ivor

We seem to be being invaded by collared doves; which is nice… Yesterday, noticed a flock of around 20 descending on trees behind the old garages; and today, just had four perching on neighbours’ fence. Collared doves seem to have been scarce in this area over recent years, so hope this is a serious revival.

Had a visit from a Yorkshire Water bloke yesterday to test the water quality in our area, and learnt a few things. Our supply comes from Langsett, apparently, so not too far away. What surprised me was that areas quite close to here get their water from York! It seems that they are not allowed

Glorious sunshine, no clouds, no wind – today must be summer! A late decision to have lunch at the Ladybower Inn: meal, 2 pints Batemans light, lazing outside by the Snake Pass. Then back via Hathersage and up Dale Bottom to Stanage, Burbage, and Ringinglow.

An advert spotted by Andy after family lunch at Monsal Head. Where would women be without us men, eh?

Swallow perched on telegraph pole along Skew Hill, singing quite merrily. Yellowhammer singing away along Stanley Hill. I disturbed some largish bird, but not sure what! Seemed to have a greenish hue on the brief back view that I had, call unfamiliar to me. A mystery.

Looks like we’ve had another walk-through from a fox: left a pile of droppings on the back lawn overnight…

Don’t know what’s going on here: amazing number of bird visits to back and front these past few days. Mistle thrush (one or two) very regular, and squabbling with blackbirds. This morning, had great tit and chaffinch on front lawn: unheard of since we moved into this house.

Since the neighbours hacked down all their bushes and replaced them with a stalag fence last year, bird visitors to the gardens have been scarce. But these past few days have brought regular visits from a mistle thrush and a collared dove. Seen the occasional song thrush around in the past, but a long time

Having used Piwigo for my gallery for some time and found it pretty good, I now need to replace it as it’s not responsive. But finding an alternative that looks decent has proved to be a bit of a nightmare for various reasons. However, today I’ve come across Koken and that looks like what I

Getting rid of Joomla has very much improved the look and feel of the whole site. The Editorial template provided free by html5up has been easy to work with and provides the basis for a fully-responsive HTML5 site – along with it actually looking decent. Impressed.