Windermere - quest for Bownessie

At just over 11 miles (18 km) long, Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. It was formed after the retreat of ice at the end of the last Ice Age.

Aerial  picture of Windermere

Internet picture source here

There are a number of reports over the years of a large aquatic animal (possible prehistoric) that inhabits the lake. The Windermere creature has been named Bownessie, hybridising the name of a village on Windermere (Bowness) and Nessie (the Loch Ness Monster of Scotland). A recent report (with photograph) prompted me to spend a few hours kayaking around Windermere today, to see what I could find...

A recent photograph of Bownessie. 

Read the full report in the Daily Telegraph here.

Looking north up Windermere through the channel between 

Belle Isle (right) and the west shore of Windermere

Windermere is a very popular place for boating and 

water leisure activities of many kinds

But who wants to be a tourist...

And who wants to be a millionaire...
 

When I can paddle off in my own little boat with perfect freedom...

...quietly, close to the banks of the islands,

sliding under the overhanging trees  in shallow water

watching the wildlife...

 ...and choose my own little island to pull ashore 
to brew a pot of tea with a picnic lunch...

Provided that it is not right underneath the Cormorant colony!


So, did I find Bownessie? No.
Not this time...

Nigella's Kitchen

There is no doubt that domestic goddess Nigella Lawson is one of Britain's most popular television celebrity chefs. Personally, I have made a number of culinary choices under her influence.

Nigella Lawson slaving in her kitchen

I study her cookery programmes avidly, and have picked up a number of tips. I visited my favourite kitchen hardware shop (Dolings in Barrow-in-Furness) and asked for "one of those things that Nigella uses in her TV show". The kind manageress immediately found what I was looking for: it's called a mezzaluna . 

 Nigella shows off her... errm, her mezzaluna

Then a friend told me that in order for it to work properly, I needed a special mezzaluna board. This is like a normal chopping board, but has the centre chiselled out to make a depression corresponding to the radius of the mezzaluna. I searched in Amazon and was delighted to find that Nigella has created her very own board which I immediately bought, and it was delivered today.

My very own mezzaluna and mezzaluna board

direct from Nigella's kitchen (it says so on the box).

Now I shall cook like Nigella.

Nigella Lawson pours herself a drink...

...before taking a well-earned break

after slaving over a hot stove all day

(Pictures of Nigella Lawson in this post are from the internet)

There is a demonstration (not by Nigella) 
of how to use a mezzaluna in the clip below

Thirlmere

Thirlmere is a reservoir that was created in 1889 by flooding a valley to merge two smaller lakes into one in order to supply drinking water to Manchester. Two villages were "drowned" in the process. I decided to explore the lake by kayak on a mild, calm, February day.

Thirlmere is 3.5 miles long. 

I launched some somewhere below the bush in the foreground 

and paddled to the far end of the lake, passing the small islands.

For internet picture source click here

I launch at dawn while patchy fog-banks 

still enshroud parts of the lake

The fog-banks give a mysterious look to the lake...

...and some ethereal scenes.

A swollen beck pours from the fell into Thirlmere

Reaching the head of Thirlmere

I pull ashore for a snack 

before the 3-mile paddle back

After lunch the fog has lifted enough 

to reveal the summit of Helvellyn,

England's second highest mountain

By mid-afternoon the fog has gone and 

sunshine through the cumulus  clouds

illuminates the surrounding mountains

You can read more about Thirlmere here

Catkins

Hazel catkins in late winter sunshine

at Roudsea Woods and Mosses National Nature Reserve

Imbolc, Askam and Badger

Imbolc is the festival that falls half-way between the Winter Solstice (Yule) and the Spring Equinox (Ostara). Imbolc has existed for centuries until it was renamed Candlemas by the Christians. Traditionally it is celebrated on 1-2 February but, as usual with these festivals, nobody minds if the celebrations are extended a few days on either side.

Imbolc is not Spring, but it may be the herald of Spring. We may expect to see the first catkins dangling in thin sunshine, and the first snowdrops in bloom. 

Above all, it marks a noticeable lengthening of the daylight, the time when thoughts turn to cleaning agricultural tools, sewing early seeds and checking if the pregnant ewes are safely through the worst of winter.

This year I was honoured to have my Australian 

friend and fellow blogger Badger*, 

(who presently lives in Vienna)

visit me in Maalie Court, Askam-in-Furness,

to share the Imbolc Festivities.

One of our Imbolc celebratory suppers.

Badger is speechless with amazement that an Englishman

can cook such an appetising looking pike pie

The foreshore of Askam-in-Furness is dominated by

salt marsh, where boats are hauled up 

into the creeks for the winter;

Or simply left to die.

Badger takes a stroll around the salt-marsh...

 ...and takes some 'arty-farty' pictures

of decaying boats

 

 Badger steers us into the Queens Arms pub

for an Imbolc pint of Cumbria Ale.

Or was it two?

I find the first Snowdrops of the year in to time

to mark the Festival of Imbolc

A Very Happy Imbolc

to all my Readers

You may light any candle stubs left over from Yuletide 

to keep the Ghosties away

*You may discover more about Badger and his blog here

The Piel Triangle

The stretch of water between Walney Island and the Furness Peninsula of the Cumbria Mainland is subject to fast-flowing tidal currents as the huge volume of water from Morecambe Bay surges through it during the flood and ebb tides. There is one particular area at the mouth of the channel, known as the Piel Triangle, where the currents and tide rips can be particularly ferocious during the highest tides and is referred to by some locals as the Devil's Cauldron.

Morecambe bay and the Furness Peninsula showing the location of the 

Piel Triangle at the mouth of the Walney Channel

The dreaded Piel Triangle lies at the mouth of the Walney Channel 
and encloses the water between three islands. 

 Piel Island from Foulney Island. 
The channel looks benign enough at low tide. 

Piel Castle (at the left end) was built in 1212 when King John allowed 

the monks to store provisions there (including gunpowder, it is said).

 
Roa Island from Foulney Island. 
The lifeboat station is testimony to the 
reputation of the Piel Triangle. 
Coastguard cottages catch the afternoon winter sunlight. 

During a fine settled (though cold) period of weather I
was tempted to paddle out into the Piel Triangle in my FeelFree Nomad Kayak 
and pit my skills against whatever the dreaded Cauldron could throw at me.

Ready to launch from the slipway on Roa Island

Venturing out into the centre of the Piel Triangle, 

the sea seems calm enough during slack water at high tide.

Nudging closer to a channel marker buoy, 
with Piel Castle in the background, 
the ebb flow started almost without warning.
I found myself having to paddle vigorously to make small headway


Eventually I found refuge in the stiller backwater 
towards the old coastguard station 
and coastguard cottages on Roa island

Vaga Luna - Lovely Moon

Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto and moon

Illmitz, Burgenland

At the Summer Solstice 2010

Click on the arrow to hear Cecilia Bartoli singing Vaga Luna by Bellini

Vaga luna, che inargenti
queste rive e questi fiori
ed inspiri agli elementi
il linguaggio dell'amor;
testimonio or sei tu sola
del mio fervido desir,
ed a lei che m'innamora
conta i palpiti e i sospir.

Lovely moon, you who shed silver light
On these shores and on these flowers
And breathe the language
Of love to the elements,
You are now the sole witness
Of my ardent longing,
And can recount my throbs and sighs
To her who fills me with love.