Notes from the country with Vicky Turrell

We are looking for light at the end of the tunnel. Thoughts of the new vaccines seem to embody that hope. But there is something else we have our hopes fixed on and that is Christmas. The festival when family have always come together and the feeling is warm – forgetting the compulsory Brussels sprouts, of course. After much thought, I have decided to cancel our normal Christmas – my family cannot travel to us, as they usually do, and messages with ‘Merry’ and ‘Jolly’ seem false. We will do video calls to family and friends but will not be sending cards and presents. We must eat, though, and I needed to think about booking some December supermarket delivery slots. You could begin booking early one morning last week. I decided that I would start at 9am, when the rush was over. But the site crashed. I tried at half hourly intervals and eventually got in at midday. In order to reserve a slot, you must ‘buy’ something. I was so nervous and, without thinking, I hurriedly booked two ...

Did you know that if the UK tried to be self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables, we would run out by this month? We import much of our fruit and some vegetables. There are lots of factors involved, but one thing is clear, we need to eat fresh fruit and veg. to keep healthy. We have been lucky here because, from lockdown, I have not had to buy any vegetables and we have had enough fruit for the last two months. The only fruit I have bought is a small bag of lemons. A few months ago, I used the lemons to make Shrewsbury biscuits. The sharp lemon tang was excellent along with old sultanas that I had left over from the winter. It was at the time when the internet was full of activities for children and one of them told how to grow lemon trees from pips. There is always a warning not to swallow the pips. When I was young, we were told that they would lodge in your appendix and you would need an operation. Or, worse still, the pip would grow inside you and sprout into a tree, presuma...

It is official, it can help with your health and wellbeing! Connecting with nature has made it easier for many of us to cope with the pandemic. We have noticed new wildlife that we have never been aware of before. We have seen and heard more birds and have caught sight of more butterflies and bees. We have used and appreciated open spaces more than ever. And now the RSPB is doing a survey to find out how much nature has helped us. Watching wildlife, in my prolonged isolation, has certainly given me a focus. The smaller songbirds are quieter now and some have finished nesting, while others will go for a second brood. Our larger birds, though, are still making their presence felt. The big pink breasted woodpigeons are still constantly cooing, while the magpies have been cackling loudly. Most of all, I have heard the mistle thrush. The mistle thrush’s Latin name is Turdus viscivorus , which doesn’t sound very nice and Its behaviour seems to match. It is bigger and more aggressive th...

My hairdresser has closed, and I expect yours has too. My husband has (reluctantly) offered to cut my hair. I don't think I'll risk it. I think I'll grow a pony tail. Thinking about cutting, what are you doing about cutting the grass? If you haven’t a lawn that is one less problem for you. To cut the grass we will need petrol and that would mean a journey out which is not recommended. So, we have decided to let the grass grow and simply cut a path through. We should get some interesting wild flowers. One interesting flower I found today is the cowslip. The cowslips are early this year. They grow on the bank of the pond in Oak Meadow. They were abundant in old fields, the sort I remember from childhood. I used to pick cowslips in huge bunches and suck the nectar from a pulled floret. This all sounds idyllic and it is, but the times are serious, and the Government holds its COBRA meetings to decide on action for the crisis. I decided that we would hold our house...