Blackbird Success - so far so good

After watching the pair of blackbirds in my garden working a flat out shuttle system to feed their vocal brood, here's proof that they had some success. We've seen two youngsters out of the nest with the female.

The thing that really surprised me was that they come out of the nest when they're very vulnerable, they can flutter and hop but not fly. The youngsters then live mostly on the ground while they continue to develop while the mother continues to feed them.

When I first saw this one hopping about behind the shrubs in my garden I thought he'd left the nest too soon, but having read up on it a bit, it looks as if it's normal. Seems like a high risk strategy to me but luckily we don't have any cats living nearby.

This photo is at about 2 weeks out of the nest. We're still seeing them around a bit but I think they're nearly at the stage when they'll be on their own. It's been great fun watching them and I'll be a bit sad when they're gone!

In praise of Winchester Cathedral

Winchester, original capital of England, depending of course on how you define England. Without doubt capital of Wessex, which during the Viking years became the dominant kingdom in surviving Anglo Saxon England.

Enough of Anglo Saxon political history. Why visit Winchester Cathedral? Not because it's the prettiest from the outside (it's not), not because it recently featured in the Da Vinci Code (although it did), rather because it is full of unexpected gems:

- Temporary scaffolding that is 500 years old. In the Triforium Gallery you get a fantastic view of the Norman structure of the cathedral. They meant to update it to the same style as the Nave but ran out of money, they'd put some wooden supports in, ready to lower the roof...it's still there 500 years later.

- The Winchester Bible, a gem of a medieval illuminated bible

- See Canute (the king who told the waves to go back) - he and several other Anglo Saxon kings and bishops are buried in finally decorated mortuary chests which are now poised on the walls surrounding the high altar. The oldest one dates to around 670 AD.

- The fantastic modern art that the cathedral continues to commission - a Graham Sutherland sculpture in the crypt, modern icons near the site of the shrine of St Swithin, the altar and candlesticks in the Angler's Chapel

The cathedral is a monument to English history and yet it lives and grows as well. Go and see for yourself.

Lima - redeeming its reputation slightly

Whenever you look at guidebooks or talk to people who've been in Peru for a quick visit, they tell you what a horrible city Lima is. I think they're being a bit unfair!

A lot of it stems from the fact, that if you arrive off an international flight, tired and jet lagged, the first thing you see as you leave the airport are some poor and ugly slums. At this point all the warnings about safety and theft reverberate in your head and you feel distinctly nervous.

You spend maybe a day in the city, being whisked round museums in a blur and closing your eyes and hoping you aren't going to die as the traffic rampages round at speed. If you've come to Peru with Inca ruins and mountain wildnernesses in your head, then Lima isn't going to appeal.

But even for the short stay tourist, there are nice things to do and pretty sights to see. In central historic Lima, efforts have been made to smarten things up and the central square is lovely, with the cathedral providing an electic range of religious art and tombs and San Francisco round the corner with an extensive collection of bones!

And if you have more time, walk down the shopping street between the Plaza de Armas and the Plaza San Martin and start to get a feel for daily life. It might be the city and it might be Lima, but it's all part of Peru and if you want to get to know the real country and not just the tourist hotspots it's a good way to start. 

Brayan and I at Esperanza

Someone else´s election - Reflections on Peru

Today I´m coming home from Peru, as voting takes place in the second round of the Presidential election. It´s been very interesting to see the last two weeks in close up and through the eyes of the national press, rather than through the filter of other foreign observers.

I´ve been asked what do I think and I find it hard to answer, because I´m not a resident and so don´t have lots of background into what is going on but for what it´s worth here goes:

The choice of presidential candidates doesn´t seem a great one as it´s between Ollanta Humalla, who launched a failed coup a few years ago and Alan Garcia, who was president before and failed to do much good for the economy or to successfully tackle terrorist activity. What´s interesting is that watching television performances it´s obvious that the ability to come across as a strong leader by giving charismatic public speeches is really critical in Peru. I´m not sure that´s true anymore in the UK where the ability to manage the press seems more important than true charisma.

There´s been loads of outside commentary or interference. The Peruvian press loathes the interventions of Hugo Chavez and the existing government isn´t happy either. It seems incredible that Chavez, a canny individual, doesn´t seem to have grasped the fact that his continuing commentary is damaging Humalla´s electoral prospects. That or his real intention is continued worldwide pubilicity reinforcing external perceptions that he´s a key leader in South America and the damage it´s doing to Peruvian-Venezuelan relations is a price he´s prepared to pay. On reflection I´d bet on the latter.

By contrast the Chilean government acted decisively to stop Alberto Fuijimori (renegade Peruvian ex president) from talking to foreign press and interfering in the election. Less posturing more action.

From all the polls in the run up it seems that Alan Garcia is going to win handsomely, but whoever does I hope for the country´s sake that they get a president who isn´t corrupt and who works effectively to improve things for all the people in the country and narrows the wealth divide.

Hope

I´ve been in Peru for the last couple of weeks and one of the things I´ve done is visit Bryan, my "ahijada" (literally godson) but actually a child that I sponsor. Last year while I was living in Cusco I had quite a long conversation with a street child and one of the things I decided to do when I got home was to look for a charity that supported children.

Of course there are lots, but I decided to go through SOS Children´s Villages http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/ as they focus specifially on abandoned or orphaned children and as it was a street child who´d triggered my interest, it seemed the right thing to do. I felt a bit odd about the visit in advance, no real expectations of what it would be like, but also a bit apprehensive as I´m not a parent and so don´t have huge exposure to children all the time. I also felt concerned that I'd feel patronising rather than helpful, be shown round like some honoured guest.

The charity in Peru were incredibly accomodating, when I asked how to get to the village, they said don´t worry about it, just come to the office and we´ll take you. So off we went, Jacqueline from the charity, Fernando my boyfriend and I. We´d established that I spoke Spanish which slightly rebounded on me, because Jacqui talked at high speed and it was quite a test for my understanding.

While I was concentrating on listening, Fernando was asking appropriate questions, like where do the children come from? Jacqui said that they work closely with social workers who refer children who are orphaned, abandoned or at risk. They also get sad sad cases such as children literally threwn away and found with rubbish. I got the feeling that in a poor country like Peru, SOS and other charities like it, are providing the social safety net that the state provides in developed countries. Of course the demand is sadly more than the charities can meet at the moment. SOS is continuing to open new villages in Peru as communities ask for them but it can only do so as its funds permit.

We wound our way up a river valley to Choisica, a pretty town that is about an hour out of Lima. There are two SOS villages there, Rio Hondo and Esperanza, where my child lives. We got to the gates of the village and went in. Jacqui was at pains to explain that the village is being seriously renovated so there´s loads of building going on and not all the houses are currently occupied. However, to me it looked very nice and a calm environment as well. The houses are one storey and painted white with lots of greenery around and flowers.

The SOS approach is to place the children within villages, communities of several houses, each with a mother who is totally responsible for her own house and children. As a mother will have many children, she has the help of aunts, often mothers in training. If there are suitable schools nearby the children attend these, if not the community might have its own school.

We walked through the community to the house where Bryan (my ahijada) lives. Tania, the house mother came and welcomed us with Bryan. The others (there are 11 in the house in total) were all doing their homework and were all looking over very curiously. Bryan is 7 and he has lived in the village for several years, his older brother Franco is also there and his younger sister. One of the things I like about SOS is that they don´t split families up and the children grow up together.

Being Peruvian he is tiny and slight, to my surprise as we watched him and Tania come to the door I felt quite emotional. He kissed Jacqui and I hello and very formally shook Fernando´s hand. Then I gave him a bag with some gifts. He took each one out very carefully, looking at it attentively before moving on to the next thing. The football at the bottom of the bag got a huge grin and it got carried around a lot.

I´d brought a photo album with pictures of my family and the area round Southampton.
He was fascinated by the photographs of the liners and when he looked at the dinghy photos, he wanted to know if the sailors were going to drown!! A photo of breakfast was also of lots of interest because you could see into one of the bowls and he wanted to know what it was. The answer was cereal and milk but I´m not sure I really explained it.

He very proudly showed me round the house, including his bedroom, which he shares with 3 other boys, and the bedroom his little sister sleeps in. It was all incredibly tidy and each child has a small selection of toys and their own space to keep things in. Then we all walked round the village with Bryan pointing out the hens and dogs and took photos of all of us. When we got back to the house he got his homework books out to show me. He took us through every page of them - writing practice and maths as well. He seems to be doing well and the books were beautifully tidy and cared for. Then too soon, it was time to go. Bryan and his mother walked us to the gate and waved goodbye as we drove away.

So after my visit how do I feel? I didn't feel awkward during my visit, I really enjoyed meeting everyone and Jacqui told me that very few sponsors do visit so the children are really curious to meet them. I was committed to sponsoring a child for the long term before I visited (SOS support them through school and then help them settle into the adult world through a slow transition process). However, meeting Bryan in person has made it very real for me and I hope that he enjoyed meeting me.

Quintessentially English

A bluebell wood in full bloom this weekend on the Isle of Wight.

And of course a blackbird update, they're definately nesting in the clematis. The female is egg sitting and the male hangs about and defends his territory. He gets most upset with any pigeons who come into the garden looking for food and squares up to them, fluffing up his feathers to look big and aggressive. He doesn't seem to have realised that being a third of the size of most of the pigeons, they don't care!

Island in bloom

May hedges on the Isle of Wight and gorse bushes across the Downs.

A Blackbird Ramble

So Spring is really here, it really is.....and just to prove it my local blackbirds are building a nest in my Clematis. I know that blackbirds are very common and in no way endangered but I like them being around, they often hang around when I'm in the garden and they sing beautifully. (I think I notice bird song more since my time in the rain forest last year. The sad thing is that I have no idea what I'm listening to, apart from blackbirds!! In fact I could probably still identify more rainforest birds than English ones on their songs....)

I am really pleased that the blackbirds are having another go at nest building in my garden because last year they had a bit of a disaster. At the same time last year they decided to build a nest in my rambling rose, it always looked like a high risk strategy because the rose was trying its best to rip the trellis off the fence and so it wasn't a very secure place to build. However, they built, they laid an egg, the female sat on it for a week or so and then one day there was a lot of wind, the rose waved about a lot, the branches moved and the nest slipped, end of egg!

I had enjoyed watching them so much that I decided to help out this year, so I bought a blackbird friendly nest box and put it up. Of course they have ignored the sturdy safe option of the nest box but I'm delighted that they've built again and fingers crossed this time I'll get to watch fledglings learn to fly.

Spring is sprung

Here's the Solent from Cowes parade, looking particularly spectacular on a glorious sunny Sunday....(no pun intended).











And here is Freshwater Bay on the west coast of the Isle of Wight, I'm looking down from Tennyson Down.

This down is named after Alfred, Lord Tennyson (writer of Charge of the Light Brigade and other well loved English poems) who lived nearby and loved walking there. On a day like this you can see why. Although the picture doesn't show the piercingly cold wind that was whipping across the down.

And here's a link to some antiquerian views of the Isle of Wight and some more information on it: http://www.freshwater.shalfleet.net/freshwater3.htm

A soft Southerner's view of Lancashire

Southerners in England are renowed for not knowing anything about the North of England, but I'd like to be the exception!!

When people talk about the North of England, they often think of the cities and the towns but round them is fabulous scenery and landscape.

Just outside Bolton you're straight onto the moors, fantastic semi wild areas with lots of space and sky. A great place to walk or cycle.



I took the opportunity of Easter to go and visit friends who live in Lostock, near Bolton. These pictures are all from Easter Saturday walking round Entwhistle Reservoir. The first one is a shot of a really sweet idea, an Easter tree with eggs and toys for children.

Here is Entwhistle Reservoir itself. Spring is still getting a toehold here, so the trees are still brown rather than green.




And here are some spring buds (very small on the tree) and some rather sad looking dry stone wall.

Foolish things...

April Fool's Day - where did that come from? I don't know and I suspect that if I started to Google it I could waste a serious amount of time (no change there then). But there were some very good things around on 1st April this year, my favourites were:

Google Romance, the people that revolutionised online searching want to revolutionise dating - http://www.google.com/romance/index.html What could be better?


The Guardian's report on Chris Martin's support of David Cameron due to his green credentials http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1744447,00.html

and even better the lyrics of a song "he's written" for David Cameron
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1744448,00.html

Woooo hoooo

It was very windy this Sunday, very windy indeed, here we are on Pocket Battleship with it all going horribly wrong.....leading to a short stint on our side. Oddly enough the boat doesn´t sail quickly like that.

Book raves

Two books that I've really enjoyed reading recently - "1491" a history of the Americas pre Columbus and "De Repente Un Angel" a novel.

First the history....stop yawning, it's interesting honestly. "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue"..............and after that Europeans got to be top dog and brought civilisation to America!

That's probably what most of us were taught at school. But this book works through what we know, think we know and are still finding out about the Americas before Columbus arrived. Charles C. Mann uses recent research and findings to challenge the old beliefs, for example he demonstrates that the cities that Cortez encountered in Mexico were bigger and as sophisticated (if not more so) than the major European cities of the time. Charles Mann is a journalist and writes in a great easy to read style. He's enthusiastic about what he finds out and eager to share, so it's not some crusty tome. This is history for everyone. Enjoy.

And probably less accessibly for most people I know, "De Repente Un Angel" (Suddenly an angel) by Jaime Bayly, a Peruvian novelist. It's a powerful story of families and forgiveness, which at times made me laugh out loud or cry. At the same time it paints a picture of
Peru today, of a hierachical society of privilege and poverty which I recognised from my time there. It's earthy, romantic, shocking and beautiful. I couldn't put it down but unfortunately I suspect it doesn't exist in English. But if you do read Spanish I'd recommend it.

Visiting your own backyard

It seems to be a rule that you never visit places on your doorstep, as if somehow because they're easy they're not worthwhile.

So what about Southampton, my home city? Well at first sight it's pretty unappealing to the tourist and the Lonely Planet for the UK gives it short shrift. It has to be said that it lacks much of architectural merit because it was bombed heavily in the Second World War and like all of the South Coast cities, the response to all the damage was to build nasty, concrete second rate buildings. Fortunately these are now being taken down and slightly better buildings are replacing them (fingers crossed).

But what is there to interest the casual visitor...well it's the port that gives it its character and it always has done. There was a Roman settlement and then a Saxon one (Hamtun). Surprisingly it has the second biggest stretch of medieval city wall standing (York has the most) and it is quite amazing to stand at one corner by West Quay and look down one long side to the current water and think that this was what once made a city. It's a little tiny space and you can walk the whole space in an hour or so, if you don't get distracted on the way.

There's also the remains of a Saxon church (another bomb victim), Holy Trinity on the High Street, which is now a Merchant Navy memorial. It's been done really beautifully retaining what's left and using audio devices to play local people's memories of the city. You can hear proper Hampshire accents, which are incredibly rare now (a bit like a toned down South West accent).

And if you like looking at big cruise liners, you might be in luck and see one of the many that operate out of Southampton - Queen Mary, QEII, Oriana - to name a few. And then of course you can use it as a jumping off point for the Isle of Wight, the New Forest, Winchester and lots of other "nicer" places. But I think what I have come to like about this city, is that is that it knows what it is and how it makes its living and what gives it its character. It's a port, a bit rough round the edges at times, but alive and with pride in the past and the present. It's real and I like that.

Unsuspected side effects of travelling

The other day a piece of serendipity happened to me and as generally occurs in these cases I was left in a very good mood.

I was in London for the day and due to a change of plans suddenly had the afternoon free, I was walking past the National Theatre on the South Bank, when I wondered if it was matinee day. So I went in to ask and it was, and even better a play I really wanted to see was on and even better than that because it was not sold out, they were selling off stall seats half price. How could I refuse to see the play after all of that!

Which is how I found myself the youngest person by about 20 years (at a conservative estimate) at a performance of "Once In A Lifetime" a joyous play about the coming of sound to Hollywood. One of the quotes outside the theatre says "A well oiled laughter machine" and they're not wrong. It's also stylish, beautiful to look at and superbly acted.

But to add to my enjoyment there was audience watching. Of course I could have come over all stressed at the tortoise like pace of the audience in seating themselves (hard to negotiate steps with rickety knees and difficult to see seat and row numbers when you don't bend easily anymore) but instead I decided to relax and observe. Of course the benefit of it being a largely grey haired audience was that it was terribly well behaved and considerate, which is a pleasant experience.

I was surrounded by Americans, both sides and behind me and the benefit of this to the single play goer is that you know they will be happy to talk to you and you don't have to sit in stony silence. Having been to the theatre before on my own and sat next to Brits, I know that this is more unusual with my fellow countrymen. However, I also know that my own attitude has changed as a result of travelling in countries where people are enthusiastic about talking to strangers. So instead of radiating a protective forcefield with flashing signs saying "Don't talk to me", that afternoon I opened the conversation! Interesting how far the effects of travelling stretch.

Marinera - Dancing northern style

Marinera is amazingly popular all along the coast and we were lucky enough to be in Trujillo for the annual national competition. In the preceding week and a half, they have open practice sessions at the Club Libertad (which organises the whole thing) and we went along one evening to see what it was all about.

The scene was the volleyball stadio of the Club. Concrete seating round the court, the sun had just gone down and music was blaring from speakers as people arrived, greeted their friends and sat down. Obviously (I'm English) we were early and obviously (it's Peru) it started half an hour late. I can't quiet adjust my head to that, even though I know it's true. There was a proper brass band and they were very good. It's hard to describe the music but brash (all the brass), full of life, fast, joyful, very Peruvian.

When the dancing got underway the compere said "couples take the floor" and it was filled with couples ranging from little tiny tots (you start learning at 3 or 4 years old) up to elegant veteran couples in their sixties, less energetic but more poised with their years of experience. Not everyone had a partner and for some the point was to bring your child, show off their dance skills and find them a partner. The couple next to us had a son of about 8 who danced beautifully and they were "match making" all evening.

The dance is lovely, a romantic flirtatious dance. The stance of both dancers is very proud with heads angled back for maximum effect. They don't really hold each other, although at times they circle with arms outstretched and him guiding her. At other times they stand very close with arms uplifted and intertwined. To set the whole thing off they both carry white hankerchiefs which are waved, so at times the whole arena seemed alive with large fluttering white hankerchiefs.















I thought as I sat there last night, in the warm air, with people of every age together enjoying themselves and the joyful dance and the uplifting music, that this is happiness. Times of sheer pleasure when you are totally caught up in the sensation and pleasure of the moment.

Trujillo in the sun

I am so glad we came back to Trujillo in its
summer. In the sun it is a beautiful, colourful city with lots of outdoor life. The buildings in the main square look fabulous and the parks are ablaze with lush tropical flowers and verdant trees laden with red flowers. The evenings are warm and full of people taking the air and eating ice cream.

Volkswagen Beetles are one of the most common private cars here, old style obviously. Once you've started to notice them you see the variety - from the worked hard and uncared for (one headlight, missing glass in the windows, peeling paint), via the well loved to the souped up versions with alloy wheels, spoilers, metallic paint and tinted windows and big sound systems. I think I'd rather be a well loved one.

Thinking about transport, we also took the opportunity to go and see the famous Caballos de Paso (Peruvian Pacing Horses) as Trujillo is one of the major centres of breeding. The hacienda/stables were obviously once very grand but now a bit faded. According to the trainer they once had 70 horses there but now "just" the 14. They still breed actively and we saw their stallion and some of his offspring. The trainer demonstrated the horse to us with a chestntut mare, the breed's action is spectacular and showy with a very high knee action when the horse is trotting. It was a really interesting morning and I'm surprised the tour operators and guide books don't make more of it. Even better would have been to have seen a competition with all the showiest equipment and flashy costumes but unfortunately we left before the weekend when there was one.

The Desert Highway

Last time I came north on the Pan American highway, in August last year, I hated the desert landscape, dreary and uninspiring.

What a difference the sun makes. The Pacific coast is amazing, dunes which are mostly rock with a sprinkling of sand on top and so many colours - dull washed out yellow, gray gravel, black rocks poking through and copper streaks and patches adding warmth. Add to that a line of white surf as the Pacific waves break on their first shore line for thousands of miles and a blue blue sky. It's truely beautiful.

The hills and the dunes are endlessly different shapes and sizes, sculpted by what little moisture falls and El Nino events. Later we see "proper" sand dunes like whipped cream that has set in folds. We see much desert with no human sign of life other than the road and the power pylons keeping pace alongside. But on the shore, bird life is bustling along, with small wading birds running in and out of the surf to feed.

And then as one becomes used to the sterile beauty of the desert, suddenly splashes of vibrant green and red flowers where water makes the desert flush with life. Bizarrely this bare area of Peru, exports food like asparagus, because with water the desert is fertile.

Lima, City of Mist

In the Peruvian winter you get "garua" a blanket of fog generated by the interaction between the cold, Antartic sourced Humboldt current and the desert. In the summer according to the guidebooks, the sun breaks through....however in Miraflores to my surprise they get lots of mist coming off the sea. It drops the temperature down to bearable and gives European pale winter skin a break! So mist all year round then.

Actually to be fair once you get into bits of the city that are further away from the coast they are bakingly hot with clear skies and it's only the 98% humidity you need to worry about!

Anyway it's good to be back in Peru, albeit only for 2 weeks this time. Sitting waiting for the 8:30am bus to Trujillo the rush hour is in full swing and in these developed bits of Lima, it feels very like the rest of the developed world. Adverts for mobile phones, plenty of handbags and shoe shops, lots of private cars on the world. You could come to this city, stay in the wealthier bits and have no idea how poor parts of it are. But which version is right? Because you could go to Arequipa or Chiclayo and see the same "developed" way of life. Or you can go to the city outskirts and the mountains and see grinding poverty. For me what seals it, is that the only yound people I know who don't want to leave are those whose businesses are deeply linked to their land (guides in the mountains and rain forests). Everyone else from professionals (my language teachers) to casual labour, would jump at the chance to go somewhere else. Which I find sad but understandable.

However, I don't want to get too fixated on poverty to the exclusion of everything else, or I'll stop coming, and this is a vibrant, fascinating country with lots to offer.

An ordinary commute

Over the last few weeks I've done a few days commuting on the train from Southampton to Waterloo, enough to make me realise I'd never want to do this although some poor souls, do it every day for years.

You can recognise the daily commuters, they know exactly where to stand on the platform so that they can be first at the door when the train arrives. At Southampton Central there are still seats but at later stations, position is everything because the train is full and the late arrivals or newcomers end up standing for an hour.

At this time of year it's still dark at 7:30am as we stand waiting and a schoolboy drags himself up the platform, rumpled from sleep with his bag slung low on his shoulders and his tie scrunched in his pocket, to be put on at the last minute. It's raining and the wind sweeps the damp in under the platform roof.

The train arrives bright with light and all the regulars in their normal seats distracting themselves from the tedium of their long daily journey. I choose the quiet carriage where mobiles are forbidden, a good idea but on the way home it regularly causes tension when someone who doesn't realise starts to chat. As a nation we're not good at complaining and by the time people have managed to find the confidence to say something, they're in a rage and often there are confrontational moments. But today the carriage is quiet and gradually sleeps overtake the majority.

When we awake we're on the outskirts of London and glide in towards the landmarks, past the developments of luxury flats overlooking the river or the train line. Battersea Power Station stark against the skyline, New Covent Garden Market well through its working day and then further in the London Eye. And today there are no hold ups, no need for the experts to discuss which line we've been put on and we arrive ready to start our day.

Dorset - an overlooked county

At New Year I spent a few days with friends, staying near Weymouth and all of us said, over and over again "Isn't it beautiful here", "Aren't we lucky to have it on our doorstep". And I thought I would try and share a little of the beautiful Dorset coastline with you.

Here's a shot of Ringstead Bay at dusk. It shows one of the reasons that I like Dorset so much, its soft green hills roll down to the sea, and you get this great coastline with interesting rock formations, as the sea erodes the cliffs. We were staying so close to the beach that from the house you could hear the waves hissing on the shingle, one of my favourite sounds.

It also makes for strenuous walking and cycling, for if you follow the cliff paths you spend most of your time going up....or going down, but you're rewarded with lovely views . Here's a view looking down towards Swanage and Poole Harbour, with the classic English green patchwork effect, despite the fact that this is the end of December. I've found that when people ask me to describe England, I use the word green early!















So, go and visit Dorset and enjoy its quintessentially English flavour, but don't tell too many other people....let's keep it our secret!