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Post by Joyce on Nov 14, 2013 10:57:13 GMT
3 snaps taken on the '5 Oaks' footpath last Thurs [Nov 7th] Just getting to the top - standing under the first oak. Turn round - first oak and lovely view of village from up there, farthest away fields are ours. Allotments can just be made out right of centre.
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Post by 4wd on Nov 14, 2013 14:11:01 GMT
Looks remarkably green still. do you think those are regular English Oak, because there are other kinds that hang onto leaves into New Year.
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Post by Joyce on Nov 14, 2013 14:41:25 GMT
I hadn't considered that they were anything other than English Oaks when I got up to them, but part of my reason for walking there was to see if they were really 'oaks' at all. I've just never been on that piece of land before, despite living most of my life here ops It was returning here and reading a new book about the village, organised and written by incomers with input from oldies, with quite a few errors and assumptions that made me go and check! Their shape looked too perfect but I would guess they have been trimmed as they are a landmark for quite a few miles. A lone tree on the next hill, which I've frequently been up is a beech - it is quite bonsai-d sp? in appearance. It is still quite green around here in general though.
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Post by 4wd on Nov 14, 2013 16:49:23 GMT
The shape does look like our Quercus Rober(?) oak, there is a fair bit of variation as a rule and since they all seem quite equally green it did make me wonder if they all were one of the similar-but-different ones! There's one on the road between Pickering and Malton which looks 'normal' except it is usually still completely green well into December unless we get hard frost, then it retains brown leaves rather like a clipped beech hedge.
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Post by Joyce on Nov 14, 2013 23:56:09 GMT
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Post by 4wd on Nov 15, 2013 18:13:08 GMT
Some street scenes from Malton today. The church in the original Market Place. What is now a car park was until the early 20th century where cattle were sold in the open air. There's still a substantial stone post in the centre of the car park which used to be where bulls were tied up. The local limestone is not very durable for building as the surface tends to flake. Stones are regularly replaced in the tower as you can probably make out in this picture. The main part of the church is older than the tower and has numerous Norman features so about 900 years - and they probably rebuilt an earlier structure. Lovely autumn sun on the old buildings by the church. Note CCTV camera! Malton has something of a problem on weekends with revellers spilling out of the numerous (now trendy) bars along here. Malton's 'Shambles' Much smaller than the more well known York Shambles, a short street of 'micro shops' more like stalls, typically antiques, bric a brac and cobblers - interesting but you'd be lucky to find a real bargain here!
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Post by rgsp on Nov 16, 2013 13:39:42 GMT
A typical shot of the Sebright bantams, who like the back of the outdoor seat, just by the back door. They'll stay there even if you sit on the seat, or at least if Mrs RGSP or I sit on the seat, or the Black Beast of course, though not the cat, Quercus. Which reminds me, Quercus Robur comes in umpteen different sub-species, and some taxonomists regard Q.Petraea as a sub-species of Q.Robur. Of the oaks that tend to keep their leaves, Q.Cerris - the Turkey Oak, and Q.Lucombe - the Lucombe Oak are fairly common, but the shapes of the trees suggest Q.Robur to me rather than either of these. In our young wood, we have about 50 Q.Robur, plus a couple of Q.Cerris, and while the latter ARE still in leaf and green, so are about 20% of the others, with another 20% totally leafless, and the rest still in partial to full leaf anywhere between almost green to totally yellow, with a few dark brown.
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Post by Joyce on Nov 19, 2013 18:46:25 GMT
Took camera out about 3.30pm to capture some autumn colour as the sun was sinking. Here's a snap looking up to the first 4 of the 5 oaks where I was walking in the pics above. On the far right of this pic is the bonsai'd beech on the top of Grove Hill - 300 feet above sea level. The white gable is the bungalow built by my grandfather for his retirement, long since out of the family. His garden now has 2 [pos 3] houses built on it! Above that is the village church among the trees.
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Post by 4wd on Nov 26, 2013 19:20:48 GMT
One of the compensations of having to go to Whitby is that on a fine wintry day it is a joy to behold, especially approaching from the NW by the coast road. There used to be a coastal railway along here and it must have been breathtaking to round the bend at Sandsend to see this. On the way back I paused at Scaling Dam which despite passing it 100s of times I almost never do. There were a lot of ducks and stuff. I didn't realise but some serious bird-watchers were crammed in a little hut with telescopes and binoculars. I don't think they were alll that pleased when I walked down and a lot of the birds flew to the other side It is a public carpark though so Anyway I've seen plenty of Canada Geese thankyou.
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Post by 4wd on Dec 8, 2013 18:21:27 GMT
The rather tricky Ford at Douthwaite Dale. I thought it too risky to go through as the water running over the weir scours a deep hole and the surface below is very rough and rubbley. It's a pretty spot even in depths of Winter. Just before the sun went down the sky cleared just enough to allow a burst of golden light at Fairy Call Bridge. I was surprised the wheat bales were still out at this field and two others at Lingmoor.
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Post by Joyce on Dec 8, 2013 22:38:58 GMT
My morning walk Young trees, crab apples, rowan and flowering cherry alongside the playing fields, making The Jubilee Walk. There's a couple of oldish apple trees at the far end too. About to go down some steps onto lane - restored pinfold in front Turning round, pinfold in the centre and the 2 rat runs either side at rush hours Looking west-ish across to main village street. Our silver birches on the skyline
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Post by rgsp on Dec 23, 2013 13:44:22 GMT
This is Mrs RGSP's new orchid for Christmas, an Oncidium - all £7.99 worth of it. It's about 3' tall if that isn't obvious from the picture. I may be a cheap-jack, but these things really are fantastic value for money! You might think the theme is getting boring, but this orchid is a phalaenopsis, bought in July for Mrs RGSP's birthday, and it hasn't yet dropped any flowers, 5 months later. There are two phalaenopsis in this shot: the one on the left is endearingly known as a "cow-orchid" from its colouring. Both of these are older plants bought at least a year ago and back in flower. They rarely flower quite as well as they did when bought from the experts, but they're not bad all the same. Most of the plants visible in this shot are Cymbidiums, with the exception of the broad leaved one, which is a sweet lemon. Cymbidiums don't mind being a bit cooler, and so are kept in the room we only use in the evenings, and which probably gets below 10C occasionally at this time of year. These don't re-flower as well as the others, and that may be because Mrs RGSP has re-potted them in proper orchid compost etc. which was being too kind to them: they flower if they think they might die! In the same room is a Schlumbergera (Christmas Cactus) which is a good 30 years old, and flowers reliably every year. And also in the same room, but on the north side and not in a very light position, is this thing. My mother gave it to us at least 25 years ago, claiming that it was a "night Cereus". It IS a night flowering cactus, and the flowers are huge and short lived (the photo just shows a couple of buds). If someone can identify it conclusively, then thanks.
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Post by 4wd on Dec 23, 2013 13:56:20 GMT
Our Christmas cactus is a week or two behind so will be a New Year cactus. It should have been brought into a warmer area sooner! The main thing is if you want to do that don't move them once the buds have any size as they can fall off unopened due to differences in light direction etc. They seem to live for decades, ours was a large plant like your pic when we got it from Gran's after she died - in 1968! The main part has died back once or twice but new shoots came up from the side.
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Post by rgsp on Dec 23, 2013 14:07:51 GMT
Our Christmas cactus is a week or two behind so will be a New Year cactus. :D It should have been brought into a warmer area sooner! The main thing is if you want to do that don't move them once the buds have any size as they can fall off unopened due to differences in light direction etc. They seem to live for decades, ours was a large plant like your pic when we got it from Gran's after she died - in 1968! The main part has died back once or twice but new shoots came up from the side. Ours flowers at almost any time between about November and Easter, and sometimes has a few flowers all the way through. It lives there on a brick ledge built as part of the (in-use with a woodburner) inglenook, and never gets turned let alone moved - which is pretty well what you said.
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Post by 4wd on Dec 25, 2013 18:15:38 GMT
An hour out with camera Xmas afternoon Farndale cottage Lower Farndale Rosedale sheep hanging around to be fed
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