Friday 20 July 2007

POP UPS AND POPPED OUT

First I must say how sorry I am that some of you are getting pop ups when you visit my blog. I don't have any idea why this is happening and can assure you that it is nothing that I've knowingly done. It never happens to me and I know it doesn't happen to all of you...if anyone has any bright (simple) ideas as to what I can do to prevent it please let me know as my own virus and spyware detectors have picked nothing up even though I do a full system scan every week.

Now some good news I've had an email from BLOGGER saying that my blog has been checked and it isn't spam! Yippee no more verification!!!!!

Yesterday had been quite a stressful day due to my numerous pc problems and life in general so yesterday afternoon I thought I'd take myself out for a walk. Last year the River Stour Trust opened the new "Millennium Lock" in Great Cornard but try as we might Manda and I have never managed to find it. We know approximately where it's supposed to be but the way always seems to be blocked off due to the building of a new Riverside Housing Complex........having always looked at the weekend the building site is locked up and so knowing that there would have to be someone on site on a weekday I thought I'd see if any of the builders knew where the lock was.

Sure enough the site gates were open and I could see this sign



so I walked straight through the site (even got wolf whistled!!!!) and found the visitors centre.


There were a couple of chaps outside working and they said they were part of the volunteer workforce. It seems that the centre is still a work in progress but they are hoping that once the Housing Complex is finished it will be possible for them to run a pathway all the way into Sudbury; it would appear that at the moment there may be some issues with a "no man's land" area. There was a young lady in the main building who explained that they also hope to start a tea rooms there and happily showed me round inside. It is hoped that schools and other interested groups will visit the centre and that it will also become a base for canoeing and youth groups.



The Millennium Lock

Of course being by the river I had to take an obligatory dragonfly photo or twoThere were loads of small fish swimming around......a pond dipper's dream!I was surprised to see a clump of Himalayan Balsam....this is part of the Impatiens family and is becoming quite a problem in the wild; a shame as it's a lovely plant... sadly it's preventing the growth of some of our natural riverside plants.

There was also plenty of other wildlife around the area............

and now I've found the centre I'll definitely be dragging the grandchildren down there during the school holidays!

Although the weather forecast is rather foreboding today the last few evenings have seen some wonderful sunsets and coloured skies so I'll finish this post with a couple I took last night.....

14 comments:

jmb said...

Ruth, as usual, lovely photos and I enjoyed joining you on your walk. The last one of the sunset is so beautiful. I accidentally stumbled upon your sunset post blog the other day and was so moved by it.
Take care
jmb

Libbys Blog said...

As much as I love living in the country it must be lovely to live within walking distance of everywhere! We haven't had any decent skies recently!

Audrey said...

Best news from Blogger...join you in that YIPEE!! LOL

What a beautiful spot, enjoyed the walk with you and great commentary.

Its amazing how quickly that Hymalyan balsam grows it just takes over doesnt it.

Have a good day xxxx Auds

Annie said...

A lovely trek today with you Ruth. Your grandchildren will enjoy the same kind of outing with you, I know, as they learn the names of plants as you all walk along.

CG said...

Have really enjoyed your walk and photos...and good news from Blogger (I get that casino popup too!)

Anonymous said...

There are lots of canals in Bedfordshire where I lived and we loved nothing better than to take long walks along them on a sunny weekend.

Sudbury is gorgeous - how far will the walk be do you know.

You photos are stunning.

RUTH said...

jmb; glad you enjoyed my sky photos

Libby; we won't have any nice skies today; it's pouring here

Auds; thanks...just got to sort these pop ups out now :o(

Annie; I do enjoy having the grandkids with me and poiting out things they wouldn't normally notice

CG; sorry about the pop up and have a great holiday :o)

Lottie; not sure of the distance but will be only a 15 minute walk...much longer when your stop to look at the dragonflies though!

Calamity Jane said...

Hi Ruth! Glad to hear that your blog has been vindicated as non spam. I realise I'm a little late in joining in this discussion on pop ups,etc - I haven't noticed anything with your site but I have noticed that I always seem to get one on Leanne's blog, usually for an online gambling site!

Lovely pics. I have a question for you - do you know if you are supposed to prune hydrangeas? I've noticed the flowers on mine seem to get smaller each year - maybe it's weather related though ... LOL

dot said...

You always have such beautiful photos. I especially love the sunset pictures. Glad you got that one thing sorted out with blogger.

RUTH said...

Calamity Jane;It's not necessary to prune hydrangeas but if they are leggy or you want to encourage some stronger growth just remove about one-third of the older, less productive stems and cut back old flowering stems to a strong pair of buds. Here in England I wouldn't do it until after the winter as I leave the old flower-heads to give frost protection to the new buds below. Possibly your plant needs a good feed....I usually give all my summer flowering shrubs a feed of POTASH in the Autumn and Spring.
Rx

Katya said...

What a lovely little visit you had yesterday! That is just the ticket, rather than getting bummed and stewing! My visits to "natural" places has been limited as of late. Mark cannot access many places, so we just skip them. I am tired of stores and shopping! I would rather be taking pictures!!!! Argh!
I am glad Blogger came to their senses. What a terrible thing to have happen.
Thank you for the wonderful tour, and I will be back for more!

Shaz said...

Amazing sky pics Ruth. That lock makes me dream of our Easter Adventure, hopefully we can revisit my Uncle over the next few weeks. So pleased the spam accusation has been cleared quickly, how dare they! x x

Mauigirl said...

Wonderful pictures as always, Ruth!

Have you figured out why you can't get into my blog yet? I am assuming the problem has returned...

RUTH said...

katya; I do know how frustrating it is not being able to get to places because of access difficulties. I so often longed to take Mick for a riverside walk but it was impossible because of the terrain :o(

Shaz thanks, I was really worried that I'd done something wrong and was going to lose my blog!

Mauigirl; will try again later...fingers crossed
Rx

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