Worcester Arts Trail

Bank holidays are normally pretty good for bread consumption - plenty of people dropping in to see us no matter what the weather, but this year may be busier than normal as some of the artists here are inviting people in as part of the first ever Worcestershire Arts Trail which is on now until the end of bank holiday Monday.

To celebrate the start of the trail Stuart Fletcher and his team in Top Glass are 'ringing the changes' with new ornaments on the tree outside his workshop in the courtyard.  These glass bells work well inside and outside and can have clangers in or not, whatever you fancy!

We have local artist Ian Ridley here too for this period (in the meeting room) - he has some lovely landscapes on sale, and he does smile so don't worry about the photo!

Out on the ponds - the 2011 hatch are out and about, they really enjoyed their first swim and are now proving difficult to round up and put away again.  The only fear at the moment is that the moorhens attack them - they are still hatching their own chicks and are being very aggressive!

The Big Dog!

We had lots of dogs her this weekend and one "Big Dog" for our charity event in aid of the Guide Dogs for the Blind.  "GoWalkies" was really well supported with both people and dogs, on line and on foot.  

This is Paddy (the Big Dog) who is the Go Walkies Mascot alongside  a couple well prepared walkers

We were a bit worried about pandemonium around the ponds with all these dogs arriving but they were all really well behaved as they went off for their 3 mile circular walk taking them up to Hanbury Church and through some of the Hanbury Hall park lands.   

There were some guide dog puppies in training as well as working guides dogs around but also a good selection of pets of all sizes and shapes.  It was very windy but fortunately dry - it was however too windy for the normal guide dog marquee so they used the forest school shelter to set up their merchandise.

It has not been used for this before!

The event raised about £1,400 for the charity and was lovely to run - a big thanks to all the guide dog helpers and participants for making it such an interesting day - it is not often we get do see such a lot of canines under control!

Other news around the centre - 

No sign of Henry the Peregrine Falcon that went missing a few weeks ago, we now fear that we will not see him again sadly.  The Falconers are still sad about this and hope he is surviving in the wild.  They do have some new birds including a Lanner Falcon which will start to work soon.  

The new Muscovey ducks that were given a home here when their owner died recently have settled in and are now venturing off the islands a bit - they were so fat when they came that they could hardly walk - they were clearly not having to do enough for their corn!  They have lost a bit now but still "waddle"!

The 2011 hatch are progressing well and should be out of their pen in the next couple weeks - it is alway fun to watch them take their first proper swim!

Coming up this bank holiday weekend 6 of the Jinney Ring artist studios are participating in the Worcestershire Arts Trail which starts Friday and runs over the bank holiday weekend. 

As always lots going on! 

The 2011 hatch

The chickens have moved on to a new home this weekend so the new ducklings are now out in the big pen.  It is a big world for them at the moment and most of them are exploring with vigour, and have had their first swim.

There is one bird missing from the garden at the moment - Henry the Perigrin Falcon is missing - he went for a extra-curricular flight over a week ago during a flying demonstration and has not returned - the falconers are very worried about him as he was not bred to survive in the wild.

The news from the craft centre is that that Digital Wizardry the graphic design craft unit have moved on (to bigger premises, as they had outgrown the unit) and a new soap business is setting up.  Jorg Muschner whose new unit is called "The Blue Lemon" is making artisan soaps from natural ingredients.  He is due to open on 1st June but hopes to be making product before that time.

Plenty of visitors dropping in!

As always on a Bank Holiday weekends, this is another hectic one here,  well all except for Friday morning of course, when understandably most people were glued to the TV watching the Royal Wedding.  We did have some visitors in garden while this was going on though - a Canada Goose called in for a cuppa (pond water of course) and a bit of a rest and then a group of 10 cyclists made us their first port of call on their 100 mile journey - they were all making the most of the time off work!

A flying visitor - popped in for a drink before continuing journey

A bacon bap before saddling up again only 80 miles left !

At the Jinney Ring, the staff put out the bunting for the Royal Wedding and then held a High Tea in the restaurant - all very "English" with sandwiches and scones!  Most of those working managed to catch glimpses of the ceremony during the day.

A very "English" afternoon

On Saturday and Sunday we had our own little celebration here with the arrival of "drainpipe duck"'s babies - they started "pipping" on Friday and by Sunday nine out of the eleven eggs had hatched and the ducklings were swimming on the pond.  Mum has now abandoned the drainpipe and is keeping her babies around the pond area.

Proud parents take the ducklings out for their first swim.