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  • white hyacinths

    Derek – Sunday 26th March 2023

    Our tadpoles are just coming out of the jelly. A few are free-swimming, though masses of them are clinging to the jelly, and plenty are still inside. In a few days, there…

  • Derek – Sunday 19th March 2023

    I look at the frogspawn, the embryos are growing in the jelly. We might get the first tadpoles next weekend, if it doesn’t get cold again. We will have thousands of tadpoles,…

  • Derek – Saturday 11th March 2023

    We were given various Fair Trade foods by the Co-op on Woodgrange Road: tea, coffee, bars of chocolate, a range of biscuits, and a bunch of bananas. Fair Trade was set up…

  • Derek – Saturday 25th February 2023

    On Saturday, we had the culmination of Learn Draw Grow – an artistic exploration of Dr John Fothergill’s legacy. He lived from 1712 to 1780, and in 1762 he bought Upton House,…

  • Derek – Saturday 4th February 2023

    February is very much a “between” month, still winter but in sight of spring. February, though, can be treacherous, or unseasonably warm. On 26 February 2019 it was 21º in London, but…

  • Derek – Friday 20th January 2023

    It has been icy cold for the last week, but dry. This weather is bad for birds, many will freeze to death, as will many insects including bees. We keep our bird…

  • Derek – Saturday 31st December 2022

    Winter is a fluid season; when it begins and ends is arguable. With climate change all the more so, as warm spells follow cold spells adding to the confusion. We had a…

  • Derek – Saturday 10th December 2022

    It’s been very cold the last few days, no rain, with temperatures close to zero and a few degrees below overnight. There’s ice on the pond and on the trays we have…

  • Derek – Sunday 27th November 2022

    Leaves are falling. The few left in the cherry tree are yellow and red. A fierce wind will clear the branches. The sycamore is two-thirds gone, its yellow leaves continually swept off…

  • Derek – Friday 11th November 2022

    We have had a lot of rain recently. October had over 100 mm, twice the usual rainfall. November too is giving us daily showers. All our water barrels are brimming, which is…