The overall feeling for this month was that of warmth, in particular, very warm nights and they were a complete delight. Yes, it tells us that all sorts of systems are being altered from the effects of climate breakdown and we do all need to do our best to help mitigate the disasters which are being felt now, in many places all over the world. Floods, droughts and wildfires in our own country are showing us clearly that we are not doing enough. Read More
The MET described this May as ‘a month of two halves’, summing it up perfectly. The first half was a continuation of April, more wet and windy days, heavy flooding and cold nights, with early morning frosts still present. And then suddenly it was hot, reaching record breaking temperatures in the last week of the month. Read More
April is definitely the cruellest of months. We were gifted 3 delicious hot and sunny days. Fooled into thinking we’d got through the worst of the wet and the cold, we all sighed with relief and took off a few layers. And then the most cruel of winds came howling around the corner – bitter, brutal and relentless. Read More
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.
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.
Sitting out at the top of the field on a damp morning – and there were many – several colours stood out in the mist. The beautiful lilac of the Artichoke flowerheads, we had so many this year we couldn’t eat them all or give them away, but the plus side is thatwe were able to enjoy the colour and pattern of the heads, adorning the vegetable patch.
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What a month of contrasts. The UK weather brought downpours that caused flooding and power cuts but also burning suns wildfires and above average hours of sunshine. The trees were bowed down, heavy with fruit, we had daily supplies of warm, red tomatoes, bags of salad and giant leaves on the Basil plants – such generosity and abundance of food – and then the parting of the Swallows.
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By the middle of the month the field looked as if it was September, dry and bleached and crisp underfoot. We did not experience the full heatwave on The Lizard, compared to the South East and other areas of Britain. We had rain, (of course), lots of sporadic outbursts of gentle rain, which meant the land was never completely rock hard and so when the heavier rains arrived there was no run off from the surrounding fields and the water was absorbed by the plants and trees.
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Early in the month, greeted by pale blue skies, the sun shining, the birds singing their hearts out and still there were frosts on the ground up in the higher part of the field. Inspite of lovely warm days, the chill hangs around and you only have to step out of the sun, to know that the Winter jumpers can’t be packed away yet.
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April brought an abundance of events, politics, weather and growth – but not the sort advocated by the chancellor Rachel Reeves! Our moods were like yoyos, swinging between complete despair at yet more idiot government policies mixed with the uplifting sights of a glorious Spring bringing such hope and beauty and food from the hedgerows to the fields.
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