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Deskbound
Not something I particularly enjoy but I’m currently trying to juggle at least four separate projects ahead of the ‘busy season’ starting in February. That means a lot of time in the office and birdwatching limited to our garden and the edge of Choppington Woods. After a couple of months of the Chaffinch flock containing…
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Layer upon layer of food glorious food
No, not a post about the culinary delight I conjoured up yesterday for Sarah (butternut squash stuffed with bacon, blue cheese, garlic, creme fraiche and honey) although that was a bit of a milestone in my domestication 😉 No, it’s a post about an unexpected bounty that our garden birds are reaping currently. I usually…
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Breaking the ice
With Sarah back at work, we finally had some time to go out together on Saturday morning. Watching a procession of cars skidding and sliding along the road outside our house, we decided to leave the Landy on the drive and go for a walk around Choppington Woods. First though, there was an icicle that…
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Snowbound
OK, not quite, but since December 31st we’ve had about a foot of snow in total. I cancelled our Otter Safari on Tuesday for safety reasons. That decision proved to be the right one as we had heavy snowfall on Tuesday afternoon, making the roads even more hazardous than they already were. I drove to Wallsend…
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Snowy Sunday
Yesterday we took advantage of the bright sunny weather to visit Druridge Bay and check out a couple of sites in preparation for an otter/badger Safari on Tuesday. We had been out on Saturday with the same intention, but the 35mph+ northeasterly winds, and treacherous road conditions led to an early return home… As we…
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All is quiet
The world around us was cloaked in white as we walked home from The Swan early this morning. A Tawny Owl was calling from the woods, but there was little other sound – muffled as it was by the snow. By the time we woke up, there was a lot more snow than there had been when…
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Skating on thin ice
After seeing my photos appearing in Martin’s blog posts for the last couple of days, I thought I’d turn my hand to writing today’s blog. I started the day by taking my father-in-law for a birdwatching walk around Choppington Woods although, with everything frozen solid, there were very few birds to be seen. We did…
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Winter walks
There’s little that’s better than going for a walk with snow on the ground. On Christmas Day I took dad for a walk around Choppington Woods, mainly so we weren’t under Sarah’s feet 😉 Today all three of us walked along the River Blyth and through the dunes in Druridge Bay. The traditional boxing Day pheasant shoots…
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Not quite what I had in mind
The hoped-for wintry weather did make an appearance this morning. As I sat in a school governor’s meeting, reviewing all of the school’s policy documents (you have no idea…), a series of snow showers passed over – each one depositing a thin white layer on the ground outside. Almost as soon as it had settled it…
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The little fir tree
As Chair of Governors at our local First School, I had an invitation to attend the Christmas production this afternoon. It was a heartwarming tale of a little fir tree who was teased for being so small but eventually found his place as a Christmas tree in a children’s hospital. The characters included several fir…