For the first time for very many years we have a white Christmas
.
Thank you for your continued support and interest – keep the comments flowing, I’m always interested to hear your views!
.
May you all have a very happy holiday
Johnson
Cotswold Hills, England
The other day I recalled one of the nursery rhymes that my mother used to sing to me when I was a small child sitting on her lap. Goodness knows why, after so very many years, but no sooner had I done so than the words became true:
.
“The north wind doth blow and we shall have snow and what will the robin do then, poor thing?”
.
Well, the answer is puff up its feathers and stand close to the bird feeding table until it gets fed!
.
It isn’t just the robin that demands food in these difficult conditions and there has been a constant stream of activity back and forth to the feeders. The tit family are always welcome – we get many different sorts here: blue, great, coal, willow and long-tailed.
.
.
It is often stated that British birds are rather dull compared to the exotica of warmer climes. We do have our share of ‘little brown jobs’ that aren’t too easy to identify but what can be more spectacular than the Greater Spotted Woodpecker? With it’s red cap and rump and black and white markings, it is a beautiful looking bird. We also have its diminutive cousin, the Lesser Spotted, but these tend to stay out of the garden and feed amongst the willows by the river.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. 
.
The snow – which is very unusual around here before Christmas – looks to hang around for a while, with more forecast next week. I cannot remember the last time we had one but, perhaps, a white Christmas may be a reality rather than just a picture on a card. If so, I shall have to write a post quoting Bing Crosby…..
.
I love sheep! There is something about them. They are supposed to be stupid but I’ve known some clever ones in my time (like I’ve known lots of people who claim to be clever …..). They have exquisite faces, full of charm with a look in their eyes that just beg for a little more human understanding.
.
.
What more can I say about the joys of building a relationship with a sheep or, preferably, many sheep? They smell nice, especially when wet. They’re cuddly (when dry) once they’ve allowed you to become more intimate with them, an especial priviledge.
.
They have lovely voices – varying in tone from deep bass through alto to soprano – and there’s usually quite a few castratos among them too. Each morning, as soon as I step outside into the garden, I am greeted by uplifted heads and welcoming bleats, a sort of dawn chorus, an ovine welcome to another day. And as I enter their field to feed the bantams who are kept there, they gather around me pushing and jostling to have their noses scratched, their ears rubbed and to tell me the latest gossip and goings-on in their sheepy world.
.
.
Now there is one special reason that I haven’t mentioned yet about why I’m so fond of sheep: they taste great, well roasted with lashings of gravy and mint sauce. And that is the quandry. For the reason that these are here in the loveliest field in the secret valley is not for favouritism (as they think) – it is for the pot. And as they try to eat the poultry food I explain that they have no need for such processed feed, for they have the sweetest grass and the freshest river water, when replete they can rest in the shade of the finest trees, the secret valley can offer.
.
.
As if to make me feel even more gulity, they wander off to the empty, upturned feeders. Somehow, even the fattest ones can get inside them. For them, life behind bars is nothing more than a defiant gesture: they little know that judgement has been passed and they have been sentenced to death.
.
.
.
.
.
She-Dog has been brought up with sheep for the secret valley has a higher population of sheep to humans, let alone canines. As a puppy she had to learn to be totally trustworthy with them and the other animals that wander about the place.
She-Dog at 10 weeks – smaller than the bantams
She-Dog also learnt that television watching is kept to a minimum, for we are the sort that prefer to be doing things in the great outdoors. Or so we thought. But, she says that, as she isn’t allowed to round up sheep herself, she likes to watch others doing it and where better than from the carpeted comfort of your own sitting room?
She-Dog watching ‘One Man & His Dog’ (Yes, I know that having a television on the floor under a table is odd but we never claimed to be a normal family)
She-Dog also gets bored easily and once bored even the carpet doesn’t feel comfy enough. Better to sneak off and find a fluffy sheeps wool cushion to snuggle up to ……. there’s one upstairs and, hopefully, no-one will notice ……..
Life is always so hectic – rushing here, there and everywhere – that it is all too easy to forget to take time out, do nothing but contemplate …..
So sit back, enjoy the summer warmth while you can and relax……
Or find a place in the shade…. 
Or lie amongst the corn and gaze at the sky…..
Life in the English Cotswolds 
