Dear Readers, with excellent timing my visit to Mum and Dad ‘s grave coincided with the coldest weather so far this year, and there were snow flurries alll the time that I was sorting out the cyclamen. I was planning on giving the headstone a good old scrub, but under the circumstances I think Mum and Dad would have let me off until next time. Incidentally, does anyone have any advice on the best way to clean the stone up without either damaging it or poisoning the soil/plants? I’m going to ask the stonemason, but you lovely people will probably be quicker.

Mum always loved Christmas, and I know she’d have appreciated the cyclamen. I just hope that they’re hardy enough to survive the cold.

For the first time ever, some other people were visiting ‘their’ grave. They were accompanied by a young black Labrador Retriever called Jasper, and what a lovely dog he was! Mum always loved Labs, and I remembered how eager she was to pat any canine that came within reach, so I had a pat on her behalf. I do love a nice, solid dog. Jasper had to be dissuaded from stealing a teddy that was on one of the graves (because after all, all teddies belong to dogs as everyone knows). Apart from that one infraction, he was a very good dog indeed.

The little crab apple nest to Mum and Dad’s grave looks as if it’s hung with baubles at this time of year. It makes me very happy.

And the beech leaves next to the graveyard are twirling down. I love how coppery they are at this time of year.

There are a few new hedges too, one in the churchyard…

And one in the village – it was first laid in 2021, but I’m only just noticing it now. Hedges are so valuable for wildlife, and there are some in the village that probably date back to medieval times. It’s nice to see some new ones too!

I walk alongside the tributary of the River Frome that flows here – I’ve rarely seen it so high. It winds between the buildings here before disappearing across a field. This part of Dorset is threaded with streams and rivers, and Milborne St Andrew was and still occasionally is, subject to flooding – I remember Milborne being all but cut off from the main road to Dorchester and Blandford for several months a few years ago.  All the more strange that one of many housing proposals under consideration by the council is to build properties on the old water meadows in Dorchester, which still flood regularly.

I have a great fondness for this wall, which is covered in ivy-leaved toadflax and ivy. I love the way that the ivy is making a kind of espalier up the plasterwork.

And finally, look at these ‘baubles’ on the passionflower. They look just like little golden eggs.

And now I’m back in Dorchester, with the wet snow falling outside the window. Let’s hope it doesn’t settle and stop me from getting home tomorrow!