Tuesday 29th August 2023 - Hedgehogs, End of the Rainbow and Work in Progress

Sitting in our conservatory on Saturday evening, the light was fading fast when there was a scuttle up the garden path; in the twilight a hedgehog was making its way along the edge of the flower border. Then, a few minutes later, another hedgehog made an appearance on the opposite side of the garden. Straining our eyes into the dark we watched them dip into the border and vegetable plot. In the past we have only ever seen one hedgehog in the garden, never two, but who knows what goes on in the hours of darkness. In the morning the food bowl in the hedgehog feeder was empty. However, the past two nights the food has not been touched despite seeing a hedgehog yesterday evening, which shows they are finding plenty of their natural foods and don’t always want a top up of meaty cat food.

On Saturday, we spotted some ripe elderberries on a field edge, on our afternoon walk. Years ago, Peter used to make elderberry wine, a strong and fruity drink which takes time to mature. We were back to the field again early Sunday morning . Peter, armed with a bag and a pair of secateurs, collected a couple of pounds of the berries. It was a damp start to the day, drizzling on and off. As we made our way towards the allotments and home a very impressive rainbow gradually built with a feinter one above. Rainbows are always an impressive site; I wonder how prehistoric peoples interpreted them. Almost certainly with its bright colours, something joyous, maybe the same as it is today; an all-embracing image of love and friendship. What we never imagined we would see was, the rainbows end but walking on the track through the allotments we could see distinctly, the north end was on one of the allotments. Did we go and dig and find the pot of gold which is always said to be at the end of a rainbow…..now that would be telling! Back home, Peter stripped the elderberries from their stems and started the process of making wine.

On the Fishermens' Green, work is underway in preparation for the new weather vane. Over the years the old one on the cliff has lost all its pointers, except the one towards the west. First the holes for the footings were dug, adjacent to the anchor, followed by cementing in, what looks like old pieces of the wooden revetments and a metal pole. I guess, once the cement is fully set, the vane, which has been made by a villager, will be erected.