Yesterday was split between the office and a very entertaining business meeting at the Black Olive Cafe at Lee Moor Farm. An exciting new product will be the eventual outcome of the discussions started yesterday, but a more immediate agreement was to hold a New Year’s Eve walk around Lee Moor.
The drive up the A1 was stunning; clean, crisp air, blue skies and a distant view of The Cheviot covered in snow. Days like this are still, for me, amongst the best that Northumberland has and make winter birdwatching so enjoyable. Kestrels were hovering along the roadside, Common Buzzards were soaring and Roe Deer were venturing out from plantation edges. The journey back home was equally stunning; as light levels fell, but the air was still clean and bright, the aforementioned Buzzards were perched in bare trees almost directly below where they’d been soaring a few hours earlier. Rooks and Jackdaws were sitting around in that sinister way that they have and Blackbirds continually flirted with danger as they crossed the A1 at windscreeen height.
Then, back at the office, my task was to deal with the latest batch of Gift Voucher orders. Each order is packaged with a greetings card with artwork by an excellent local artist, and we always try to speak to each person who has placed an order as well. It makes December one of our busiest times of the year. It’s hard to believe that it’s over 2 years since I left teaching, and rapidly approaching 2 years since we led our first NEWT Safari.