“Now the North wind ceases;
The warm South-west awakes,
The heavens are out in fleeces
And earth’s green banner shakes”
Geo. Meredith

Time for a new look, methinks. Just like the crocuses outside, poking their speckled white petals up through the hard frosty ground, it feels like it is time for a change This weekend, we browsed, as is commonplace at weekends; having coffee, getting rained on, discussing the wedding (now less than 4 months away!!) and what we are going to do to the garden. I’m not so sure about the north wind ceasing, it seems to be blowing as strong as ever, with snow forecast, but I know now that it won’t be for much longer.

Nutkin has been visiting our nut-feeders recently, we put up a net every couple of days, and have been threading unshelled peanuts onto garlands to hang on the hawthorn hedge. The long-tailed tits are in fine fettle, we witnessed an aerial territorial war going on between magpies, and a lovely pair of ever-cawing jackdaws are deciding which of the many chimney-stacks to build a nest in.

The wedding dress has been ordered all the way from America, and should come within a week (so hopefully by friday). I am excited beyond belief, I know that I’ll be sat by the door waiting until it does come. The only picture I have is this one:

Yes, it’s an inky plum colour, as I simply don’t do white. Not my colour at all. I simply fell in love with this dress, because it doesn’t scream wedding, it’s not white, and it does look old (styled on a 1920’s tea dress). We still have to find a suit for a certain Fiancé, who is notoriously difficult to shop for (without whose expertise this blog re-model wouldn’t have been possible!). The wedding invites are almost completed (thanks to an industrious and clever mother), all that is left to be done is address them and send. them on their way. Then of course there is the planning of 1001 other things, but for now I’ll revel in the feeling that we’re getting there, one step at a time.

I am off to make the best of an early night and a good book, but before I go I’ll leave you with another poem from a very nice book, which I’m sure everyone owns, called ‘The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady’ by Edith Holden. She was a naturalist, studying nature first-hand, by simply being involved in the seasons as people were then. A beautifully illustrated book, it was her passion to record and teach the world about the beauty that abounds in nature. The book contains many different poems, quotes and sayings from many different people, all relating in some way to each month, accompanied by her beautiful drawings of the natural world around her.

“How sweet the hedge that hides a cunning nest;
And curtains off a patient bright-eyed thrush,
With five small worlds between her mottled breast!

Though life is growing nearer day by day,
Each globe she loves, as yet is mute and still
Her bosom’s beauty slowly wears away.

At last the thin blue veils are backward furled,
Existance wakes and pipes into a bird
As infant music bursts into the world.

And now the mother-thrush is proud and gay
She has her cottage and her pretty young
To feed and lull when western skies turn grey”

‘A creed’ Norman Gale

Bobby Darin has been uttering those immortal words in my head all day, it’s such a nice song. It also sums up how things are going at the moment, there is a spring in my step and I’m looking forward to a really nice weekend with the beloved.

The back bedroom really has needed doing, so whilst in a semi-doze in bed, I decided that I’d direct all my energies to this task. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, and any, I mean any excuse to move furniture, compartmentalise and tidy is an activity that I enjoy, but not to the insane extent of a certain Anthea Turner, who folds towels like her life depended on it. I do believe that she is in need of some help, because if she hasn’t got a problem then I don’t know who has. There is organisation, and there is obsession (rant? moi? rant? never!). So, without obsessing, I have now cleaned and am half way through tidying things into proper places. The back bedroom suffers from a real lack of storage, which is not easy, as the room is pretty small. We have a large sofa-bed that acts as a double bed when the need arises, but it does dwarf the room, so I have a small gateleg table in there to sit at when using the sewing machine or doing anything artsy/crafty, which is now in front of the window. To give me a perfect birds-eye view of the garden in all its sparse beauty, and also the red squirrel, who is now named Nutkin (it was a toss-up between Brian and Nutkin, he should be relieved, non?). My car has become a temporary squirrel-watching retreat / bird hide, the neighbours must think I’m barmy.

In a good bit of wedding-related news, I have found the dress of my dreams, thanks to mum and her snooping around the ‘net for me. The only hitch is that the website is American, but having talked to them they do send to the UK, so the apathy has waned and I’m now excited. I don’t care if we have to walk to the wedding, I have me a dress and that’s all that matters, really :-D Pictures will come when I have the dress in my possession!

[freshly-baked bread rolls]

And I’ve been in a mad baking mood, cookies, bread rolls, bunny casseroles, more cookies. You name it! But there is nothing like eating bread straight out of the oven. Naughty but very nice!

On Sunday, making our way out to do the weekly shop, I noticed what I thought was a large ruddy-red coloured bird at the bottom of our garden, using one of the nut-feeders put out there. We were some distance away, but on closer inspection we noticed what we thought was a large and fluffy tail. Upon working out what the little creature was, the squeals could be heard 3 counties over. Indeed, our garden and the surrounding woodland has become home to a red squirrel.

[photo from Kellingheath.co.uk]

It might not seem like the most surprising bit of news, or the most interesting for that matter, but we are very lucky to play host to red squirrels. In England, and the whole of the UK for that matter, red squirrels are very rare. They have two adversaries, the evil grey squirrels (they are but rats with pretty tails), and a virulent disease called the squirrel pox. The county in which I live, Northumberland, and Scotland that we border are the last red squirrel strongholds in the UK (apart from a lovely place near Liverpool, a sanctuary and protected habitat). Only this afternoon, I was in the kitchen, after having cleaned the fridge thoroughly, making myself a cup of tea, when I noticed a flash of russet-red dart from fence to hawthorn bush. I didn’t need to strain my eyes to see what it was, as he made his way down onto the peanut feeder and ran very speedily to the fence again with something between his little paws. I can only presume he was going off to eat or bury his food.

Whilst paying great attention to the squirrel I realised that we’ve also got many more types of birds than we had a while ago. Two additions to the list are the long-tailed tits and the yellowhammer whose song is very easy to remember and sound thus: ‘a-little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheeeeese’. The yellowhammer is similarly rare, and is on the RSPB’s red list, defining it as a globally threatened species. How very sad.

Finding such an array of birds, amphibians, mammals, molluscs, rodents, fungi and insects in the garden means that there is never a dull moment. From the tweeting of birds at around 6-ish in the morning, to the hooting of the owl in the dead of night, there is never silence, but always activity. I suppose this is why I love animals and the natural world so much. It never bores me but constantly fills me with a never-ending wonderment, I see nature as the most amazing thing, and we must do our utmost to protect this delicate, fragile ecosystem of ours before it’s too late.

A productive day spent doing, just what we wanted to do. We seldom get the chance to be together when The Fiancé is working all the time, but at the end of this month, he’ll be getting a whole two weeks off (!!) to spend with me at home - as you can tell I can’t wait :-)

After scouring Alnwick (pron. an-ick) for second-hand bargains, fighting our way into the pet shop for some doggy treats and drinking the most delectable latté, we came home to do a spot of gardening (I feel this is a recurring theme). We got the first semi-circular bed dug from the lawn, finding many worms (trying desperately to rescue and not chop them in half with the spade - I feel so terrible when this happens!), a 50p piece, and a greenish marble. The things we found (I won’t even mention the two types of slugs)! Within the hour, the bed looked semi-circular, with us pooped and ready for a wonderfully home-cooked (of course) meal, prepared by both of us, of new season lamb (half shoulder, has a lot more flavour and is one of the traditionally overlooked ‘cheaper’ cuts) and vegetables. Delish.

I also thought I’d share a corner of my house, seeing as so many netizens out there are doing likewise. So, for once I’m jumping on the bandwagon to show you one of the favourite parts of this old house of ours… Enjoy! That particular corner of the sofa is where I will usually be found knitting (the light is really good at any time of the day - we’re south-facing), the picture that can be seen in the left-hand corner is not usually there, but it is a collage of our life together in 2003/2004, we should update it to add more recent bits but don’t seem to be able to find the time! In the summer (or really any sunny day) the sun beams through there and makes it so bright, brighter than any artificial light could be. Only today was I thinking how content I am in this house, and how much different it was from the last house we were staying in (the old Quarrymens cottages). I don’t believe I could be any more content and happy.

So, that said, and as contented as I am, I’m off to sip on some Ovaltine whilst bathing in a bath of pure Lush goodness. Oh the decadence :-)

Do you ever smile at strangers when you go out? Do you ever say “good morning” or “hello” when you pass someone on the street, in the car-park or in the local newsagents? Sometimes it yields surprising results, and gives you (and them) one of the most fabulous feelings. There is a buzz ascociated with talking to strangers, perhaps it’s the anonymity or the pure feeling of relief at getting to talk to someone. Whichever it is, there is no greater pleasure (or courtesy, lets be honest) than the occasional “hello” or “good morning”. There have only ever been a handful of people who have either not returned the gesture, or who look away - in these times who is to say that I am not being sarcastic, many teens often are. But I digress, one of the greatest pleasures is making someone else smile, so perhaps we should all do it a bit more.

Can I talk a bit about gardening? Good. It is rather lovely, you know, at the moment. Even with the rain that we’ve had of late. Sunday saw the Fiancé and I getting a bit dirty (in the muddiest sense possible) in the garden. There is also much pleasure to be taken in the wearing of wellies (good stout green Dunlops, of course) and in the squelching of mud whilst digging. Having resisted the temptation to make mud-pies we got down to some serious digging. There was one part of the garden that we’d so far left untouched. This was the bed that contained the sweet peas last year, although it has some issues with water-retention as there is a rather large, well-established privet hedge along one side. In our rush to tame the 5-foot grass and massive dandelions, there had to be things left out, and half of that bed was the casualty. We’d left it covered in montbretia (the weed! the weed!) and tall grass, after becoming too tired to tackle it last year. In the spring drizzle we gaily flung great clods of earth until it was empty of those all-pervasive weeds (or should one say ‘very successful plants’?) until we could see bare earth again. There are very interesting things to be found whilst digging, we found what I imagine is a peony (I moved one other small peony last year, which later died a death) that has now been lovingly moved a few paces to the right, I guess it was covered so well by the grass that it wasn’t noticeable.

The plan for that border, which doesn’t get as much sun as all of the others, is to have some shrubbery. I can’t recommend Buddlejas enough, for such little money their returns are plentiful. They are so simple, easy to maintain, and will withstand most things (even 3 yr old little girls with fishing-nets trying to catch butterflies - trust me, I was one!). I bought two the other week, which will be installed once all traces of frost have gone, and the soil is, as they say, warm enough for a naked bottom to sit on (although I won’t be testing this one out - what would the neighbours say?). Along with those, one of the quintessentially English shrubs, the rhododendron. This one is a creamy pale yellow, and should love our soil, with its perfect loamy balance. Obviously a rhododendron won’t be viable for everyone, especially if you live in the East Anglia/Lincolnshire area, as they are so dependant on an acid soil and any lime will make them unhappy (and die). Having said that that, there are now lime-tolerant species coming into garden centres!

I must just mention my local game shop, run by this lovely lady. I was very self-conscious about going in there at first, there were forever large 4×4’s and Jaguars parked outside, and an overabundance of rather wealthy-looking elderly gentlefolk, but biting the bullet I went in and asked for a pheasant. The lady was nice, I got my bird and went home (it was delicious). The next week I went into the shop again, and asked if they had another pheasant. The lady said that they didn’t, it was coming to the end of the season, all they had bird-wise were some French partridges - something I wasn’t overly interested in. I noticed she had a rabbit, so I said I’d have one of those. As she was preparing it I mentioned how nice the pheasant was - a look of real pleasure came across her face as I told her this. Today, going into town with some errands I called back into the shop. This time for a rabbit (a cheaper, tastier, more delighful meat one will not taste), the lady was looking hard-pressed to decide which to give me, with a smile on her face she looked at me and said “I’m trying to find the biggest, I like to keep our regular customers happy”, at which point I said that was very kind, and said “I’ll have two”.
My day has been as bright and as happy as can be. All from a smile and a few kind words. Amazing what it can do, eh?