Week 84 18/11/2015 - Copper and Rain Drops

Photo Blog Week 84 - Tue 17 & Wed 18 November 2015

I continue to have my wednesdays occupied with the walling team but I managed a couple of hours after a meeting in the Estate office to have a short, damp walk around Lyme this week which means that this post is more traditional and true to the Photo Blog.

I was quite shocked by how much I've missed in the last few weeks. Autumn has turned from sparkling colours to dull browns other than the copper colours of the Beech and the gorgeous pale gold whispers on the Larch. I haven't seen anything of the deer and the rut has passed me by.
 
Winter looks as if it is at last arriving in northern England. For those of you outside the UK, October and early November have been unseasonably warm at around 13C (55F) with Dahlias and Geraniums still standing as most of us haven't experienced a frost yet. The last few days storms Abagail and Barny have brought strong winds and torrential rains but with warm temperatures for the time of year and we as we are promised that the temperatures are going to drop below 0C this weekend and snow will fall in some areas.
Naming storms is new to the UK this year, we're waiting to find out what 'C' will bring but happy to wait a while.

Tue 17 November 2015

I didn't have my boots or waterproof trousers so this was a walk along routes I would be OK with trainers and not too far from the car park. A nice varied walk.

route: House North Face; Red Deer Sanctuary; Cater's Slack; Lantern Wood

Cage Hill - puddles in foreground and misty rain in the distance

Park Moor - a rich tan colour looking over the Nursery plot

Bank of cloud and rain hiding the Kinder plateau

Lyme has a completely new Orienteering course installed

Path along the bottom of Lantern Wood

Colour contrast between the green of Turfhouse Meadow and the Tan of the Moor

route: Lantern Wood; Turfhouse Meadow; Park Moor (lower path); Knightslow Wood

The pond in Turf House Meadow with the House and Gardens in background

The Lantern

I am delighted to see that the equipment has all ready been recovered following the end of the Distant Drumbeat installation. The Lantern open and back in business to be used by many over the winter months as a retreat from bitter weather.

The sheep in the meadow,

The cows in the corn....

Well, No,  actually these highland cattle are on Turfhouse Meadow

Close up, the Moor still has plenty of green

Fungi fest' : pale and delicate, reminds me of a clam shell

looking back toward Lantern Wood

route: Knightslow Wood; Moor wall path; cut corner toward Drinkwater Meadow gate but divert to Quarry before continuing ; Drinkwater Meadow

Looking out from the protection of Knightslow Wood, misty rain obscures the Moor

Copper curls on beech saplings with odd green leaves still present

(rain drops on camera lens)

damp autumn path along top of Knightslow wood

The old quarry in Knightslow always fills with copper beech leaves

The Ferns look particularly green contracted against the leaf covered woodland floor

Drinkwater Meadow - on a clearer day, Greater Manchester would be in the distance

Autumn shades in the trees in the Fallow Deer enclosure (but no deer)

Larch needles dropping to create a golden carpet (lens wet)

Fungi fest'

Fungi fest'

route: Drinkwater Meadow; Crow Wood (circle); Timberyard; Main Car Park; North Face

The House South Face dominates today's empty car park

Water-logged area near millpond has a desolate feel but saplings are growing

Nature's Artwork: this perfect over water perch was unoccupied today

Mill pond and trees at mixed levels of leaf drop

Crow Wood Playscape

deserted today - looks fun

This sums the weather up

Beech leaves - I love how Beech trees manage to hold onto green, yellow and gold at the same time

Rosebay Willowherb showing that summer is definitely gone

vivid yellow highlight in the wood

Nature's Artwork

Stepping stone logs look a bit slippery today, think I'll pass

Nicely rebuilt wall by the race. Plenty ov water passing today.

Fungi fest'

Fungi fest'

The Black Headed Gulls have there winter plumage. 

All that remains of the black cap is a grey spot behind the eye until next year.

Moorhen considering a dip (corrected from coot)

Wed 18 November 2015

Walling at Four Winds. Wet and windy though not cold. I actually built independently this week and managed to close off one course which is always tricky as the final stone has to fit both sides.

end

Track and Profile for Tuesday 17

  Total: 3.0 miles (4.84 km) 1 hr 20 min

duration includes stops for chats, inspections, photo's and snacks

This Time Last Year

 Have a look at This Time Last Year 

Week 45 19/11/2014 - Winter Coat time for Lyme Park

Week 44 12/11/2014 - Fungi, Helicopters and Anniversaries

Feedback Reminder:

I'd love it if you would give me a few minutes anonymous feedback Reader Survey (9 questions)

Week 83 04/11/2015 - Becoming a Waller?

Photo Blog Week 83 - Wed 14th October to 04 November 2015

Hello again! 

As I explained last time, my schedule of involvement at Lyme is in a state of change at the moment with my old Patrolling day, Wednesday, now being apprenticed to the Drystone Walling Team. I had hopes of running some Patrol Days in parallel but I am also assisting with some web administration work for the Estate Office which is eating time. It's a shame because I'm definitely suffering withdrawal and have now missed plodding through the autumn colours and watching the rut.

Photo Blog Future Posts

I realise that the blog's character has changed and that many of you visited for the photo's of Lyme through the seasons. I am aiming to get a blog post out every fortnight with hopefully at least one patrol inso please keep visiting.

2 More Weeks of Walling

This period covers three weeks but I jollied off to Scotland the middle week so just two sessions. The walling days are full and during breaks social so even if I wanted to amble off to take photo's it'd seem rude. A big difference from the Patrolling role is having company, many days in winter I could go my entire patrol without speaking a word to another human, maybe the odd deer , sheep or cow but their conversation is very limited.

Wednesday 21st October

Losing count slightly but about 4 weeks into walling and it is a wet misty morning.

The work site is at the edge of Drinkwater Meadow close to the Dipping Pond and is sloping and slippery. You have to be very careful for yourself and others lugging large lumps of stone around on ground like this.

View from site toward the Moor

A rare day for me at Lyme in that I wasn't looking up at the moors and woodland and thinking how nice it'd be to be up there because - I couldn't see them! I couldn't even see halfway across the Meadow.

Walling Tools

Wall in progress, well temporarily not in progress actually as it's time fro a brew and tools down.

This was the first day I was nominally 'building', I had a piece of wall to go at but it was so frustrating. People around appear to be progressing while I'm wandering around stone piles puzzled how anything could fit and when I placed a couple of stones the tops would be stepped which is no use for the next course.

I am seeing this as an extended learning process for a new challenging skill but I was still struggling to feel good about it. Today was very frustrating, a whole day and I suspect no more than one stone successfully built in. That said, the weather was no help. I have experienced all weathers in Lyme but patrolling you can get your waterproofs all closed up, hood up and plod on. Walling involves a lot of movement, twisting and bending so my coat ends up half fastened, I'm working alongside others so for safety my hood is down so that I can see sideways, my gloves are soaking, and all this while kneeling in wet mud and handling wet stone and tools.

A rare image of Delta-Ged

I've no idea what my hat is doing but the rest of the gear gives an impression of the working conditions today.

End of Day

Heading home at the end of a day I captured a few photos in a better frame showing that Lyme is still beautiful in all weathers.

North Face entrance to the House

The Cage fading into the sky

Beautiful colours alongside the main drive

Wednesday 4th November

After a week away I was back for more. I was allocated to the team re-building at Four Winds where I had been helping strip down a couple of weeks back.

Becoming a Waller?

This day actually felt good and the dearth of photo's is due to being productively involved all day.
I was with a team of more experienced wallers and had a clear run of wall to work on.
It was really interesting to see one of them having a bad day, he just couldn't find the stones and felt frustrated that he seemed to be getting nowhere. The conversation suggested that this happens to all from time to time. I made a mental note that I must remember this when I'm having a bad day.

I was lucky to be working alongside Bob who was incredibly supportive and really helped build my confidence today. Something as simple as chipping in that I was doing a good job when I was locking in packing material was a great boost to me. Bob and John opposite me hit that great teaching level of encouragement, offered tips, openness to questions (some dumb), and correction by suggestion of alternatives rather than pointing to error plus demonstration when needed.

Ranger Gary dropping off some more stone

Apparently, the stone we get, though still expensive, is almost scrap or reject material. Professional wallers would actually reject this stuff but would also pay a lot more. This was music to my ears as I look at these piles of stone thinking, "This is rubbish, how could anyone build a tidy wall with this." It also answers why hammers and chisels are so much in evidence on this site which are rarely seen in the hands of a Professional. So, when I think this stone is rubbish I can claim that I am telling myself the truth rather than finding excuses for failure. (that's my story anyway).

A Successful Day

To a casual observer it won't seem much but a lot of the 2 coarses on this side were found and placed by me today. I wouldn't have been impressed, and I'm sure you are not, but having done this for a few weeks now and appreciating the difficulty of finding, fitting and levelling each stone I am seriously impressed.

After Effects

The build stage here involved heavy stones 4-5" thick and the constant picking up and trying and then lifting, twisting, replacing and packing is really hard physical work. I am still very aware of building my strength cautiously to avoid injury. I wear an elastic back brace and try my best to lift correctly though it's difficult sometimes, especially on your knees in soft ground.
Over the following two days, my fingers ached, my stomach muscles hurt, I had friction burns behind my knees from knee pads straps, my knuckles were bruised and scraped, the skin at the edges of my fingernails was sore and my knees were crocked. Healthy lifestyle eh?

End of Day

Outside The Stables building before leaving for home.

Fungi fest' - in the grass by the building

Fungi fest' - on a tree stump through the fence at the side of the building

The House with autumn dropped horse chestnut leaves in foreground

end

This Time Last Year

 Have a look at This Time Last Year 

Week 43 05/11/2014 - Out of The Rut and Winter Closing

Week 42 22/10/2014 - Red Deer are in a Rut

Week 41 15/10/2014 - In a Rut as Autumn Colours Show

   

Feedback Reminder:

I'd love it if you would give me a few minutes anonymous feedback Reader Survey (9 questions)