July In Paxton And The Borders

It hasn't been a good July - lots of grey, overcast skies, rain and some unseasonably strong, destructive wind. After a nice couple of days at the end of June things have been decidedly un-summery, but we can't complain too much as we prefer an equable temperature to a boiling hot one. 

Mid-July saw seemingly interminable grey and dreich rain and several consecutive days of heavier rain towards the end of the month. A few days every now and again briefly lifted the gloom, but not for long. 

In the garden, by the middle to end of the month the roses had finished their May/June flush as had the lupins and rhododendrons. July, although obviously a summer month, is nowhere near as colourful a month as its two predecessors. In the fields, as is usual here, the farmers begin baling their hay earlier than in Southern England, for example, so some golden early autumnal vistas are prevalent while we are still in mid summer. 

Apart from some necessary chopping down in the garden, July has been a month that nothing much happened. An eminently forgettable one, unfortunately, although the sun finally arrived on the 31st. 

Cocklawburn Beach

Wild Flowers, Near Cocklawburn Beach

June In Paxton And The Borders

June has been a most schizophrenic month, from the first two blazing hot days, though a week of bitter northerly winds to a week of interminable grey like February which required the heating being used on the 13th to an end of month heatwave of some of the hottest weather experienced for years here. 

The garden’s roses are in their first glorious flush of the summer and while some of the clematis have stooped flowering now, others are in full bloom. 

As I write today it is so hot we have retreated indoors, joined by our three cats, all of whom are over-heated. To think that a week ago we had coats on! Most odd. That is what summers are like here, they can range from slate grey skies and shivering cold to blazing heat within a few days. Ten degree drops in temperatures between days are not unusual. 

By the end of the month fresher weather was back again. Several seasons in one month - it has certainly seemed that way. 

May In Paxton And The Borders

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May...".

Indeed, that has been the case here for this May - bitterly cold winds have been a regular feature despite some bright days, interspersed with unseasonably grey days too. The heating has been used far more than would be expected. As I said back in February, wind is my least favourite aspect of weather. We’ve had loads of it this year, the last four months have all been blighted.

Oddly, though, there have been a couple of really hot days appearing every couple of weeks and the garden growth expected in May has occurred - the last of the tulips were still around at the end of the month, just, although most of them had gone by mid-month. The hedgerow seemed to go from brown to green literally overnight, the Montana clematis displays are spectacular, as is the ceanothus and the azaleas are in full bloom too. It is a shame not everything comes into flower at the same time, but that is the way it is.

This time of year is not great for hay fever sufferers like us but we can't deny that the colours of the bright yellow oil seed rape fields are stunning as too is the intoxicating scent. That goes for the appetite-inspiring aroma of wild garlic too.

Down at the river families of ducks with their chicks are enjoying their life, oblivious to human viruses.

April In Paxton And The Borders

April 2020 has the world in lockdown, yet nature, unaffected, carries on, reassuringly - the tulips are out, the trees are greening up, the lambs are getting bigger and the sun warmer. April here in The Borders has given us lots of sunshine and clear blue skies, initially accompanied by a chilly northerly wind but in the latter week of the month, these gave way to produce some very warm, sunny days. We even got the sun loungers out (for t-shirt sunbathing at least). 

Rather than write about how we can't get hold of basmati rice or limoncello desserts in my fortnightly, brief visit to the supermarket I think the best thing to for this highly unusual, unique month is just post some uplifting pictures of nature's beauty. Take care, wherever you are.

March In Paxton And The Borders

Well, March 2020 was a month dominated by global pandemic news with little respite - no sport or entertainment or anything like that to lift the spirits. However, one thing that was beautifully unaffected by all this, thankfully, has been nature. 

In the midst of all this spring has arrived with some gloriously sunny days, birdsong, crocuses, daffodils and the first colouring of tulip heads. Blossom is here and the lawn has had its first mowing. Birds are busy nesting and, ironically, there have so many lovely days when everything in the world has seemed perfect. The end of the month has seen some lovely sunny days.

In dark days, the beauty of nature can be such a comfort.

February In Paxton And The Borders

February this year has been notable here for one thing - wind. Three consecutive weekends have seen three extended periods of strong winds (the first two irritatingly given names by the media these days). Thankfully, here, the River Tweed lies low as it passes through Paxton, largely in the grounds of Paxton House so we don’t get any flooding in the village. Other parts of the British Isles have unfortunately seen some serious flooding. Although we had one weekend of heavy rain (the middle one of the three) it has largely been characterised by strong, gusty winds that blow you around when walking, (comparatively). 

Wind is my least favourite of weather phenomena - give me rain any day. Temperatures have been some of the coldest of the winter too, but I don’t mind that.

Anyway, although the Tweed doesn’t flood the village, it certainly flooded its immediate banks down at Paxton House. Our regular river bank walk was rendered impossible for one day as flood water covered the whole area (see comparative pictures). 

The snowdrops are now flowering in abundance along the roadside and in the garden. Both crocuses and daffodils have started to bloom heralding the forthcoming arrival of spring.  

Another notable thing about this month was sightings of Roe Deer in the Paxton House grounds and an otter on the banks of the Whiteadder Water.

 


 


 

 

January In Paxton And The Borders

As January comes to a close, we can look back and reflect on a month that was generally cold, bleak and windy. A week of high winds meant that we had to urgently repair the garden shed roof. The mornings are still dark until around 8 am, but the afternoons stay light until around 4.30 now here. 

For the first few weeks there was not much activity out in the fields or in the garden, other than the birds devouring holders full of seed within two days. 

By the end of the month, however, the snowdrops are beginning to flower and many green tulip and daffodil shoots are now visible. Today (the 22nd) was the first time we have cycled and felt a slight spring-like warmth. The roads were extremely muddy, though, as a result of several fields being freshly ploughed, turning the soil over and spreading slurry, giving the air that unique aroma. 

2018 had some heavy snow in mid-January and 2019 a little at the very end, but 2020 has not seen any as yet.

Cocklawburn Beach

Coldingham Sands

December In Paxton And The Borders

December this year has been very cold, with bitter winds and regular frost. On the days that it has not been quite so cold there has been heavy rain, although not as much as we had in November. Fortunately Christmas Day dawned crisp and cold with blue sky and sunshine and a frost that remained all day.

After seemingly months of Christmas adverts on TV, it is finally the month of Christmas and many houses in the village are tastefully decorated (some far too early on 1st December, though!). Out house becomes a grotto for two weeks either side of Christmas only.

There is not too much happening either in the garden or in the countryside. The leaves are pretty much all off the trees now, which have gone spidery for three or four months although we discovered our first tulip shoot poking through the ground today (the 18th). It is amazing to think that it is still four months or so before it will flower. 

There has not been any snow this year so I make no apology for posting some snowy December pictures from 2017.

November In Paxton And The Borders

November (and late October) has brought some serious rainfall, dark afternoons and a big increase in leaf fall, many of which lie on the ground in bright shades of orange and red. The country roads have become extremely muddy and cycling brings the annual annoyance of a couple of punctures (one for each of us) from thorns lying in the ground from freshly cut back hedgerows. Thank goodness for the invention of self-sealing “slimed” inner-tubes!

The garden and hedgerows are now completely orange (they turned at the end of October) although the trees are now pretty bare. What is good about autumn up here in the Scottish Borders is that it is proper autumn - increasingly chilly with frosts on occasions as opposed to the South of England where we used to live where you often had a perpetual Indian Summer throughout October and mild temperatures in November. None of that here - heaters on, big jumpers on. Great stuff. 

The bird life has changed, many migratory species have left and for a fair few weeks, “V” formations of geese have passed over, honking continually and enthusiastically to each other as they leave us for another year. Last year, remarkably, we were briefly visited by a pair of bright green, red-billed Ring-Necked Parakeets. Apparently these tropical-looking birds have small colonies in Greater London and also here in our Scottish Borders. They stayed for one day and were gone.

This November has been one of the wettest for many a year. Fields are saturated but thankfully, we don’t get flooded here, but the nearby River Tweed is very high and the burns that flow Into it in the grounds of Paxton House are also at very high levels, running in fast torrents into the Tweed. 

After the rains, some much colder weather has taken over and mornings are white with frost, some of which is staying for the whole day. Cycling on the country roads is getting icy and more than a little hazardous at times. Probably best to leave it until spring. 

November is a dark, dull month wherever you are in the country and here is no different.

The Parakeets can be seen on the second photograph near the left hand bird feeder

October In Paxton And The Borders

Within the first week of October, there are no doubts that Autumn is here - the air is colder, leaves are coming down, the mornings are dark and the heating needs to be used when you rise. The days of blue skies and sunshine that still occur a couple of times a week are now accompanied by a much fresher, colder air. 

In a reverse of the traditional growth cycle in the garden, the pampas grass that has lain fallow in the summer suddenly grows up full and proud again, providing a spectacular display for the oncoming winter. 

October is a month of preparation - for winter in the putting away of the summer garden furniture and protecting the roots of delicate plants such as clematis with compost mulch, and for spring in the planting of bulbs - crocuses, daffodils and  tulips. There is also the chopping down and removal of much of summer’s dead growth from bushes and plants. There is nothing quite so invigorating as an autumn day spent in the garden undertaking these tasks. 

The Virginia Creeper that runs along a large expanse of one of our garden fences turns bright red in the last weeks or September and stays so well into October, giving some wonderful Autumn colour. By the end of the month. however, it is gone. The end of the month is also time to trim the long hedgerow that forms one edge of the garden. 

So, there goes October, a month that began with the vestiges of late summer just about holding on ends with the dark, gloomy feel of early winter. The clocks have gone back now and it is dark at 4-4.30 pm. The last few days has seen the arrival of light frosts in the early mornings, winter is approaching. It has been very much a month of transition.