAB."

We have all been very impressed by the generosity of local businesses, who have donated all the food and drink, for the two chefs and to the many local people who will give their services to make the day a happy one.  Thank you everyone.

Handbell Ringing in Potterne Church

We played at the carol service in Potterne Church last night, and very nice it sounded too!   We played a selection of well know carols, together with "The Skater's Waltz" which we played without a single mistake, and also "The Little Drummer Boy," which with  its  top notes  played alone, give the piece a very Chrismassy tinkle.  To the left is Mike holding bells F and G, while I hold A and B, the lower notes and big bells of course.  There is a knack to ringing, one of which is to get the bell the right way up in the correct hand.  The other is to make a quickish flick of the wrist when lifting the bell, so that the striker hits the side of the bell crisply. An ablility to count to 3 or 4 also helps,  as each of our notes is marked in a colour, and much concentration is needed to come in at the right place.  If you have nothing to play from the start until you reach  bar 49, you have to count every previous bar up to that point.   Being busy, with a note in every bar, does make life a lot easier!

My three bells are A, A# and B, and sound the bass line of any melody.  Below you can see a detail of the striker, a felt covered clanger, that strikes the side of the bell when correctly struck.  We all make mistakes, the funniest being having your bells in the wrong hands, when, of course, the music sounds really comical!

These bells were cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, and our four octave set were very expensive, and very heavy to carry!   Last night we had to carry our equipment from the village hall to the church, and we all trudged, heavily ladened across a main road,  to set our tables and bells in the church, ready for playing from 5pm until  6pm when the service started.   It is great fun playing handbells with such a lovely group of people.  I can recommend giving it a try to anyone reading this blog.

"Potterne Handbells Ringers" wait to start playing.   I stand between Celia, back right, and Mike standing second from right.  I made a couple of videoclips of our playing, which I hope to post later, that's if I can get the sound to work.

Puddle-Jumping on Salisbury Plain.

I´m back blog writing after a few days of feeling a little under par,  with the tummy bug that is doing the rounds.  The weather has been dreadful, with so much rain, that it has been difficult to get out and about to take photos and tell you tales about my life in the backwoods of Wiltshire!   I rang the bellplates on Tuesday afternoon for the ladies here in Chantry Court.  We rang quite well, and all were able to recognise the carols in spite of us making a few mistakes!  I started to feel unwell on Tuesday late afternoon, which lasted until Wednesday evening, but on Thursday morning I was up with the lark, and feeling fairly bonny again.   I met the "Coffee Girls" in the "Black Swan" where we drank coffee and chatted.  Afterwards they went off to a Christmas meal in "The Elm Tree," and I came home to my German group's Christmas party with Glühwein,  mince pies with cream and some tasty, nutty German biscuits.   A glowing time was had by all.  

Now for this morning's puddle jumping over Salisbury Plain,  with a threatening sky overhead.   We took the bus to Foxley Corner, and  walked up to Redhorn Hill, and were glad to see that the red flags on the army firing range were not flying!    We prefer to walk without the sound of guns firing and with helicopters overhead!     We walked along the hill top towards a path that led down into Easterton, where we waited for a bus to take us back to Devizes.   The bus was very late, as it had come from Bath, and at Christmas time,  Bath is so congested with traffic that it is a complete  "No Go Area."   The driver was not a happy man, being stuck in a traffic jam for hours is nobodys´  idea of fun!    We arrived back to Devizes at 1pm,  where J and B had lunch in "Wetherspoons" and S and I went our separate ways home for lunch  and an afternoon snooze.

Yet more puddles.  The weather here in the west country is atrocious, with constant rain falling on flooded fields and swollen rivers.   More heavy rain is forecast for Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and I feel so sorry the those households, that are being flooded for the third or fourth time this year.    Thank goodness I live three floors up in a block of flats.

"Blue Frog Flicking" in "The Silk Mercer."

"Kenavon Venture" left the Wharf again at 11am on Sunday morning on its 2nd Santa Cruise of the season  with 34 passengers on board.  The boat was off to collect Santa Claus from the London Road Bridge,  and bring him back to the wharf with his sack full of goodies for the children.   The  adults on board enjoyed mulled wine with a couple of mince pies each, and the children drank squash and nibbled biscuits.   A good time was had by all, so I'm told!   Today I ticked off committment no.10 from my list of "Christmas Things I have to Perform."   I belong to two handbell groups and sing in a choir, so come, Christmas the going gets a bit on the busy side.  We rang the bells at the U3A Art Appreciation's Christmas bash this morning, but I left early in order to get to "The Silk Mercer" for Christmas lunch no. 2.   Lunch no. 1 was last week at "The Castle" with the residents of Chantry Court.

This Wednesday evening Christmas dinner no. 3 will be consumed in "The Well" in Bulkington by the Potterne Handbell ringers, and with a bit of luck, this will be my last celebration of the year!   This Tuesday afternoon I ring the bells at Chantry Court, and then again for the last time in 2012, at a Christmas carol service in Potterne Church on Sunday 23rd December.     I shall be glad when it is all over for another year!

This little blue frog fell out of a cracker as we pulled them over our Christmas lunch at  "The Silk Mercer."   If you press the tab on his back,  you can make him jump into the air, and much fun was had by the adults at the table, as we tried to get him to jump into a beer glass.   We all had a go, and only Celia seemed to master the art of, "Blue Frog Flicking."  We had all been drinking, so our hand/eye coordination left much to be desired.  I for one, after  a pint of Thatcher's  "Autumn Gold" cider could not get the frog to leap into the glass!   Little things please little minds at Christmas over a pint!