Can you believe it's been over six years since Jim and I cycled along the Rhine from Mainz to Cologne? Why, we were practically children. Just one of countless castles on the Rhine, summer 2016 On that occasion it was the sheer number and variety of castles that stick in my mind. And on the … Continue reading The Romantic Road: Cycling Across Bavaria
Countryside
Three Simple Ways To Encourage Insects Into Your Garden
I've always thought that if I can entice insects and wildlife into my garden, then well... I'm doing something right; A nicely camouflaged thick-legged flower beetle on love-in-a-mist even if I don't always notice them, I'm doing something right. Hornet on Dahlia 'Twyning's After Eight' Of course, we all know that insect numbers are falling … Continue reading Three Simple Ways To Encourage Insects Into Your Garden
A Postcard from The Lake District
Once Upon a Time - in early May of last year - I spent a week in The Lake District with Jim and his parents. I started writing a post about our trip several months ago but grew increasingly distracted as Covid settled amongst us and my world shifted. Like you, I'm still pretty distracted … Continue reading A Postcard from The Lake District
The Green Woodpecker And The Magpie
I'm very fortunate that my study window looks out over the canal. It's a grand view if an awfully distracting one. My eyes lift from my laptop all too easily as people walk, cycle, jog or paddle past my window; or a mute swan glides about on still water. Moorhens aren't so good at gliding. … Continue reading The Green Woodpecker And The Magpie
An Otter In Stroud
Of all England's mammals, there is one - more than any other - that I have always wanted to see in the wild. Only one animal which, since I saw that film and read that book as a boy, I'm aware of, subconsciously at least, as I walk alongside streams and rivers and shoreline. When … Continue reading An Otter In Stroud
Waiting For Snow
It has been a terribly long wait since The Priory had snow enough to show and tell: a five-year wait. The Beast from the East didn't bring huge amounts of snow to my corner of Sussex; but if we were spared the havoc meted out to parts of the Kingdom, we had sufficient for me … Continue reading Waiting For Snow
The Sparrowhawk
Jim picked me up from work at The Old Forge yesterday and, as I loaded my tools into the car, told me that he'd almost driven over a sparrowhawk crouched on the lane leading up to the house. Luckily, he had braked in time and the bird flew away, as did an injured pigeon it … Continue reading The Sparrowhawk
The Anxious Gardener 