An action packed morning! We said goodbye to the delightful Owen this morning and the house seems a quieter and  emptier place now. We had to take to his parents in   Cirencester and then I had to rush to Story Tell at Wick Court.

We had hoped to see the Turtle Dove that has turned up in Epney and only the seventh recorded Caspian Tern in Gloucestershire. Sadly we missed both but had lunch by the river. I may pedal early morning to see if they turn up..

Thought the classic Manfred Mann song will do for tonight’s blog title! We have gone solo today for the first time as grandparents with our Grandson Owen. His parents have gone to a wedding so we have had him all day and are keeping him until tomorrow morning. So we visited Slimbridge WWT and Owen was entranced by the birds especially the Flamingos – we have been indoctrinating him for a while now so he can say a few bird names -his favourite is Cuckoo!  Pictures below of our Swan encounter and the Flamingo he studied for a while! Looking forward to taking him on more Grandparent outings!

Nearly melted taking the young people from the Battersea area bird watching yesterday. I am Story Telling for them tomorrow morning after Owen leaves!

Title today is from Spinal Tap (if you don’t know Spinal Tap look them up!) It refers to my bike ride with my friend Martin and we stopped at the Wild Carrot Cafe near Tetbury. Cake was divine and also a brilliant shop selling nesting boxes and general bird stuff. I may go back to buy some swift boxes at some time in the future (they need as much help as possible).

One positive is my book Pig The Legend has now raised about £800 for Alzheimer’s Society. Pleased with some of my Story Telling and recent sales from my first book sold to raise funds for Farms For City Children I  have managed to raise over £1200 in the last nine months or so.

Picture below of one of our visitors today! Like the way it is looking quizzical towards the camera.

Another scorcher today with more to come. I managed a ride this morning and needed plenty of water! This afternoon melted at Tewkesbury Nature Reserve where I met Robyn the Learning and Outreach Officer to walk round and plan a project for August. It was hot!

The title could be describing me on my bike a couple of twenty mile rides recently and it certainly is hot! I was really referring to my effort to steal two runs while batting at cricket to a young and fit cricketer. I lost the race! Good to play with much younger players and I was impressed by the standard of fielding by my team mate.

I mentioned cycling and at this time of year we are avid viewers of the Tour de France. It is a fascinating race and the endurance of the riders is impressive.

Tomorrow I have a meeting in Tewkesbury about a summer project.

Told an old favourite tonight at Wick Court an old Russian Trick Tale. Over a number of tellings I have added many extra parts and I play around with stereotypes. I do get fond of certain stories!

Took another two groups of young people from Vauxhall Bird Watching today at Wick Court (playing catch up from yesterday!) A highlight was two Oystercatchers flying up the river a first sighting for us at Wick Court. Surprisingly we have one turning up regularly on our cricket field throughout this last week.

Finally I have been asked to play cricket for my club on Saturday – a young man’s game!

Have to mention the cricket. What a wonderful Test Match and unbelievable run chase. It has been breathtaking to watch. I am at the Oval in September for another day at the Test. I also thoroughly enjoyed my cricket where we had a comprehensive victory against the league leaders Oxfordshire.

Only did a partial session at Wick Court bird watching today because we had a royal visitor which disrupts everything so I am going back tomorrow morning. Will shoot back to Story Tell in the evening.

Well a lot has been happening in the last few days so I have little time to write anything.

Friday was spent being “Gramps” down in Exeter with my delightful granddaughter Ellen. It is certainly tiring travelling down for the day and then being an active grandparent! We try and visit both our grandchildren regularly.

Saturday I was at the Test Match sadly most of the time was spent dodging the showers. However, I did see the most expensive over in Test Match!

Yesterday I was Story Telling at the National Trust’s Coleshill Estate for what was really a mini festival. Picture below.

Today I cycled to Stroud Valley Primary School to do a Story Workshop/ Book Promotion. Stroud Valley was the first school I worked in although now it is on a different site.

Finally watched our Peter run the Frampton 10K tonight he posted his best time for a 10K. Picture of him below.

This morning doing the monthly bird survey out by the River we counted 102 Avocets!! Every now and then they flew up and looked wonderful in the morning sun! The picture above doesn’t really do justice to the spectacle. Also 16 Oystercatchers, 88 Shelducks with assorted Gulls, Curlews and Godwits. I think it is probably the most Avocets I’ve seen together, the recovery of this iconic bird is a good news story! We also saw quite a few Whitethroats (picture below) and Lesser Whitethroats. Yesterday with the young people from Orpington  at Wick Court we saw 24 species including the first Greenfinch we have seen in a few years there.

You will have noticed I haven’t written that much recently because I have been so busy. We were a very poor second on Tuesday away to Worcestershire I blame the captain who lost the toss!

Last night a group of us went down to Bristol to see the legendary Judy Collins perform. One of the incentives to travel down because Dan Everett (the musical half of The Two Severn Bores) was part of the supporting act. Dan and I are currently collaborating on a a new show for the Autumn. Judy Collins was brilliant and her voice was still superb and she was a real presence on stage. I found I was quite emotional listening to her wide repertoire of songs.

Sadly missed a meeting about the summer today as I struggled to get the car going. An embarrassing moment as it was working fine later.

I have spent time preparing stories for the weekend and managed to watch the cricket. It has been wonderful watching England play Test Cricket this summer you have to pinch yourself when watching! I am off to Edgbaston on Saturday to watch the India Test.

I am playing against Worcestershire tomorrow and once again I have lost players at the last minute.

Took my frustration after my hiccups out later with a cycle ride over the tops later.