HPB Merlewood

Preparations for our first few nights away this year took way longer than I expected, but to be honest it didn’t matter as from around 10am it didn’t stop raining. We had already decided not to set off until after lunch as the forecast looked dire and with nowhere to shelter - hides, restaurants or pubs - it seemed silly to set off early as we couldn’t check in until 3.30pm. 
This week we are staying at HPB Merlewood which is near Grange-over-Sands. It was actually my parents booking and we were going to drive them up and stay in the 2-bed cottage, but as this is not allowed and my Dad is not really up to a holiday, they said we could have it. It’s a great base to go to some good birding locations, but we will have to see what the weather does as it’s not looking too clever at the moment. 
Today’s blip is a quick phone shot of the terraced gardens outside our cottage. So far I have seen blackbirds, dunnock, robins, blue tits in the nest box and a female blackcap so at least I have something to watch if it rains all day tomorrow as forecast! Fingers crossed we get a few drier days than today - the drive up was awful with all the spray on the motorway.