Birds continued to absorb our interest through winter. The collared doves gave up trying to fathom how to get down on to the feeding area, but blue tits and long-tailed tits were numerous and impossible to count as they flitted back and forth so quickly, but probably half a dozen of each.

In the dark of mid-evening, I went out into the porch only to disturb an owl who was trying out an internal window ledge as a handy perch! We were both startled, and I haven’t seen it since. Maybe it was a young Tawny looking for a new roost in the area, as we hear them calling in the woodland at the back of us during the autumn. No need for the owl perch in the vegetable garden yet, as the broad beans seem to be surviving in their plastic bottle collars. I know – my husband has an endless list of ‘little jobs’. What a gem!

As my granddaughter and I struggled to weave green and ruby-coloured lengths of dogwood and willow stems into Christmas door wreaths, a tiny caterpillar fell out. No idea what it was – just a 1cm thread. It was interesting to know, though, that even at that time of year, there was some natural food for the birds. A couple of woodlice crawled across the table from the moss, and they were repatriated outside. We were also rewarded by seeing some goldfinches on the teasel and evening primrose seed heads.

Pink hellebores blooming in January, bringing colour to the winter garden.
Pink hellebores blooming in January, bringing colour to the winter garden. (Hazel Wedlake)

The dog had to get into the news again, this time by scoffing a couple of throat tablets. The packet was knocked over and spilt on the floor. She was quick to pounce. I was horrified, but my granddaughter immediately looked up the ingredients on her phone. Since it was eucalyptus, peppermint, menthol, juniper, and clove oils, we were reassured by some authority that she was unlikely to be at risk. As my husband said, she hasn’t had a cough at all!

Amazingly, quite a few flowers are out. Although it was 12C in early January, we did get freezing temperatures later. Perennial wallflower kept flowering, the usual few primroses are now flowering in the snow as well as later in the spring. Tiny hardy pink cyclamen, winter heather, trailing rosemary (which seems to flower most of the year despite being a Mediterranean shrub), and the emerging pink flowers of the hellebore all add to the scene. These are encouraging signs of spring to come, with rose pruning and sweet pea sowing next on the agenda.

HW