OCTOBER - "“All things that love the sun are out of doors; The sky rejoices in the morning’s birth..."
“All things that love the sun are out of doors;
The sky rejoices in the morning’s birth;
The grass is bright with raindrops; on the moors
The hare is running races in her mirth;
And with her feet she from plashy earth
Raises a mist, that, glittering in the sun,
Runs with her all the way, wherever she doth run.”
from Resolution and Independence by William Wordsworth (I call it -The Joy of Morning!)
Having a drink from the Michaelmas daisies
There were still swallows flitting around us at Stempster House on the first day of October. After that, the skies started to change dramatically. For example, a trip across the county to the dentist was not only remarkable for the absence of swallows who'd been gathering on lines and roofs until then, but also for their replacements! Hundreds of starlings had taken their places. Now I don't know whether or not they'd been eagerly waiting to get their perches back but they were up there pretty smartish!
The redwings are back. I've fond memories of seeing groups of fieldfares with redwings boosting their numbers as they bounced along the roadside opposite Derwent Cottage in Belton in the Isle of Axholme. The road was changed there a long time ago - it was to avoid the very nasty bend which went by Mr. Bean's cottage. The fieldfares (felfers in Axholme-speak) and redwings who'd been in the field before the change, just kept coming from the north each autumn and fed on the newly created grass verges instead! The road had moved from one side of Derwent Cottage to the other but they didn't seem to mind. Their journey from northern and eastern Europe may not have been as long as the trek made by the swallows, but it has its own challenges.
This month I've noticed a couple of redwings joining our resident thrushes and blackbirds at the Swedish Whitebeam Bistro! Our thrushes have been a success this year - it's the first year we've felt they have been successful since we moved in over five years ago now.
Two much larger bird friends almost flew into us as we were crossing the causeymire - a pair of barn owls avoided tragedy not too long after we'd seen a deceased pine marten by the roadside. Sometimes I think the cars we drive are murderers. Two of our six children never learned to drive and a little bit of me is quite proud of that! The roadkill we see in the Highlands is heartbreaking.
On the way south
Recently, driving south to Dumbartonshire, we were stuck in traffic for a long time and this meant that we were able to enjoy the "gloamin' " - it's quite magical being in the glens at that time of the day. That same day we were able to mark the autumn cloak which had been spread across the trees and hillsides. The turning bracken and drying heather have a beauty all their own. Ginny saw a deer with huge antlers just chilling by the roadside.
The deer can be a worry when it is the season for their rutting. The roe deer rut a little earlier but the other deer in this country are in the middle of their rut now. You have to be extra sharp-eyed as you drive anywhere in Scotland at this time of year.
Our three friendly roe deer have sometimes accompanied us on our walks this month. Well, they don't exactly walk with us but they come quite close to wish us a good morning and then, as we're reaching home, they hang around at the far side of the small field opposite our little wood to make sure we get back alright! That's my take on it! Occasionally a fourth will make their trio into a quartet. I like to imagine they're taking an elderly relative out to stretch his legs!
Eight roe deer were spotted on a walk down the hill yesterday. We used to get excited when we saw bigger numbers close to home but now, although it's worth a mention, I think it's the relationship we have with these characters that is of greater importance. They really do have their own personalities - deeralities! Getting the balance is complicated. They are wild animals and need to exist in their natural environment wherever possible. Last winter was a cruel one up here and so we put down some extra food for them but generally that isn't our way.
When we see them up close, we speak softly to them and amongst ourselves and try to keep the dogs quiet. Neither dog is terribly bothered by them - although Jess is a wee bit temperamental in that she has off-days when she tries hard to assert herself over whoever and whatever!!!
We’ve also removed the barbed wire which went along the drystone wall around the wee wood.
Before we did that, we found deer hair and blood on some of the wire. Seemed a good idea to move it. We don’t mind them coming into the wood - in fact, we encourage them.
Our big gardening news this month is the removal of the huge sitka spruce from Toad Hall. Local tree surgeons, Davy, Simon and Mark came to do the job and we were extremely pleased with how they did it. It was a tricky job as it was so close to the house and in an angle between two tall dry stone walls. There was an elder tree immediately in front of it and flowers planted below. The walls didn't budge and neither the elder tree nor any of the flowers was seriously damaged. The sitka spruce was dangerous. I was sad to see it go but now, when strong winds come, I won't have to worry about it blowing over and damaging the house and occupants!
The Saw Doctor
David Allman Crowden
Tel. 01955 605244 mob. 07712 714141
email. thesawdoctor@outlook.com
free no obligation quote
World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated twice yearly - once in May and once in October. This autumn's WMBD fell on 10th October (the second Saturday). I recorded the garden temperature as 7c at 6:21am and the day began with rain, followed by monsoon type rain with pellets of ice! It did improve however!! I always spare a thought for the migrating birds - the weather isn't the only problem they face!
The birds sang exquisitely from the sitka spruce before the men arrived to remove it. I suppose they've sung just as beautifully on other mornings but it seemed so special that morning. At the other side of the house, from the kitchen windows, I was treated to a visit from *Bob, Jenny and Dilly who all lined up to reassure me that we were doing the right thing by having the spruce removed and that there are many more trees which they and their friends like to sing from. (*Bob Robin, Jenny Wren and Dilly Dunnock!)
Preparations are underway for our characterful winter weather! For two days now, Ginny, Judith and Clemency have been collecting up things that will move in a gale and, if they can’t be reused, they’ll be taken to the recycle centre. They’ve also worked hard to remove all the summer grease from the flagstones in the yard and around the house. This is essential as it becomes a particular hazard in late autumn / wintertime.
Tender plants are being made safe and pots which may succumb to frost are being tucked away until springtime.
The clematis which grows up the garage and scents the yard in spring has been trimmed a little to allow more light to the solar panels - similarly the climbing rose there. The solar panels are already more effective since the sitka spruce’s removal. Making the most of the autumn sunshine!
My pumpkin plant produced small yellow fruits which have all now sadly perished. I was rather hoping to have at least one to carve for Hallowe'en but we will have to buy them from the shop again this year. I am obliged to judge the annual pumpkin carving competition ahead of the Hallowe'en party and I really struggle with it. After all, one man's meat is another man's poison! Quite apt for Hallowe'en don't you think?
The falling leaves in the front garden are such fun for Scruff. His little body twists and twirls as he tries to catch them before they fall to the ground. He loves running through them too - they make such an exciting noise for him - and he lives for excitement!
I caught a falling leaf once - it was when I was a student in Ripon. I was walking back from the little city up to the college and a leaf drifted down, virtually settling in my hand. People used to say it is good luck to catch a falling leaf. A lot of old country sayings are ignored now in favour of science but I like to ponder on them sometimes. I think my falling leaf perhaps gave me good luck - with a lot of input from a power far greater!
At this time of the year there are often white horses visible on the ocean. The water is seldom calm as we move deeper into autumn.
Our skies - normally quiet except for bird calls - have been noisier lately. As I write, one of our friendly crows sits on a tall post, commiserating with me. The feathered crows don’t like the noise of the military planes either! On some occasions there are so many planes and they come terrifyingly low. These exercises seem to happen more and more often these days. Some say that wind turbines make too much noise. To be honest, although sometimes they can be heard, we rarely notice them. When the wind blows, the trees around us make far more sound than the turbines!
The crows know!!!
Tennyson, our Lincolnshire poet and Poet Laureate from 1850 until his death in 1892, sometimes wrote in his native Lincolnshire dialect. He uses the word “craw” for “crow”.
In Scots too, “crow” can be replaced with “craw”. It’s easy to see why these vocal birds get their label when you think of their call.
One of the lesser-known facts about crows is that they can live for many years. We don't expect birds to be long-lived as a rule but crows usually reach twenty and, if they are kept in captivity, they can live to be nearly sixty!
Animals and birds have their private lives just as we do. There should be a Noel Coward amongst playwrights today who can create a script around the private lives of well-observed animals and birds. The characters are all around us and some of their antics are such a lot of fun - others are remarkable in their complexity.
For example, last week,Clemency observed two female hen harriers - probably mother and daughter? - sitting on separate mounds of dried vegetation. Once each had settled herself down, a conversation began. The sounds were something quite special and only the two ladies understood the general gist. Maybe information about food supplies was being exchanged? Maybe one bird had a weather prediction worth sharing? We will never know - but this was most definitely a meaningful conversation!
The natural world is brimming over with such treasures - and I'm not the only one who would rather ponder these things than reflect too long on the private lives of celebrities!
Goethe said that the important thing in this world is, not where we stand, but in which direction we move.
I want to move towards a greater understanding of how mankind can remedy the mistakes we have made thus far and avoid making those errors in the future.
We might begin by accepting that each and every new life is something to be treasured - equally.
Taking a step away from the celebrity culture, where people focus more on emulating the rich and famous than on being the wonderfully various human beings they are themselves, would be a good move too.
Reading the news, things can seem a bit gloomy and disappointing but, at the risk of sounding a bit Gandalfian!! -
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
Some of my Scottish ancestors were hand loom weavers. They trained their apprentices who would lodge with them. Obviously the apprentices made mistakes as they were in training and, when this happened, they were told:
"Ca’ canny but ca’ awa’"
(Carry on carefully but keep carrying on!)
Good advice for us all I think!
My Temperton branch has been in the Isle of Axholme for centuries and has quite a history there.
When I was a child someone suggested the name was associated with Temple Belwood, then situated in Belton in the Isle of Axholme and since demolished to make way for - you’ve guessed - a motorway!
As I grew up and came to understand the brutality of what went on there, before the Templars arrived, in the name of Druidism, I didn’t much care for the connection!
But the fact is, it was a beautiful little corner of Lincolnshire - with great oak trees - hence, “Belwood”.
Many people today have memories of playing there as children, of collecting holly and mistletoe at Christmas and some, like myself, can even claim knowledge of ancestors having lived and worked at Temple Belwood.
On 26th December, 1946, my great grandfather, Reuben Temperton, took his bicycle from his home there and cycled the short journey to visit his daughter, Blanche, who lived at Bracon in Belton.
Reuben was living with another daughter, Rose, and her husband, at Temple Gardens at the time.
When he arrived at Blanche’s home, he sat down in his usual chair and, within minutes, he passed away.
My mum, who moved to Belton when she was nine, can remember, not only collecting Christmas greenery at Temple Belwood - with her friend, Diana, and Diana’s little donkey and cart, but she can also remember going along to Temple Gardens, with her mum, to buy all kinds of fruit to bottle and with which to make jam. This would be in WW2 when so many people preserved the fruits available to them to ensure their vitamin intake through wintertime.
It is a sad thing to see fruit wasted nowadays. There’s no sense to it really! October is bursting with such gifts!
The little poem below is a bit of nonsense and should be taken with a pinch of salt! It refers to the obelisk built by Squire Johnson of Temple Belwood, by which to remember his favourite mare who broke her leg while hunting. It was said that the squire had hidden a pot of gold within it.
A LEGEND
On Jackdaw’s walk
There is a mark
For people to behold.
‘Twas Maisie’s mother
Held the ladder
Whilst Johnson hid the gold.
Hallowe’en and here we are surrounded by lanterns, pumpkins and cuddly ghosts, witches and the like. Today there will be a lot of food preparation - a fair bit is already in tins and boxes - games and, in a way, a sense of completion - before Advent and the Christmas season begins in earnest.
Out of doors, there is the gilding of the year all around us - the ripeness of autumn before the grass is flattened and the trees are absolutely bare.
They are already quite denuded after the two storms of Sunday last and Tuesday.
Last Saturday, we all worked like crazy to get ready for the incoming storms. The wind started to pick up as I was coming indoors but, by the time Clemency and Judith were moving the chickens into the garage for their safety, it was already very windy.
The crows here talk to us. You have to live alongside them to understand that this is possible. We have nests of them in the wee wildwood and we listen to their chattering throughout the spring and summer as they raise their families. But sometimes they seem to want to communicate with us directly. This happened last Saturday when I was protecting some plants ahead of the storms. I knew I wasn’t alone. Suddenly, from a tree close by, a crow flew across my line of vision and warned me of what was about to happen. It turned out to be the first of the two storms!
Waking up on Sunday, the weather seemed relatively calm after the taste we’d had on Saturday - but - my goodness! - it didn’t last!
Thank heavens we’d had the dangerous sitka spruce removed! The wind was coming from the direction which would have placed it in the corner of Clem’s room had it not been felled!!
The wind howled and roared and screamed over the chimney pots. By bedtime, my head ached with the noise! The electricity went off at lunchtime and didn’t come back until bedtime on Tuesday. At the point of losing power, I had two trays of biscuits in the oven - one went into the oven five minutes before the other and that one was okay - the second one not so much! I’d also weighed out everything for an apple cake and put all the ingredients into the electric mixer. Fortunately, I hadn’t got around to breaking the eggs.
By Tuesday I had decided to take out the apple cake ingredients from the machine and mix them, in a bowl, with the three eggs. Because we have a gas hob (but electric oven), I was able to steam the mixture in a pudding bowl. We ate it for tea with ice cream which had thawed out in the freezer and was therefore more cream than ice.
Sunday tea was toasted bread rolls, done on the fire in the sitting room, and hot chocolate. Monday tea was fish and chips collected from Thurso! I don’t normally eat them - but they were so good!
Tuesday began with a stunning moon over the windfarm. The high winds were back again after an interlude on Monday. The engineers from SSE were working by the swollen River Forss in Tuesday’s storm and have put up a new pole there.
The following day I felt blessed by the kindness of others. Two friends came to our rescue and mended the leaking roof. Another friend brought a big bag of cooking apples from her tree. Our own eating apple harvest has been a success this year but we only had two cooking apples!!
There has been a lot of natural pruning in the garden. It’s nature’s way!
Yesterday Ginny gave me an oak leaf which she had caught as it was fluttering earthwards.
Seven years of good luck? I’ll share that with her.
“Blessed are they that have the gift of making friends... It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one’s self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another.”
Thomas Hughes
Comments
Post a Comment