♫My love is your love♫

I switched on the tv and there was back-to-back of Whitney Houston’s on. I continued on doing whatever I was doing, singing along to some of the best ballads ever sung. Then I looked up when the above song was on and saw the headlines…Oh my god, Whitney Houston had died. I couldn’t believe what I was reading coming across the tv screen. I quickly changed to BBC News and there it was. I changed back to the music channel and sat there stunned, with her songs enveloping me. ♫I want to dance with somebody. I will always love you, How will I know, The greatest love of all, Where do broke hearts go, It’s not right but it’s ok, One moment in time, So emotional, Didn’t we almost have it all…♫

It was so tragic. Such an incredible talent. Her sudden death was unbelievable I know. But I wasn’t entirely surprised because there was news that she’d not been well and was still battling her demons. What a waste. This posting is a tribute for a wonderful entertainer. May she rest in peace and may we let her memory lay in peace.

♫If I should die this very day
Don't cry, 'cause on Earth we weren't meant to stay
And no matter what the people say
I'll be waiting for you after the judgment day
'Cause your love is my love
And my love is your love♫

Remember the last post where I mentioned about wanting new feathered friends to come to my garden party? My wishes came true. Not entirely, but beggars can’t be choosers. We were in the driveway when Babe spotted these beauties sunbathing on the tree-top in our garden. It was a flock of Fieldfares and hang-on, a Redwing. Man… I was so please that they doing a stop-over. Now, for them to start feeding in the garden will be a bonus.

"Sweet bird!  thy bow'r is ever green,
Thy sky is ever clear;
thou hast no sorrow in thy song,
No winter in thy year."
~John Logan,  1748 - 1788~

This weekend we decided to brave the icy conditions and drove to Bradgate Park on a sunny, freezing, frosty day. Just look at these stunning winter landscape. It was as if we were in a winter wonderland. Mist hovering over snow-covered valleys burned away as the sun shone, giving the surroundings an almost ethereal feel, in the weak winter sunlight. River Lin which flowed through the park was frozen solid. All the natives were on the bank and often running towards the visitors begging for food.

♫One moment in time♫

Snow had blanketed and transformed the park sparkly white. It was breathtakingly beautiful. And it was definitely one of those afternoons where we’d to keep on moving or we might just freeze on the spot. Babe kept reminding me to watch my steps because of the icy conditions. Guess what? One minute, I was busy admiring my surroundings and the next, I was on my knee. Ouch…ouch I’d slipped and bruised my knee. The craziest thing was that I’d used my left gloved hand to cushion my fall and my right hand still clutching my camera. Priorities eh…

♫It’s not right but it’s ok♫

We continued walking because I don’t think I’d a bad fall. It was quite embarrassing actually because there were hundreds of people and I was the only one that slipped!!! There wasn’t many deer about. The ones we spotted were feeding in the undergrowth on the hillside. I think most  of the herd had ventured further into the forested hills to escape the snow and to search for food. Near the ruins, we saw this beauty flew in and started feeding. We sat on a bench and our cameras started clicking away.

Then it was a very slow walk back to the car. I don’t want to be flat on my backside again. We spotted a flock of ducks being fed by the entrance. And there he was, my favourite widgeon among the mallards. I’d brought some bread with me and took the opportunity to feed them. It was lovely to see him survived the cold winter.

This week I took the bus a few times to work and I will most probably be doing the same for the next few weeks. Everyday we encountered 3 major road-works on the way to work, a headache when waiting at temporary traffic lights. There was one at Old Church Road which thankfully had just been completed. The next 2 were around the Ricoh Stadium and on the Hollyhead road. These were part of the package of improvements aimed at sprucing up Coventry in time for welcoming the world to the Olympic football matches. We’d to leave earlier and earlier and it was at the same time if I took the bus. Taking the bus was also much, much cheaper. It was only 80p, saved wear and tear on the car and Babe have more time to rest. 

♫Million Dollar Bill♫

At work, I attended the first session of Encore, a search platform/new discovery tool on the library catalogue. The library had purchased this many moons ago and I’d attended a few workshops run by other university libraries. It was going to be a soft introduction before the main launch after the Easter break. To be honest, spending Friday afternoon testing and learning something new was quite hard to absorb. We’d a lot of questions and luckily we’d ample time to play and get used to it.   

♫I Learned from the best♫

Encore is good for keyword searching of broad concepts. Built on Web Services Architecture, it provided a platform that allows for content flexibility and streams information from article sources in real-time. It is like Google - just one box to enter your search in. From this "one box"  users can discover faceted search, advanced relevancy ranking, peer-reviewed articles, recently added books on subjects selected and tag clouds. It does sound amazing  and I really need to familiarise myself, ASAP!!!

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to ♫Dance with somebody♫ who happens  to be my lovely niece, Emil, on her birthday.I hoped she’d a wonderful time. ♫I will always love you♫.