February 6th – On the canal near Scarborough Road in Pleck, I was pulled up short by this gorgeous lad singing his heart out from a canalside thicket.
He was happy. The seasonal imperative is kicking in. He’s singing to attract a mate, no doubt.
I wish you well, tiny robin. I wish you well.
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February 5th – I have absolutely no idea at all what’s happened here at all.
It started at the weekend – a rubbing on the front disc brake on my current bike of choice. A light rub, no more that a tickle.
As the days progressed it got worse, and defied my attempts to adjust it away.
In exasperation, I removed the brake pads, which were OK at about 60% remaining.
The leaf spring that keeps them off the disc however, was broken. This was allowing on pad to rub.
An easy, 30 second replacement. But I’ve never had a spring fail like that that hasn’t been worn on the disc as the pad ran down.
This is most peculiar. I shall keep my eye on things in case it’s something significant.
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February 5th – Passing through Birmingham New Street Station on my way home, it was rush hour and the place was rammed, as usual.
Being a cyclist, I tend to hang out ant the periphery of the crowd, better to not get in the way.
I looked to my right as the train came in from my left, and realised that at peak time, the station had nobody visible and all the signals were on red.
A few seconds later, people appeared and broke the spell…
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February 3rd – I noted last week that I was entering the season of the commute sunset, and I wasn’t wrong. This spectacular one greeted me as I returned to Telford station this evening.
It’s so good to be setting home in the light once more. Finally it feels like spring might be not so far away.
Bring it on.
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February 4th – I’ve always been puzzled why it might be that some deciduous trees don’t shed their dead leaves in autumn; the summer growth dies and goes brown, but doesn’t drop.
Someone asked the same question on social media over the weekend, so I thought I’d look into it.
The characteristic is called marcescence, and is exhibited mainly by oak, beech and hornbeam in the UK. It’s not clear what the evolutionary purpose of this curious feature is; it could be to shelter leaf buds from browsing animals like deer, and indeed, some oaks are only marcescent on lower boughs. Another theory says that the leaves attached to the beaches have their goodness absorbed back into the tree over winter, which is more efficient than them dropping and relying on conversion from leaf litter.
So I’m not really much wiser, but at least it has a name – and this marcescant oak was showing it’s dead leaves well beside the cycleway in Telford as I passed this morning, making me smile.
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February 3rd – There was still ice on the canals and the fringes of Chasewater, of course. In the gentle wind that formed the usual waves here, the edge of the ice was a battleground between frozen water and the gently dynamic open lake. The fight was continual, and made a lovely, gentle tinkling sound continually.
It Wass so gentle and slight you really had to strain to hear it, but it’s a gorgeous, magic sound.
Shame is was too quiet to record it…
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February 3rd – After a very cold night, a lovely, sunny and almost warm spring day was welcome. Around midday, with the sun on my cheeks it could almost have been March, not February.
In the cemetery opposite St Annes Church in Chasetown, the serious business of advancing the season is pushing forward undaunted by a bit of ice and snow. The annual riot of crocuses is just kicking off, and was beautiful, but the primroses in the churchyard itself were weather lovely too.
Just what I needed after this thankfully brief cold snap.
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February 2nd – Up by Middleton Bridge, two likely characters loiter and preen on the ice, regarding me with grumpy, truculent eyes.
I feel for the waterfowl this weather, they don’t have much open water, and most of that will be full of Canada geese and Mallards, who are both just shouty, loud idiots and must drive cultured birds like swans mad.
Still, at least that answered the IC scale question well enough…
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February 2nd – A better, more springlike day was what I expected, and indeed, it was at least decidedly warmer. There was, however, a bitter wind that made progress slow and a the nagging cramps of bad IBS attack niggled at my energy.
Any remaining snow was confined to the shade of hedges and field margins, and the afternoon sun made the red soil of Home Farm at Sandhills glow beautifully.
I note the sheep, now reduced in number, are still working on clearing the field of what I think is kale; its been a real treat seeing them here. IU hope they become a more permanent fixture.
I note the hedges along here have been cut, and as ever, the auto-flail has ripped the hawthorn overgrowth into short, hazardous, thorn-armed fragments, lying on the towpath waiting for a vulnerable tyre.
If you haven’t tough tyres, probably best avoid the stretch between Anchor Bridge and the Ogley Junction Bridge for a couple of weeks or so until the fragments have been cleared or rotted by the weather.
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February 1st – By the time I neared home in Brownhills well after 8pm that evening, the ice on the canal was considerable.
At Silver Street from the pedestrian bridge, it looked beautiful in the orange streetlight.
It was clear, and my bike computer read -4. It was a relief to get home and warm up.
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