Lovedean - Friday and Saturday (wasps, Waterlooville)

Friday 27 July 2018

On Friday we couldn't plan too much as we had been trying to cope with a huge wasps nest next to one of the bedrooms, which was going to be removed.  We're dealing here with the European wasp, which is a very aggressive creature, and I am also very allergic to wasp stings, so I was pleased that someone was going to turn up to eliminate them. The pest control man arrived at 10 am and told us what the procedure was and we stayed happily indoors....  Even he didn't get close to the nest, although he was clad in protective gear.  I must say, I was glad to see the last of them, because the had been coming indoors as well and resided in the hallway and one of the spare bedrooms.

The rest of the day we kept quiet, but after dinner I felt the need to go outside again, so I went for an hour long walk in the neighbourhood.  I had a few caches in mind that I would like to look for, so all was well.  It was still one of those balmy nights and very pleasant to be out.  The 'lanes' I walked through were really not much more than a one-lane track and dirt roads, lined with bushes and with so many blackberry bushes, that I wished they would ripen sooner.  A few of them, growing in a sunny area, had ripe berries on them, which I picked, but the more shaded ones were in various stages of ripening.  Some had flower petals left, others were light to dark green and red, on the way to their black colour.  All in all it was such a lovely, real English, landscape.

Lanes lined with fern and blackberry bushes

an unknown berry (they had the colour of blueberries,
but not the specific shape and weren't ripe to eat)

Tagdell Lane

street sign like you see them in the country

The local pub: The Bird in Hand

And I found two of the three caches that I looked for.  The first one had probably gone with the removal of fallen trees, the second one was a very sneaky hide and the cache name had a lot to do with it.  The third one, next to the pub (and the name of the cache linked to it), was an quick find and I was home before dark.

#1978 - Ant and Deck in 'G' (cache)

#1979 - ...Is Worth Two In The Bush (cache)

Saturday 28 July 2018

As the weather was still holding, but only just, Wim wanted to go and look around Waterlooville. We had a few drops of rain on the way and a heavy shower upon arrival, but it soon cleared up again and the rest of the day stayed dry.  If we had wanted to see an idyllic English town we were surely disappointed.  Waterlooville is not much more than any ordinary town.  Luckily I had downloaded a few caches on my phone, so, after getting some groceries at Sainsbury's, in the hope that the rain would clear, which it did, we just started walking.

Three caches eluded us, two we found:

#1980 - Church Micro 813...Waterlooville - St George (cache)

The little black 'dot' on the park bench

#1981 - Elizabeth Sneaky (cache)

This one was also one of those nasty nanos and I happened to drop it in the leaflitter.  Even with my magnetic stick it took me forever to retrieve it.  Wim wondered what people would think about me on my knees in front of a park bench...... ;-)

After a three hour walk in the heat we were ready to go home, and as I had discovered this great pub almost next door we decided to try it out.  What a great place it was.  I ordered an espresso first and Wim a large cider, necessary to recuperate from the walk.  I took a sip of his cider, which was really nice, but I wanted to try something new and since I had never tried a Guinness this was the moment to do so.  And..... I liked it!  Like it?  Loved it is a better word.  What a lovely, creamy type of beer.