Fairly annoying song pulled out of the memory bank for today’s blog title. Had a beautiful cycle ride over the hills today and it even included a take away coffee and a piece of cake. Almost a forty mile ride. Lucky to live in a large county with a variety of vistas!

Hope you enjoyed yesterday’s quiz you might find there are other possible answers to some of groups of animals.

a) Skein-Geese  b) Shiver-Sharks c) Stench-Skunks (had to be didn’t it!) d) Worm-Robins e) Cast –Falcons (have also seen Merlins and Peregrines as the answer) f) Exultation –  Skylarks  g) Stand-Flamingoes  h) Prickle-Porcupines

Today’s Quiz is on Hills as I rode over some today!

a) Where are the Cheviot Hills?  b) Who wrote Blue Remembered Hills ? c) What is the highest hill in the Cotswolds? d) In which country would you find Spion Kop Hill? e) Who wrote the poem Fern Hill?

Finally I didn’t take any pictures today on my ride but thought we ought to have a bike themed picture so just found these pictures from our Coast to Coast ride from three years ago -some really dodgy characters-especially that one with a shower hat over his helmet!

A sad poignant day today as my cricket club said goodbye to one of our stalwarts Ken. Sadly because of circumstances we couldn’t go to his funeral so instead stood by the roadside and a group of us raised our cricket bats as the hearse went past.

On a happier note I watched more murmurations tonight-thousands of birds but they didn’t drop into the reed bed I expected! Also heard a Water Rail and saw a Marsh Harrier.

Today’s Quiz question -these are all collective nouns -can you say what animal they go with! Some you can get with a guess! Good luck!

a)   Skein    b)  Shiver   c)  Stench  d) Worm e) Cast f) Exultation  g) Stand h) Prickle 

Our book club’s choice for this month is the Simon Barnes book in the title above. As we are always on Zoom these days so for this Wednesday’s meeting  I am planning my background-it will either be full of bird pictures or my extensive Bird Book Collection! I have a good number of bird books because I usually get a guide for birds in the areas we go on holiday so my collection has grown (although we won’t be doing that for a while!) I am also going to have bird song playing in the background and probably have a couple of my bird puppets handy. Hope it makes my fellow bookies smile! Well it seems like everybody else plans their backgrounds!

We are lucky to live where we do because we have a good mix of habitats so there is always something to see. I am hoping to see if the Starling  Murmuration has grown tomorrow. I am hoping the Short Eared Owl reappears soon -I will of course mention it when I see one! On today’s walk we saw Meadow Pipits and a Volery of Wagtails (hope you are impressed by the collective noun!

Short blog today with yesterday’s cheese answers-you never know we might have another cheese one before lockdown is over! I will do another quiz tomorrow.

I was satisfied with the Mighty Hatters’ result today although at one stage I hoped for a win! Had a decent ride over the top today!

Yesterday’s answers

1. Jarlesberg comes from Norway.     2. I had Brie as the French King of the Cheeses although Roquefort is often called the King.   3. Feta is the Greek cheese  4. Ricotta means recooked   5. Normandy of course is where Camembert comes from.

Hello to Day 2 and I hope you are all well. Yesterday’s quiz answers at the end of the blog. If anyone wants to suggest a theme for future quizzes please let me know. There is even a quiz today as well at the end!

The weather has been wonderful over the last few days and we are making sure we use every opportunity to get outside. Today we pedalled into Stroud to buy cheese from the wonderful market stall-we do this every two weeks or so. I ought to ask them how many cheeses they sell -must be around 40-paradise for me! It was a delightful Autumnal  ride. Last couple of days I have been digging out compost from one of our bins and then sieving it onto the garden. Quite proud of my lovely compost not sure what that says about me!

Yesterday’s Moon answers

1. 12 Astronauts have walked on the Moon.  2. Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd was the album that did 741 weeks in the US charts   3.  240, 250 miles is the distance from the Moon to the earth  4. Keith Moon was the drummer in The Who   5. It is a Waning Moon

Today’s quiz should be fairly straightforward (I mentioned cheese earlier so here is an international cheese quiz)

1. What country does Jarlsberg come from?   2. Which soft French cheese is called the King of the Cheeses?  3. What soft and salty cheese associated with Greece is saturated in brine to stop it ripening?  4. The name of this Italian cheese means “recooked” and is made form whey rather than milk.   5. What province  in France does Camembert come from?

A few pictures of the Murmuration tonight at Splatt Bridge Frampton. The quiz as promised at the bottom.

Lockdown Quiz questions (next one might be Saturday) I mentioned the moon a few times in recent blogs so the quiz is on the moon!

1) How many astronauts have walked on the Moon?   2) Which album spent a record 741 weeks in the US album charts?  3)How far is the Moon on average from the Earth is it a) 240,250 miles  b) 186,000 miles  c) 5,280    4) Keith Moon played in which Rock band?   5) When the Moon goes from full to new it is said to be…………?

Finally I enjoyed watching the Mighty Hatters win after an indifferent first half!

What a cracking day today! I went for a long ride with my chums (we called it our pre-lockdown ride!) The trees looked wonderful in the sunshine and we could see a line of fog hanging over the River Severn first thing. I even managed to do some work in the garden when I got back. So feeling pleasantly tired  but ready to watch the football later-fingers crossed. So no work on Story Telling I do need to email some schools later this week.

Hoping we continue to have a good spell of weather so we can get out for our exercise in this next period of lockdown which is going to be important to us all.

Don’t forget the quizzes will be back during lockdown-already have an idea for tomorrow’s questions.

It probably might not mean much to some of you reading this but I had a call from a friend at the other end of the village to say he had the Yellow Browed Warbler  in his garden -but I’ve only ever seen two before! I did get a glimpse -hoping to catch a view again tomorrow.

The picture of the moon I have just taken and the Stonechat I took earlier.

Title sounds like something from Tolkien!!! However it is for the first time since last Winter that I have cycled in the dark. It is certainly different! A wonderful orange coloured moon accompanied me-if I get the chance and it is still that colour I may try and photograph it and maybe put it in the next blog.

In light of the depressing news  I am going to add quiz questions again once we hit lockdown. I will try again whenever I can to do a theme that comes to me through that day’s experience. If anyone wants to suggest a theme let me know.

Just managed to avoid the rain this morning on my ride but not the wind! Managed to battle the wind climbing Frocester Hill. Think with present circumstances and going into short Winter days getting out for exercise and fresh air is going to be really important.

Reading plenty at the moment and currently getting absorbed by The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman. it would be interesting to know if he envisaged where these stories are going when he started writing Northern Lights all those years ago.

We are seeing our Goldcrest regularly in the garden has been with us for three weeks now.

Football was depressing yesterday although the Hatters have a much stronger squad than last season it doesn’t help we have four full backs out injured.