Happy New Year. And what a chilly start. When the garden is covered with snow it looks entirely different. And it’s a great opportunity to spot the non-human visitors and residents here by their tracks. A cool, white background also highlights those plants that are in bloom now. Of these, the witch hazels... Read more..

The birds got it wrong, didn’t they. There they were, all optimistic and full of song and now winter has returned with a vengeance. It isn’t snowing here any longer, but it hasn’t melted and the ground is frozen solid. No worms for the ‘ early bird ’ to catch at the moment. A week or so ago, the soil... Read more..

Driving around Oxfordshire these last few weeks and looking at the countryside, I do not see a ‘ green and pleasant land ’ – it is brown. The trees are brown and so is the grass. Here we are in the second week of April and there is almost no new plant growth. The wildlife are hungry and deer have taken... Read more..