The title refers to the Test Match Down Under. What an amazing day (well night for us)! 19 wickets in a day- will it last much more than two days. I couldn’t believe the score when I woke up- I managed to watch most of the Australian innings – great bowling from England’s pace attack.

You may ask where has Bill been? Well it has been action packed! I cycled to Gloucester on Tuesday morning to do another Winter Bird Square. Saw well over thirty  Long-tailed Tits (picture below not mine), sadly part of the square was limited because of flooding but I managed to see 19 species.

Wednesday was my regular bird watching session with young people from Gosport at Wick Court. One group were delighted to see two Curlews flying over (don’t see that many on this side of the Severn’s Horseshoe Bend. I was story telling for them last night- I told a Russian Folk Tale (a trick story) which went down well.

Friday was an awful day weather wise and it rained persistently for 24 hours. We managed to get to Bristol for Gloucestershire Seniors Cricket Dinner. An excellent evening!

Sadly Saturday’s football was a cure for insomnia it was so boring. The pictures below are from  the week before at Stockport. See if you can pick me out for some reason I’m not smiling.

Currently we are away enjoying the company of our granddaughter (and her parents).

Wednesday was my regular day at Wick Court taking young people bird watching. My goodness didn’t we get wet! The children were great no moans at all despite the heavy persistent rain!!! We managed to see 20 species which surprised me. back tonight for story telling with them.

It was our book club last night back in our spiritual home The Three Horseshoes which reopened last month after being closed for nearly two years. A great discussion on a provocative book The Safekeep – parts of it were a challenge! Our annual Christmas entertainment will be back at the Shoes on December 10th – all welcome! (more details in a future blog).

It is that time of the year for us! Every November and February we are allocated two different  kilometre squares on the Ordnance Survey Map to record all the birds we see. We really enjoy doing this because we are always sent to places we wouldn’t normally consider to bird watch. We did our first November square in Upton St. Leonards this morning. We saw more than twenty species and we had good views of a  grey wagtail and a goldcrest. I managed a picture of the wagtail see below as well as a perky coal tit on our crap apple tree at home.

We had a delightful lunch with two old friends yesterday (David reads this blog).

Had a super day out yesterday in the North! Great pub before the game. What happened afterwards was a pleasant surprise. The Mighty Hatters brushed aside the league leaders also nicknamed the Hatters with a good all round team performance. Is this the start of a recovery?

We enjoyed seeing Michael Morpurgo and Jamila Gavin this morning at the Stroud Book Festival. They were talking about their books that had war themes as it was Armistice Sunday. Both read extracts from their books which were poignant.

The Two Severn Bores performed our new show for the second time on Wednesday this time for Slimbridge WI. It was a lovely atmospheric setting. We had a fire behind us and it was mild enough for our audience to sit outside. Dan and I were delighted with how well it went and we had some lovely feedback. We are aiming to do some recording in an effort to promote us to wider audiences. So watch this space for details!

I did my usual volunteering at Wick Court with young people from The Charles Dickens School in London. They certainly enjoyed the bird watching and they were entranced by the story telling last night.

Last night Clare and I went to see Roger McGough at Stroud Book Festival- it is a long time since I last saw him perform. He was excellent and impressive for a man of his age. He read the eulogy he did for Brian Pattern’s funeral – it was very moving. We are seeing Michael Morpurgo and Jamila Gavin on Sunday.

Finally tomorrow I am off to Stockport to watch the Mighty Hatters – not that confident but looking forward to a good day which will include the odd hostelry with friends before the game!

Sadly on my cycle on Monday I got a puncture towards the end and guess who forgot his pump!!!! I managed to nurse my way to the Gloucester-Sharpness Canal and then walked home. When I went to repair it I found the tyre was starting to disintegrate (it was a fairly new tyre as well!) Punctures happen but are really annoying and inconvenient! New tyre now fitted.

Today I travelled down to the County Ground in Bristol for a photo shoot with the Gloucestershire Seniors who are going to India again in February. You will be amazed how long it took-herding cats comes to mind.

I have been learning my stories again for the Two Severn Bores Gig tomorrow- Bonfire Night! It will be a cracker and I’m sure we will sparkle (groan).

Thursday was our monthly bird survey out on the river. Great to see 174 avocets – I used to be delighted to see one in the past! We also saw plenty of small birds in the hedgerows. Later I had a lovely story telling at Wick Court with my old friends from Syston in Leicestershire. 

The Two Severn Bores are performing again on Wednesday- it will be the second performance of our new show.

It was very nearly a horror show on Halloween for the Mighty Hatters in the FA Cup. Comfortable for just over 60 + minutes when the team imploded and nearly lost- scraping home at the end. I am hoping for a big improvement on Saturday when I watch them at Stockport. 

It has been a busy first part of the week. On Monday I had a lovely walk with a friend from my last school- she was treating me to lunch at Stroud Brewery.

Yesterday Clare and I cycled to the pub to celebrate my 21st birthday (!!!!) Great ride and we were impressed by the food. Later we went to Cheltenham Film Society as celebration of their 80th birthday. The film was the 1922 silent film Nosferatu (a gothic horror) and it was accompanied by four brilliant musicians. It was an excellent night!

Had a soggy day at Wick Court today bird watching with young people from Leicestershire. Highlight was a goldcrest and nuthatch. Some great questions that stretched me!

Smiling at last at the weekend! Had a delightful day with my two grandsons yesterday running up and down Cleeve Hill. Both boys were keen for Gramps to tell them stories! A picture of them running away from me below!

I was certainly relieved that the Mighty Hatters at last won a game yesterday! Is this the start of a recovery?