Late in the month I sat in the copse at dawn accompanied by a Tawny Owl and a Blackbird. The sun rose, but there was no warmth, the field and hedges were covered with a full white frost. By  nine o’clock, the entire landscape had changed; the sun was warm, the frost had almost disappeared, the Woodpecker was busy at work alongside the chatter of all the latecomers from the world of birds.  There were Wrens, Skylarks, Dunnocks, Robins, Jackdaws, a lonesome Song Thrush and a wheezy Pheasant. As the day moved on it revealed the beauty of a landscape emerging from its winter hibernation, giving a glimpse of all the growth and colour that was about to explode. Read More

,The fields have been awash with the yellow flowers of Daffodils. This brings the yearly sightings of the people carriers and vans lining the lanes delivering the pickers in the early hours of each morning. It is back breaking work, carried out in bitter and harsh weather conditions, and the workers are wrapped in layers of waterproofs, shawls and sometimes blankets. The scenes are eerily reminiscent of Van Gogh’s drawings of the Potato pickers from over 100 years ago.   Read More

It is the 31st of the month and the sun is now setting at 5pm and already the long, dark nights are on the wane. We have ended the month on a beautiful sunny and warm, yes, a warm sun on my face kind of a day.  Newly washed clothes drying on the line – I kid you not. It felt like a gift to end the month in this way, Read More

Difficult to believe I know, but, December was wet, warm and unsettled. Very wet. I have never known the paths in the field to be so muddy, even on the top of the field it was squelchy and ankle deep in mud. Storm Bram arrived on the 8th bringing some more buckets of rain with it.   Read More

The month was mostly warm, humid and wet, with above average temperatures.  Some nights were almost balmy and on Guy Fawkes Night, on the 5th of November it registered fifteen degrees whilst damp and rainy.

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I took a trip out around the field in mid October, to check the lie of the land.  It was a lovely sunny evening, a gentle breeze with a slight chill and several varieties  of birds chirrupping away to each other in the waning light of the day.

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