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FEBRUARY - "The time when skies are free from cloud..."

The time when skies are free from cloud, Though still the robin whistles loud In the bare garden croft, The catkin, on the hazel tree, Mistakes for summer flower the bee... FEBRUARY BY GEORGE WALTER THORNBURY Stempster skies On the 25th February, my son sent recordings of the birds around him at the foot of his French mountain. He lives there with his wife and daughter, aged three, who benefits enormously from the beautiful countryside. One thousand and twelve miles away, as the crow flies, I heard the skylarks as Ginny and I walked the dogs on the same day. Ginny and Judith heard them for the first time this year when they walked the dogs the day before. So many hopeful songs just now! The early mornings are joyous with the chorus of birds around us. And it's not only their song which fascinates. Their antics intrigue me too. Apart from Bob Robin, who has yet to introduce me to his mate, the regulars are coming in their couples to feed - both on the ground and at the feeding stati...

About the Blog

In January 2017 I started a blog. There were 12 blogs altogether - one for each month of that year. When I had finished, my daughter and I edited the blogs and I wrote two more chapters so that my first book was formed. It is entitled "Child Of The Isle" - like the blogs - and covers aspects of my childhood in the Isle of Axholme - then a quiet corner of rural Lincolnshire - through the fifties and sixties.

I miss the blog thing. And I have enjoyed putting the book together. It follows that I should have another go. I am now attempting to answer all those people who have, over the years since we first moved to Orkney in 1986, asked the question, "What's it like up there?"  We lived in Orkney for 10 years, moved back to the Isle of Axholme for a while, then to Barrow upon Humber, and now we live in Caithness.  We meant to return to Orkney but we stopped off in Wick. We've been here since 2009 but I have never forgotten my roots and I am still searching for more information about my ancestors from Axholme and from other parts of Britain - some may be from further away but that is a work in progress. I intend to weave memories into "What's It Like Up There?" So, each month, for 12 months, I will take a topic and write about it from my Caithness viewpoint, referring back to other times in my life.

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