Another year is drawing to a close already
Once again time seems to have flown by and suddenly the season of Christmas and a new year are upon us.
I see that this time last year we were having an awful lot of wind and rain.
What a surprise!
At the beginning of this November, wind and rain were here again, this time, in our village, quite dramatically.
Pity the poor essential workers and particularly all those visiting carers.
I have one four times a day and they were tested to their limits.
One had to turn back to exchange her car for her partner’s 4×4 and finally struggled for several miles to arrive here over an hour later.
Another arrived for the lunchtime visit but then found herself stranded for about 2 hours, unable to get out in any direction.
The third one didn’t make it at all but the last one did – just.
It didn’t matter as far I was concerned because they have many more needy clients than I, but it tests even the most ardent of these wonderful people to their limit, who always do their best and travel with wellies stowed away just in case, but not all have access to a 4×4.
The storm wasn’t as bad as the Halloween one that reeked so much havoc two years ago.
But this year there was the added problem that autumn arrived so late that many of the trees were still laden with leaves which choked all the drains.
Then everything went into overdrive with late colour – buttery yellow, glowing red-gold and burnished copper.
That phase didn‘t seem to last long, for many were practically stripped bare by the winds, almost overnight it seemed.
The two rowans in my garden, both laden with berries, one orange the other bright pink, performed beautifully.
The leaves against the one that bears the orange berries glowed even on the dullest of days, whilst those on the other don’t do much but the bright pinkness of its berries make up for it.
As usual, blackbirds are already feasting on the first whilst the others will be left until well into the new year.
Perhaps birds don’t find that pink things taste so good at this time of the year.
I haven’t been able to get out much recently and have only had one or two trips on Genevieve.
The last occasion was at the end of October and I couldn’t help noticing hazels in the hedge at the bottom of Rowden Mill Lane, the leaves of which had been nibbled into intricate lace patterns by some small creatures too tiny for me to see but which are most professional in their craft.
Whether the hazels appreciate this alteration in their leaf structure I don’t know, but only a few branches have been affected per bush and it doesn’t seem to have done much harm to them. With the light behind them, they looked really beautiful.
I think – though I could be wrong – that the little crafters were hazel sawfly larvae, and they seemed to have been busy since early summer when I first noticed them.
Since my outings have been rather rare, I am especially enjoying reports from friends about all that they see.
How about this for things Janie noted for the past week?
There is a dead oak tree in a large field coming out of Milborne Port towards the Purse Caundle turning.
About 20/30 egrets were perched in it one day at the time of the floods and although both of us have often seen these birds in that field in the past, neither of us have ever seen them perched in large numbers in a tree before.
We wondered if they’re a new breed that don’t like getting their feet wet.
When the brook was in full spate by The Trooper, a kingfisher flashed by.
Sky larks were still singing when it wasn’t raining and a flock of fieldfares flew over her head.
Hollies were full of shining berries and she came across quantities of field mushrooms, some of them as big as dinner plates.
We both commented on the number of red admiral butterflies this year, and agreed that they are still finding late flowers in the gardens to feed on.
She described it all to me in detail and I can share her pleasure and excitement.
I also followed the antics of rabbits that another friend watches on a neighbouring lawn.
One morning, an adult and a youngster were quietly breakfasting there when a sparrow hawk, being mobbed by crows, swooped down on them.
She opened the window and it flew off into an apple tree, only to reappear a while later, obviously feeding on something and accompanied this time by a couple
of magpies and crows, presumably hoping for discarded scraps. The following morning, an adult rabbit was out there on its own.
Whether it had to come to look for its offspring or merely come out for a quick breakfast, she couldn’t quite tell.
Now here’s a thing you can bring up during a lull in conversation.
Did you know that the earth is actually spinning a little faster, with the result that time really is passing more quickly?
This is worked out on atomic clocks which are supposed to be accurate to within – I kid you not because scientists say so – ten quadrillionths of a second!! (This deserves two exclamation marks.)
Fortunately it looks as though this time jump isn’t going to affect any of us anytime soon, but we are still a bit to blame because it’s partially caused by climate change.
However, experts still believe it is within normal fluctuations, so that’s all right and I think I can now be excused for saying that time seems to go so fast these days.
Which takes me back to my opening sentence – another year is drawing to a close already.
It’s been rather a strange one again weather wise, with a heat wave in the month of June, quantities of the wet stuff in most of the others and, we are told, above average temperatures.
At least we haven’t had the awful fires they have had in other parts of the world.
Any snow forecast for Christmas do you think? Probably not.
My hope for the coming year is that the world and its people will calm down and be a more peaceful place.
And my hope for all my fellow villagers is that everyone will have a peaceful and very happy Christmas.