Thursday 13 - What I've seen

Thirteen Things I saw on the way to workIt was a beautiful bright crisp morning on the Somerset Levels today as I wended my way to work, so i thought I'd share with you some of the things I saw on the way...(apologies if the formatting is mucked up - I cant et it to work! There is one picture per number, so follow it through!) 1. Plenty of these: Somerset is motly below sea level, so each road & field is lined by a drainage ditch. Today they were reflecting a beautiful blue sky & sparkling in the winter sun, just showing a few ripples to prove they were running fast and clear. Some of our ground is so often flooded tht the roads float & rise & fall as required. 2. And standing in the sun, on a stump of wood, watching the fast flowing water I was stunned to see one of these: Grey heron's are pretty rare, and this one was standing in the most perfect light - I wish I'd stopped & taken a photo, except I didn't have a camera & the car would've frightened it away. 3. Just the one of these: Windmills are not that common - espcially these old fashioned ones. Britain, and certainly Somerset is more suited to waterwheels:-) But the levels ARE flat, so there is plenty of wind! This one sits right beside the road on my way to work, and makes me smile each day.> 4. Hundreds of these: Most of the land I pass through is used for diary farming. Back when I first came here, you could buy fresh milk from each farm, but now it's illegal to sell unpasturised milk, it all comes from the supermarket - often from 100's miles away. The taste of fresh milk is NOTHING like the cold stuff you get from the shops. i think it's a great loss:-( 5. And a fair few of these: A good few years ago the farmers discovered that it was both easier and more profitable to flog their land to rich idiots from the city than to farm it. Most of the houses in Somerset are second homes:-( However, rich idiots from the city often discovered that the patch of land they'd paid £millions for in the hope of building their dream house was actually a patch of peat bog, in the green belt, with no utilities or even access! Most of them went back to work in the city so they could afford to buy their daughter a pony, which is gleefully & expensively looked after by the wily farmers. 6. I also knocked a whole bunch of these off a tree: Conker season is pretty much over now, but when a big 8 seat Delica tries to squeeze past a tractor on a little country lane, enough drop off the tree at the side of the road to make a loud noise on the roof:-) 7. I always like the fact that I see these on my travels: All of the non-main roads in Somerset have kept their old road signs. They had to apply for special permission. OK, they're not as easy to see as the big green things, but they are so much prettier, and less intrusive. And tbh, if you don't know where you're going and you see these, you're on the wrong road. get back onto the main road and stop pissing me off by driving at 20mph in a 60 limit! 8. Plus of course, a never ending supply of these: Autumn is well and truely here now, with the leaves truning on all the trees as i drive along, showing every hue & shade. There was a particularly stunning plant in a number of gardens that had turned a stunning crimson. beautiful! 9. Of course, Somerset wouldn't be Somerset without these dotted all over the place: One of the great things about the UK is the fact that you can tell where you are within just a few miles by the type of stone the building use. These grey brick built farmhouses are typically Somerset 10. A sign nailed up outside a farm, offering "100% natural Meat, eggs, Veg" I'm terribly confused as to what an "unnatural" egg would be: ;-) 11. a very fat one of these: Standing right next to another sign offering ducks eggs for sale. 12. I may have mentioned this already but the one of these i saw certanly made me wake up and take notice: 13. Finally, one of these: Just as I was almost at work, i saw a kestrel hovering above me, then watched as it swooped down for the hapless rodent. Fantastic!

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