JANUARY - "From his sixth year, the Boy of whom I speak, In summer, tended cattle on the hills..."

From his sixth year, the Boy of whom I speak,
In summer, tended cattle on the hills;
But, through the inclement and the perilous days
Of long-continuing winter, he repaired,
Equipped with satchel, to a school, that stood
Sole building on a mountain's dreary edge,
Remote from view of city spire, or sound
Of minster clock! From that bleak tenement
He, many an evening, to his distant home
In solitude returning, saw the hills
Grow larger in the darkness; all alone
Beheld the stars come out above his head,
And travelled through the wood, with no one near
To whom he might confess the things he saw. 

From "The Ruined Cottage" by William Wordsworth

January 8th was a day for placing lighted candles on the breakfast table. It was the return to work for the three wage-earners in our household. The candles, which burn in our house through Advent, over Christmas and for Candlemas at the beginning of February, are a symbol of hope. Hope for 2024. The Christmas holidays were officially over. World news hadn't changed much. It would be easy to fall into the trap of assuming one has to accept the bad things which are happening. That's not the case! I'm not throwing away my hope for a kinder world. The frozen water droplets on the wire fences and bushes reflect the light and I'm reminded of the power there is in tiny things.

The point where two rainbows meet

Don't throw anything away! I sometimes give in to temptation, on a milder January day, and do a bit of tidying up in the garden. Then I tell myself that the reason I didn't tidy everything in the autumn months was that I was leaving stalks and seeds for overwintering insects and birds. The thing to do, if you're really fed up with the garden looking a bit bedraggled, is to neaten it and then pile up the things you've clipped off and leave them available to the creatures we will need on our side in the spring and summer! We don't use pesticides here and so we value, for example, the ladybirds' voracious appetite for aphids!

We were well and truly wrapped up for that early morning dog-walk on 8th January. The temperature was -1°C. We turned south and there was a sharp intake of breath as we clearly saw the crispest of crescent moons alongside Venus, both set in a pink and mauve banded sky just below the fading darkness. Night was slipping away and it really felt as if the daily battle for light was being won. Moon and planet fairly twinkled above silver fields. Across the valley, cottages and agricultural buildings punctuated the view with their accents of electricity. 

We walked on until the dogs' enthusiasm for exciting scents got the better of us. When mother and daughter link arms to stay upright, each with a crazy spaniel on a lead, and still struggle on the slippery lane, then heading for home is probably the wisest action! 

The following morning the moon was hidden from view - but Venus, the bright morning star, was still there for us.  We looked for Mercury - much more elusive - but not a sign of it!

We haven't had any mild January days so far! At present, as I write, the temperature is at -2°C and snow has built up everywhere - some has drifted - making the roads impassable. The schools are closed because it isn't safe for the children to travel.

"When icicles hang by the wall"

The snow helps us to see who visits. Stanley Stoat came to eat a date which was put out in just the right spot for him to enjoy. We are obliged to the snow for displaying the message. The deer visiting the little wood have either multiplied or have been making several visits. There were lots of their tracks in the snow as the lane bends at the end of our garden.

A pine marten went this way

The mid-January snow certainly altered our lives for a while. Driving home, Clemency was forced to abandon the car by the river. Thankfully, because of neighbourly kindness, she arrived home safely and, a little later, another act of neighbourly kindness saw the car back in the drive. As a family, we witnessed some examples of humanity at its best during that week.

Schools were closed for the rest of the week. 

Reflecting on neighbourliness, I remembered a sad piece of my family history - and how kind neighbours were to my ancestors. My great grandfather's sister, Hannah Elizabeth Temperton, was twenty nine when she died of burns in October 1892. Her father found her on the kitchen floor with her clothes on fire. He put out the fire, sent his son for the doctor and asked his neighbour for help. People who lived in the small settlement of Carrhouse, Belton in Axholme, went above and beyond with help and support for the family. The neighbour who came to look after Hannah was Martha Holmes and the Holmes family were still good neighbours to my family when I was growing up there. 

January rainbows

Before the drainage by Vermuyden in the 17th century, the area was full of waterfowl and fish. There are descendants of his Dutch labourers and engineers still living in the Isle of Axholme today. The Islonians knew the land and lived by it. Marshland farmers had some fertile soil to work with and common land meant that those who didn't own their own patch of earth could feed their families too. Vermuyden changed all that. He had a home in Sandtoft and there was also a camp for his Dutch workmen there. They were not made welcome! As the years went by, Isle folk re-educated themselves and learned how to profit from the drained fenland but, at first, there was a lot of desperation and a great deal of anger. It's not difficult to draw an analogy with the construction of wind farms today. Many people don't want their landscapes changed by them but they are happy to use the electricity they produce! On one day last week Scotland made over 100% of its electricity through renewables. Some of this goes south. Not bad!

A drive out to Broubster a couple of weeks ago with the dogs was a first for me. I've heard of its charms but it wasn't until then that I became entranced by them. I spotted ravens together - huge birds and not really in much of a hurry. The real magic was not the ravens however. The morning mist drifted through the trees and above the water, through the ruined cottages, tumbling over the old stone walls. It felt as if we were wrapped around by a combination of raw nature - no gardens here - and intense history. Something remained of human spirituality. I can't put it into words but it felt very special.

Uplit Sitka Spruce

A week after the snow, the angry winds which have been battering us, have left their mark too. At the end of December we had a tree down near the cabin in the wood. It fell onto an oak and did some damage to that. This week the wind damage wasn't so bad but, walking along the edge of the trees we noticed how much light was coming through, and yet there was no tree down. Then, after inspecting the floor, we realised why - there were lots of branches there - natural pruning!

A local weather forecaster anticipated a hurricane. Sunday night into Monday morning seemed fairly close to one! We had gusts of 99mph in Caithness. At bedtime on Sunday, the pressure was at 947 on the little monitor. We heard thunder at 3am on Monday. We were nervous about the trees and the chimney stacks but, when we surveyed the effects of the storm later on Monday, we were pleasantly surprised!

January daisy

As the weather settled down, we were able to see tiny white snowdrops peeping through from the green shoots in the grass, bluebells spearing the earth behind the pond and spikes of daffydowndillies along the perimeter. Today, 28th, we have a dandelion and a daisy in flower - now call me an absurd optimist but I feel another springtime coming on!!! Someone mentioned sand from the Sahara. Well I haven't seen any of that here in Caithness but the wind feels warm and the temperature, as the sun is going down, is 11°C. Very strange wintertime temperatures for the far north! 

Dandelion in January

There is pussy-willow in the kitchen garden. The years fall away as I remember stroking the soft buds on the goat willows when I was a little girl. These are the things which engage children with the natural world and, once that engagement takes off, there is no turning back. Every child who has been introduced to the simple beauty of each season will maintain that curiosity and appreciation. I'm thankful for my introduction. Every little thing is a source of wonder - still!

Snowdrops

A New Year's Wish
May each day bring thee something
Fair to hold in memory--
Some true light to shine
Upon thee in the after days.
May each night bring thee peace,
As when the dove broods o'er
The young she loves; may day
And night the circle of
A rich experience weave
About thy life, and make
It rich with knowledge, but radiant
With Love, whose blossoms shall be
Tender deeds.

~ Helen Van Anderson Gordon (b. 1859)