When the north wind blows

The first signs of winter are apon us - minus temperatures at night and the first snow flurries have already happened. Technically winter doesn’t start until the 21^st December, but when I see the Cranes flying south for winter it heralds the start of winter for me. During the past couple of weeks I have made the garden ready for winter. The grass has been mown and fertilised, dead plants cut back and the patio furniture has retired to the cellar for the winter months.

I have recently had by blood rechecked because of my thyroid condition, and all appears as well as it can be. Cholesterol and a few other things are border line, but since I developed a dodgy thyroid this seems to be normal. I exercise, hardly eat meat, and have a low fat diet. Not much else I can do really. Since the weather has got colder I have restarted going to the gym and have found it not as hard work as I thought it would be, considering my last visit was 5 months ago. I guess playing a bit of football and going jogging over the summer has really kept me in shape.

Well the advantage of my personal winter starting early, is that spring will come early as well. The Cranes will be back overhead in February, and I can’t wait to see them, as spring is without doubt my favourite time of the year. It’s like a rebirth.

Birds and the Bees

The Haddock house seems to have become a bit of a wildlife reserve of late. We have Mason Bees in the roof (as we did last year) and on the south side of the house we have 2 separate Bumble Bee nests in the ventilation gaps in the outside brickwork. In one of the ventilation gaps on the west side we have a Wasp nest, and on the north side a Hornet nest. So we shouldn’t have any pollination issues in the garden.

Before anyone freaks, the Mason Bees are solitary bees (they don’t swarm) and die off at about this time of year. They are not a problem. Bumble Bees are harmless as I regularly demonstrate with catching them with my hands. Hornets are good natured if you don’t upset them (not actually sure what does upset them though) and they are a protected species in Germany. Wasps will become a problem later in the summer when we dine on the patio, but Mrs H and the Juniorette know to stay calm around annoying Wasps, and then let me deal with them.

A couple of days ago I found a Vole outside our cellar steps, and a few weeks ago a Lizard (see photo) took up residence there for a while. We have a bird problem in our living room. Great Tits keep coming in through one window trying to take a shortcut to the bird feeder located on the patio. Unfortunately they keep on stunning themselves by flying into closed windows once inside the house. Our tomcat then pounces on them and eats them, feathers, bones and all. I guess its nature’s way of weaning out the dumb and unlucky ones – shame though.

We of course still get the half eaten, mangled and injured birds and mice that the cats bring home regularly. But so far this year they haven’t brought back any frogs or toads, and the time will soon come when our girl cat Minnie will start bringing home butterflies.

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