Work and weather

Again apologies for such a long abscence of blogs. I had good intentions about 3 weeks ago and was looking for some photos I wanted to post. That led to me starting to edit, sort and file large numbers of photos on the computer which has been a very slow ongoing process.

Then I have been working LOTS (50 hours this last week including the past 2 nights). Hopefully I now have 2 days off, for which I am grateful, especially as we have an opthalmic surgeon visiting this week. He had 17 people booked in for cataract operations today so the ward was going to be very busy.

When I came off duty this morning I went for a swim and did a bit of shopping before going to bed for a couple of hours. The afternoon was beautifully sunny with a strong wind so I decided to get out in the garden and cut the grass for a final time. This would not have been remarkable except that 4 days ago it looked like this!

We had several sharp frosts last week and some snow showers on Wednesday which melted then we woke on Thursday to a very wintry scene.

Amazingly my sugarsnap peas seem to be unaffected and I am still picking lots. We are self sufficient for vegetables at the moment with lots of different greens, carrots, swedes, potatoes and onions. Unfortunately the beetroot were very unsuccessful and the parsnips tiny but you can't win them all.

Last Wednesday was a public holiday for the Queen's birthday (very patriotic here!) and I happened to have the day off. There was a parade with a military band, a 21 gun salute and open house with free drinks at the governors. However we didn't go but we did have a nice walk up part of the south coast of Cape Pembroke. We managed to time it between snow showers and although there was a bitingly cold wind the sun shone.

There were some very impressive waves breaking on the rocks.

Kidney Island and Cobb's wrens

Yesterday afternoon I went on a visit to Kidney Island. This is a small island off the east coast of East Falkland and takes about 30 minutes to reach by motor launch from Stanley. Access is usually restricted but as part of the Cobb's wren conservation programme visits have been arranged on 2 days a year. Simon went on one while I was in UK before Christmas and I was fortunate to get a place on one yesterday.

The island has rocky shores and is covered in dense tussac grass. We were taken ashore from the launch in an inflatable dinghy and there were 4 sea lions playing in the water near the beach.
We were guided by Sally Poncet who manages the Cobb's wren conservation programme. We scrambled up through the tussac and it was very wet underfoot in many places. Under the tussac plants are numerous burrows where sooty shearwaters nest. Thousands of them return to the burrows when it gets dark but are all away feeding during the day. When we were with the ramblers at Rincon Grande the previous weekend we watched a big flock of them fishing while we ate our lunch.
In the middle of the island we passed a sea lion amongst the tussac. It is surprising how far inland they travel.
Then we scrambled down to another pebbly beach where there were quite a lot of sea lions and sat and watched them. There were also lots of tussac birds and Cobb's wrens feeding amongst the kelp and rocks. They are both quite tame and will come quite close if you sit still. The wrens were constantly popping down between the pebbles so were hard to catch on photos.
In the breeding season the adults are dark chestnut brown on their backs but by this time of year have faded considerably.
Cobb's wrens are only found on those offshore islands in the Falklands that are free from cats, rats and mice. They nest in tussac or in crevices in the rocks. There are thought to be about 6,000 breeding pairs.
The conservation project is undertaking surveys and attempting to eradicate rats from a number of other islands with suitable habitat in the hope that they will become colonised.
While I was sitting watching the wrens another sea lion came down from the tussac quite close to us.
We saw several dolphins on our way out and as we came back to the jetty in Stanley 3 were playing just next to the launch. You could almost have reached over the side and touched them. Unfortunately I had put my camera away by then.

Cape Dolphin

We have now visited Cape Dolphin 3 times. Our first visit was with John just over a year ago when I took these photos. Cape Dolphin is on the north west of East Falkland, about 2 hours drive on road from here and then about an hour off road. The most fascinating thing to see there are the large breeding colonies of southern sea lions.

The pups are born late Decedmber or early January so these are about a month old and were having great fun playing in the rock pools. When we took Pete and Niki this year they were new born and we actually watched one being born.

The mature males are huge and have a mane of longer hair all arround their necks. They each have a harem of females and fiercely fight off any other males.
The sea lions mate a few days after the pups are born. The males were treating the females quite viciously and sometimes when scuffles were happening a mother would pick up her pup in her mouth and throw it quite a distance onto the rocks.

When the pups are born they are black but gradually get paler. The adult females are different shades of golden brown but the males are darker.

We visited again last weekend with Hannah and Simon. Unfortunately it was very wet and windy (as it has been for most of their time here!) but it was still amazing to be there just above the top of the beach watching them all. We watched another colony on the other side of the Cape too.

At the end of the Cape there is a large area of tussac grass. When John was with us we started walking through this but it got a bit scary when we suddenly came across sealions almost under our feet so we decided discretion was the better part of valour and retreated.

John can just be seen in the middle of this picture hidden by the tussac grass, which grows very tall and densely.

Dolphins and windsurfing

Saturday morning was beautifully sunny and a gentle breeze so after the judges had been to look at my garden I decided to go windsurfing with Simon. I am very much a fair weather windsurfer and it was only my second time on the water this season. The wind was very variable so much of the time I could have done with a bigger sail but then I would have been overpowered in the gusts. At one point when I was going fairly fast on the far side of the harbour I looked down and saw a dolphin swimming next to me. What an amazing priviledge!

Now I didn't have my camera with me but I will post some photos Niki took of dolphins when we were on Saunder's Island. They were playing in the waves all morning while we were up on the cliffs watching the birds.

Garden

Some people have been asking about my garden so here are a few pictures.

This is the new bed which Pete started digging for me at the bottom of our front lawn. I have planted it with some broom and rowan seedlings and various hebes grown from cuttings, with some sweet williams in between.

The first bed I dug at the front of the house.

The bed under our bedroom window which I enlarged this spring.

The first rockery which John helped build.
Last Saturday was the Stanley horticultural society's gearden competition for flower gardens and polytunnels and Simon entered mine. I won first prize for my flower garden (although there were only 4 entries) and the judges were particularly impressed with the rockery.

I also won first prize for my polytunnel by default as it was the only one entered!

Simon has also entered my vegetable garden into the competition but they are not judged until 6th March so I have a bit of time to tidy up. This is part of the new patch which I have cultivated this season.

A few photos

People have been asking "where are the pictures?" so here are a few.
This pair of upland geese and their goslings were taken on a small pond near Surf Bay in mid November. The male is the white one.

For a short time in spring the ground in some places is carpeted with these pale maidens - the national flower of the Falkland Islands.

I arrived in UK early in the morning on November 21st and was met by Hannah at Brize Norton. This happened to be the day of "Wilkie Christmas" so all the family were gathered at Hannah and Simon's house to celebrate and I somehow managed to stay awake!

Of course I have to include some pictures of my new grandson Benjamin.

I really enjoyed getting to know him.

Who says babies don't smile until they are 6 weeks old?

We are still alive!

Many of you are probably wondering if we have fallen off the edge of the world as it has been so long since I last wrote. This will only be a quick update. I spent a month in UK, mostly staying with Hannah and Simon but visiting Kati most days. I think she appreciated having some extra help and support and I looked after the children for 5 days while she and Rhys had a short break together.
She is still quite poorly with severe depression and anorexia.
It was lovely spending time with all the grandchildren, and especially getting to know Ben. I was able to do some babysitting.
My flight back to the Falklands on 20th Dec was eventually confirmed and then 2 days before I was due to leave the air line which was subcontracted to do the military flights went into liquidation! However a replacement was found and with many delays, including 14 hours on Ascension Island, I got back here on 22nd.
Simon had done a great job keeping my garden going but there was plenty to catch up with when I got home. Christmas cards and letters are still in the to do list.
On Christmas Day we helped serving a meal for some of the Zimbabwian deminers who are working here at present. Several of them regularly come to our church which is encouraging for us.
Pete and Niki arrived on Boxing Day and we had a fantastic 2 weeks with them, getting out and about quite a lot and seeing more fantastic wildlife.
Since they left I have been covering for the district nurse while she has been on holiday so have been at work most days. I handed back to her this morning. Tomorrow is a day off and then I start work on the ward again on Wednesday.
Our most exciting news is that Hannah, Simon and Ben are coming to visit us, arriving on February 11th and we are looking forward to showing them some of the wildlife here.
I really will try to post some photos soon. If I can remember how!