Monday 8 July 2013

Taking some time for Gazen around :o)

Well, it's been a funny ol' month or so, what with one thing & another. Life certainly is interesting & throws some curve balls to keep us on our toes, but it keeps interferring with my blogging & if it continues to do so, I shall just have to resort to doing my ravin' nana !! :o) THEN it'll be sorry !! :o)
 
Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary & we are unable to go out because the district nurse is coming in. At the moment, they visit every other day & as it's far more important that they come & sort 'imself out, so we decided on a little trip to Sandwich this morning. Partly so I could take some photos for a friend in America, whose ancestors came from this neck of the woods & partly because I had a brain wave :o) Now, that doesn't happen very often, so it's best to take advantage before said brain wave crashes to the ground & disappears forever :o)
 
A hundred years ago, well, about 7, actually, I went to Sandwich with my best friend, Julie, on her birthday. We arrived in style in *Lady Blanche Worthington, her very old & very battered Land Rover & luckily, the border guards & the police were fooled !! We managed to cross the border unharmed & undetected !! :o)
 
Anyhoo, we drove around, looking for mischief, as we did before she was exciled to France & we happened upon a nature reserve called
 
 
As it was December, we decided against mooching around & put it off for another day. We never did go back, but this morning, my brain woke up & said GAZEN SALTS !!!
 
Quite why my brain decided it would be a suitable place to go with someone in a wheelchair is beyond me, but we managed part of it & here are some photos to prove it :o)
 
 We parked up & I got the wheelchair out the back, and we headed towards the sign that said *Nature Reserve*. It was on a slight wonk, so we weren't 100% certain we were heading in the right direction, but we were.
 
We thought we were actually in the reserve when we came across this tree, but no.
 
 
First, we had to walk along the side of the cricket pitch -
I just love this row of trees -  :o)
 
 
And then go between these trees & the HUMONGOUSLY large stinging nettle patch on the left :o) Gawd help the poor fielder who has to try to find the cricket ball when it goes astray !! :o)

We went through the gap between the trees & came across a gate on the right hand side & in we went to the nature reserve proper :o) As you can see, not the best terrain for a wheelchair, but I'm strong & determined :o)

 
 
Part way along, we came to the lake which was stuffed full of fish. Some of them could have fed a family of 10, I reckon, but there were *NO fishing allowed* signs. 


As soon as the ducks saw us, they made a bee line towards us, but they were out of luck. The duck food stand thing was empty & we didn't have any bread either.
 
 
In the distance there were some little black ducklings. If you click on the pic, it'll enlarge & if you zoom in, you can see their fluffy feathers :o)


This is all man made, but it looks so natural. It was so beautiful there, just watching the ducks & fish, listening to the birds singing. The sun was hot, but there was a lovely breeze rippling by every now & again.


I really don't know what plants or flowers are there, but it was full of green lushness.


 
 
The tree trunks were all different & various wild flowers - & weeds, I expect - grew all around.

 
 
 The sun seemed to reach out to us through the undergrowth as well as through the trees.


 
I loved the way this grass type plant just hung down. You can't see it in the photo, but between the last two hangy-downy-seed heads (?) there was the finest spider's web I've ever seen.  *Gossamer thread* springs to mind when I think of how delicate it was :o)


Another woodland path, leading us to who knows where ?
 
This is some sort of wild Iris - I have some in my garden, though I don't know how it got there because I know I didn't plant it & it only appeared about 3 years ago.
 
 
And finally, the path back out of the reserve.
 
We could have spent longer there, but as I said, it isn't really suitable for wheelchairs. Once we have the wheelchair accessible vehicle that can take the mobility scooter, we'll go back & will then be able to get around the whole reserve.
 
For more info on it, just click on the *GAZEN SALTS* link at the top. I think you'll find it interesting :o)
 
Now, back to my card making & knitting, both of which have been sadly ignored for a a while :o)
 

9 comments:

  1. I could almost imagine I was there with you. Perhaps somewhere to go when we next come down; if his lordship as his new WAV.

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    1. That's an idea :o) If it's still hot & summery, bring mozzy cream - normally I get eaten alive, but this time I was left alone & Shaun was bitten !! :o)

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  2. Happy Anniversary, what a lovely tour you gave us - thank you xx.

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    1. Thanks Jen. It was so peaceful there, I could have just sat down, closed my eyes & nodded off :o)

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  3. Glad you got out on Monday, Gazen Salts is lovely :) Last time I visited was quite a number of years ago with Joe. We saw lots of squirrels which was great - must go there again sometime!!
    Still not feeling very good at all here, half way through the antibiotics and they don't seem to be doing anything much, but I am not going back to work until I know I am ok! My phone is not working today either, seems Joe spilt tea on it last night - grrrrrrrr it is in a bowl of rice to see see if that will sort it out, otherwise it means a new phone - when I can get to a shop that is!!! xx

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    1. We didn't see any wildlife other than the ducks & mozzies, but we heard lots of birds singing away. It was so lovely & peaceful.

      Hope your phone's OK now & that you're also on the mend. If you still don't feel 100% by Wednesday, don't worry about coming over. Getting better is more important, OK ?? OK ???!!!

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    2. OK :) I am due to go back to work tomorrow but I am going to get an emergency Drs appt and see whaqt she says, I don't think I am in any fit state to go back to work still! I will of course let you know about Weds, the week after this we are all on holiday as we have Alice's graduation on the Thursday and Pete has ideas about days out etc. but I will talk to you before then. My phone is dead so I am using Alice's spare one for now, same number just trying to sort it out now. Love to you both xxxx

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    3. Can you text me when you get a minute please? I am on the same number atm but have lost all my contacts.....grrrrr ta xxxxxx

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  4. Great pics .......... looks a lovely place to wander through

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