Sophie in the Sticks: Day of winter

We all know that I hate winter. It's a season which I dread and every year I spend a long time moaning about everything horrible it brings. Well, of course that still stands, but dare I say it; the winter we're emerging from has been the least awful in my adult years. Yes, it's been muddy and cold with so much doom and gloom, but there's been an interesting variety of weather. The fact that I've been working from home with only a few necessary work things to leave the house for has been such a benefit. Driving country lanes in the dark and poor conditions was a real worry, especially in threats of snow, heavy rain, fog or ice. So not only have I not had the anxiety of the roads, I've not had the time and energy doing the driving either. On top of that, we've been able to walk. Most of the weekdays it's been a walk in the dark but at least it was a stretch of the legs and just time in the open air. For the last couple of weeks it's been light/dingy which has been very exciting. It won't be long before it will be light for even longer then in a month the clocks change for the better.

There's been a lot of rain, flooding and unworkable conditions on the allotment. This has meant that we've not done any winter work down there since before Christmas. Winter drudgery down there often took up a lot of the weekend and felt miserable - mud, numb hands and runny noses. Not done any of that and instead I've been merrily sat at my sewing machine, making clothes for myself - MUCH more jolly. I've been able to maintain my weekday workout schedule which has done me the world of good and leaves me feeling on top of the world. So the wider world might be in chaos with the nightmare of the pandemic but on a person level, I've had a great season, for me. While I do feel guilty for having enjoyed my time during this lockdown, knowing that so many people are struggling, I think it's so important to find the way to the light at the end of the tunnel and kick hard for the surface.

Here's some shots from before the snow set in.

Seedlings germinating on the verge. Could be honesty.

Buzzard. We've seen a few perched recently.

Aconites positively glowing.

So many hedges have been flailed of late. We have a few concerns over those in our stalking grounds for foraging - hopefully there will still be plenty to take.