December 31st 2013

 

I was out bird watching as the sun set on the old year of 2013. As I drove along a lane adjacent to Savernake Forest near Marlborough I had two significant views in my sights. To my left a group of 30 or so fallow deer suddenly appeared and were running alongside the lane in their field at the same speed as my car. It was a stunning sight and as I slowed down in case they jumped the fence, I looked at them at their eye level and they all looked at me while continuing to run alongside the car. What a fantastic wildlife moment to end the year. Which was added to as I arrived at Stibbs Green, an area of Burbage, a minute or so later as the sun hit the horizon. Just time to shoot off a couple of photos of the sun between the cottages before it set for the last time. Between the running deer and the setting sun, this was a perfect end to 2013 (oh and my final bird of the year was a marsh tit). 

December 30th 2013

 

First day back at work today after the Christmas break. So todays image is of my desk and office as I spend a lot of my time looking at this view and it suddenly struck me that one day this view will be no more, either I'll move on or we'll change offices and often a record of where we work is not made. I also took the image as a wonderful surprise was the calendar in the front of the view. This came from the press officer of the Wildlife Trusts as a thank you for the airtime we have given the Wildlife Trusts over the year. Such a lovely gesture and I will enjoy using this over the coming year. 

December 29th 2013

 

Sometimes an image is enough and today that is what happened.  I woke about 7.30am and looking out of the landing window this was my view. A crescent moon, a gathering sunrise and (what can't be seen here) a heavy frost. Just beautiful. Images like this enliven the heart and restore the soul to new energy. A moment in time not to be lost.

December 28th 2013

 

 

Sometimes it is the planned event that provides inspiration, or tonight the unexpected gem of an encounter. Tonight I did a 20 mile round trip through the towns and villages around here. Pewsey, Marlborough and Wilton in Wiltshire and just across the border, Hungerford in West Berkshire, which gives this posting a shining image. The lights were great, they never look quite as good in a photo but I'm a big fan of Christmas light. BUT what happened next exceeded all expectations. Coming back via the lanes to the house we stopped at Wilton Windmill which we can see from the house over a couple of fields. We'd actually stopped there to look at the stars as this part of Wiltshire is almost 100% unpolluted by artificial light. However what happened was that as I got out the car a male tawny owl was hooting and over the field another replying. Luckily I had a hand held recorded with me and the link below is the result. As I listen now my mind goes back to being in pitch darkness (so dark I couldn't see the recorder in my hand), stars so bright that I felt I could touch them and all of this given the backdrop serenade of a hoot and a whoo-hoo of a tawny owl. Wildlife experiences do not get much better than that and a memory that will live in me for a long time.

 

Here's the link to the 1'30" edited clip :

 

http://soundcloud.com/wessex_reiver/tawnyowl281213-2

 

 

December 27th 2013

 

Today was a bird watching day. I used to do a lot of bird watching but the pressure of work now means what little spare time I have I like to spend at home. But today as I am taking part on the BBC NHU's Bird Cup, I went off down to one of my favourite reserves Wiltshire Wildlife Trusts Langford Lakes in the Wylie Valley. Weather perfect for the few hours I wandered around on my own. A lot of birds to see and it was the first time I'd been there since the new flood meadow has been open to the public. I walked this former sheep field just as they were about to began work on it and its such a wonderful thing to see now that the flooding measures are in place. Open less than a year it's establishing well. Hard to think the above photo had sheep grazing on it in 2011. Below the lovely new bird hide which I like as it has glass windows. A boon on a breezy day like today.

 

A final photo. This is an appalling photo of a kingfisher but it encapsulates the joy of wildlife watching. This kingfisher was 10 feet from my car as I drove out of the reserve and ignoring me completely kept on fishing in a small pond. How I wish I'd had my camera today!

December 26th 2013

 

A bit of a different posting from me today. Today Julie and I attended the Tedworth Hunt Boxing Day Meet in the centre of Pewsey in Wiltshire. And we loved it.

 

I'm not a hunting man but I do, or hope I do, understand the needs to manage the British countryside and as such hunting, fishing, shooting along with farming, forestry, nature reserves and countryside management all make up the rich patchwork of rural life. Hunting divides opinion in a way that many other field sports do not; I fully understand some people hunt, some people are anti hunting and I suspect the majority are like me have no strong opinions. However I do feel that to have an opinion one should gain experience before offering that opinion. For me I've enjoyed watching hunting every time I've seen hounds on the run, and while the desire to get on a horse has never entered my mind, the thrill of hearing the hunting horn has never left me since first hearing it in Northumberland when I accidentally became entangled with the West Percy while out walking as a teenager.

 

On that day, as with today I found the hunt staff absolutely lovely. Although a keen horsewoman Julie had never been to a hunt meeting before so as we chatted to one of the non-mounted hunt staff, we explained this was a first visit. The lady couldn't have been more patient with our questions, explaining in detail what would happen today (including we would be welcome to sample the free port and nibbles), where the horses and hounds would go, and when the hounds arrived she pointed out who the Lady Master was, the Hunt staff and what would happen after they set off. I politely asked if I could take photographs and she said I could. By 11am I was astonished at how big the crowd was who'd come out to see the 30 or so horses and about the same number of hounds. The carpark being used as the meet venue was absolutely packed with what must have been heading towards 1,000 people chatting to everyone else in the very informal way whilst the port and mince pies were handed around. At 11.30 the huntsman sounded his horn, the hairs on the back of my neck once more bristled, and off they went for a days legal hunting in the Vale of Pewsey.  Some may find this blog entry uncomfortable to read, and I accept that point of view, for me though the wonderful 2 hours we spent mingling amongst hunt followers confirmed this is an important part of the rural scene and I am one who hopes this tradition carries on for a very long time to come. 

 

December 25th 2013

 

Four years ago I was invited to a Christmas Day picnic in Gloucestershire in deep snow and sub zero temperatures. The reason for that invite was my Christmas plans had unravelled due to the snow and finding myself no longer heading to Kent, I was on my own in a house I'd moved into 4 days earlier so my friends who often have a Christmas Day picnic kindly invited me to join them. Move on 4 years and the weather could have not been of a greater contrast. Christmas Day emerged into 6 degrees, unbroken sunshine and still calm. The picnic invite was planned this year and after a blizzard of texts, the Badminton Deer Park was chosen as picnic venue of choice. An inspired choice.

 

So here we are mid feast. I'm missing from this photograph but the shadow on the log proves my presence. I do like Christmas in whatever guise it takes, at home with my parents, with Julie, or like yesterday going for a walk and a feed with friends. I've only ever been to Badminton Park during the Horse Trials and so it was wonderful to walk about in relative isolation, just a few other people about taking in the Christmas air. After feeding on festive nibbles we took it in turns to throw-ball for the two dogs with us, seagull, in the picture and Fizz, before having a longer walk around the Deer Park. By 3pm it was getting cold and the sun was beginning to set bring closure to a most wonderful way to celebrate Christmas Day, before home to a Christmas meal and fizzy wine.

December 24th 2013

 

Somewhere in my dim and distant past I remember Christmas Eve's being relaxing affairs. Maybe a leisurely breakfast, some last minute present wrapping and then watching old movies on the television before settling down after dark for Carols from King's. 2013 will continue in its tradition of more bizarre than a chinchilla on a unicycle. At 1am this morning the second phase of the Christmas storm passed through Wiltshire, and boy did it blow. The roar of the wind through the trees at the front of the house was spectacular, however at the back of the house where the full force of the Atlantic storm was hitting it was akin to being in a dishwasher with water going hither and yon past the window pane at a speed I never knew water could travel. The venerable gardens trees were bending like saplings and as for the fence panels, a perfect Mexican Wave was performed about every 5 minutes. If any of the garden survived this it would be a miracle. By 3am I was asleep at last.

 

Well unlike many Hollywood films, miracles don't happen and at first light the fence line resembled a particularly dilapidated ancient monument, while the central heating cover lay rakishly in the spring border. There was nothing for it, nails, screws, post-fix, saws, hammers and all the paraphernalia of a garden make over were brought to the fore and so my Eve before Christmas began. 4 hours later the job was done, I was also done. Just time to clean myself and head off to friends near Royal Wotton Bassett for coffee and catch-up. Worth it for the spectacular drive over the Marlborough Downs in unbroken sunshine.

 

And so as many of you will be celebrating the festive season with friends and having fun, I shall remember my first ever Christmas in Wiltshire with the fondness only an aching back can bring, more ohhh ahhh ohh than ho ho ho!

December 23rd 2013

 

This is the aftermath of a visit to the Polly Tea Rooms in Marlborough today. Such a grim day today as the predicted storms began to drive in from the South West. In the morning it was just windy but by the time we ventured out to do some Christmas visiting of friends the first phase of the storm was really picking up. The 10 minute drive to Marlborough became a 40+ minute drive due to the main road being blocked. That said I'd not have missed it for the world, as extreme weather excites me. We got to Marlborough and sitting in a friends house in the High Street all was calm. We partook of chat and tea before heading back out into the deluge to walk the 20 paces into the Polly Tea Room to join different friends for coffee, cake and more festive chat. Looking out the window the rain was gusting along the street at a rate of knots, but as should happen at Christmas joining friends warms the heart, and is exactly what this season is about.

December 22nd 2013

 

I've just rearranged the lounge as it was becoming a little cluttered what with the Christmas tree, cards and the paraphernalia of this time of the year. Now I have a chair immediately next to the patio windows and my view tonight has been of these two birch trees but also the reflection of the Christmas tree lights in the glass. This afternoon I've been writing at the laptop in that chair and to be honest my concentration has been diverted many times by this view. I love the silhouette of bare trees against a winter sky and today that view from inside the house has changed every 5 minutes as clouds passed by and then departed. The reflection in the glass matched my mood and I guess the thoughts of many at that this time of the year is very much a time of reflection. As I write this the darkness of the night has enveloped the sky, but for an hour I was enthralled by the simple pleasure of watching the silhouette of these threes against the winters sky.

December 21st 2013

 



Today is the shortest day, in the northern hemisphere at least. Every year I try and do something to celebrate the lowest point the sun reaches in the year and then celebrate that for the next 6 months the days become lighter, imperceptibly at first but soon by nearly 15 minutes a week. Today it was touch and go whether we'd be able to do anything as some serious rainstorms were scudding through the Wiltshire countryside. At times driving about it was like being in a power shower across the windscreen, and lets not go there with the flooding on the roads.

 

 

But by the afternoon the weather was beginning to clear so Julie and I headed up to Martinsell Hill (above) near Pewsey. Julie wanted to do an ending ceremony and so in the most astonishing gale she performed that ceremony. I hope those thoughts she let go into the gathering wind will bring her new beginnings. After that (and partly as it really was windy) we decided to head to another site to celebrate the actual solstice at 5.12pm. And as we drove to Milk Hill the sky began to clear rapidly almost as if the gathering solstice was there shining like a beacon just for us.

 



 

This was the view that greeted us at Milk Hill at 5pm. Is it me or does it feel lighter than in previous weeks? Other than a travellers campervan parked up for the night, we were alone in the car park on top of the hill just watching the sky gradually darken. At 5.12pm we had a candle lit and silently enjoyed that low zenith point in the year. There is something uplifting to know that we're up the up, or at least the sun is. An end of its stationary procession south, from this point all energy is pointing north.

 

Bring forth the light that illuminates our vision

December 20th 2013

My last day at work until Christmas today, and so as I spend a lot of time looking out of my office window, either for inspiration or to rest my eyes, I thought the sight of the sun rising over the BBC yardarm would be a fitting way to end what has been a very busy but very rewarding year work wise. A reward also came my way in the form of almost no traffic during my 20 mile commute this morning. Until yesterday, although there had been more parking spaces around work, it was still busy. This morning however the roads have become eerily quiet, presumably as all the schools are now finished and people take today off for a long weekend break into the Christmas week.  Even the pavements are empty. I like this silence, it feels calm and life just begins to slow down, not for any other reason than it's just a lot easier to operate without the mad hustle and bustle of modern life. And so, although I have quite a bit to do today, from 4pm I shall be released for a while and enjoying being Far From the Madding Crowd.

December 19th 2013

 

In amongst the hustle and bustle of the Festive chores, I'm feeling very positive. Why? Well its because we've just about hit the bottom of the trough with regards day length which plays an important role in the trigger for spring. This year has been mild and already in the countryside I've spotted snowdrops and early daffodils poking through soil. Tonight looking at some of my outdoor pots, all of a sudden there's movement and green points of optimism are now poking through. We're a long way off from the gathering days, but at least it's about to change to an increase not a decrease. Somehow bulbs know this and like this year, a mild winter will get growth starting sooner than is probably altogether wise.

 

But ahead of all that are my narcissus  'paperwhites' which have today put forth flower buds. I've never had great luck with these as often (as instructed) when they're put into a dark cool cupboard to grow on they seem to become lank and epilated, then often flowering weeks before Christmas. So I did something different this year and the bowl above was planted when the bulbs had burst and a 1cm shoot was already visible. Since then they have languished in my unheated conservatory, where until a few days ago they really didn't put much growth on. All of a sudden this growth spurt has happened. Will they flower in time for Christmas?.. only time will tell.



December 18th 2013

I seem to be posting a lot of dark photographs at the moment in this year long diary (must lighten the mood soon) but I make no apologies for these two, and well it is the dark days before Christmas season. I should however make apologies for the quality of the mobile phone photographs, yet again the camera was left at home. But. This was 7.20am or there abouts on the North Somerset Levels as I drove to work. The entire landscape was dark, thick clouds covered the sky and with nearly an hour before sunrise, it was lights on. After driving through the farm I drive through to get to the main road I rounded the corner and there, like an astral body ripping through the blackout blinds of the Universe, was this stunning sight. Somehow, somewhere a gap had opened up in the clouds and the developing twilight brilliantly shone through. I was only a mile from home so should really have gone and got my camera, but there is something of the spontaneity of bad mobile photographs. I stopped for a while to watch this develop which it did slowly at first but all of a sudden more clouds parted and the sky lit up in preparation for sunrise. But I was there, there at the right time and there in the right place to see the beauty of the natural world unfold before me.   

December 17th 2013

 

This was my view as I woke this morning. Moonlight flooded into the bedroom, moonbeams from the last full moon of 2013. Of course the moon doesn't know it is 2013, and I often ponder on the millennia of human's and species who have looked upon the moon since it's creation. The light of a full moon if the sky is clear is magical. As you may tell I adore moonlight and to have it be the very first conscious part of my waking day makes this very special indeed.

December 16th 2013

 

Quite simply today, this was the view from my car as I sat in a traffic queue in Backwell North Somerset. I drive through here regularly and since April Bristol Water have been working on replacing all the water network along the A370. A major piece of engineering work and to be fair they are catching up with 150 years of neglect as the Victorian water system fails. I'm often stuck in the long traffic queue to the roadwork lights and have occasionally wondered about a posting about that on this blog. But today it came to me. Quite a nice festive view of the tree outside the Spar shop, BUT, and this is my thought, it's Christmas, so lets be charitable. Instead of bemoaning the endless traffic problems this year getting through Backwell, maybe we should celebrate that we live in a country where we can switch on a tap and out pours clean, safe and healthy water, as much as we want. We don't have to fetch it from a well, we don't have to boil it to make it safe, it's just there, 24 hours a day on tap, so to speak. So next time I'm in the traffic jam, I'll remember that those workers digging up the road and delaying my journey by 5 minutes are actually worth their weight in gold, or more accurately their weight in water.

December 15th 2013

 

These two photographs were taken this afternoon driving home, in a vein attempt to convey a grey stormy day in Wiltshire. Not sure they work. Winter is finally taking a grip of the countryside and this weekend the leaves have mostly gone. We are left with that grey damp outlook only witnessed at this time of the year. As I drove back to Somerset the storm-clouds were scudding across the high downs west of Marlborough in Wiltshire. It was dramatic, layer upon layer of ever darkening clouds rapidly energising the sky above dank silhouette trees. 

 

I stopped for a moment to try and encapsulate the mood but it needed more planning to get the exposures right. Also, the images do not give any hint that it may have been very windy, raining heavily, extremely dark at 3pm, nor that it was mild, 13 degrees in Somerset after sunset. Bizarre weather and mark these words, we'll be in for a bad January. I can feel it in my bones, about the 15th - 20th I guess, so a months time we'll have blizzards. But for today the energy in the atmosphere just brought forth the dark days before Christmas with a vengeance. Fitting really for the day the hellraiser Peter O'Toole died, were the Norse Gods welcoming him with trepidation?

December 14th 2013

 

When I began this blog I though I'd write about Molly, Julie's cat, but not what happened today. Molly had hyper-thyroidism and kidney problems for a year or so but was fairly okay with it. Various pills, injections and check-ups with the vet in Pewsey kept her in a fairly stable state. Last week though she developed a bleed in her right eye, a result of high blood pressure caused by the hyper-thyroidism. We thought we'd lost her but she rallied slightly and we brought her home. But sadly during the week she started to go down hill day by day and by yesterday she was quite weak although she didn't seem to be in any discomfort, just sleeping a lot and weak. So the decision to have her put to sleep became easier with time, although such decisions are never ever easy. Julie and I chatted on the phone this morning and the decision was made. So at 11am this morning Molly was sent to the mouse filled catteries in the sky.

 

I'm not a huge cat lover but Molly was lovely. She was about 15 or 16, maybe older, it was hard to tell as she and her kitten Sam were found on a farm. Julie had both from 2000 although sadly Sammy died of the same conditions in 2010. I've included these two photographs as they epitomise Molly. She loved sleeping on the radiator in the window and if she wasn't there she loved sitting on Julie looking out the window. She had a happy life and well it's not the same without her. Sleep well Molly.

December 13th 2013

 

This year long blog as I've said before is a daily record of things happening to me, things interesting me and the quirks of life. Today it is all three. On November 28th my entry included a photograph of a robin in the garden http://365-2-50.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/november-28th-2013.html 

 

Today I received a lovely postcard from a friend of mine, ex BBC colleague, Iris. Unbeknown to me she'd copied the image from the blog and made it into a Christmas postcard. I like it, I like it very much. So thank you Iris and I was going to text you to say thank you but then thought I'll surprise you with this entry on Friday the 13th. Not ominous at all but a wonderful surprise when I got in tonight. Thank you.

December 12th 2013

In a shameless piece of name dropping, yesterday while having lunch with Monty Don he turned to me and said "can you name any literature which is just about deer". To which I answered "only one off the top of my head, 'The Buck of Lordenshaw' " To put this into context he was in the studio with me to record a programme on deer management for Shared Planet. With a different programme to record in the afternoon we all emerged into the canteen to restore our energy levels and it was at this point the comment above was ushered as we discussed the programme recorded earlier.

And its true, apart from this book about a roe deer in Northumberland I don't know of any other book about deer, which has deer as the central character. Plenty on deer stalking or management and many references to deer in country writing, but not a whole book. I'm sure there are many titles and I'd be interested to know. But this whole episode made me dig out my battered copy by Henry Tegner and today I began reading it, maybe 30 years since last putting it down. Its strange how a chain of events leads to an outcome. Thus with slippers on, a whisky by my side, I'm back in Lordenshaw with the running deer.

December 11th 2013

 

A day like today apparently will not happen for another 90 years, long after I've shuffled off this mortal coil. Sequential numbering is always fascinating and so as I drove in this morning Chris Evans on Radio 2 was getting very excited about 10 seconds past 9 minutes past 8 o'clock. Or put it another way at that moment in time it was....

 

8 minutes past

9 o'clock and

10 seconds on the

11th day of the

12th month of the

13th year. I then added my own numerical, in that it was

14 days to Christmas Day

 

I'm not a mathematician but I do like these odd coincidences. A bit like watching a car speedometer move to say 9,999 miles and then to 10,000 miles. It may or not have some magical or mythical connection but in my view a bit of mystery and delving into the unknown is fascinating, there's too much of "we know" in this world. I need more mystery and "I wonder why".

December 10th 2013

Last night the boiler suddenly stopped working. And that is a very interesting experience. I arrived home as normal to a warm house with lots of hot water. By 7pm the boiler had stopped working and by 9pm the house was cool. I wasn't too worried as even though it is December it is fairly mild at the moment and I have an immersion heater for hot water. Or to be more accurate I have an immersion heater fitted. It turns out that that isn't working either. What is going on!!

But (and I'm only saying this because it is mild) life goes on. I was brought up in a big house with no central heating until I was about 7 or 8, how I miss an open fire in the bedroom. I've lived in a caravan at times for pleasure, when I moved south for 5 years I lived in quirky abodes without heating and I survived. Actually I think I was probably a lot healthier. I'm never sure that central heating is a good thing as the house is always too hot and too dry for me so even now I rarely have it on. It is possibly also my northern roots coming to the fore now too. We're a tough lot up there. So, maybe I'll just not bother getting it fixed then......

December 9th 2013

 

Not a great photograph as I took it with my phone while walking back to the car around 4,15pm tonight. The 'space rocket' in the distance is Clifton's Catholic Cathedral which I literally walk past the red concrete walls of every day while walking to and from work. As I took this picture a lady pushing a pram stopped and intrigued, asked me what I was doing (either that or she thought I looked shifty). I actually like this bizarre uber-modern structure in the midst of grand Victoriana Clifton, that sense of contrast appeals to me. The lady however said she lives just around the corned and "absolutely hates it". And that really is what architecture should do, create comment I feel. As I walked by the main entrance to the Cathedral I took a quick photograph of the Christmas tree. It was better in real life. To the left of this in this view are some stunning modern stained glass windows, quite abstract but spectacular. Would it get built today I wonder, 40 years this year since its consecration

 

December 8th 2013

 

It may be the 8th of December but in the garden things are already stirring. Admittedly it's been a very mild autumn but a lovely surprise today was finding my beloved 'snowflakes' already pushing shoots above the soil. It's something I look for every winter the first signs of spring, which while still a long way off is what I absolutely love about gardening, that sense of being part of a big wheel of nature revolving slowly and inextricably, while we just observe. It adds to my sense that as humans we are fairly insignificant and nature just gets on with it. In the same border the Vibernum bodnantense 'dawn' is in full flower adding a heady scent across the short mid-winter days. We'll have some very cold and no doubt snowy days to come, but seeing this today has gladdened my heart. Spring; not long now....

 

December 7th 2013

Big day today. This is the get-the-Christmas-tree-from-Burbage-Christmas-Market-and-tree-sales-weekend, a Saturday and a Sunday of trees, Santa, elfs, reindeer and well, just the stuff of life that goes on in this deep rural part of Wiltshire. By 11am Julie and I were to be found fondling a Nordman Pine and wondering where the mulled wine was. In the background the choir sang carols and the aroma of free chestnuts drifted through the air. So here Julie is, it is actually the first tree we saw and it was a bobby dazzler. Julie's pose dutifully made we were assailed by a helpful Santa assistant, (who also agreed to pose for this media buffoon writing a year long diary; apologies I forgot to ask your name if you read this) wrapped the tree up for us as in the image below and I staggered off to the car with it, while I left Julie to peruse the craft stalls before returning myself for an amble. I returned to find Julie milling suspiciously close to the mulled wine stall, which had to be sampled by the pair of us. Well it is Christmas after all and then we hot footed it off to see Sam.....

...... and here is Sam, the Santa Horse. Sam delivers Christmas cards around the village with his helper Ginette Stewart and so as Julie is a horse lover, and as I am writing this year long blog diary, I asked for yet another pose in front of the camera to add even more festive spirit to the already merry day (or was that the mulled wine beginning to take effect?). I like the Burbage Christmas Market, it's a lovely way to move inexorably ever closer into the Festive period, for tomorrow we'll decorate the tree.

December 6th 2013

 

This picture was taken at about 8.30pm tonight and taken as it epitomises my life at the moment. Commuting between Somerset, Bristol and Wiltshire during the week, I spend a lot of time behind the wheel of my car. Now we are in mid December it's pretty much dark all the time, as I leave the house at 7am and it's reasonably dark by 4pm when I begin the reverse journey. I used to like driving in the dark but now my eyes are not what they were and it not as enjoyable as it once was (or I need to buy new glasses). But I still find night driving very therapeutic, it allows me to do a lot of thinking.

 

Tonight I left Bristol at 6pm and got to Marlborough at 7.30pm only to find the road I needed to use to get home was closed for roadworks, This then involved a detour via Hungerford and about another 12 miles onto the journey. Rural living is not always easy. Most of the lanes around us are single track and lined by trees so as I drove between Wilton and East Grafton at journeys end I stopped the car and had a go at taking the view I know so well this time of the year, headlights illuminating a lane and the overhanging trees. I may give it another go soon as the trees don't show up well.

 

As an aside to this, the detour route used Hungerford High Street. As I drove into the road there was a HGV lorry parked up alongside the railway bridge which overtops the road. He was not going to get under there, no sireee. As he was in effect stuck, traffic chaos was mounting and it would need the police to resolve it, as he had nowhere to go as an alternative route. But here is the question. The road closed in Marlborough is used by HGV's coming up from Salisbury and the A303. Divert them yes, but maybe check the route for obstacles such as low bridges before diverting? Maybe that's too simple. 

December 5th 2013

 

Christmas is coming, or at least my first Christmas card of the season has arrived from one of my family in Canada. To celebrate, (G)Norman on the right and Gruyere on the left volunteered to hold the card up to let me take a photo. Let the countdown begin.

December 4th 2013

 

Two unrelated photographs today but related at the same time. I've spent today in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, the largest tract of open access land in South East England and also the inspiration for A.A.Milne's Winnie the Pooh. None of that had any bearing on why I was there today. I was there to record with Dylan Winter a piece about deer management for the series Shared Planet. As luck would have it, or sods law if you prefer, we never saw a deer until right at the end of the recording as we drove back to the carpark. Ashdown Forest has more deer collisions within it's boundary than anywhere else in Britain, yet today we couldn't find a single casualty, nor had there been any for a few days as the cold weather has apparently pushed the deer away from the forest and in essence they've disappeared. Brilliant.

 

Anyway, next to where we were recording this oak tree had an ancient number nailed on to it. No idea why but I liked the fact that this plaque had been there for a long time and must have a reason. Intriguing. Below is a strange Swedish made Christmas decoration I saw for sale in a garden centre in the forest where I stopped at for a coffee and it just appealed. Why it appealed is anyone's guess but I like it because it takes me back to my Norse ancestry. Of course it doesn't do anything of the sort, but after driving 240 miles to record 7 minutes of radio (and that was just from Wiltshire), there had to be some form of a reward!!

December 3rd 2013

 

 

Tonight I worked on a germ of an idea which formed in my mind a week or so ago. I've become quite interested by light and dark in my photographs and recently with this settled weather I've been taking high contrast images of sunsets and silhouettes. But at Avebury a week ago I had an idea to illuminate the stones while still getting the sunset colours in the sky behind. Tonight then as I drove home past the avenue I took a photo just using the camera flash. Quite an interesting experience walking around the stones in almost pitch back conditions, and although I like the image here it is too harsh for what I need, or at least what I aim to do. But as we head towards the shortest day, my germ of an idea is gathering pace.

 

Next time though I shall take a torch as having walked through the gate it is so dark here I couldn't find the gate again until a passing car illuminated it as it passed. I was right beside it.

December 2nd 2013

 

I like December. I like the dark. It is a time to sit and reflect, to light some candles and to sit quietly with a glass of wine and take stock. And that is exactly what I'm doing tonight, as the image above shows of my ablazen mantelpiece. Life is what we make it. We can rush about or we can be busy but ensure we make time to reflect and unwind. I've been blogging since 2007 and have just had a look back at my first few hesitant entries which back then was a genuine record of birds I saw. Here is the entry for November 29th and 30th http://wessexreiver.blogspot.co.uk/2007/12/sand-bay-28th-and-30th-november.html

 

Reading my wildlife blog just now, it seems like another age. My life is almost 100% unrecognisable from 2007. Back then I spent most of my time in Dorset with my previous partner Thelma, who by then was beginning to show some worrying signs that her small cell Lymphoma was taking hold. Thelma died in March 2011 and it still seems unreal that someone I spent quite a few years with is no longer with us. As it also seems strange that I no longer head down to the Blackmore Vale regularly.

 

Reflecting on the past however is only healthy if it informs us of our future way of doing things. Maudlin in the sepia of the past is not good. And so tonight I've enlivened the mood by playing music, Christmas music, I love medieval church music, but, the lyrics here are from Jethro Tull, their thought provoking song Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow. A long favourite of mine.

 

Through long December nights we talk in words of rain or snow,

while you, through chattering teeth, reply and curse us as you go.
Why not spare a thought this day for those who have no flame
to warm their bones at Christmas time?
Say Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow.

Now as the last broad oak leaf falls, we beg: consider this:
there's some who have no coin to save for turkey, wine or gifts.
No children's laughter round the fire, no family left to know.
So lend a warm and a helping hand:
say Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow.

As holly pricks and ivy clings, your fate is none too clear.
The Lord may find you wanting, let your good fortune disappear.
All homely comforts blown away and all that's left to show
is to share your joy at Christmas time
with Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow.

Through long December nights we talk in words of rain or snow,
while you, through chattering teeth, reply and curse us as you go.
Why not spare a thought this day for those who have no flame
to warm their bones at Christmas time?
Say Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow. 

December 1st 2013

 

Advent begins today and so, as I do every year, I headed down to the Wells Cathedral Advent Service. This, as with many services around the country at this time of the year, is a spiritual uplift in the dark days of winter. The cathedral, plunged into complete darkness, is, after the medieval clock strikes 5pm, gradually lit by about 1000 service candles we  the congregation were given as we entered the cathedral. I'm a Church of England follower by design, having attended a Church school for my formative years, but now I'm secular, with leanings towards the more ancient ways of pre Christianity.  However I am quite passionate about churches and the services that are held, especially if, as today, the Wells Cathedral Choir are in full plainchant voice. Moving and spiritual. Bringing the votive candles back home gave an opportunity of the image above. A key date in my annual year, a marker for a period of calm and reflection.

 

Coupled to this every year I have an advent candle to count down the days to Christmas. Here being expertly lit by Julie not half an hour ago.