Coventry in Bloom

Coventry is officially gold standard after winning a top award in the Heart of England in Bloom competition. The city was named the best in category in the Large City section as well as winning a gold certificate. 

The competition is a  celebration of  the appearance of parks, floral displays and gardens as well as to the efforts of volunteers and their efforts to improve their communities. Kudos for all the hard work in the city and its gardens large and small, and also to the University of Warwick for being voted the best in the Midlands.

It held onto the top spot in the Sunday Times University Guide for the 11th year in a row. They also come in at 7th in the national rankings. It will be a nice surprise for the Freshers registering this week.

The Sky Blues did it at last. Ward's 15th-minute penalty defeat fourth-placed QPR at the Coca-Cola Championship. I was walking towards the Arena when a large group of fully-attired supporters came out of the pub, heading the same way. I suddenly realised that I was wearing a blue/white stripe top (see above), the colours of the Club. Man, what a coincidence.

Yesterday, I made lasagne for dinner/breaking of fast. I'm pleased that it turned out ok because this is the first time I am using non-soaked sheets. Today, I'm making a traditional Malay cuisine, Nasi Lemak with prawn sambal. Kevin doesn't like prawns, he's having the rice with a chicken butter curry. I'm also making a tomato and lentil soup, with my home-grown tomatoes. Bonn Appetit.

This lovely sunny morning we made an early visit to the Reserve. We got big surprise cos the car park was full and it's only 10am. There's a private party for the Trust. Hey, where's my invite???

We went through the woods and the smell of damp and rot was overwhelming. And tada, my first Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria). It was so strikingly beautiful underneath the canopy of birch. Whatever has eaten it, hopefully will have a good time cos it has hallucinogenic properties. :-).

I also spotted my first Snipe (Gallinago gallinago). We'd just stepped into the hide when it flew on to the wet grassland below us. A really well-camouflaged wader with long beak. Very odd-looking.