Topsy Turvey

Continuing to get sorted for Christmas. Finished writing cards so ahead of tomorrows postal deadline, tree decorated, holly wreath sorted .......... etc

It has felt like early May today, even more so because of the sunshine, and I put a little thermometer up that we had bought so we could check on the temperature in the conservatory (which is unheated) from inside. It got up to 17 degrees C. Two days off the winter solstice, that seems very warm.

Before we headed to Manchester yesterday morning I heard a bird singing very quietly in a bush in our front garden. It wasn't a robin - they sing through winter as they hold territories at this time of the year, and need to tell others to keep out of their patch. It sounded more like a sub song - some songbirds will have a very quiet sing to themselves out of the breeding season, I always think to get some practice in. We caught a fleeting glimpse and it was a warbler - probably a blackcap. With chiffchaffs, our warming winters are causing numbers of these little birds to winter here rather than migrate south in the autumn.