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 Green and verdant view of Dancersend NR After a very busy weekend last weekend we are having a quiet one. The plan get up not too early have some breakfast (reading the paper?), a bit of a tinker with the blog, a short local walk, then see if we can catch the Queens Jubilee fly past over Halton, finally cook pasta for Helen’s parents, and watch the Chelsea v Munich match.
Things got off to a great start, Helen was up first and then as I came down stairs at about 08:00 she was walking in the door with the papers. I usually have toast and expresso for breakfast at the weekend, and save my home made muesli for weekdays. Today was not exception I finished off the Bonne Maman cherry jam I have been working my way through for some weeks.
 The record shot of the fly pass I have tweaked the blog a bit, by moving all the panoramas about as the menu they were on is getting a bit long. I also noticed that http://neilbaldwin.com was getting more Google juice than the blog, even though it is more or less just a holding page for a Drupal site. So I fixed it once and for all, it now redirects to the blog address at http://neilbaldwin.net so that will fix that small issue. I think as the blog is the site than changes the most will not keep the two domains separate, and if I do want a content sites then I will just create sub-domains for them which should keep things much simpler.
The fly past was due soon after 12:30 so we headed about of the house at about 10:30, and drove up to the BBOWT reserve at Dancersend which is in the hills sort of between Tring and Aston Clinton. It is between two valleys and can be a really nice place to just sit, relax and take everything in, as the hills shelter it from noise apart from the odd aircraft.
 The local squirrel There were plenty of birds singing when we got there, the usual suspects Tits and Chaffinch but also a couple of Warblers we thought most likely Blackcaps from the song. It was a bit early for orchids but there were a few early Butterfly Orchids just starting to bloom, and the usual Pyramid orchids could be identified by their black spotted leaves. We wandered around and Helen took control of the camera with the big lens and I scouted round from some bugs and plants to photo with the LX3. We heard some tawny owl calls in the distance.
WARNING RANT — As we entered the reserve from the “pond on the bend entrance” we noticed that there was a lot of dog shit on the path in, it was pretty obvious that one dog was regularly walked up the path and the owner could not be bothered to clear up after their dog or make sure the dog did it business away from the path. Helen described it as “playing dog shit hopscotch”. Helen and discussed putting up a “there is not such thing as a dog poo fairy poster” next time we go up there. — RANT OVER
At about 12:10 we headed back down to the village park to watch the fly past. Basically as part of the Queen’s Jubilee celebration today was the armed forces day to show off, and a fly past of about 60 aircraft had been arranged to fly over Windsor park and as is usual when these things happen many of the aircraft get routed to and from the event over RAF airfields. Halton being fairly close to London often gets a fly past, today was no exception.
 Max the cat from next door Down at the park there were other people who had obviously come to see the spectacle, as well as Helen’s uncle who turned up soon after we did. We did not have to wait long after 12:30 for the flypast, in all probably about 15-20 planes passed over. At first we thought we were at the wrong end of the air field as we say some jets pass over the other end in the distance, but they were followed by three groups of fight looking jets, blue in colour. I had the setting on my lens not quite appropriate for the shot so did not get any decent pictures but I have included the one you can see here, as you can tell the light was pretty crap and it was very hazy.
After it was obvious that the rest of the fly past was not coming we wished Helen’s uncle farewell and headed home for a light lunch. I spent the rest of the after noon tinkering with Bigshot VR which I have not given up on yet, but which I sill can’t get to the panorama thing. I can get it to display basic Deep Zoom format pictures, but that is about it. I also took some pictures of the wildlife in the garden.
Later on we will be preparing pasta and garlic bread to eat before the football. I’ll spare you the details and end the blog post here.
 Vegetable korma 4 portions Luton Airport Monday 07:50 it must be EZY181 to Belfast, and just because it has become a tradition here is a blog post.
The weekend was a real wash out, but we did manage to get some stuff done round the house.
We went to the pictures on Friday to see Salmon fishing in the Yemen, which was not a cinematic great but an excellent film with a great story line, well worth watching. On the way home we went to Tesco for the ingredients for a Korma curry paste.
On Saturday I was up early and gave the kitchen a quick wipe, then once helen was up I put up two roller blinds, one at top of stairs the other in the back bedroom. Two more windows and we will be 100% blinds.
Then it was off to Wendover for me to get a haircut and Helen some shopping therapy. Luckily for the bank balance there was no queue at the barbers so Helen’s spend time was kept to a minimum. It was still lashing down with rain.
Once home I got out my laptop with the aim of finding a way to present my panorama tours on the web. The method needed to have an HTML5 option as I want it to work on ipads and iphones. I found a project on google code called Bigshot http://code.google.com/p/bigshot/ it looked promising. It used the Microsoft deepzoom format, but also came with a wrapper that allowed the directory structure to be stored in a single file with a php script to serve the images out on demand. It was interesting to see such an approach.
Tried as I might I could not get the thing to work, my javascript knowledge is just not good enough, I did however learn a lot about debugging js using chrome and firefox, so the hours were not wasted. In the end I have reverted back to using the utility that comes with ptgui http://www.ptgui.com/which produces a set of images and page with html5 and flash options, it is also gyro scope aware which means you can move around with a device and the panorama moves with you. My plan is to develop a php script to display a panorama directory based on parameters passed to it. As for Bigshot I might have to revisit it someday.
Helen made the most of the day by putting the stuff in the garage that belonged in the dining room back where it belonged, and sorting out a couple of the kitchen draws that have become draws of small stuff we can’t be bothered to put away in the right place. Later in the after noon I made the curry paste, a massive two large Bonne Maman jam jars full. I got the recipe from Jamie Olivers website but used it as a guide. So in summary despite the continuous torrential rain we got quite a lot done.
We watched a film whilst eating home made Pizza, which this time we left to rise rolled out for a more puffed up base, it was called The Ides of March staring George Clooney. We were not very impressed, the story was a bit difficult to follow and I think you needed to have an interest in American politics.
On Sunday we had booked up for dawn chorus walk at Dancersend NR, but the organiser phoned up the Saturday evening and cancelled, the reason was weather and the slight risk of falling branches, but the main thing was that we would not really be able to hear anything with the appalling weather.
 Cholesbury church I dropped Helen and Gladys off at church then continued with the panorama project. The rest of the day was spent at home relaxing, and making tea for a couple of visitors. Abida (arriving with an excellent homemade banana cake)reported that there were trees down all over the place as she tried to get to Tring station but ended up at Berkhamsted.
Later I made a vegetable korma with the paste I made the night before. I used Cauliflower and baby aubergines as a base, and included green beans and peas at the end. It turned out really well which is good because of the amount of paste I now have! I made enough for 4 portions to be frozen.
 On the beach We woke up to a glorious but cold morning, with some regrets at having booked breakfast for 08:30, perhaps in future we should go for 08:30 on the Saturday and 09:00 on the Sunday? Break fast was up to the usual standard. We had the bill sorted by 10:00 and headed over to Minsmere for a short walk before heading back home.
All the sun was shinning there had been a deep frost and add to that the wind meant that it was quite bitter out. Accordingly we decided to keep the woods and avoid getting too near the sea or other exposed places. We headed out of the reserve to catch the footpath that leads to Dunwich Heath in the hope that the sun may have tempted the Dartford Warblers out. There was not much movement about and we did not hold much hope, but we did decide to give them one last go by standing still and scanning the heather. Helen could hear some calls and did once see a bird hovering but no concrete evidence. Just as I had decided in my mind that we were not going to see one, I saw a bird fly out from a heather plant. I quickly god my binoculars onto it. It was sat right on top of a low gorse, although distant the views were cracking as the sun was just in the right direction relative to our position.
By the time the bird disappear again (5 minutes later) we decided that a celebratory beverage was in order, and with NT Tea room within sight we soon had that sorted. Whilst there we did have a quick look from the sea watch room at the Red Throated divers. Suitably refreshed we headed down to Minsmere Helen and I set off home, and H&N went round to the South hides for a look before they set off.
 Snowdrops We went for the earliest breakfast 08:30, as tghe weather forecast suggested that the best weather would be at the start of the day. The delicious veggie fry up was up to the usual standard. We were ready to leave by 09:30, the plan was to dump a car at Blythburgh and the other at Dunwich Heath NT car park, then walk from Dunwich to the first dropped off car.
We had wrapped up quite well beacuse the weather man said it would be a cold wind, but were soon taking layers off. in the mixed wood towards the friary we cam across a flock of several Gold crests and at least 3 Treecreepers, quite an unusual count. We headed on towards Dunwich car park checking out the snow drops which were in bloom everywhere. H was fascinatedby them and stopped regulalry to look at the inner petals. Some were quite sparse and others had layers of smaller petals almost rose like inside the outer petals which is the part you usually see. We all agreed that the more simple ones were more attractive.
At Dunwich car park the chip hut was closed so we went Ship Inn for coffee and crisps. The firewas on so we removed more layers. We took over one end of the pub with all our gear, luckily there were few other people in the bar. Suitably refreshed we headed out towards wood that overlooks Dingle marsh then Warblerswick marsh. There are some lovely remote properties at the far end of the wood.
We crossed the marshes and then ended up at Warblerswick village near the shops. There was a hint of rain in the but luckily there were some sheltered seats where we could have lunch. The Heidi pies were up to the usual standard but my alliegance has now changed and now the cheese potatoe cream and garlic ones are my favorite. In case you were wondering the puiesare made by Pieminister www.pieminister.co.uk
On the beach Suitably refreshed again, we headed out of Warblerwick in the direction of Blythburgh, we were more out in the open on the heath and in addition the wind was against us. The path then headed into a Pine wood which was a welcome relief from the wind. Once almost back to where we dumped my car,we came across a great hide which looked over the estuary. We spotted Shelduck, Dunlin, Curlew, Redshank, and Golden Plover. we were in no rush to leave the hide as it had started to rain hard. We got out some snacks bars and chocolate and relaxed until the rain slowed a bit.
The final half a mile was miserable it was raining and cold, we were all jus intent on getting back tothe car and inti the warm. Despite the last stretch being cold and wet we had a great walk probably not far off 10 miles in distance.
 Mushrooms I’m not sure how many times we have now we have been to the Eelsfoot Inn at Eastbridge in Suffolk, but we love going there because the beer and food is great and we have yet to hear of or find more reasonable priced accomodation near great countryside. So here we go again off round the M25 and up the A12.
We headed off at a reasonable 10am and were soon on the M25, just to make a change we headed off up the M11 then swung a right on a road to Colchester. We had to stop at a service station to check out a tyre warning light but they were all in the correct range of pressures.
We got to RSPB Mismere at around 12:30 and headed for the cafe for a bite to eat. Turns out they are rebuilding it and the temporary cafe is very tight in comparison to the old one, old 6 tables. The work on the new one seen to be well progressed so we look forward to coming back to have a look round later this year, (August bank holiday?).
 Storm clouds over the reed beds After a bite to eat we headed off to do a tour of the reserve, the wrong way round! From south hide we saw Smew, Ringed Plover, Pintail. From the sluice Seal, Red throated diver. Whilst in the east hide N phoned to say his car was at the vets and they would be later than anticipated, so we would have to buy the Heidi pies for tomorrows walk.
It did not take long to get to Southwold, but we managed to add Curlew to the day list. The tide was out at Blythburgh waders could be seen in the distance. It was the end of the afternoon and parking in the main car park was easy. Helen’s mood was soon restored back to “happy go lucky” by hot chocolate and a toasted tea cake. The menu at Buchenham Coffee House (in a cellar of the high street near the bus stop) includes a whole section devoted to the “Hot Chocolate Collection”!
The Deli that sells the Heidi pies was also now selling a cheese and potato version which I opted for. Once pied up we headed round the Adnams kitchen shop where I purchased a finger guard for use with the mandolin. We then headed back to the car, the sunset over Warblerswick was stunning. We got to the Eelsfoot inn at about 17:40, I went to have a look for the barn owls with out luck before having a rest before we hit the bar at the inn
H&N arrived at 19:00, good food and beer followed swiftly afterwards, followed by a fairly early bedtime so we were suitably refreshed for a good long walk on Saturday.
 Panorama Weekend at my brothers. We headed off at 16:00 and had a good journey up the M1 and got there before 20:00.
On Saturday the weather was showers and grey skies, we pottered about the house, had some lunch then headed off to The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) to have a look at the latest exhibition. On the way there we stopped at Go Outdoors where a purchased a couple of tops to replace the one I lost walking to work.
The YSP was good as usual, I can’t remeber the artists name but heads of various sorts figured a lot, mapny of them made fro welded characters. There was one room with some very big gongs to bash, we felt like the man off the rank signature clip. The weather held out for the rest of the after noon. We had pizzas for tea.
Sunday weather was worse, we went for a swim then had lunch, follwed by a quick walk. Helen and I headed off at 16:30 and got back in good time despite the traffic. We saw a couple park their 4×4 on the two lane contraflow to let their kid have a pee!
We got back in time for a pint and something to eat at the pub that is set up in Buckland Village Hall every year on the may bank holiday. We sat with the Reverend and other church goers who had popped in after even-song.
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