Tag: IFTTT

#365daysofbiking Station to station

October 16th –  I didn’t use Bloxwich station for years, as the Chase Line trains that shuttle this line between Birmingham and Rugeley tended to be horrendously crowded into city, and a similar nightmare in the evenings, but since the line has been electrified with longer trains, it’s been a lot more convenient.

The station itself is little more than a suburban halt, but welcoming enough and I love the lighting at night. Where it does win for me is it’s a nicer ride home than Walsall, Blake Street or Shenstone, and about the same distance.

The train times don’t often work for me and this service, so I’m unlikely to be a regular user but I’m growing to like it. The Chase Line upgrade has been good for me and once the service wrinkles are ironed out it could be very useful indeed.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/35YD1MS
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking Proudly hanging on

October 16th –  It’s not all grey and darkness, though – if you look carefully some flowers are still proudly hanging on on the edge lands and verges – the odd ragwort, bindweed, persistent daisies and oddly enough, plenty of purple clover.

There’s always something positive to be found if you look hard enough.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2W8HdFf
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking Sliding into darkness

October 15th –  Returning in the evening at the usual time is now crossing into the night: My commute now often starts in twilight and just about ends in darkness.

As I passed Catshill Junction on my way to the High Street on a sodden canal towpath, I just caught the last of the light.

Oh how I hate this gradual, inexorable slide into darkness.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2W7XURo
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking Turn, turn, turn

October 15th –  Near Brownhills Common, the colours are changing fast now with the full autumn gamut – from the bright yellow-green of shedding birches to the crimson reds and deep golds of more… Exotic shrubs and trees.

On a wet, grey morning they can really perk you up. A delight to the soul.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/31CKNZx
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking A fascinating kingdom

October 14th – A damp morning showed a remarkable range of fungi on the way to work. From what I thought was going to be a very disappointing season, there have been some remarkable displays of this remarkable kingdom.

These specimens were all in one short stretch of cycleway in Goscote and were absolutely fascinating.

One of the few redeeming features of autumn for me is definitely the fungi…

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2BDuOje
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking The united colours of autumn

October 13th – A low, tired recovery day, still wrecked from the last week’s intense work schedule and a cold that just wouldn’t lift.

A late, slow bimble to Chasewater rewarded me with more amethyst deceivers – the little purple toadstools I found on the common last week – mingled with fly agaric in their usual spot on the sandy bank near Wharf Lane Bridge.

I note the feels near Meerash oil Hammerwich are still yellow with some blooming crop. Must go take a closer look.

Plenty of other fungi abounded: After an unpromising start, we really are getting some stunning specimens.

Chasewater was wind-blasted and stark, but host to an absolutely huge gull roost. The noise was astounding and impressive.

Returning on the Back Path I was reminded abruptly of an autumn hazard: Slippery leaves. Watch out folks, they can steel your wheels from under you. Thankfully I stayed upright.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2oQqA5l
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking Waxcap waning

October 12th – A pretty little ‘shroom spotted in the leaf litter under those trees on The Parade: The blackening wax cap or witches hat. Starting light in colour they can be anything from yellow to deep red. As they age they get darker and darker until the point of decay.

Not particularly toxic but not really edible, the wax cap is a diverse family that are absolutely beautiful and well worth looking out for.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2W5BuAb
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking Things in common

October 12th – Little sleep, online life getting to me and feeling tired. Not a great recipe – but a potter into town for shopping and a coffee was welcome. I headed to The Parade which is always beautiful in autumn, and although too early for the real show, it was still pretty impressive and a good tonic.

I remember this majestic trees being saplings. They are pretty much as old as I am.

And today, I felt very old indeed… Certainly too old to be working into the wee small hours.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2oZejeM
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking Back to black

October 11th – Although technically the next day, it was still my working Friday when I rode back home in a soaking wet, somnambulant landscape in the small hours of the morning.

I didn’t;t trust the few cars that were about, speeding around, so stuck to the canal where the only things around were roosting waterfowl and the odd, dejected and bedraggled fox.

I was tired and mentally dead.

Ah well, it’s the weekend…

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2P52yhx
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking Lily was here

October 11th –  On the way to work on the canal Walsall Wood, I noticed something one doesn’t normally see until early spring: This floating root, probably disturbed by Canal and River Trust efforts to remove the floating algae, is a rhizome of the water lilies that are so profuse here.

This remnant of the summer plant generally sinks to the canal bottom during winter, and when the water warms in spring, it becomes buoyant, floats with other detritus and then takes root, and when rooted, will grow that season’s lilies.

It’s a curious mechanism that actually works very efficiently.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2BwDibS
via IFTTT