Summer 2021
Ok, so I know its been a while but as with most things, life just gets in the way and before you know it a couple or three years have gone by in the blink of an eye - and here we are. We finally made the move to the West Country and despite having numerous animals with us on the journey we arrived and finally settled in. We've now been here almost two years to the day.
I like to think of the passing years as fruitful and for the most part they have been, but, they've also had moments of complete and utter sadness that I still find overwhelming. I can't dwell on the sad times, but it wouldn't be right not to mention the passing of Jax and Jet and their little sister Tegan, all within the last thirteen months. Suffice to say, I love and miss them every single day and always will, they each took a little piece of my heart with them and in return, left theirs for safe keeping with me. I feel their presence often and often wonder what they would think if they were here. Jax's chair stands pride of place in the field where he used to love to wander with a set of solar paw prints leading up to it, their brightness shining as a constant reminder that they are always with us.
The intervening time has been spent productively and much of it outside....as we are now the proud guardians of an acre and three quarters, something I've dreamed of since my childhood.
There are trees, beautiful old oaks, silver birch, chestnut, ash (although how long for I wait to see) and a wonderful copper beech tree that goes from pale rusty orange leaves to a deep and rich burgundy in a matter of weeks. It is home and protector to so many birds and a cheeky squirrel that lives high up in a neighbouring oak tree. I hear its chatter of annoyance if it's disturbed by us or one of the cats, despite the fact that it eats it's bodyweight in peanuts that I dutifully provide on a daily basis. There's nothing like gratitude is there - in fact, no gratitude at all, other than them being here, rain or shine. There's also a mature walnut tree next door and it went from being bent double with a huge crop of walnuts one day to the following with none in sight, according to the gardener he found the remains of the shells hidden safely away in an old pipe the following spring.
The abundance of birds here is truly staggering. When we first arrived I remember remarking to a friend who helped us move that there were hardly any birds, of course he told me to set up the bird feeders and they would come. We did and they have.
Of all my favourites and there are many, the robin has to be top of my list. There is something so infinitely beautiful about them that takes my breath away. We are lucky enough to have quite a few that visit daily, they're always the first to arrive and the last to leave.
