Category: Notes from the sticks

WE are having some wonderful warm weather, which is very welcome. Not so welcome are the biting insects which accompany it. A few days ago a little wretch got inside … Continue readingOnce bitten . . .

IT’S decades since I saw a hedgehog, but this week a woman in our village told me that until this year she had five or six regularly visiting her garden. … Continue readingHedgehogs aren’t pets

THERE is a strong human instinct to feed wild creatures. I don’t know why but maybe it’s some primitive desire to tame them. It seems a kind thing to do, … Continue readingFood for thought (and red kites)

ONCE or twice I have turned on the telly and caught the end of one of those programmes in which a hopeless old wreck of a car is turned into … Continue readingThe name’s Bond . . .

THE picture below shows one of my most treasured possessions. It is a memento of an event which took place almost exactly 90 years ago – the anniversary is on … Continue readingFrom Sheep’s Back to Man’s Back

A FEW days ago my husband Alan heard a cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) while he was on the fells with the dog. According to the old rhyme, ‘in June I change … Continue readingCuckoos clocked

IN A masterpiece of timing, after the fourth-wettest May on record the Royal Horticultural Society has told gardeners that they should not water their lawns but allow them to die back. … Continue readingBrowned off

I THINK I may be in a minority by liking Canada geese (Branta canadensis). I am sure if there were fewer of them they would be a lot more popular. Certainly … Continue readingHonk if you’re a good parent

ONE my favourite YouTube clips is this one from November 2011 of a black labrador called Fenton having a great time chasing red deer in Richmond Park while his owner … Continue readingStag do

HERE we are in the middle of May and I am still wearing my thermal vest. We have had frost nearly every night until the last few days and even … Continue readingShivering through spring