A sunny start to the new year

January is a rather dreary, dark, and depressive month and I often feel that way myself. We hadn't been to the allotment since November and I hadn't felt inclined to do so, but motivated by a few sunny days, we got down to the plot to start work.

Not having been there since November meant there were quite a lot of jobs to be done. It was quite cold so we took soup and hot drinks to keep us going. I set to work weeding beds whilst Richard followed on topping the beds with manure. It looked much better once we'd finished--all covered up and snug for the winter. The leeks are not looking very big yet, they might need a boost of chicken manure pellets which I usually do at this time of year. I was pleased to see the garlic which I planted in November is coming through now.

My next job was to clear some weeds and cut back the dead comfrey leaves growing under the hedge. Once I'd cleared these I was pleased to see daffodils shoots coming through.

Another job which needed doing was to clean out the shed. This was a job I had been putting off as it had got quite untidy and dusty over the summer and I know that there are some really big spiders which live in the shed. But first I had to sort out the onions which were being stored in there and taking up a lot of space. I decided it would be better and more convenient to store them at home in the garage. There's nothing worse than running out of onions at home just as I'm preparing a meal. So I trimmed the onions and put them in net bags ready to take home.

It was hard work cleaning the shed but it looked much better once I'd finished. It had a lovely fresh disinfectant smell too. I only found a couple of spiders which I swept outside, but they always seem to find their way back in even though there is a step.

I filled up the bird feeders which hang from the conifer hedge. This  hadn't been done for weeks and within minutes of me filling them and putting  them back, the sparrows and blue tits were there pecking away. We sat watching them whilst we warmed up with our soup.

In the last week the weather has turned cold, wet and snowy, so I was glad we managed to get the jobs done. We never know when the next spell of fine weather will be.

Leighton Moss

I joined the RSPB a few weeks ago so was keen to visit one of their reserves in our area. Leighton Moss is not exactly in our area it's about an hour's drive up the M6 but I'd always wanted to visit.  As it was school holidays and we were looking after the grandchildren we thought it would be a good day out.

On arrival at the visitor centre we were made very welcome and as we had never been before were shown a map of the reserve on a computer screen and told which birds or animals we might see in different places.

There were a lot of professional looking birdwatchers about with big expensive looking binoculars and cameras. I kept my tiny binoculars well hidden and only took photographs when there was no one else about.  The 8 year old was given a children's backpack to look after which he appeared to take quite seriously. He had better binoculars in the backpack than I had. He didn't take a lot of interest in the rest of the contents of the backpack except when I suggested we tried to catch something in the bug catcher.  He found a spider in one of the bird hides but my attempt to catch it resulted in it being squashed.  He lost interest after that and I was not very popular.

The 11 year old was put in charge of doing the 'love birds trail' which was the children's activity for that day. We had to find the information boards for various birds and find out what their mating activity was ie sound, food, movement. That was easy.

We walked along the reed bed paths which led to the bird hides, followed at first by several pheasants.  We recognised various birds along the way, spotted nest boxes on trees, a hedgehog home and noticed how branches had been piled up in places to provide homes for wildlife.  I've done that at home in the garden and at the allotment so was pleased to see I was doing things right.

After a time walking and checking out the bird hides I could see the children were losing interest.  Hunger was taking over and we needed to get back to the car for our picnic lunch.  There were picnic benches close to the centre but it was not a day to eat outside.  It was cold, damp and the benches were wet so we settled for eating in the car.

After lunch we explored the garden area and all agreed it would look lovely later on in the year when things were growing properly. I liked this area, there was plenty to interest the children. There was a big bird feeding area where we watched the birds and the squirrel on the feeders.  The children walked through a willow tunnel structure and then sat inside a big tepee made out of thick branches under the trees. We thought we could copy that idea in the woodland den back at the allotment. There was a big bug hotel called 'Bugingham Palace' It was much bigger than our bug hotel at the allotment.

After another walk we went into the shop.  The children had some money to spend and each chose a fluffy bird which made a bird noise when pressed and a bird pen.  They had a blue tit and an owl which made very realistic noises.  I was worried that we would have to suffer these bird calls on the journey home but thankfully both children fell asleep. We must have tired them out.