24th November 2013
Last night I had a dream. I dreamed that my binoculars were hanging from an apple tree. Early this morning, I drove to Roughway, parked and made my way through the orchards there. Dangling by the strap from an apple tree were my glasses waiting for me, a little damp with dew. And with much relief and guilt I rescued them!
1st December 2013
The sky was a roof of slate grey above the gloom. The temperature hovered just above freezing; the cloud kept the frost at bay. Blackbirds sang a duet as I left the village and sheep with yellow or green rumps grazed peacefully at Hope Farm. Then silence through the fields until Clearhedges Wood and Robins sang. Leaves rustled underfoot. The peace was broken in Dene Park Wood as a large tractor was clearing the rides of brambles and nettles.
As I sat drinking tea at Ightham Mote, the bells pealed at St. Giles' Church. The Fieldfare are back now from eastern Europe, chattering incessantly through the trees and hedgerows. Down Wilmot Hill from the cottage on the Greensand Way, lo and behold - plump, sweet and irresistible Blackberries! I savoured them and regarded the woodlands across the valley. They were still colourful, but Chestnut, Lime and Ash have shed their cloaks.
Back at Shipbourne, the tomato soup was cracked open for a late breakfast in the bus shelter. At Dunks Green, geese happily grazed under a sign: Free Range Geese! Order for Christmas! And then on to the Bourne. As I sat in a small copse of Silver birch, golden leaves rained down on me and Blue Tits darted from tree to tree above me. The Bourne behind me was quiet and I ate the last of the bread and drank tea before the last leg home. As I walked, shafts of pale yellow light pierced the cloud in the southern sky.
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