My first thought on waking this morning was “The Marmalade Police cars don’t have very impressive sirens.”
No, I’m not sure what it was about either. I think it probably stems from my thoughts on making Epiphany tarts for our Christmas party, and my concerns about not having enough colours of jam to do the job properly. The use of marmalade has crossed my mind, but I have reservations, despite the recipe provided in the link.
There is something wrong, according to my moral conserve compass about mixing jam and marmalade. I’m not sure where this comes from – I’m happy with jam and curd being used together for instance – but I’m conflicted. Where does it end? Bovril? Marmite? Chocolate spread?
Obviously this has resulted in a dream world in which fruit spreads have their own Conserve Constabulary for ensuring that they are used correctly. Or, more tongue-twistingly, its own Jam Gendarmerie.
Yes, I admit it doesn’t sound sane, but dreams are like that.
We were out on the farm today, so things were less exotic for the rest of the day. We saw a Buzzard walking on a ploughed field looking for worms, and a few more Fieldfares in the driveway. Couldn’t get shots of either. Buzzards really don’t measure up to my idea of majestic bird of prey.
Couldn’t get a shot of any bird at all during the morning, but I did manage to answer some emails, have a meeting and test a pork pie.
Finally, just after lunch I snapped a Long-tailed tit. We haven’t seen many this year and I missed some yesterday. It’s not a great shot but it was nice to get one, even if the dirty glass was messing with the autofocus. That was followed by some time with Men in Sheds and a go at emptying the polytunnel.
Long tailed tit at the Ecocentre feeders
Finally, with the fog growing thicker, and swirling with menace, I had one more go before knocking off early. A Wren kept tormenting me by posing in clear view, only to vanish as I zoomed in. We had Starlings, Blue tits, Great tits and Greenfinches, plus a mob of Goldfinches.
Mob of Goldfinches
Finally a small brown bird perched to feed. I zoomed in and took the shot, noticing a tiny red patch on the head. My first thought was Linnet, but I’ve been fooled by red-faced Goldfinches and bad light before. I have seen Linnets around, but not on the bird table, so it’s always likely one may drop in.
However, when I checked the photo I had a pleasant surprise: it’s a Redpoll.
Redpoll on the Ecocentre feeder
It’s not super-rare, but I’ve not seen one on the farm before and I’ve never seen one on a bird table either. All in all it was a good end to the day.
Pingback: One for Tootlepedal | quercuscommunity
I hope to have a redpoll visitor before too long.
Good luck with that.
Loved the dream sequence. Why have jam at all when you can have marmalade? 🙂 Great fog shots.
Thanks Derrick. I love marmalade on toast, including thick cut, thin cut, orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime, ginger, Oxford and Dundee. Really ought to try quince, I suppose.
But show me a jam tart case and I become wary…
Somewhere in my childhood I must have had a bad experience with marmalade disguised as jam.
Gorgeous little birds!! As for marmalade, it has many uses. Just go ahead.
Yes, I think I’m going to open my mind to a panorama of new possibilities regarding marmalade. 🙂
Lovely bird pics. Living in the town where I do I’ve never seen a redpoll before. :D!
Thanks. I’m happy watching common birds, but it’s always nice to see something different.
I like the Redpoll! I like the mob of Goldfinches too!
I do too, though the Goldfinches are a bit unruly. 🙂
Yes – rough and noisy!
🙂
When the police stopped having panda cars, the new ones had a red stripe along each side and we used to call these ‘jam butty cars’… I just mention it out of interest and because I hadn’t thought about it for 40 years until I read your post…
I’d forgotten about that too!
I apologise if they appear in your dreams tonight… or marmalade butty cars… possibly driven by Paddington Bear
I’m not listening, I’m clearing my mind…