Tags
buzzards, friendship, greylags, Norwich Cathedral, ravens, skylarks, St. Peter's Hall and brewery
When we awoke yesterday our house was enveloped in thick fog and there was frost on the grass and our cars. (Like a lot of people we have a garage full of rubbish and no room for even one of our cars!) However, by 7.40 when R left for work the fog was clearing, the sun coming out and the birds singing loudly. The geese had got visitors – I counted eighteen geese on the field behind the house – and the couple of muscovy ducks which belong to one of our neighbours were having a stroll together round the big pond.
I had to take E in to Halesworth for a hair appointment at midday and afterwards I shopped in the supermarket. On the way home, in fact only a quarter of a mile from home, we saw something flapping at the side of the road and as we approached we realised it was a large bird with prey. As it took off we saw it was a buzzard. This is really exciting, as until just a very few years ago they were not to be found in this part of England. When we lived for eighteen months in Somerset near Wellington we saw them every day and I got to love their mewing call. The only other time I had seen them was when visiting the North or West Country on holiday. I then remembered having seen a couple of buzzards soaring over us as we worked in the garden on Sunday. How could I have forgotten this? Are they here to stay?
Thinking about our short residence in Somerset, reminds me that we had a couple of skylights in the roof of our house and I used to love to sit under them, looking up at the sky, watching clouds and buzzards and ravens. Yes, ravens too, with their deep croaking bark of a call.
A busy but fun day today. My dearest friend W has come to East Anglia for the week as her husband is working in the area. We met in Norwich and walked to the cathedral which we wandered round and then had coffee in the refectory. I then drove us to St Peter’s Hall, here in ‘The Saints’ and we had a lovely lunch, talking all the time. The last time we had met was at her eldest daughter’s wedding in 2012 but naturally we weren’t able to talk much then. We heard skylarks singing above the brewery next to the hall as we left to spend the afternoon at my house.
W was so supportive when my first husband left when A was thirteen weeks old. I had also just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and could hardly walk. She used to visit every few weeks bringing food as well as her own baby (my god-daughter) who was five and a half months older than A, kept me company and cheered me up. Thank-you W. I love you.
