{"id":4519,"date":"2013-04-08T09:29:44","date_gmt":"2013-04-08T08:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/?p=4519"},"modified":"2013-04-08T09:29:44","modified_gmt":"2013-04-08T08:29:44","slug":"frogspawn-daffodils-and-crocus-flowers-yipee-it-is-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/2013\/04\/frogspawn-daffodils-and-crocus-flowers-yipee-it-is-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Frogspawn, daffodils and crocus flowers – Yipee it is spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the change in the hour and the arrival of British Summer Time, it is great to see a dry and sunny day after the recent snow.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A muddy puddle dries in the sun<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We did something unusual last week and had separate walks. This was due to my hip being weak and to avoid me feeling too sore later.<\/p>\n

Late yesterday morning I went around the local park then back home where I stayed while Charlie left in the car for a really big expedition.<\/p>\n

Upon his return he told me all about it and the things he saw and sniffed.<\/p>\n

Charlie’s walk<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charlie started his walk near to the Stoneyholme<\/a> golf course to the north east of the City.<\/p>\n

Despite all the recent rain, much of the ground is very dry with the occasional muddy puddle. These just looked like they would in a nature film, only the zebras and wilder beasts have since left Carlisle.<\/p>\n

It might be worth mentioning at this point that you should take care when out in fields and on the tops.<\/p>\n

\"Is<\/a>
Is this frog or toad spawn?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Firefighters in the county have issued a warning<\/a> following a number of grass fires in the west.<\/p>\n

Since 29 March there have been more than 20 grass fires in Allerdale and Copeland. So please take care when you are out for your walks.<\/p>\n

Frog spawn<\/strong><\/p>\n

My walk passed through Rickerby Park and up on to Stanwix Bank via the small gardens near to the bridge.<\/p>\n

\"Daffodils<\/a>
Daffodils still refuse to flower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was just about to go for a paddle in the small pond when I spotted a couple of clumps of frog or toad spawn.<\/p>\n

Floating just below the water surface each egg had a small black dot where the new creature would be formed.<\/p>\n

I stayed well away and tried not to disturb the water surface as I took a quick drink from the pond side.<\/p>\n

Green stalks<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Purple<\/a>
Purple and white crocus flowers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Up and over the bridge and into Victoria Park\u00a0where the recent snow and ice seems to have delayed the blooming of daffodils and other early flowers.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of bulbs have sprouted leaves but the bright yellow flowers seem reluctant to show themselves.<\/p>\n

The crocus are however taking advantage of the sunshine and provide a carpet of white and purple flowers.<\/p>\n

\"Woodpecker<\/a>
Woodpecker holes in an old tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Occasionally you can see a bee flitting slowly between them in search of nectar and pollen.<\/p>\n

Woodpecker holes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leaving the park behind us we walked around the Sheepmount playing fields and onto the path alongside the river.<\/p>\n

To our left between the fields and the main West Coast rail line we spotted a number of trees with holes in them.<\/p>\n

Listening closely we could just make out the sound of a single woodpecker<\/a> hammering away nearby. \u00a0It made a sound similar to a wooden ruler being flicked on the edge of a desk and coming to rest.<\/p>\n

\"Empty<\/a>
Empty industrial site in Willowholme, Carlisle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sadly dad could not see it to take a picture but looking at the state of the old trees the Woodpecker had been very busy with his beak.<\/p>\n

Willowholme site<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the River Eden downstream we noticed that the site which used to be occupied by Wallace Oils has now been vacated.<\/p>\n

It appears that they have moved to Kingstown<\/a>\u00a0and the vacant industrial unit is now looking for new owners.<\/p>\n

The main brick building on the site looks as if it has been there a long time and possibly had an industrial use. Sadly looking around the web it’s history does not seem to have been documented.<\/p>\n

If you know what this building was used for or why it was built then let us know via the comments area below.<\/p>\n

Arriving home<\/strong><\/p>\n

After about two hours it was great to get back home and to recount my adventures to Buster. It had been strange to go for such a long walk without him.<\/p>\n

Until next time<\/p>\n

Buster and Charlie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the change in the hour and the arrival of British Summer Time, it is great to see a dry and sunny day after the recent snow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":4526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,681],"tags":[4860,1130,2251,4853,4841,867,4845,4850,1893,4849,138,4844,4846,4859,4861,4842,4856,4857,180,4843,109,4858,1340,4847],"class_list":["post-4519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-expeditions","category-featured","tag-black-dot","tag-british-summer-time","tag-clumps","tag-copeland","tag-crocus-flowers","tag-daffodils","tag-dries","tag-fires-in-the-west","tag-golf-course","tag-grass-fires","tag-local-park","tag-muddy-puddle","tag-nature-film","tag-new-creature","tag-pond-side","tag-recent-snow","tag-small-gardens","tag-small-pond","tag-sun","tag-sunny-day","tag-walks","tag-water-surface","tag-yesterday-morning","tag-zebras","entry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/purple_crocus_ablogfrommydog_05-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/purple_crocus_ablogfrommydog_05-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/author\/admin-2\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4519"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4535,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4519\/revisions\/4535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ablogfrommydog.com\/contents1a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}