Christine's walking & birds blog

Wood pigeons have been pulling the dried-up wistaria to bits in their efforts to get the last of the holly berries and made a complete mess of the patio; so this morning I swept up and re-filled the seed-feeder. Coal tit, nuthatch, chaffinch and great tit have been constant visitors to it while jay, robin, blackbirds and a male blackcap have taken stuff from the ground.

Just as I came back indoors, a steely-blue light preceded a shower of hail; after which the sun broke through. Next thing I knew, it was incredibly dark although only midday. A swirling grey snowstorm blotted out everything beyond the garden, and when I opened the door I could hear a wet, hissing sound. Through this sound, I could hear the muted, distant shouts of children; no doubt they were delighted.

We're ending the year as we began it - with the horrible hacking-cough flu. Greger's been in Sweden for most of the week and I was supposed to be picking him up from the airport late tonight, but his flight has been cancelled. BA refused to take any responsibility, saying it was the weather. I said it couldn't be the weather this end because I'd been standing by the bedroom window for a while, watching planes land at and take off from Heathrow. Greger admitted it was at his end, as they had closed one runway - yes folks, they don't always cope with winter weather in Sweden! Anyway, he's lucky because he was able to stay with his niece who lives near Arlanda - and I'm a bit relieved because I still feel shaky.

Earlier in the week my poor brother, calling for a morning coffee on his daily walk, had to make do with my disembodied voice talking through the letter-box; but I couldn't risk giving this virus to him. It's a shocker. I'm used to flu, but this particular strain isn't the one I usually get. I'd rather have that one twice than this one once.

I've been hoping for waxwings as some were reported in Marsh Lane, but it's unlikely as there are very few berries left around here. My last significant bird sighting of the day was of a flock of lapwings, flying south-west across an aquamarine sky. Not such a bad thing to see while doing the washing-up!