Life outside Ambridge
Eclipse over now meteor spotting!
Life outside Ambridge
G’day from down under!
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Life in Ambridge
So Lily is off to Australia, she might see this.
Life in Ambridge
Hopefully the police have cleared the bridle path
JaniceAugust 12, 2026 at 9:19 AM
ReplyDeleteI had a really nice day visiting Clovelly yesterday. Hadn't been there for years. Did the traditional bit of walking down the very steep cobbled lane to the harbour, and was amused by some of the cottage names. One was Rats House, and with a nice tortoiseshell cat curled up on the steps in front as if on guard.
Talking about water though we visited the Clovelly Court Victorian walled garden above the village, and I had a chat with a couple of the gardeners. They are only allowed to water the plants in the glasshouses ( because they are counted as a commercial business and supply veg and fruit four cafes and a shop) and their lovely outdoor plants and shrubs are having to survive as best they can, and they have some quite unusual varieties. I came away with some heritage tomato varieties, and learnt how with successional planting they can grow food all year round, and it made me realize how wellstocked glasshouses and sufficient gardeners could keep a large Victorian estate household in food. They were experimenting with packing sheep's wool around the base of the outdoor courgettes/squashes in the hope of retaining the moisture beneath, and also they think slugs are deterred by having to cross wool.
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JaniceAugust 12, 2026 at 9:25 AM
We were thinking of going to the nearby agricultural show today but may not now because both the cattle and sheep classes have been cancelled because of Bluetongue, and now the dog show has also been cancelled because the advisory vets think it is too hot for them. A shame as so much work goes into the planning and preparation.
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ReplyDeleteJaniceAugust 12, 2026 at 9:25 AM
We were thinking of going to the nearby agricultural show today but may not now because both the cattle and sheep classes have been cancelled because of Bluetongue, and now the dog show has also been cancelled because the advisory vets think it is too hot for them. A shame as so much work goes into the planning and preparation.
MiriamAugust 12, 2026 at 2:52 PM
I was chatting with niece No#3 last night who was thoroughly fed up. She ordered a pack of 4 eclipse glasses on Friday and paid an extortionate postage for next day delivery. She was buying for herself, hubbie + 6yrold daughter. Needless to say they hadn't arrived!
A message came through mid morning, they'd arrived.
I'm so pleased for her as she was so upset last night. So next day delivery became 5 days.
JaniceAugust 12, 2026 at 3:26 PM
ReplyDeleteI am very cluttered mainly because I think something might come in useful in the future, and I remembered where I had put our eclipse glasses from 2000 ( exactly on my 50th birthday so a special birthday). There they were on top the kitchen dresser, and with 26 years dust on top
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JaniceAugust 12, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Of the plastic bag they were in!
JaniceAugust 12, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Oops my cousin says it was 1999 on my 49th birthday!
Cheshire CheeseAugust 12, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Did anyone see the eclipse? We hadn't got any special glasses so Mr CC sent his drone up and we did the next best thing and whatched it on the drone camera.
We had a look last night for meteors but it was a bit hazy, we will look again tonight.
ReplyDeleteI remember the 1999 eclipse, my younger daughter was a couple of weeks old so day/night was all a bit blurred! I do remember it was very cloudy, so not that dramatic.
We all three watched tonight’s eclipse with appropriate eye protection which was a nice family thing, I’ll have to catch up with the Archers as I only listened to snippets.
Lady RAugust 12, 2026 at 7:37 PM
ReplyDeleteI was just so thrilled to be indoors and see the sun disappear- bliss 🫢 but it will be back tomorrow and with a vengeance, mind it was 34c today 😡 I don’t think I will get my Autumn the leaves in George’s village are scattered even now…..
The meteors are meant to be the best in the two hours before dawn, tomorrow morning If I'm awake at that time, then I'll go out + have a look.
ReplyDeleteI had a great view of the eclipse. The predicted coverage was meant to be 93% but it was definitely more than that as just a tiny sliver of sun remained. It was like 95%. I was lucky.
We had a good view of the eclipse up in the field, but although it went quiet and a bit darker it didn't go properly dark like it did in 1999.
ReplyDeleteNo, I didn’t see it, I sat in my garden armchair watching the blue sky peppered with fluffy cotton wool clouds instead.
ReplyDeleteI had to drive to Taunton yesterday for a hospital appointment and have been exhausted today, so had no energy to go up onto North Hill where it was expected crowds would be to see the eclipse.
It didn’t get very dark or particularly cold.
I remember the first eclipse I saw in the playground as a child with many buckets and bowls of water to watch the reflection in. I watched the last one in ‘99 on the grass area of the estate I lived in at the time.
I won’t be around for the next one.
But I am so very pleased that so many apparently young people were interested enough to watch this evening.
My father, an avid amateur astronomer would be very pleased.
Which reminds me, I must get my dad’s telescope back from my son-in-law law.
We've been out in the garden with a very clear sky and an incredible amount of stars watching the meteors, some with very long tails. Going to bed now but if as usual I wake to go to the loo later then I might look outside again if it is going to be more impressive nearer dawn.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised how many night flying planes were going overhead.
I had fully intended to take my pinhole paper to a nearby high field, but fell asleep in my comfy garden chair instead, woke up at 7.20...that was silly!
ReplyDeleteI was sitting out in the garden at 3.00am. The sky was clear with loads of bright sparkly stars (plus planes) but no meteors at all!
ReplyDeleteI gave up after 30mins.
To add Pusscat decided to come + curl up on my lap.
I've finally got my eye clinic appointment. Not bad only an 11months wait instead of the 6month one expected. It's the nurse led clinic not the Dr one it should be but that's fine because if there are any problems, I'll get an instant referral + appt. at Dr. one.
There is a festival going on locally which has a bit of a reputation for drugs. I can’’t help wondering how many there may not have followed the advice given. I have limited sympathy as the festival is a nuisance causing traffic jams & leaving a shedload of litter, the organisers do pay people to collect it but I don’t imagine as much recycling is done as could be.
ReplyDeleteAs others must be, I'm absolutely horrified of the ariel photos I've seen today of Stourbridge. Such total devastation of all those homes reduced to just shells with just walls left standing.
ReplyDeleteSome of the area is now taped off and is being treated as a crime scene.
Disposal BBQs are now banned, but why wasn't this done weeks ago + what about the sale of fireworks?
No meteors seen against last night. I'm thinking there're detour/diversion signs somewhere 😆
An extra. Unbelievably 19 homes were fully destroyed and another 15 damaged. 😪
DeleteI’m of the opinion that portable BBQs should not even be manufactured.
DeleteWhen living in my flat in London, at one time a South African house share above me had a BBQ on their balcony, ABOVE my conservatory.
I was appalled and very frightened.
Apart from the fire risk the stink close to others living quarters is disgusting.
I received the government heat alert on my phone warning about the risks of causing fores a few minutes ago.
DeleteIt reminded me of our last trip to Alderley Edge. We were returning to the car park through a field when I caught a glint out of the corner of my eye. It was a glass bottle, in full sunshine, on tinder dry grass. We took it home and put it in the recycling. People can be so thoughtless.
Causing fires!
DeleteI am glad there are people like you in the world CC. I have been fed up these last couple of days. A few years back my daughter rented out a glamping tent through the summer, but stopped doing it because the access to the field was via a busy lane. She had a dustbin there for rubbish, but someone must have chucked a bottle into the hedgerow where it would have stayed unseen until things dried up now and the sun must have caught it and half the field plus a wooden shed where she had a compost loo and stored things went up in smoke. Our local fire service were brilliant but - I'm sorry Mrs P because I know how you preserve water - it took a whole tanker of water to put it out, plus a smaller one damping down a strip of the neighbouring field to stop it spreading over the hedge. That is the last time anyone will ever camp in a field of mine. My son said I was not to get exasperated with my daughter because she would not have seen the bottle where it had been thrown.
DeleteAt least it didn't get down as far as 3 heritage apple trees I had planted by the other hedge, but a lovely sweet chestnut tree my brother had planted has had all its leaves burnt off and I don't know if it will survive. At least thankfully there weren't any sheep in the field. Myself and daughter and car are smelling and looking like sooty sweeps at present taking bits of burnt shed and melted metal and plastic up to the tip. We are desperate for some rain because the grass in all the fields is tinder dry, and some have public footpaths through them and people do drop rubbish.
DeleteA fire here in France was traced back to a cigarette butt dropped by a youngster.
DeleteTwo firemen died in the process of putting it out.
Channel 5 tonight The big drought of 1975 I missed about the first 15 mins but even so I have yet to see one overweight person it looks so strange I keep thinking there’s bound to be one at least in a minute but not yet - just totally unbelievable and so so strange..
ReplyDeleteWe've noticed that when watching concerts of bands in those days. Our environment has changed a lot since then especially with more of the ultra processed food we have around now that's low in fibre, calorie dense and designed to make you eat more of it.
DeleteI know very little about Jason Arday and was shocked by his untimely death.
ReplyDeleteUnusually I was going to post something light and humorous but it seems trivial now.
I felt so sad for him too Basia. I think newspapers blow things right out of proportion just to get more sales.
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