Warm kness

I made the right decision to deal with the bees yesterday. Today started with a bright cold morning but led into the grey cold day. I did the trailer run first thing. Whilst at the lottie I harvested some second crop Broccoli but I H and I had other fish to fry. We went into Ashby for 11am to see the tractor parade. We stood about in the biting wind on Market Street waiting for the tractors to chug by. After about ten minutes the first of the tractors chugged down the street. The Sunday car drivers must have been kicking themselves for being about Ashby this morning. The tractors had been for a spin, at 20mph, round the district, Twenty odd of them. They came down Market Street the castle end then up Kilwardby street. They went out to Blackfordby, Willesley then back to Bath grounds in Ashby.

Amongst the tractors and modern cars were quite a number of vintage cars. The vintage cars turned off for Bath grounds. Once the "parade" was over we walked round to Bath grounds. It was quite a surprise. All the cars we saw on the street plus a number of other were parked up for viewing. There were Alvis, Jensen Interceptor, Austins, Ford Poplar, Jaguars MKII and some marques I did not recognise. There were stalls and kiddies rides. There were just two bikes in the parade. An late 1930s Indian and a Panther of about the same vintage. Both looked very lived in. After 20 or 30 minutes the tractors arrived in triumph and parked up in review order. We, along with everyone else went for a walk round the tractors. I was drawn to a very nice 1940's Austin recovery truck. There were loads of people there to support the parade. We meet the Lord Mayor of Ashby and had a chat. His Missus, the Lady Mayoress, was the leader of Leicestershire County Council and was the person Miss L spent the evening with when she attended the Green footprints award last year. Miss L had designed the award that was presented. There was no brew van and the we had pretty much seen everything there was so we came away.

H had heard there was an open day at the lake at Albert Villages. We drove over to Albert Village treked through the side was rain to find bunch of people in the marquee, on add 18 Newfoundland dogs. These folks turn out each year and take the dogs swimming. we watched one dog swim out to a dingy with four people in it, grab the painter and tow the boat back to shore against the wind. That was the highlight so back to the car. Since we were less than 30 minutes and I was not yet hungry I decide I would like to see the the Castle at Gresley. At the village of Castle Gresley is the remains of a motte and bailey castle. It is a subtle item in the landscape. It was built about 1190. H and I had a good look round and pondered the landscape in 1200AD. It was very interesting. Sir Nigel Gresley, designer of the Mallard an A4 Pacific steam train which holds the land speed record, is descended from the knight who founded the castle. Sir Nigel is buried in the churchyard at Netherseal, just a few miles from the castle. We took a walk down the nearby lane to find a hamlet by the stream. Very ethereal. History done we went home.

I decided to extract the Honey harvest. I got everything ready, brought in the first super and started the de-cap the comb only to find the honey had granulated or solidified. One cannot extract solidified honey but there is a trick. Granulated honey can be returned to a liquid state. Heat is all that is required to change the state. The trouble is that bees wax melts at about 63 degrees Celsius so the heat has to be gentle. A light bulb is the answer. I got my inspection lamp [60 watt] and put it under two empty supers then stacked the supers of granulated honey on top. I put a lid on the top super and sat back. The gentle heat should loosen the honey but it might take a week or more. I had to clear up without extracting a single frame.

I still had a couple of hours before tea. So what to do? I went over to see my neighbour and harvested his Apple trees. He has some very nice eaters but he does not like Apples. What next? I decided to try out my recent cycling clothing purchases. They are a very nice fit. I pumped up the tyres on teh bike and went for a spin. It was very blustery but the soft shell material kept the cold out. The fit was so good and the clothing did restrict movement. For once my knees were nice and warm which is a comfort and bodes well for the winter. By the time I got home I was sweating freely so I was too warm and I did not even have a hat on. I parked the bike up and got changed in time for tea of locally sourced hogget and vegetables from the lottie. We even got a call from Miss L. We arranged to go and see her next Saturday.