Day dreaming on my bike

As my regular readers will know I have an e-bike (electric bike) that I try and ride at least once a week in the summer.  Now the weather is fine I cycle to Higham Piecemakers with my panniers on the side stuffed with what I shall need and think, virtuously, that I am taking up one less car parking space!  It has been helped by having my local 'Greenway' extended almost to the hall, so little cycling on a busy main road, but going home about 4.00pm there are always small groups of school children wandering home completely oblivious to what is going on around them, and when I ring my bell usually make some remark like 'Love the bike' in a sarcastic manner, to which I always reply 'So do I'.  I'll show 'em!!

Anyway after  a party yesterday I decided to get up early and go for a cycle ride this morning.  Well I didn't get up early as planned as my bed beckoned, but I did get out later in the morning and I pottered off.  The villages I passed through or by were having/or had had fêtes that are a very common thing at this time of the year.

Sign behind says 'Cluck Off'!!

Local people are trying to fight having a huge number of chicken sheds being built near their houses.  I don't blame them as the smell and flies + the lorries going in and out would be appalling.  The roads are narrow country lanes. quite suitable for biking but not lorries.

I thought how typical this is in the UK - every village trying to raise money for charity, their church, their church hall etc.  I passed the garden that was open and was quite tempted to stop because there were refreshments! 

Carrying on from my last post about Chester Farm and the awful weather we had, by the middle of week 2 things were improving and so they lifted all the pots from the ditch.

 These two photos show the very large pot, probably used for storage.  The pitting on the outside was deliberate as something (I can't remember what!) was laid on the outside before it was fired and the pitting was the result.  The egg tray is large about 12" square so gives some indication of the size and the pot was very heavy.

 Some very decorative pots above with an indication of size by my finger.  It is on occasions like this I wish I had more than one pair of hands!!

 The photo above is the rim of a vessel painted with this simple pattern and I was told it is 'Rushden ware' so locally made.

A collection of pottery pieces all washed and ready for bagging.  I get great pleasure handling these items that are about 2,000 years old and I am probably only the 2nd person to handle them since then - the 1st being the finder.

A Roman floor tile.

 A Roman coin ( one of many found on the site) though I cannot remember who this was.  Apologies for the blurring of the head.

And finally, a really rare find - Roman glass, from the neck of of a glass vessel.  Apparently, as now, broken glass was often re-cycled.

I decided to go on one of the tours that were arranged whilst the dig was going on and though I didn't learn anything new it was still interesting.

 Our archaeologist on the right with the newly renovated farmhouse in the background.

The dig going on in the Orchard, which as it was a Saturday were minus the students as it was the weekend.  The archaeologist's arm on the right pointing out burial sites and 20 more inhumations were found by the end of the third and final week.

Nothing to report on the craft side at the moment as I am trying to finish many different projects, whether crochet, sewing or knitting as I have so many different projects on the go and they MUST get finished.  However the sunny weather and the garden do beckon and I love being outside.