Category: Notes from the sticks

FOR no particular reason, this week I thought we would celebrate clouds. We all know the usual formations but I have found a few stills and videos of less common … Continue readingOutlook cloudy

ON the train to London last week (please don’t go there unless you really have no alternative) I passed this scene in Hertfordshire: Here is the house in close-up (I … Continue readingLost world of the Ovaltineys

ONE of the many joys of our bird feeder is a visit from a flock of long-tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus). You usually hear them before you see them with their … Continue readingCaring, sharing long-tailed tits

MY husband Alan, who walks a lot further every day than I do, says there are more nettles than usual this year. In fact the miracle is that the country … Continue readingGrasping the nettle

A COMMON sight in this area of the Ribble Valley is groups of teenagers weighed down with backpacks gathered round a map and looking puzzled. They have come from Waddow … Continue readingWhat price the great outdoors?

IN the ten years or so we have lived in Lancashire I don’t recall seeing any house martins locally, but this year there are many. I know of at least … Continue readingA full house of martins

I’M not sure why, but last week’s column (about cricket, motor racing and sheep) prompted reader ‘Mozzy’ to comment: ‘I’ve lived in my London house, small garden a long time. … Continue readingHow green is our compost?

Today I am handing over the first part of the column to my husband Alan. ONE of my many walks with our yellow Labrador Teddy takes me along the Ribble … Continue readingA tree and six stumps

TODAY’S topic has fascinated me since childhood – how do seemingly flimsy plants manage to drill through solid tarmac as if it is butter? Looking this up on the internet, … Continue readingForce of nature

TRAVELLING by Northern Trains is not the most thrilling experience. The company was doing so badly in terms of timekeeping and cancellations under its previous operator that it was taken … Continue readingAction Stations