Saturday 1 May 2021

Amazing (and amazingly cold) April

April began in the most marvellous way with an unexpected card and long letter from Cat’s parents-in-law, Allan and Sue Dow. What a wonderful treat to sit down and read, like having a long chat. These are truly precious people who God has blessed Cat with. I marvel, often, that we are so so blessed with our daughter and son’s in-laws, who have become family to us. I really have no words to express the wonderful gift they are and the great part they play in our children’s lives. As for ‘labels’ – as well as 'really lovely lovely friends' - what DO you call your children’s parents-in-law?! 

Last month, after being inspired by the proximity to their kitchen window of a friend’s bird feeder, I decided to move our little feeding tray as close to the house as I could get it. Partially hidden in a particularly prickly bush, it was an instant hit, especially when I discovered that garden birds absolutely adore porridge oats.

That was the beginning of a welcome distraction. I discovered the binoculars for those all-important close-ups. I pulled the camera out permanently once I remembered that we had a tripod, which now sits proudly on the kitchen worktop. Every opportunity, I gazed out of the window, mesmerised.

The birds came. The robins, aggressively guarding the bird table: often four of them at one time. One would wait on the feeder, staring accusingly at the kitchen window, waiting for emerge. Initially, the bird would fly off and then wait for me to retreat into the house but very quickly the robin would become so familiar that I would barely have closed the door and then, eventually, I would stand outside a couple of metres away while the birds would wait on a nearby twig, scowling at me while they waited for me to go in.





Two agreed to feed together while the others waited their turn, perched strategically on nearby bushes or the birdbath. There would be aggressive flybys or even competitive invasions.  However, it was not all antagonism.  One morning,  I found one robin feeding another, putting scraps of oatmeal into its beak.


A wren hopped in and out of the bushes, but preferred to peck at the lawn, in company with a pair of chaffinches. Sparrows were shy, hiding in the cotoneaster before darting fleetingly onto the feeder, grabbing a scrap and then flying off.



As for the pigeons... one particularly huge fat pigeon broke the bird feeder. Enough said.


The biggest delight, though, was discovering blackcaps for the first time. These sparrow-sized little grey birds have a distinctive black cap adorning the top of their heads – the female’s a beautiful chestnut brown. They didn’t come to the feeder, though, but to the Fatsia japonica , also known as the castor oil plant, the fig-leaf palm or – my favourite – the glossy-leaved paper plant.


The Fatsia seeds itself prolifically – there are tiny plants coming up all over the garden, growing in corners, under trees or through bushes. The seeds are striking, initially white, on a globular head and look wonderful in flower arrangements.

The blackcaps wait until the seeds turn black before methodically and intensively stripping them off the plant. I watched in amazement as, over a twelve hour period from dusk to dawn, one tree was completely denuded of seeds. Blackcaps, seemingly, are the locusts of Fatsia world.



This was all helped by the sun. April, true to form, was sunshine and showers, especially at the beginning of the month: one day, even, brilliant sunlight interspersed with snow showers – first grains, then, another time, actual flakes which melted as they kissed the ground.

Walks and cycle rides yielded glimpses of buzzards, although not as many nor as often as in March. The few that did appear over the cliffs were mercilessly mobbed by crows. (I do like crows, though: they are such characters and such aerobatic fliers.)

April wasn’t, of course, just birds. Easter. So much sorrow and joy within such a short space of time.




Breaking up for the holidays just before Good Friday gave time for reflection, the days after, time for catching up with friends. One weekend was so busy, with back-to-back social engagements (including a lovely ruby wedding celebratory tea), that we needed the next weekend just to catch up...

The break also gave the opportunity to catch up with jobs, already thinking ahead, completing school reports and beginning to ready the house for the summer when, hopefully, we will be able to travel and rent the house out again.






Back to school, and the weather turned cold. Bitter, some days. Temperatures as low as 5 degrees, rarely rising above the early teens. No rain: officially, by the end of the month, a meteorological drought. And fierce winds, cutting through. Still, we managed a lot of garden jobs: hedge trimming, planting out pots and hanging baskets, tidying up after the winter...

And, always, lovely photos and videos of Cara and Rosie, delighting with funny conversations and charming smiles....

But it was a dry month. A cold month. A back-to-wearing-winter-woollies month. And a month of bright, bright sunshine. 










 

No comments: