The rattle on the window makes me sit up and look out. The hail and snow are horizontal. Outside on the bird table, the Siskins, Sparrows and Goldfinches are stuffing themselves with homemade fat balls, peanuts and wild bird seed. They are lucky to be so well fed. Preparing for the spring. It’s time to […]
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Bug Life
Fund Raising for Bug Life or “Saving the small things that run the planet.” One evening in January we were watching Channel 4 news as you do. After the endless agonising about Brexit, they introduced a new feature with the words “And now for the really important issue of the day”. They did a series […]
Continue ReadingSpring is here…
We know it’s difficult to believe that spring has arrived, especially after the recent return to wintery weather! There have been some nice days and it’s on these that we try to get out into the garden – as there is so much to discover. Crinan’s column Hello, my name is Crinan and I have […]
Continue ReadingNew Year’s Plastic Pledge
How are your New Year’s resolutions coming along? On New Years Day the sun was bright and the sky blue. A great start to the New Year and a day to be marked by going outside. No doubt the New Year’s walk is an institution in the life of many families but we are not […]
Continue ReadingThe Deep Midwinter and Marmalade
In the deep midwinter, the day length is short and often the weather a bit harsh. In fact, this winter has been mild and dryish until the recent snowfall and so we have managed to garden more often than we usually can in January. It still leaves us with long evenings to find an indoor […]
Continue ReadingRSPB Big Garden Bird Watch
As the RSPB weekend of action approaches, 26th to 28th January 2019, we have started to prepare. There are masses of garden birds here at Ard Daraich and often visitors are transfixed by the number and noise they make. I have written elsewhere about the collared doves who arrived as a pair, a year or […]
Continue ReadingGlorious Firewood
As wood burners have increased in popularity their reputation has grown in controversy. Apparently more and more people are installing them in urban and suburban areas as a way of reducing their heating bills. But they are also creating a clean air issue, something we are lucky enough not to have to deal with here […]
Continue ReadingLate Autumn
Two nights ago we officially moved from summer into autumn and whilst I was on Mull there was a huge harvest moon that slid up over the horizon to light the landscape for the whole night. Autumn has arrived early this year with the first tree turning in late July and when the rain came […]
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