Riding out across the Sittles farm estate, I heard what sounded like Opera, drifting across fields from the north. Curiosity drew me into the Alrewas Arboretum where a grand Remembrance Sunday event was held. thousands of people were there, loads of ol’ vets and military big brass. They’d just had a ceremony ( my arrival was just after 11.00am). the event concluded with a flyby by a Douglas Dakota painted in army colours- see photo.
Arrow: is back on the road, after three months. The brakes are better than ever as is the handling (after adjusting the headset properly) . Had a decent ride despite being beaten back by the rain. It was warm and sunny otherwise.
Back to work tomorrow….
I don’t know how she’s done it, but Rosie has a Facebook profile. I hope she doesn’t post anything too rude on there, it’s meant for humans really.
64 miles today, see photo. Feeling much recovered, cold over & done with. Other cyclists said that loads of us are grumbling about lost weeks on the bike, all due to pathetic little viruses. I reckon that I’ve lost about 2,000 miles’ worth this year. Taking pictures while riding is a little tricky, a really good way to fall off probably. this camera doesn’t seem wide-angle enough though, it needs a 28mm equiv lens. Also, there is frustratingly little control over shutter speed so motion blur is not as much as ideal for this kind of shot.
Crows. We have a fiery autumn, not actual fires, just the colours of turning trees. Every decent sized tree seemed to be surrounded by large gangs of crows, all cawing.
Here’s a quaint story about a bear.
Unfortunately, Microsoft have broken live.spaces, upload pictures no longer works and pages take several times longer to open- this means I can’t make the
blog entry I wanted to today.
Below is a panoramic picture taken on the bridge where Sunday’s panorama was shot. Although MS have shrunk the picture to an extreme degree, it’s still just about possible to see the difference. Though the floods have gone, the smell of rotting straw in fields is strong under today’s sunlight.
try this page and Today’s
The River Tame has flooded: Oddly the R.Trent hasn’t. I suppose that the Tame sources in an area where the rain has been heavier.
Three times I was turned back by impassable roads while cycling today. It turned into a search for photo-opportunities instead. The river Trent was full but not overflowing, so travelling north was clear.
Below is a picture of a road that I use on most Sundays rides, I’ve never seen it like this. Five or more years ago, the Tame flooded up top the road’s edges, but didn’t actually spill over. The surface was like this for nearly a mile, so I didn’t attempt it on the bike. In practise, this all means that we can’t get to the east from here- the river cuts us off and all the crossings are blocked.
FFI:The R. Tame sources near Birmingham airport and rambles around Warwickshire before turning north. Since lots of streams join the river, then in practice, rivers have many sources and the designation of one starting point must surely be arbitrary.
Wormwood: is a plant, it turns out, one that leaves poison in the soil, hence the book title discussed yesterday. The book says that "Chornobyl" is the Ukrainian word for Wormwood. I will try to find out the British name for it. It’s of the Genus "Artimesia", Tarragon is a member of that group too. Absinthe Wormwood is used as an insect repellent, especially fleas!
Seems like a good book so far by the way.
Odd series of derelics along the north banks of the Trent near Burton. That would be interesting to get a bit closer – perhaps with a change of atmosphere.
Micycle 
