After the long, summer hot days when the local farmers worked long hard hours trying to get the massive acres of grain harvest in and then get the residual straw baled we were due rain. The land had dried up into fissures and cracks & the water butts here were low.
Two days ago with the much welcome wet stuff due in overnight, it was a swelteringly hot day with that clinging humid closeness that one gets heading a weather front.
We went out for an evening walk chasing the sunset just as a light breeze cooled the sweltering air.
How about that for a bit of parking on the village high street! >>>
The swifts were circling low catching the insects up above. Good luck to them, they are due to migrate very soon and have a 14.000 mile journey ahead of them. That's 22.000 kms. and one of the longest migratory routes in the world. Isn't it amazing that such small creatures as swifts, swallows & house martins will do those distances twice a year.
The sunset was worth waiting for and as the days dust settled on the land I could hear the Muntjac deer calling in the fen. They are also called Barking Deer and indeed in the twilight can seem like large dogs as the mad mutt discovered when he first came here. He chased a couple until he got the scent of them, stopped stock still and just sniffed the air with a very puzzled look on his face. Tee-hee!
Roe & Muntjac deer are very common here and one sees their hoof prints everywhere along the dyke edges but they are a pest, not just to arable farmers but gardeners too. I've seen them here usually at night ... shadows in the gloom.
The much welcome rain, arrived before morning, so waking to that fresh smell of newly washed foliage was just wonderful.
We headed off in the afternoon as I had a Docs appointment. Whilst waiting for my prescription to be made up I took the daft dog for a gentle stroll around part of the village.
Down a rain-damp, shady lane the hedgerows were just hanging with ripening fruit.
Traditionally the sloes are picked after the first frosts which soften the fruit but with our modern home freezers it is possible to be impatient and cheat when making sloe gin.
Somebody however had obviously been blackberry gathering ...
I like Burwell, it is a lovely village with lots of interesting things in it and an Historical Society that places plaques on sites of interest that are just a delight to come across
like these two.
There is also a fascinating book "BURWELL A Stroll Through History" written by Heather Richardson. It is full of wonderful old black & white photographs and many locally sourced historical gems.
There is also a museum, that I have yet to visit but it was lovely to see this sight ...
It was staring to rain again.
I have just checked on the Burwell Museum website where there is a lot of information about this last remaining mill in the village, built in 1820. There is also a"Windmill Project Blog" with interesting photographs of the raising of the cap which happened on the 29th August this year. I know that earlier in the year they had to wait for the weather to be calmer to remove the old sails and cap. It will be just wonderful to see it all completed.
Heading back ... getting wet again ... I noticed this ...
a droplet decorated rose with the most heavenly scent. Absolutely lovely.
But there was one more thing that caught my eye that amused me.
Who thought that one up? I pity any new postie that has to deliver mail here.
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