Finally a break in all the rain. This December has been wetter than any I can remember, but today we've had a few hours of blue sky.
Over the last ten days the Cych has come over its banks three or four times, but so far the floodwater has mostly found its way back to the river. Taking a walk along the river this morning it was striking to see how much has been changed by the force of the water; tree boughs ripped clean off, log dams shifted and sections of bank eaten away.
It was good to see the sun, if only for an hour or two, and to see what has to be the first sign that spring's on the way. In places the soil has been scoured away by the floodwater to reveal clumps of snowdrop bulbs, each with a spike of green.
Back home I've been bringing in more wood for the fire, which is now a more time-consuming chore because each bit has to be checked for uninvited guests. On Christmas Day I brought a basketful of wood in and soon after we were chasing a wasp around the kitchen.
Drowsy at first, it was soon fully awake and ready for a fight. After a chase from room to room I caught it with a glass and took it out to the wood shed.
A second wasp turned up an hour or so later, but by then I was too busy with turkey and roast potatoes to go hunting. It turned up dead in the sink when the time came for washing up.
Now each log is getting the once over. I think it's better for both us and them that their sleep remains undisturbed.
For the first time in weeks it was quiet when I went out to the dustbin this morning. Nothing happening on the far side of the hedge, so presumably every scrap of apple has now been eaten.
Over the hedge opposite our back door there's an apple tree in our neighbour's garden and this year she left the crop untouched. At first blackbirds came to eat the fruit while it was still in the banches, but as time has gone on it has dropped to the ground and they've been spending all day, every day, feasting at ground level.
I've enjoyed hearing the sounds of them clucking to one another and rustling about in amongst the fallen leaves has been. Though it's been frustrating not to be able to see the party - the hedge is dense, dark Leylandii.
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| Photo: Adam Kumiszcza |
Then last week the change in the weather brought fieldfares to us for the first time and they joined the action. For the last few days the rustling and clucking stepped up a gear, but now all's quiet; have they eaten the lot?
Off on a bit of a tangent, I have to say that the latest State of the UK's Birds report makes depressing reading. It makes me feel ancient that species that were common-all-garden when I first started birdwatching as a child are now under threat.
The RSPB's Dr Mark Eaton says of the report "many of the birds we're referring to aren't rare and don't occur in
remote locations... they are ones you used to see while
walking the dog or enjoying a family picnic". We're all the poorer for allowing the change to go unchecked.
