The wrapping up has been done; not the Christmas presents, but the greenhouse. All nicely bubble-wrapped against the frost, at least the walls are; the roof proved just too tricky (and I ran out of bubble-wrap). We had had one frosty night, and the brugmannsia was looking very peaky, so it had to be time to turn on the heating, and make the greenhouse as draught-proof as reasonably possible. I'm quite pleased with the result, and the temperature in there is now about 7C. A couple of hardy seedlings have been put out in the cold frame but the rest are benefitting from the extra warmth, especially the sweet peas, which are germinating much better with a little extra heat.
The frost was something of a one-off, though, and it has been more a case of battening down than wrapping up. The wind got up the other day and it has been quite blustery from time to time (and more of the same is forecast - a windy Christmas rather than a white one). The relatively mild and damp weather is tempting a few flowers to come into bloom - there's an honesty plant with a flower truss under the hedge, and there are a few flowers on the bergenia. Tellingly, some weed seedlings are showing in places - always a sign of warmish soil.
The bullfinch has been around several times, and today was accompanied by his lady bullfinch. They are very partial to the sweet rocket seeds, and - given that they're quite stocky birds - are quite acrobatic in working over such spindly and fragile stems. I had thought of clearing the dead stems away, but now I'm glad I didn't. The goldfinches, on the other hand, have been feeding on the seeds of the Big Yellow Thing (bupthalmum?). The mistle thrush has been a rather noisy presence all week, and occasional pheasants and partridges wander in at times, especially when there's shooting going on in the surrounding estates. I haven't seen the sparrowhawk this week, though I'm sure it won't have gone away.
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