Flighty's plot

On Friday I was delighted to see that VP had very kindly tagged me in her entry C’mon make my day giving me this She gave it to me for letting her lounge away on my lawn, which incidentally is green, soft and always has the sun shining on it! [I wish!]

Yesterday I got home to see that dear Daffy in her entry Nelly Award had been equally generous, and thoughtful, in giving me this Her kind words made me smile, and yes I’m well pleased to be given it.

My thanks to you both for these wonderful awards!

Just so as nobody feels left out of things I’m giving this to all Lawn Loungers and everyone else who has kindly commented on this blog. It’s to thank you all for being good friends and having such friendly sites !

I was pleased to see that Angelfeet did a new entry on her Bless the Weather allotment blog yesterday as the last one was way back at the end of August. I’d taken her off the Lawn Loungers list but have reinstated her I’m happy to say. She’s also got another blog, Angelfeet’s 366, where she’s going to post a photo a day throughout the year. You’ll note that it’s a leap year hence 366 rather than 365, and the link to it can also be found under Tea time.

It was good to see that last week’s Big Cat Diary finished in an upbeat way for all the animals featured after all their various trials and tribulations.

This week’s Elephant Diaries have been wonderful viewing, although last night’s programme ended sadly with the news of the totally unexpected death of the captivating young blind calf Ndololo. Being the big softie that I am it even had me reaching for a tissue! The series continues tomorrow, next Monday and Friday on BBC1 at 7.30pm.

I will be mentioning it again a few days beforehand but please note that the Big Garden Birdwatch is on 26 and 27 January. This year I’m doing it from the allotment where I hope to see more birds than I usually do!

Have a good weekend !

are all my good blog friends here on Flighty’s Plot. Mind you at this time of year I think perhaps I should change them to Sofa Flyers!

It’s been ages since I’ve done a round-up entry where I mention friends, and others. I’ll try to do one occasionally as they always seem to be appreciated.

Sadly yesterday Nikki said her last goodbye to her beautiful cat. She has my heartfelt sympathy, and I can guess how she feels as for many years cats were always part of my family.

On the last day of 2007 Fabulous finally got to say hello to her beautiful daughter. Congratulations, and isn’t she a real cutie!

I’m endeavouring to be an even greener Flighty this year so I’ll be looking at Polythene Pam’s Leave Only Footprints blog regularly from now on.

It’s always nice to get a comment from someone new. That happened last week on my Log pile entry when fellow allotmenteer Veg Plotting stopped by.

Sonrisa, who will be familiar to some of you, has set up a new home here on WordPress with her unforgettably named Box in a Monster blog. Why not stop by and welcome her.

That’s it for now as it’s a gloriously sunny, but not too cold, day here so I’m off for a stroll round the allotments before lunch. Now where’s my camera!

Firstly a couple of reminders.

Big Cat Diary continues this evening and tomorrow on BBC1 at 5.30pm. This has proved to be the usual mix of uplifting and heart stopping viewing.

Tomorrow BBC2 at 8.00pm is Natural World Snow Leopard:Beyond the myth, which is being shown again on Sunday BBC2 at 4.55pm.

Next week sees Elephant Diaries on BBC1 starting Monday at 7.30pm, continuing on Wednesday and Friday at the same time. This series comes from a Nairobi charity that cares for calves that have lost their mothers.

These wonderful creatures are caring, clever and cute so it’s little wonder that many of us, such as Daffy, find them so endearing.

Bill Oddie’s Wild Side is another new series which starts next Wednesday on BBC2 at 8.00pm. In it Oddie hopes to open our eyes, and ears, to the quirkier side of the wildlife around us.

Have a good weekend!

was a TV series that I mentioned in my entry Favourite animals that was shown during the week before Christmas.

I don’t normally do reviews afterwards but fellow Lawn Lounger Louise asked if I would for this one.

Just about everything that I could say, and more, is to found in this excellent Daily Record article.

I found Nigel Marven to be a very affable presenter and his commentary, and occasional antics, added to my overall enjoyment.

I really did like these programmes, and if you missed them then do watch out for the repeats when they get shown.

A few days ago a box, about 4″x9″x12″, arrived on my doorstep.

Opening it up I found a handmade Christmas card, three packets of Sweet Pea seeds, a container with various scrumptious looking home-baked cookies and a rather special personalised calendar.

The cookies certainly proved to be every bit as delicious as they looked, and I even managed not to eat them all at once!

The calendar is titled From my garden and is full of wonderful looking flowers, mostly roses not surprisingly since they’re all photos taken by my lovely friend Nikki in her beautiful garden. It will take pride of place and looking at it will brighten up many a dreary day, and definitely have my nose twitching throughout next year.

Thank you Nikki for such a lovely, thoughtful gift.

[I did try to take some photos but they weren’t very good…sorry folks. Have a look at Nikki’s blog and you’ll see lots of superb photos of roses, cookies and her cat.]

A new series of Big Cat Diary is on BBC1 all next week starting Monday at 5.40pm, and the rest of the week at 5.30pm.

Simon King, and others, report on the lives of lions, cheetahs and leopards in Kenya’s Masai Mara game reserve.

If, like me, you like big cats then this new series should be enjoyable viewing throughout the week.

However for me the programme not to be missed is the first in a new series of Natural World next Friday on BBC2 at 8.00pm. It is all about my favourite big cat, the magnificent snow leopard.

No doubt Snow Leopard:Beyond the myth will show some great footage including the breathtaking landscape which is this animals habitat.

There won’t be any big cats to be seen in the Springwatch Christmas Special which is on BBC2 Monday, New Year’s Eve, at 6.10pm. Bill, Kate and Simon take a look back at 2007 which saw floods, storms and memorable encounters with wildlife. They’ll also be advising us what we need to keep us going until Springwatch 2008!

Have a good weekend!

I’d love to have this as my Christmas lights!

Have yourselves an enjoyable, and relaxing, time everybody. Cheers!

The Phantom by Margaret Ingall

The morning mist is silver,

The air is crisp and cold,

The sun is slowly rising

And turning grey to gold.

The landscape makes a picture

Becalmed within a frame.

Till comes a shift – a tremor

A hiss of gas and flame,

And there, beyond the treetops,

Like some phantasmal moon,

Upon the dawn comes riding

A giant air balloon.

Adrift upon an upstream,

It floats with cobweb grace,

Unhurried as the dawning,

At one with sky and space.

And far below, still dreaming

The sleeping village lies,

And no-one sees the voyager

That moves across the skies.