Village Walk

This morning, we did a walk around the village. We saw a little egret (the first I've seen in the village) and a buzzard. Until the 1980s little egrets were rare in the UK. The churchyard trees looked very bare and wintery.

The 2 horse chestnut trees were planted to commemorate the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. I have no idea when they were planted, but they are very old. Both our children and grandchildren have enjoyed collecting conkers from these. No doubt village children have been doing this for generations. There is something humbling about this. Dust to dust....

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

In all, 10 unique bird species seen, but some very commonly seen birds were not seen in the hour from 3pm to 4pm. I twice tried to submit my results to the RSPB, but on both occasions it told me there was an error.  On another page it said I had submitted the results! CRAP.

Aconites

This winter seems much colder than last. We have yet to see a daffodil out and the snowdrops are later. Yesterday I saw the first aconites out, in a garden not far from us (see picture).

We are seeing more birds from Scandinavia like fieldfares, redwings, starlings and waxwings. The latter I have still not seen.

Each winter we see some of these birds, but usually they come as it is very cold in Scandinavia. Seeing lots here often suggests a cold winter here.

As yet, no snow here.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum .

Growing amaryllis house plant

Our amaryllis, grown from a bulb, is really growing. It might be in flower next week?

Our lounge (where it is) is pretty warm - usually 22-26 deg C most evenings.

The longest stem is 44cms, so it has grown 5cm since yesterday! You can almost watch it growing!

Famous Five (for adults)

In several places recently I have come across "Famous Five" books designed for adults. Depending where you buy these, the prices are from about £2.99 to £8.99. They are cheapest on Amazon. As a child, I enjoyed the Enid Blyton "Famous Five" books. The adult books have really made me laugh. I might buy some.

So called "facts"

Recently I have seen adverts on Facebook about famous people who are reported to have died. All these turn out to be untrue. Apparently it is called "clickbait" designed to make you click the link, no doubt to then try to download something nasty to your computer. I have "shared" news items in all good faith only to find out later that they are not factually correct. In this age of "post-truth" news, one has to be very careful. Do not take things at face value!

See http://www.snopes.com/category/facts/

Growing fast

Our amaryllis plant is growing at a rate of about 1cm a day.

Although not in flower yet, it soon will be. We planted this a few weeks ago.