We
had a really dry 2006, hosepipe bans, brown lawns, dead
flowers and the like. By comparison this year started
wetter. In fact very much wetter. In fact so much wetter
that the small stream that runs alongside the trees
in this picture had filled most of the adjoining field.
This is at Stonesfield, where we went with with our
friends who live in nearby Charlbury. We had thoughtfully
taken the boys' wellies, so they had great fun running
in and out of the water and clambering over the fallen
logs, teasing Tiggie, our friends' dog.
One
of the reasons our friends had taken us to this spot
was that fossils of a Megalosaurus
(a Jurassic dinosaur) had been found there by William
Buckland, and James was interested to read about
it after we'd done the walk. The site is conserved
by the Oxfordshire
Geology Trust.
Matthew
and Francis seemed more interested in continuing their
exploration of the nearby puddle than details of the
fossils.
Bridget
continued her Thames Path walk in March, covering the
section from Radcote to Castle
Eaton. As the walk has progressed the start and
end points have been getting further and further away
from home, making the travel logistics increasingly
complex. So for this walk we found nearby Roves
Farm , meaning Malcolm and the boys had plenty to
do whilst Bridget did the walk.
Roves
Farm itself is a working farm but clearly the animals
are mainly there for the visitors. There were several
lambs who were bing bottle fed every few hours, and
all the children lined up to help. Chickens and turkeys
wandered around loose in the barn, and there was a very
sweet highland cow who liked having her head scratched.
Conditions
were perfect for the total lunar eclipse on March 3rd.
The only thing that was not perfect for the boys was
that it happened very late at night. Luckily the digital
SLR with long lens was well up to the job of capturing
it. Malcolm kept running in and out to take pictures
as the earth's shadow gradually crept over the moon's
disk. This picture was taken just after totality, as
direct sunlight started falling on the moon's limb again.
The deep red colour, caused by light refracted round
the earth by the atmosphere, was very clear and beautiful
to see. Matthew was delighted to see the pictures the
next day.
