A day of gardening

I've enjoyed the last day of my holiday mostly in the garden. It was dry, initially cool then short periods of warmth. The stray cat Mr Winter was sunbathing, and I got a nice photo of him. I've been fiddling with the pond a bit, added some stones and plants. There are now some diving beetles in there. Elsewhere I discovered a possible bee nest - holes in the ground that bees seem to be making. It was a good day pottering and listening to lots of Radio 4 and Guardian podcasts.

Easter update

Not done too well at keeping up with this. Might start to use it to log my moth trapping. Had the trap out twice overnight now, last week got 50 in there, which was hard work.

Excited about new pond , see left. Will be planting up the bank over next few weeks, and putting stuff to attract the frogs. Now the clocks have changed although weather is miserable, at least get bit more light after work for pottering around if it's not raining.

Things I love about winter

We're well into winter now, and I've remembered that I should note some of the positive bits of the freezing temperatures!

• Snow when I haven't got to go to work
• The possibility of seeing waxwings
• Birds swarming on the bird table & feeders
• My new woolly hat
• Bad weather meaning the best thing to do on a Sunday afternoon is watch films on telly
• Drinking hot chocolates
• Turkish delight at Christmas
• Christmas pudding & mince pies
• Christmas, because I'm still very childish
  

Support the posties

I support the postal workers' strike, and sealed the letterbox on Friday in case of scab post. Fortunately no scabs were posted through our letterbox. What on earth are they supposed to do? It's a service - our friend who's a postman takes pride in chatting to the old ladies on his round, checking the house for people who're on holiday etc. His management are bullies, and this article sets out some of the problems.

Why I read the Guardian

Couple of articles that express what I think

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/18/royalmail-strike-union-disaster
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/18/ethics-society-values-economy

Things I love about autumn

Wow, it's so mild lots of the things from summer still apply. But I'll add:

• Fresh figs, chestnuts, blackberries
• A chill in the air
• Snuffling hedgehogs getting ready for hibernation
• Fieldfares, redwings & mistle thrushes arrive
• Autumn colours on the trees
• Telly gets better! This month it's new Peep Show, new Curb, Tru Blood, Generation Kill

Keeping the faith

I find that using the internet to support causes and find like-minded people is something of an antidote to the depressing effects of the daily news. My glass half-empty approach means that despair is never far away when I hear about bank bonuses (full stop, when pay is frozen for most people), oil companies dumping toxic waste, developed world stalling on climate change yada yada yada. But little bits of engagement with this, talking to others, supporting web campaigns etc helps keep me sane.