Lincoln, UK - Castle and Cathedral

A couple of days ago, I took my Facebook friends to the Petwood Hotel, just outside of Woodhall Spa, UK.  Today we're going to Lincoln, where there is a castle and the well-known Lincoln Cathedral, founded in 1088 commissioned by William the Conqueror.  Enjoy the pictures!!  One qualifier though, although I can stitch and adjust color and contrast and crop, I don't know how to fill in or straighten as you will see, so it's not my best work .... yet!!!

First, this is Lincoln Castle which was also built for William the Conqueror (kinda like a northern headquarters) while he fought in the north of England, and has existed until present day as a prison and law court.  It also houses a museum.  It would appear that there is reconstruction at present.

 

 Walking around town the spires of Lincoln Cathedral are visible from most streets and indeed, from about 20 or more miles away as well.  As usual, I find myself getting more physical therapy, climbing up and down hills to access the wonderful sights!

 Lincoln Cathedral is also called St Mary's Cathedral, or the church of St Mary Magdalene of Lincoln.  It was almost destroyed by an earthquake in 1185.  After the earthquake, a new bishop was installed, St Hugh de Burgundy of Avalon, France and did most of the rebuilding.  He died in 1200.  Reconstruction continued and was pretty much done by 1235AD. The Central Tower was added and made the structure the tallest structure in the world until 1549 when the spire blew down and was never replaced.  This photo is taken from the same spot as the castle shot, just do an about face and you're at the entrance to the cathedral.

 

Check out the detail on the outside!!!  Imagine building that back around 1100-1200!!  I think it's incredibly beautiful with all the carvings... Just wait till you go inside!!!!

You can get the idea of it's size by the little lady in the red sweatshirt standing on the grass at the far front.)

These two show the beautiful ceilings (note they come to a bit of a point and not round).  The design was for the integrity of the roof, as there was a history of cave ins previously. And check out the columns.  On the left is the nave, where communion is served, and on the right is an aisle, and there's another just like it on the other side of the nave.  The beauty and intricate design is breath-taking!!!

What you can't appreciate looking down the aisle is the stained glass!!  It also is amazing, and the windows above are very artful as well.

As you can see below, this large stained glass window is above the heavy wooden door at the entrance.  The colors actually pop more than this.....

Also just outside of the entry to the cathedral grounds is the High Bridge, constructed in 1160, .... on the one side there is a bench (here with Pam and Marissa) ....

and right across from them is this shopping area built in the 1500s replacing a chapel from 1265 dedicated to Thomas Becket (for you history fans), making this the oldest bridge in England with a structure on it.  (Also notice the greenery on the roof.... there is moss or vines growing on EVERYTHING ... all that moisture you know!!)

I hope you enjoyed your tour of Lincoln.

Bumper Crop

I wish I was referring to my garden....  NOT!!!

 
Can you see all the grasshoppers above???

It's like a plague!!  They're EVERYWHERE!!  They fly all around you when you walk outside!  I always thought they hopped around on the ground, but they can climb or fly up into trees.  They were all over the house and on every surface.  The sidewalks and the porch floor are covered with grasshopper poop!!  You can sweep it off one day and within a couple days it's back!!













 They're ravenous!!! 

What's on the menu???  ANYTHING!!!!  They have eaten 80% of the leaves on the BIG trees in the yard!!!  Do they eat the whole leaf???  NO!!  They chew across them and drop the rest down to the ground, so they waste a lot!!!! 

Our first attempt at control was to let the chickens come into the back yard, since their chicken yard had few grasshoppers .... they ate them!  We let them in every other day.  They ate plenty, but it was a drop in the bucket because they couldn't get to the ones up in the trees.  So Mike, the insecticide expert, obtained some super duper insect killer and sprayed the front and back yard.  Good stuff!!!  There were 1000s, maybe 10s of 1000s of dead and dying grasshoppers at the base of the trees!  We could have filled a couple of bushel baskets!   The only bad consequence was that the chickens snuck into the back yard one day!!  When I noticed them, I chased them back into their yard.  (Have you ever tried to herd a bunch of chickens???  It's a challenge!!!)  Unfortunately, within a few days, I lost 2 red hens!!  I think they ate too many poisoned grasshoppers.

As for my 'organic' garden, I had to succumb to using Sevin in an effort to control the ones in the garden.  It was a choice I had to make..... to kill some of the grasshoppers with hopes of harvesting some melons, tomatoes and beans or NOT!!  So, was it worth it?  We had ONE ear of corn each from 2 rows of corn!!!  We had ONE stew with fresh string beans in it since they killed over half of my string bean plants!!!  We've been luckier with tomatoes and melons.  The cucumbers took a hit too, although I think the heat got to them.  No pickles this year.  And thanks to a late frost, no wild plum jelly!!!

How did the pioneers ever make it out here???

Time to blog.....

It's been 15 months since we last blogged on this site and it's time to catch up on some things and share more meaningful experiences than one can on Facebook.  I totally enjoy the pictures and friends on Facebook, but one has to keep it brief.  It's more superficial than blogging.  Using this mode is more like keeping a historical account. 

The calves in the last blog have grown up.  Because our bull is their dad, we couldn't keep them, though they were NICE calves!!!  So we've since traded with a friend and we have other heifers and the momma cows have had new calves that are now about 4 months old.  This time we have a little black (Brangus) bull and the white faced cow below had a brown-black little heifer ... both nice little calves.

I love the expression in the little bulls face!! 

We have a total of 8 bovines (1 bull, 2 cows, 3 heifers and 2 calves)

Including what you can't see, there are 3 horses and the donkey for equines!!!

That's the extent of our little ranch!!!

 

While I'm relating to 'western' stuff, y'all probably are aware of my renewed love of photography, most of which is from the local area.  I've rather found my niche in landscape and nature photography and am busy trying to learn to photoshop when needed (actually I have Paint Shop Pro X4) and make little inroads as I experiment.  Sometimes I get frustrated if I can't make something look as I saw it through my eyes.  Anyway, many of my pictures are displayed in our new Clinic and Wellness Center.  I will add a few of my favorites so you can get the flavor of our ranch and nearby sites:

A Nest of Kittens

Grain Elevators

Springtime Wild Flowers along the Roadside



Blue Bonnets along Lake Graham

Old Historic Grocery and Deli

'Patches'

Grazing Cattle among Flowering Weeds after a Storm

Texas Roadside Fauna

Textures after an Ice Storm

Sunrise

 Hope you enjoy!!!

More New Life!!!

Change takes time, but in the last 3 weeks or so, we've had an increase in our little herd!!!  Both of our cows have had beautiful little heifers!!  First #6 had her calf out in the field the same evening I heard coyotes yip-yipping.  Mike went out to see IF we had a new calf and sure enough he found Mama and new baby.  BUT he couldn't get them in from the field, so he went out the next morning, but then he couldn't find the calf. So the next morning he tried again.  With our little herd, we prayed the coyotes hadn't taken it!!  But that morning he had success and this was our new addition!!!  I have to say, "like mother, like baby"  --- Little #12 looks JUST LIKE her mom!!!

She's one spunky energetic healthy little girl!!!

Then 2 weeks later, White Face (#3) surprised us with her own little heifer!  We didn't expect her for another couple of weeks!!  Below is White Face with her first little calf - a little bull:

WOW!!  Our Mr. Bull (#1) is a Brangus and he's all BLACK!!  We surely didn't expect a camel colored calf.  So we were waiting with anticipation to see what her calf looked like this time!!!  Well, here she is:

We're deciding whether to call her "Bandit" or "Spot"!  She's #13!  Luckily she was born in the immediate area because Mike got tired of cutting Mr Bull out of the distant fence where he kept attempting to visit the large herd next door.  So now the little additions are all socialized with the other farm animals.  It's starting to look like a ranch again!!!  Even Sam gets in the act... after all, he IS a working cow dog!!!!

Life Returns

After so much devastation, life returns to the ranch!  We've had rain, and the grass is growing back so that we have 'spring grass' in the fall and winter!!  I thought it was particularly interesting to see the first small snow fall on the new grass.  In many areas the grass didn't make it, but the weeds are nice and green.  So we have work to do to get our pastures back in good shape (or I should say:  Rancher Mike has his work cut out for him!!!)

Refer back to the last entry to see the almost dried-up state of our 'stock tank'!  They don't call them 'ponds' in this here state!!!  We typically refer to it as The Tank.  One heavy rain and the tank was just about full. 

Worthy of note:  You probably see Sam (who accompanies me everywhere around the property), and the horse grazing in the background, but note also... there are ducks on the tank.  Maybe next spring we can restock it with bass and catfish! 

What's really cool is that I can now see the tank from the kitchen window.  What a great view of our property:

The horses are particularly aware of where the greenest grass is .... on the other side of the fence, of course!!!  And on cool mornings after their breakfast of sweet feed (grain with molasses) and a couple of flakes of hay (which we had to buy since we didn't have any to bale thanks to the drought!), it's time to lay in the sun and rest. 

And to complete our recovery from the drought, we're enlarging the back porch for our added enjoyment, where we'll be able to  enjoy the tank and the happenings in the chicken yard and the garden while we enjoy a meal or just a tall glass of iced tea!!You might notice the time of day is well displayed in the reflections in the windows.

  Another beautiful sunset! 

 Going to bed so we can start anew with a beautiful sunrise tomorrow!

It's not over yet!!!!!

DROUGHT:  I just read the following excerpt from an LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority) Bulletin:The 11 months from October 2010 through August 2011 have been the driest for that 11-month period in Texas since 1895, when the state began keeping rainfall records. This summer in Texas has been the hottest in the country’s history, according to the National Weather Service.

This is what we've experienced over the past 6 months!!!
This WAS our 'Stock Tank' when we moved here - we actually have two on the property, but this is the larger one which is stocked with bass and catfish and has NEVER gone dry!!

Here it is today - a big mud puddle!!!  I don't know how many fish have survived, but some have died, and they're now fair game for hawks and racoons and coyotes.

If it doesn't rain soon, there'll be nothing!!!  We've had a few showers in the past week, but the rain is just enough to wet the driveway.  The most we have had is a quarter of an inch, and that's like spitting in the tank!!!!!  The whole community is praying for rain!!! 

No rain, no grass, no hay to feed livestock for the winter!! This picture was last October 2nd followed by a picture taken just a few days ago:

Then there's our yard!!!!

The trees have taken a huge hit!!!  Last year the Crepe Myrtles along the sidewalk bloomed all summer!  I'm only seeing blooms right now and unless we get more rain, I'm afraid they'll drop and we won't get flowers.  We've been having to water them just to keep them alive, and as you can see, the shrubs at the base of the crepe myrtles aren't looking too good!!!. 

 The huge tree beside the house has lost lost of leaves and there used to be grass to mow at the base of the tree in front of the fence!!

 In the back yard, we've had to drip water the apple trees.  One looks OK, but the other isn't looking very good although I'm seeing some new leaves since we've watered.

The leaves on the ground are from the BIG tree in the back.  Even though they have deep roots, we've had to water it.  I'd hate to lose those big beautiful trees!!  Everything is brown except weeds and mesquites!!!

Aside from the drought, Mike was trying to reclaim some grazing land from the Mesquite trees, which are like "tree weeds" as in they constantly reseed and grow fast.   He hired a 'dozer to come in and remove most of the mesquite.  Unfortunately, I have looked through every picture album and don't have a decent before picture.  The closest is this picture of our first little calf kicking up her heels... if you can check out the background, you can get a sense of the overgrowth.

Now there are just SOME trees!!!