Seasonal Ramblings

Just over a year has passed since we moved to Bridge Cottages HQ after 20+ years of living in the London suburbs. Returning to life in Norfolk after so many years living and working in London I have noticed that the changing of the seasons seems much more marked in the countryside. A bit of a cliche I know but the events that highlighted the passing of the year in our old life were very different from those which have accentuated the changing seasons over the last twelve months. In our old life the changing seasons were emphasised more by our working and social lives rather than what was happening in the natural world. The works Xmas do, the start of the cricket and football seasons, barbecues in the garden, being able to sit outside the pub when joining friends for a drink after work were the events and pastimes that signalled that time was moving on. Living in the suburbs of south London meant that in winter we escaped the coldest nights with the temperature usually being a couple of degrees warmer than they were outside of London. Maybe this is why the first frost on the ground is now more noticeable. I am also sure that the street lighting we had lived with for so many years has also made us take more notice of the shorter winter days and the dark nights. The night sky has also been something of a revelation away from the light pollution down south. Other signs of the seasons changing are perhaps more subtle like the first Chiffchaff or Cuckoo calling in Spring, walking along the beach at Cley watching the sunset on a rare warm mid summer evening or autumn marked by the migration of Bramblings, Chaffinches, Greenfinches Siskins and Goldcrests via the tallest Silver Birch trees in the garden. Now with the leaves off the trees the view across the North Norfolk countryside from the Bridge Cottage's office (spare bedroom!) has opened up again which along with the mud on the roads caused by the hauliers moving the sugar beet crop to the processing plant at Wissington signals the start of winter again. Whatever the season or the weather our first year back 'home' has really made us appreciate what we already knew that North Norfolk is a great place to live and to visit.