1978 November & December

November 4^th
Today there was a blue sky with white cotton wool clouds. A friend of mine who owns a Goshawk came up today to fly his bird and try and catch a rabbit. At the Tip we saw four Blue Tits playing in the Hawthorn trees. They weren’t scared of the Goshawk in a nearby tree: perhaps their curiosity overcame their fear, unless they didn’t know what it was. Nearly every time I go a walk I see a small party of Blue Tits doing acrobats in the trees. They were probably the same family party.

Oak trees are the only trees apart from evergreens that still are covered in leaves and it is dark at five o’clock which proves Winter is on its way. Today I found a new species of fern in the barn ruins near the swing. It was a Hart’s Tongue Fern, and I have never seen one before.

At seven o’clock I went to a bonfire on the moss and saw RTXSINM. Georga was looking at the ground and thinking of Gerald. Beccy was looking at the stars and thinking of Ian, and I was looking at RTXSINM. I wonder who Sharon was thinking about.

November 8^th
Today I saw six Magpies in the Sycamore tree in Radcliffe’s field. Yesterday I was amazed to see twelve there.

Tonight there was a half moon, and many stars in the sky. Each one twinkling like a tiny diamond. The moon cast a silvery sheen on the grass and the reservoir was so calm and clear it looked like a large mirror. There were trees like bare black silhouettes against the sky with visible clouds moving on behind them. Although it was very calm there was a cold nip in the air.

November 15^th
For the last three days about half an inch of rain has fallen each day. The stream had turned into a river. A cascade of dark brown, icy cold water mixed with foam raced towards the reservoir. Where the Sycamore has fallen across the river it has formed a sort of dam. The water gushes over the trunk like a miniature waterfall and a pool two feet deep and six feet across has formed.

November 24^th
In a sheltered hollow covered by Deadnettle stalks, some Forget-me-nots are still flowering. So far November has been very mild with lots of rain. However this evening it hailed so hard that the ground was covered white with hail stones.

November 25^th
This morning the sky was blue with huge, brilliant white clouds besides grey ones of several shades. The sunshine was very bright but the wind was freezing cold. In about half an hour there was a dramatic change. The sky became darker and a mass of grey white clouds. Then it began to snow. Small solid whispery lumps of snow at first and then large, soft, white snowflakes floating down.

The ground was already partly coloured white with melting hail from yesterday, and the snow made it even whiter. My sister, Cindy, Susie and I went a walk around Tockholes Woods. It was a lovely walk and Cindy really enjoyed herself. When we got back I saw seven Teal on the pond. Daddy said he saw twenty Teal on there earlier.

November 27^th
The ground was frozen solid this morning, and there were beautiful frost patterns on the windows. On the puddles there was a cm of ice. Yesterday I heard what I thought was the sound of Swans. Today Daddy saw them on the reservoir to my delight. I cannot wait to go and see them.

November 30^th
This morning there was a deep pink circle in the sky. It was the sun, and it glowed a colour that man does not know how to obtain. The sky was tinted pink on the scraggly clouds and some blue sky shone through. The sky could have been a picture but not the sun. I thought to myself I could not say that the earth could last forever but I could say that about the sun. Yet nothing lasts forever.

December 8^th
Today the sky was overcast with clouds. I saw two flocks of five Mallard flying off the lodge, and a group of six Teal fly over the reservoir.

December 13^th
Yesterday there was a full moon, and again tonight; very bright and giving off a lot of silvery light. I went a walk under the moonlight. The air was crisp and freezing cold. Already ice was one cm thick on the outskirts of the pond and the ground was frozen. I put Cindy on the lead because I could not see her in the dark because she is black although it was quite light and I feared she might run after a rabbit into the darkness. I love going walks in the moonlight everything seems weird and it’s a strange new atmosphere; a different world than in the day time.

December 14^th
Today I saw a wonderful thing; for the first time I saw the moon rise before my very eyes. Slowly a large golden ball rose from behind an horizon so dark that I could hardly distinguish it from the dark night sky. As the moon rose it became a brilliant white ball. I was amazed at how quickly it rose.

December 16^th
Today the sky was blue and the sunshine was warm. As soon as I let the dogs out I saw some ducks on the reservoir and could not wait to go and investigate. I counted about 64 Teal and allowing for about ten that would be behind the island or hidden in the rushes I thought that was quite a large number. There were about six to ten larger ducks swimming in the background of the Teal group, which I decided were Mallard.

Quite close to me were two strange coloured ducks. They were the same shape as the male Goldeneye and I thought they were a different species of this duck. Later after looking up in my bird book I came to the conclusion that they were female Goldeneye. A large flock of Seagulls, that had been pulling up worms from the bare Hay Meadow, flew across the road to settle on the reservoir.

I left quietly to go and see if there were ducks on the lodge. As I walked across the Lane Field my eye caught a glimpse of something white and for a minute I thought I had seen an albino duck. In fact it was the white breast of a male Goldeneye in superb black and white plumage. There was another male nearby and I thought they must have been mates to the two female on the reservoir.

December 25^th
The Christmas weather was very mild today but the sky was overcast and the clouds hang very low in the sky as they were blown quickly along on the cold, strong wind. The reservoir was a mass of never ceasing ripples or miniature waves. As I approached the pond a Snipe was disturbed from its hiding place in the rushes and it flew quickly away over the road. On the reservoir I saw three male and four female Goldeneye, and a group of 10-15 Teal. Once Mallard were the most common duck to be seen around the farm and on the reservoir. This year I have rarely seen any.

December 28^th
All day and all yesterday all that happened was it rained and rained and rained! In England this December there has been so much rain that only 40 years ago was there a December to match it. In Scotland they have had a month’s rain in a week. Many rivers have burst their banks or flooded including the River Severn. York has been flooded, and in places there the water is four feet deep.

December 31^st
For the last three days the weather has been terrible. There have been blizzards of snow up and down the country. In Scotland deep drifts of snow have blocked many roads. At Heathrow Airport snow ploughs were brought in to try and clear the runway of snow but the snow only blew back as soon as it was cleared. So the many air crews had a large scale snow-ball fight to pass on the time.

This morning I could not see out of any of the windows for they were all covered with delicate Jack Frost patters. The bathroom pipes were frozen solid and the toilet would not flush. In the night a gale had been blowing, and this morning the ground was frozen, and a thin layer of frost and hard frozen snow lay over the ground. On the tree trunks and walls as much as an inch of frozen snow is stuck. This snow is from a blizzard on the 29^th that whipped it up and blew it against the trunks.

Unfortunately, Jennifer’s diaries for 1979 and 1980 have not survived, and so we take up the history at New Year, 1981, when she is still at school, and aged almost17.