Thursday 28th June 2012
Thursday 26th July 2012

Church Hall
10.00 am – 12 noon

Cakes, Bric-a-Brac, Produce, Raffle
Entrance 50p to include tea/coffee and biscuits

Bric-a-Brac & Books urgently required for Coffee Mornings.

As I arrived back home that same morning a Mistle Thrush was perched on the electric wires across the garden singing beautifully.  Celandine began to fill the dyke sides with its yellow star shaped flowers.  By the third week of March the first of the small Tortoiseshell butterflies could be seen feeding on the dandelions along the roadside.  The early flowering cherry sprang into blossom along with the yellow Forsythia.  I heard my first Chiff Chaff singing along the Roman bank, a spring migrant. 

On the foggy morning of March 22nd whilst out walking I could just see two green Sandpiper flying across a field verified by their call.  The last few days of March saw the first Cowslip, Primrose, wild Strawberry, Blackthorn blossom and Common Scurvy grass begin to flower, all welcome spring flowers.  This made for the first of the Peacock and female Orange Tip butterflies to appear.

April took the place of March for being the month of many weathers with rain, wind, snow and frost.  But it was on Easter Sunday, (April 8th), that I saw my first Swallow of the year sitting on the electric wires near the house, a welcome summer visitor.  Common Daisy began to spring up in my lawn whilst in the garden itself the nodding heads of my Fritillaries burst into flower like tiny lanterns.  The wet weather brought out black slugs, at times the roads were  covered with them.  Also the first of the Brown Lipped snail could be seen with its pretty yellow and brown shell.  The Buzzard could still be seen on the brighter days soaring and circling in the sky. 

Mid April saw my Japonica burst into flower, one red and the other salmon pink.  Due to the cold weather the daffodils seemed to last longer, followed by the Narcissi and Cheerfulness, a flower not seen so much these days, a flower that I can remember my dad loved so many years ago, and one that I still have in my own garden.  On the warmer days of April the first of the worker bees could be seen collecting pollen from the white dead nettle along with hoverfly on the dandelion heads.

The trees at last, after a slow start, put on their shades of green as they began to leaf with the first sticky buds of the horse chestnut bursting open.  The pair of Reed Bunting that has been feeding from my bird table and seed feeder all through March into April, has now been joined by another male.  Rather unusual birds to be feeding in this way but very nice to see.  Late April saw the garlic mustard begin to flower beneath the hedge bottoms, otherwise known as Jack by the Hedge because of its location.  Its leaves smell or garlic when bruised and can be used as a substitute for garlic in salads and sauces.

Another plant that began to flower was the Ground Ivy, again a plant that likes hedge bottoms and wooded areas, once known as Ale hoof as it was used to give a bitter taste to beer.  So, nature provided us with all kinds of uses before the modern age.

A view of the old bakery building with the Bell public house to the right. The Bell Inn was demolished in the mid 1950s. The A52 was previously the A154. The sign has disappeared.

The Travellers Rest Cafe

Glenn and Debbie Marsh moved to Chapel St Leonards, on the east coast of Lincolnshire, in 1984 from Nottingham, where Glenn was as a steeplejack working on chimneys all over the country. Since living here he has worked in the building trade. One of his biggest jobs was a contract to work on the sea defences. Debbie has had various jobs working in the catering undustry.

Glenn taking it easy outside the Cafe

Previous to owning the Travellers Rest, Glenn and Debbie ran a caravan site in Anderby Creek, along the coast north of Skegness, for 6 years before deciding they would like a change.

Their thoughts were focussed on Derbyshire when their attention was drawn to a cafe premises for sale in the village of Leverton. They bought it and took over in November 2010. They were joined in 2011 by their daughter and her partner together with the grandchildren. They have all loved their move to the village of Leverton, where they find the people are so friendly, and indeed, have made many new friends here.

Through hard work and excellent cooking and catering skills they now have a very good local cafe trade while also carrying out deliveries to farms and vegetable packing stations in the village and beyond.   Passing trade, too, is excellent.

If you are travelling to the east coast for a well earned holiday break, or merely passing through the area, the Travellers Rest can be found about 7 miles north of the town of Boston on the A52 road to the holiday resort of Skegness. Take a 'Travellers Rest' (pardon the pun) and call in to choose from a wide variety of home cooked food served with care, and attention to detail.

You will be made very welcome.

 An unusual visitor,  but welcome  nonenonetheless

Thursday 26th April 2012
Thursday 31st May 2012

Church Hall
10.00 am – 12 noon

Cakes, Bric-a-Brac, Produce, Raffle
Entrance 50p to include tea/coffee and biscuits

Bric-a-Brac & Books urgently required for Coffee Mornings.
 

At midday on January 10th whilst stood on the sea bank top I watched a Peregrine chasing the Rooks from out of the willow tree tops near the Leverton pumping station causing great commotion. 

Whilst walking along the Roman bank on January 16th I came across a pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker, one of which was drumming quite happily on a tree trunk.  Mid January saw the Aconites, Snowdrops and the first Crocus come into flower, a welcome winter sight brightening up the dullest of days.  Along the roadsides Dandelion and Cow Parsley began to flower.  By the third week of January both Elder and Hawthorn were in full leaf in places along the shady side of the Roman bank.  At the end of January whilst walking along the Roman bank near the Goole pit I heard and saw a Green Woodpecker in the trees, this being the first time I had seen one in this area.

On the 2nd February ,with a dusting of snow and a sharp frost, I watched a whirlwind of snow across a bare field.  Something I had not seen before except for dust or debris, later to be a bad omen as it was followed by heavy snow with severe frosts down to -16.  This made for several Mistle Thrush, otherwise known as Storm Thrush, to come into the garden to glean the last remaining berries from my Cotoneaster.  Three Buzzards could be seen along the Roman bank soaring and circling as they hunted for prey. 

Whilst walking along the marsh bank on a bright, frosty, sunny morning the silence was suddenly broken by Skylark singing, a wonderful sound to hear.  Two days later, early morning, whilst walking alongside the Dovecote drain two Jack Snipe suddenly flew up and away with their familiar zigzag flight.  At 5.30 am on the morning of the 25th February I was woken by the call of a Tawny Owl near to the house and it continued for quite a while hoping to attract a mate.  The following morning whilst walking down to the marsh around a thousand plus Pink Footed Geese flew overhead in large skeins of two to three hundred at a time gaggling as they went, no doubt the last to leave from across Norfolk heading to breed in Iceland and the Arctic Tundra.  The same morning four Mute Swans flew across the marsh. 

Later around mid afternoon I saw a female Hen Harrier hunting across the fields and to my surprise it flew very low straight towards me before it realise I was there and flew hurriedly away.  I got a very close up view as you would with a Barn Owl hunting a dyke side, a very wonderful experience.

There was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, a small boy spoke up. "Sin," he said. 

As I'm lying here in bed,

This tiny little Prayer

Keeps running through my head.

God bless all my family

Wherever they may be,

Keep them warm

And safe from harm

For they're so close to me.

And God, there is one more thing

I wish that you could do;

Hope you don't mind me asking,

Please bless my computer, too.

Now I know that it's unusual

To bless a motherboard,

But listen just a second

While I explain it to you, Lord.

You see, that little metal box

Holds more than odds and ends,

Inside those small compartments

Rest so many of my friends.

I know so much about them

By the kindness that they give,

And this little scrap of metal

Takes me into where they live.

By faith is how I know them

Much the same as you.

We share in what life brings us

And from that our friendships grew.

Please take an extra minute

From your duties up above,

To bless those in my address book

That's filled with so much love.

Wherever else this prayer may reach

To each and every friend,

Bless each e-mail inbox

And each person who hits 'send'.

When you update your Heavenly list

On your own Great CD-ROM,

Bless everyone who says this prayer

Sent up to God.Com.

Amen.

Anonymous