He’s the one who visits infrequently and always gets scared off and bullied by the blackbirds. He’s quite slim, but very handsome and very, very timid.

Today I saw a much bigger specimen, who I assume is a Mistle Thrush (Turdus Viscivorus). Another very handsome bird, but quite chunky in appearance and  more like the size and shape of a blackbird.

I’d put some windfall apples on the lawn and this thrush was tucking into one. A blackbird, who obviously felt the apple was his, was skirting around the thrush in a threatening way, but having no effect.

He tried it several times, and in several directions, he even brought in reinforcements at one point, but the thrush wasn’t for moving. He just kept on eating his apple.

The blackbird finally tried an all-out attack, head down, beak extended, but still no joy.

So, the Mistle Thrush is bigger and braver than the Song Thrush or perhaps blackbirds are just bullies and won’t really take on someone their own size in any serious way.

So maybe size matters even in the bird world.

Happy New Year!

Summer

Autumn

Winter

It started on the 21st of October when Peter’s computer got infected with a hideous virus, despite all the security features we have installed.

He struggled manfully for about 10 days to fix it himself, but no joy. Finally we called in the professionals and a chap called to take the computer away to be mended.

Needless to say he didn’t ring with an up date when he’d said he would, and we wondered if we would ever see him again. Then as if things weren’t bad enough, my mum passed away on 31.10.09.  Not entirely unexpected as she was almost 90 years old and very frail.

Then on 02.11.09 my dad was evacuated from the nursing home where they had both lived due to severe flooding. They would have been married for 68 years at the end of November.

As she and my dad lived in Scotland the funeral meant a 3 day trip away from home. I don’t travel well. I went by train, a 7 hour journey. The funeral was on 11.11.09 and on my return the computer man was just in the final stages of removing the virus, second attempt.

We were just settling down  and looking forward to a few days of  peace and quiet when we lost our internet connection. It came back intermittently and then a few days later the telephone landline disappeared as well.

Dealing with our service provider was a nightmare and yet more stress. I’m sure everyone has had experience of  Indian call centres. Need I say more?

Finally on 24.11.09 a very nice engineer from BT called and traced the problem to a fault in a box on the local telegraph pole.

At last things were beginning to look up and settle down. (Peter says I like doing things in ‘directions’)

But no, the last straw happened on 16.12.09 when we lost our beloved Dulcie following a long illness.

Between you and me I’ll be glad to see the back of 2009.

It was already almost dark, the temperature had plummeted, and the forecasters had warned us to expect a severe frost.

Yet there he was, regular as clockwork, having a bath before he went to bed, my little robin friend.

I’m surprised he doesn’t freeze to death going to bed with damp feathers, still I expect he knows what he’s doing.

There are certain jobs that have to be done throughout the year which mark a little point in time, and break the year up into smaller pieces like paragraphs and phrases.

Spring is for sowing seeds, planting potatoes and seedlings. Then there is the first harvest, usually asparagus.

The beginning of July is busy with harvesting and freezing peas and broad beans, quickly followed in August by doing the same with the sweetcorn.

Well today I completed another of those tasks, the one that marks the start of winter. I covered my gunnera.

For a plant that looks like such a thug, it is surprisingly tender. I first fell in love with the plant many years ago at a garden centre in North Yorkshire. They had a specimen there that was huge. I knew then that I just had to have one.

However, such a plant is not for a small garden, but as soon as we moved here I bought one.

It was in a pot and quite small and cost something like £7. Now it is enormous, but still needs to be coddled through the frosty nights.

I’ve looked back in my diary and I’m about 3 weeks later covering  than in past years. We’ve had slight frosts but nothing severe, however as it’s forecast to come colder, I thought I’d better make a move.

Dried grass, saved from the summer and old towels weighed down with stones are what I use to protect it.

Looking forward to when I can uncover it again, which is another point in time usually in March.

Yesterday morning we were sat in the kitchen at 11.30 am having a cup of tea. As you can see from the picture the kitchen is a single story construction.

Suddenly a  sparrowhawk swooped in and plucked a poor unsuspecting sparrow from the kitchen roof.

It then landed on the lawn where we were able to get a really good look at it. I’m thinking to myself, “I don’t think I’m going to like this next bit”, but luckily for me (if not the sparrow) it only stayed a few seconds and then flew off.

I’ve seen sparrowhawks in the garden before, but never so close, or for so long and certainly never hunting successfully.

Today I’ve been doing some gardening. Just weeding and general tidying, it’s been a lovely day.

As I was locking the shed I noticed a grey squirrel in the branches above my head. I said hello to him and asked if he’d come for some apples. We still have lots of windfalls.

He skipped through the branches and ran down the trunk of the next tree. Putting his head in a hole he emerged holding a half eaten apple in his mouth, and proceded to nibble away as I watched.

So there you go, squirrels can remember where they’ve hidden their nuts, or at least their apples!

Having said that, we’re enjoying such lovely weather at the moment that it’s really a bonus. Yesterday afternoon we sat in the garden, no coats. It was sunny and warm, and today looks set to be even better. Not bad for late October eh?

The only downside is the dark nights, or perhaps I should say dark tea-times but even they have a  positive.  He’s small, red and very, very cute.

Each evening at dusk, in fact sometimes when it’s almost dark, a robin visits the garden for a bath before he goes to bed.

The bird bath is directly outside the kitchen window so I get a really good view. He splashes around enthusiastically for quite a few minutes and then flies off. I just love him.

There is beauty in the most unexpected places. I was driving to Grimsby yesterday morning, just as I was entering the city centre there were 3 swans flying over the road. What a joy.