I also keep notebooks everywhere so I can write down things that happen and good ideas. That way nothing gets lost or forgotten. I have a special ballpoint pen that can write in red blue green and black, which is brilliant for doing diagrams of good ideas and inventions.

MY DIARY 2012

1 January

   
At midnight I looked out to see when the fireworks would start. There were a lot more fireworks going off this year than in other years, and there were people shouting and cheering the New Year in. It took about 20 minutes for it all to go quiet and we all got off to sleep quite quickly after that.

 
Today I put the Christmas tree back in its box. It takes a bit of pressing in while someone tapes round the box, but Dino was very pleased to help. He spent some time playing nests with the tinsel before we put it into zipper bags.

 
We went out for a long walk. The weather was very mild and damp. We found a path that we had not walked down before. In Orpington there are lots of footpaths that go between the houses and I think this must be the longest. It dips down and up again, so from the top you can't see how long it is. On the way we noticed an apple tree that still has fruit on. Some of the ones at the top have been half pecked away by birds, and I am glad they have a good supply of food for some time to come.

     
We came back through Priory Park. The main pond is now completely dried out, and this squirrel was poking about in the mud. If he buries his acorns here, he will get a big surprise when he comes back and finds the pond full again. These geese are making the most of the puddles at the edge of the path. I think they feel safer when their feet are wet!

 
When I got home I took down the Christmas cards from the wall but I left up all the ones with robins or snow on them. This snowy card is my favourite and I will enjoy looking at it whilst warming myself by the radiator.

2 January

 
After lots of gloomy weather, we had a lovely day of warm sunshine, just right for a walk round Priory park. This fence is made of old railway sleepers. You can see the nail holes and marks where the railway lines were attached. The park side gates are made to look the same, using wide planks. I was wondering why there are four window holes in the gate. I think it is so that the wind can get through, so the gates don't get blown off their hinges. We went out of the gate and turned right to go down a footpath at the side of the park.

 
I am finding lots of footpaths that I have not walked down before. Priory park is on the left, and the church grounds are on the right. This is about halfway, when we turned round to look back. It is straight all the way. It was very leafy and muddy, although there is an asphalt path underneath it all. Some of the path has trees both sides, making it like a tunnel, so the wind cannot blow the leaves away. When we got back into the park, I looked around for any winter flowers. The bedding primulas had blue flowers but not very big. The most colourful thing was this mahonia bush with the sun shining through the leaves.

3 January

 
Today was a very wet stormy day, with strong gusty winds. I am very glad to see that Priory ponds are filling up again quickly. The grass is covered in puddles and it is all flowing down into the ponds. The rain water from the surrounding countryside will end up here as well, because this is where the River Cray starts.

Here is one of the puddles doing its best to become a river. I could watch the rain drops making circles all day, but the best place to do that is through the kitchen window, not in a stormy wet park! I like to see the water drops jump back out after they have made their circles. When in heavy rain hits a path and the jumping bits are quite big, we have always called them "soldiers" as they look as if they are marching all over the place!

 
These fallen branches in Priory overflow pond were all splintered and it looks as though they were old anyway. At least they came down safely into the pond mud and not where people are walking. I hope the park gardeners trim them back a bit, because when the pond is full again, I would like the island to be safe for the birds, and not with pathways of branches for other animals to get to the island. The park was full of broken twigs blowing about, so the birds will have lots of nesting material.

I was very glad to get home to my warm dry bedroom and comfortable bean bag! Here is the stormy weather finally blowing over and the sun coming out, although we did get a bit more rain after that.

4 January

 
We got up really early and went as soon as we could back to the park to inspect the pond after all the heavy rain. There were gulls swimming on this growing puddle, but they flew away while we were getting the camera out. I am really happy about the water coming back. In the lower pond there is a rock sticking out of the water, and when that disappears I will know the water is a lot deeper and that the birds' feet are not touching the mud at the bottom.

The park was full of colourful but soggy leaves everywhere, but I prefer these sparkly golden oak leaf decorations which were in a curtain shop window. Next Christmas I will be looking out for some like this to put round my big mirror at home. If I don't find any I will make some of my own with gold paper and glitter. I think a piece of twist-tie wire will make a good vein down the middle.

7 January

I got up really early to see what the weather was doing. I thought this stormy sky would mean a day indoors, but it cleared up quite quickly.

 
We went to Sevenoaks. Dino was delighted when I showed him this photo of the George and Dragon pub sign. The dragon does not look very well behaved and after being chased by Saint George, maybe he will think twice before he roars and frightens people next time. No wonder there is a strong safe castle in the background. I think I would stay in the very top room of the tower, at least until the dragon had learned some manners!

 
This thatched hut belongs to Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club and I am sure there must be biscuit tins, a kettle and mugs inside. I checked up on the Cricket Club fishpond. There are still some fish in it, and a lot of them are black so you can't see them. Maybe in summer the water will be clearer.

 
This smart-looking seat nearby is engraved to commemorate the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. I like the carved crown best.

 
This shop window snowy display has a fluffy hawk and squirrel, and two moles peeping through the tissue paper. The moles remind of of Mote Park in Maidstone, where we are always finding molehills.

 
The poppies on the War Memorial were very brilliant with the sun shining through them and the paper petals blowing in the breeze. I was amazed to see this car with leopard patterns all over it. I hope it does not distract the other motorists on the road from driving safely!

9 January

   
This magpie looks as if he can't decide whether he wants to have a go on the slide. The second magpie seems to be waiting for his friend to come down. Or maybe they were just looking for worms. These pigeons in Priory park have found a pizza that was thrown into the dried-up pond. I went back the next day and of course the pizza was nowhere to be seen.

 
This puddle by the path through the Park has dried up but you can still see where the geese have been walking about looking for interesting visitors with bread bags. These gulls were on the bridge between the upper and lower ponds. Normally they are waiting for bread, but this time I think they were digesting bread. Sometimes people keep throwing bread into the water, even though the ducks and geese are full.

11 January

This robin's favourite singing perch is in my hawthorn tree. There are still some hawthorn berries left for the blackbirds.

 
As it was a sunny day, Blue Parrot decided to take down the last of the Christmas lights. He made a heap of them on the floor. Fortunately I am very good at untangling and I wrapped them all up in sets. There is just room in the box if you push it all down a bit.

   
The sun has brought out the first flowers of the year and they are a good six weeks early. The shops are beginning to stock gardening things again. Last year it was chicken baskets and now it is hedgehogs. How many more animals are there to make baskets of?

15 January

Today we went to Greenwich Park to see how the Cutty Sark clipper ship restoration is getting on. I was delighted to find that the deck coverings have been taken off and the masts have been raised. There is still a lot of work going on, and diggers everywhere. The blue stripe under the ship is a glass enclosure that will have a museum underneath. The glass makes it look as if the ship is on the sea. I think maybe the blue is protective film, but hopefully the clear glass will reflect the blue sky and look similar. I just love it!

  
Here is the figurehead, called Nannie. When her left arm is fixed on, she will be reaching out ahead. The gold decorations look really good against the shiny black.

Went went into the Discover Greenwich Centre. Here is a model in a glass case, showing a jousting tournament in front of the palace that used to be on the river front at Greenwich. This is a joined photo, so the building does not look quite straight!

 
This is a closeup of the model, showing the King and his court watching the horses. Two guards in armour are making sure they stay safe. Behind the model, there is another glass case with real armour. I don't know how anyone could fight with all that heavy metal weighing them down. I think only the strongest men would have had that job, and maybe they were given the biggest and best breakfasts every day as well!

 
The day started frosty, and there was still some left in the shadows. In the background is the Greenwich Observatory. There were lots of squirrels around. I think they don't need to hibernate because there are so many acorns and nuts around, as well as visitors feeding them. There were about six squirrels running around this huge chestnut tree, because there was someone on the other side offering them peanuts.

17 January

This is what I like to see when I look round the curtains early in the morning. It makes me want to make plans to go out somewhere, to make up for the greyer days. Although there was some frost, it soon disappeared and the day was sunny.

18 January

I was busy reading my books when I heard a very loud rushing and sucking sound. It was the drain men clearing out the pipes for us. They worked really hard and I am glad they all had thick rubber gloves on! I now feel much better whenever I pull the plug out of the sink.

 
In the afternoon we took a walk to Priory Park. The pond was entirely frozen and the geese and ducks were standing around on top of it. A lot of the ice had been broken up and had frozen again. There were piles of bits of bread by the bridge but a lot of it looked frozen. When it thaws, the geese can finish it off.

 
I like the frost on these box hedges, because you can see all the shapes much better. I just wish it was a proper maze rather than squares, but the gardeners do a good job of keeping it full of flowers in the summer. At the moment I think they are in their warm hut in their compound making plans for the summer flower borders. The hottest place in the park has to be in the middle of the compost heaps, which can just be seen through a gap in the hedge. They look about ten feet high, or three metres.

19 January

   
There has been a lot of rain and the park was empty with just seagulls standing on the muddy puddles in the grass. I realised why when I saw two of them fighting over a worm. Cold mud is their dinner plate! This climbing frame looks like the roof of a little cottage and is a good place to dive into if it rains, but it is only big enough for small children or teddies.

The drips on this tree in the park look just like my white fairy lights, which are now packed away. It made us want to hurry back home, but we decided to continue and just walk faster to get warm. By the time we got to the shops, we were quite hot and full of energy from the exercise.

27 January

   
There is too much food around for the squirrels to be thinking of hibernating, especially as we have not had any really cold weather yet. Even when they have had all the acorns, people are always bringing peanuts. I am glad I can eat my dinner without being entertainment for young children in buggies!

29 January

 
This is the River Cray. Lots of twigs have caught on the rock and made a little island, with a sandy patch on one side. The second rock is a bit left out because all the twigs have been used up by the first rock. I hope they are not arguing over it. This fir tree in Priory Park is just right for Teds and Dinos because there are two curved sitting places that are not too far off the ground. Blue Parrot can have the higher up branch. It is better than a garden seat because you don't have to keep painting it and the evergreen leaves keep the rain off.

31 January

 
Cold weather is here. This dusting is all there is at the moment, not enough to play with. This picture looks like a more much interesting landscape of a fir tree plantation in deep snow, but as it is only the mossy roof tiles on the house over the road, I can't play with that either! Warm bedroom is the place to be for Teds, reading our picture books.

1 February

Despite the icy winds, we decided to take a walk in the sunshine. Fast walking kept us warm. This woolly cloud was the only one in the sky. I could do with some wool like that to make some feet warmers!

4 February

   
This robin is waiting for the frozen bird bath to be filled with fresh water. We are emptying the bird baths every night, as it is easier than hacking out the ice in the morning. Later on I saw three goldfinches with yellow and red heads on the pond and birdbath, but I was too late to get a photo. Maybe next time! They come into gardens from the countryside in very cold or snowy weather.

Priory lower pond was frozen and there was plenty of frozen bread scattered over the ice. All the geese and ducks have gone elsewhere, and only the coots remain pecking around. A lot of ducks fly off to places along the River Cray where it does not freeze. In the dry top pond I saw this piece of Christmas cake and some crackers. I expected water and ice in the pond, but not ic-ING and WATER biscuits! The pigeons ate the pizza last month, and I wonder if they will go for this cake as well.

 
Fine dusty snow started falling in the evening, and I don't think we Teds will get to sleep on our beanbag very early, because we will want to keep looking out of the window to see the snow. I got up at nearly midnight to see how the garden was getting on. The snow round this airbrick has not settled, and now I know why the kitchen floor is so cold – the warmth is being sucked down from the house floors and escaping out the holes! I am glad the bathroom floor is insulated and a bit warmer to walk on.

5 February

 
About six inches of snow fell overnight, just enough to be interesting. I am glad we emptied the birdbaths the night before, it only took a broom to clear them. I just managed to get a picture of this starling flying away after his bath. I think he will find a warm chimney pot to sit on and preen, so that his feathers keep him warm and windproof.

 
I did some wallpaper scraping ready for a new window. I found these old calculations that someone had scribbled on the wall a very long time ago. There was even a diagram of the window that was here before we moved in. We have lots of bluetits in the back garden finding spiders and little meals amongst the bare twigs, so the snow has not hidden their food supply, which I am very glad about. There are also lots of berries and seedheads for the other birds.

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