Mascot's Queuing for the Tournament Try - outs

I quite like Sarah's suggestion of taking a sack of mascots and switching them over as the mood takes me. So long as I don't get distracted fiddling around with them!

Lucky Dollar

I didn't see any interesting mascots at the poker tournament the other day, just a few people with lucky poker chips. I could do with some "flair" as my table presence is quite unassuming -keeping quiet and playing a tight game.

I put this mascot on trial last night at the weekly pub game:-
If a mascot doesn't cut the mustard then I will try a different one for the next game (it's not as if I have any shortage of supply!)

I thought Lucky Dollar's career was to be shortlived, as, at the 1 hour break I had had no luck and was down to only a handful of chips.

My luck changed significantly, however, after the break and I ended up finishing second, so hopefully this little chap will see me through to Vegas!

Lambley Dumbles

I headed out of the City through St Anns, Mapperley and Woodthorpe. After about 3 miles I reached a footpath across fields which took me to Lambley, passing through the Lambley Dumbles.
I learnt, today, that a dumble is a steep sided, wooded valley created at the end of the last ice age, 10,ooo years ago, by the ice melt forming streams that cut deep into the bedrock. Here's one:-
Lambley was the site of an old orchard:-
I walked through Lambley and continued North Eastwards, away from the City. Lambley:-
As I left Lambley, I walked past the Lambley Reed Pond Nature Reserve:-
I followed a footpath across fields for several more miles to Lowdham:-
The Beast of Lowdham:-
I had lunch in Lowdham and caught a bus back into the City. The dogs milked the passengers for attention, getting lots of oohs and aahs:-

Poker Day

I was at Alea Casino today for the pub poker regional final. 187 players from pubs across the East Midlands. The final eight won seats at the national final to be played at the end of the month and shared a £1,000 prize pool. My team mate went out in 134th place. I made it to the final table (9 players). I eventually became short stacked and so went all in with pocket 4's, flopped a set, but lost on the river to a flush. I came fourth winning a £60 cash prize.

It was a long day - starting at 2 pm and finishing at 9pm. I will have to give the dogs a good walk tomorrow to compensate.

Anish Kapoor Exhibition

I went to the Nottingham Castle Museum to catch this exhibition as it ends this weekend. Admission is only £1 for City residents Tuesday - Friday. I also had a look at their fine arts collection which I had missed on my last visit to the museum.
I stopped at the Nottingham Playhouse on the way home to look at Sky Mirror by the same artist:-

Cotgrave

I drove 8 miles out to Cotgrave Country Park for the start of this 5 hour walk. It's a great park, yet another one that I had never visited before:-
A quick dip in Heron Lake:-
There were quite a few dogs out:-
The park is huge, built on the site of the coal pit. After a circuit of the northern part of the park, I walked through Cotgrave. I had heard that there is a colony of stingless bees that live in this wall, so stopped to have a look. The wall was riddled with holes where they have made their homes, but I guess they are still hibernating:-
On the other side of Cotgrave lies a privately owned forest used for pheasant shoots and timber. I have been here before, but it was more than ten years ago as I didn't have the dogs then. This area has been cleared and replanted since I was last here. The replanting didn't look too successful as there seemed to be a lot of empty tree protection sleeves:-
There are still plenty of trees left though:-
I took a track that led to the small village of Clipston, then headed north across farmland for a couple of miles. There was a group of people out metal detecting in a freshly ploughed field. I had a chat with one of them who showed me their haul, some coins from the 17oo's and a sack tie used when grain was valuable.
The path led me to the disused Grantham canal which took me back into the Country Park:-
The dogs were filthy, so had a wash when I got home - it's only a week since their last wash.

Drying off outside "The Bell":-
No matter how many bins are provided there will always be litter - a woman walked past and dropped this piece of litter:-

Bestwood Country Park

Today's walk was with Diane and Otis. It didn't start too well as Otis went tearing off into a field of horses, it reminded me of the Fenton video. Luckily some joggers spotted him and I managed to catch up with him before he got into the road by the entrance.

The park is built on a former colliery. By the entrance stands the winding house:-
We walked for about a mile through grassland on gentle hillocks and into a wooded area called "Big Wood". We kept Otis on the lead after his escapade but let him off again once we were into the woods:-
We went for lunch at the Horse and Groom in Linby and filled it with labradors. Otis eyeing up my steak and ale pie:-