How time flies

It is three weeks since I last posted here and only because I didn't think that I was doing anything very interesting and I do not want to bore you!

The weather over the last week or so has been hot, hot, hot which I love, so last weekend's activity with the 50+ Adventure Club took place in the sun.  During our canal boat trip in 2016 I had seen some hydrobikes disappearing in to the distance and I decided that this would be an excellent activity for us and so it proved to be

Off go two of the girls

Just pedal and steer in a gentle curve as the handlebars act as the rudder.  Back peddle to stop or go backwards and that is all there is to it.  They also had tandems (two bikes side by side on three floats) and this tricycle.

I loved the look of this so two of us went out sitting on a very comfortable seat and having a gentle pedal down the River Soar.  It reminded me of a very large pedalo but the steering was quite hard.

A grand day out.

There has been a great deal of bird activity in my garden and I have a flock of sparrows that have had lots of babies and completely emptied my bird feeder in about 8 hours!!  However I have been cultivating this pair of goldfinches

 so imagine my delight when I saw them with this young one fluttering it's wings and asking to be fed.  However this baby had a sibling who spent a long time feeding shortly after the parents and brother/sister flew off.

As you can see it doesn't have the red head like the parents.  That was two weeks ago and Mum or Dad are now back singly so maybe there is another batch of eggs waiting to hatch.

We went out Nordic walking on Monday morning at Stanwick Lakes, with clear blue skies and the temperature rising.  I got very hot and bothered and when it was suggested that we went on a loop, I declined and said I would meet them at the end of the loop.  Whilst waiting I took this photo of the island in the middle of the lake.  There were seagulls everywhere and this fellow -

a panting cormorant, dwarfing the seagulls.

As the weather has cooled slightly towards the end of the week, I decided to go to Land Conservation at Chester Farm.  The men in the group were replacing fence posts but this was too strenuous for me so clearing nettles seemed a gentle pastime.....

Before

mmmm  ...it was hot, sticky and back breaking but I went down the hill and round the corner

After

and wonderful little orange butterflies (possibly the Comma butterfly) were flying up as I hacked away.  I only kept going thinking that this exercise must be good for me!!!  I spent the afternoon litter picking; a much more relaxed activity.

This spring I bought two Alliums in pots and though my other Alliums are now over and in seed these two have flowered this week and look fantastic.

One bee!  I thought there might be more.

I love them.

I have been keeping up with various projects.  I have made hospital gowns for Pyjama Fairies

had a smocking class and have nearly completed a smocked Christmas bauble

Final row of stitching

and I want to try smocking on adult clothing, having made lots of little dresses for my granddaughters.

Finally our Mini Mania for June is using strips; a minimum of 4 in 4 blocks using 1½" or 2" strips.  Here is a crafty peek

Where are the strips?