Last Weekend

The problem with a good weekend is that it is harder to get up on a Monday morning and that's what happened to me this morning.  It's not easy to motivate yourself on a grey, albeit warm, Monday morning at 6am. The weekend was lovely but as is usually the case over far too quickly!

Friday afternoon was spent watching the Wimbledon semi final between Murray and Nadal. I'm not a big tennis fan but enjoyed the match (which Murray lost 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4).  The rest of the evening was spent listening to music which is something I don't do often enough these days.

Saturday and it was our monthly trip to Sandwell RSPB reserve.  The day was glorious travelling over, with blue skies and plenty of sunshine, but as we arrived at the reserve it started to cloud over.

This time of year is the quiet period for birds and although it certainly seemed that way going round when we arrived back at the centre we had a tally of 40 plus birds seen. These included Lapwing, Pochard, and Sparrowhawk.

After the guided tour Clare and I headed off in search of some Parakeet and bumped into two women, who were lovely but kept us talking for at least half an hour about all the birds and animals that had seen on their trips to Scotland.  Having spent so long chatting we decided to abandon the search for the parakeets and instead headed back across the reserve to the dairy farm on the other side.

Forge Mill Farm is a working farm.  They have Jersey cows and you can watch them being milked at times throughout the day.  We did this and we also fed the goats and chickens.  There isn't much else there to be honest and I was surprised at the lack of food on offer.  A packet of crisps and some orange juice had to suffice.  The shop was reasonably priced which made a change.

The evening was spent watching Black Swan.  It wasn't at all what I expected and I have to say I really enjoyed it, although it did leave me a little confused. I imagine most people know it is set in the world of ballet but I won't spoil the plot for those that are still to see it.

I noticed that the music was credited to Clint Mansell.  I wondered if it was the same Clint Mansell of Pop Will Eat Itself fame.  It turns out that not only is it the same person but he also wo an Oscar for it!

Sunday and with weather similar to Saturday (bright and war whilst travelling and clouding over when we arrive) we headed to Winterbourne House and Gardens.  Part of Birmingham University, it opened it's doors to the public last year. 

The Edwardian House and Gardens was built in 1903 and belonged to the Nettlefold family. The gardens were created in the Arts & Craft style.  It's about six acres and boasts various landscapes including a woodland walk that leads you to the lake on Edgbaston golf course.  It's a lovely place and was fairly quiet.  Having explored the gardens we had something to eat at the terrace cafe. Sitting outside overlooking the gardens was lovely.  A woman close to us had a sparrow land in her hair which was quite amusing.

A stable has been converted to a second hand book stall and we browsed before we heading into the house itself.  Entrance to the house is free as only the downstairs rooms are open but it was still nice to get an insight into the original owner's world.

Having been around the house we did a quick circuit of the gardens again before heading home.  All in all a relaxing day and a great way to spend a summer Sunday