Sussex Field Notes

Walker of lanes & gazer at views. Love & live among South Downs. Writer (blog), naturalist & gardener. Mostly on Instagram. Happily married October 2020

[Sussex Field Notes @SxFieldNotes]

@StephenMoss_TV Been off twitter for yonks and just thought I'd check to see if anything important I'd missed. Saw this. Sorry to hear you've been experiencing health concerns Stephen! Wishing you the best of care and a swift and smooth recovery.

[Kate Bradbury 🏳️‍🌈 @Kate_Bradbury]

Very useful illustration, and another reason why we should be harvesting as much rainwater in our gardens as possible. If you can, focus now on setting up water butts, water storage tanks etc, to help reduce water racing into into sewers when the rain eventually comes...

[West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service @WestSussexFire]

⚠️ The @metoffice's Fire Severity Index is EXCEPTIONAL for most of #WestSussex this weekend. Please stay safe and:

🔥 Avoid open fires - including bonfires
🚬 Extinguish cigarettes properly
🍾 Take litter home, especially glass
🚒 Call 999 if you see a fire

[VeryBritishProblems @SoVeryBritish]

Summer is ok, but nothing beats a Sunday roast on a chilly Autumn day, followed by wrapping up in a coat and scarf for a brisk walk, ideally involving a dog, through rusty, crunchy leaves as the sky glows orange and purple, then home for apple crumble and good telly in the dark.

[Sussex Field Notes @SxFieldNotes]

@silverpebble It’s not easy, it’s heartbreaking, and yes feel guilty/privileged to be able to step away. And not just now but globally/everyday. It’s very hard not to focus on the bad news and miss the good stories and positive things. Very hard indeed.

[Sussex Field Notes @SxFieldNotes]

@silverpebble The way I try look at it is that news is provided 24/7 so that anyone can tune in at any time because can’t all watch at the same time. Not because we all need to watch it all of the time. Being fully informed of the events & watching same stories on loop are very different.

[Sussex Field Notes @SxFieldNotes]

@metoffice please can you tell us when the pollen forecast online will return. Thank you. Yours faithfully Hayfever Sufferers

[Sussex Field Notes @SxFieldNotes]

@B_Strawbridge Feeling so sorry for the children. I don’t claim to know/understand the politics, but violence can never be an answer and it all seems so awful and unstable 😔

[Sussex Field Notes @SxFieldNotes]

@JimSpim Yup, feeling a lot of that right now

[West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service @WestSussexFire]

Please take care during #StormEunice:

🌳 For highways issues, or if a tree is blocking the road, call 01243 642105

💡For any electrical incidents call 105. Keep clear of fallen power lines

☔Stay indoors if possible

🚙Drive slowly and carefully

🚒In an emergency, dial 999

[Kate Bradbury 🏳️‍🌈 @Kate_Bradbury]

The mornings are now getting lighter again and within 10 days sunrise will be before 8am ☀️

[Emma Mitchell 💙 @silverpebble]

If you feel overwhelmed, very low &/or are frightened by your thoughts please text ‘Shout’ to 85258. A trained crisis volunteer will text you back 24/7 & this service is free.
Here are some more numbers that will offer help if you need it in the next few days:

[Kate Bradbury 🏳️‍🌈 @Kate_Bradbury]

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE, TWITTER! The days get longer from now! 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

[Jeni Bell @Jeni_Wild_Bell]

I'm feeling a bit like badger from Wind in the Willows today. There are shadows knocking at the door and mice scrabbling in the walls. The midwinter hush has found us, snuck in under the fieldfare's wing. But there is comfort, magic even, in the year's darkest part. #midwinter

[Sussex Field Notes @SxFieldNotes]

@Kate_Bradbury Oh my! I never thought I’d see this job come up again: I applied several years ago, was offered an interview, but due to personal issues decided I wasn’t in a position to relocate so in the end had to decline. Always regretted it & wondered if I would have been successful! 😳🤭😬

[Kate Bradbury 🏳️‍🌈 @Kate_Bradbury]

A garden hedge:

Filters wind (slows it down)
Absorbs water (prevents flooding)
Absorbs CO2 (fights climate change)
Houses wildlife (promotes biodiversity)

There are 22 million gardens in the UK. Many of them will lose a fence panel this weekend. Please replace with a hedge 🌳

[Sussex Field Notes @SxFieldNotes]

Today @morethanadodo Oxford University Museum of Natural History

[Pam Ayres MBE @PamAyres]

How sad on this October day
To see our hedges shorn away
Small creatures would have liked to eat,
The hawthorn berries, rose hips sweet,
Blackberries and nuts and sloes,
But through the blades the banquet goes
Won’t somebody heed our words,
And leave the berries for the birds.

[Nicola Chester @nicolawriting]

Like a fine needle of frost tumbling down through the sky … tseeeip.
R E D W I N G S!
Welcome winter thrushes, coming all this way with that radiator warm glow tucked under your wing pits; the colour of the berries you’ve come for.

[Sussex Field Notes @SxFieldNotes]

@hoggsoffife hi, I have have been wearing the Hoggs rambler walking boots for years and have just purchased a new pair. My previous pair’s soles had started to fall apart. Is there any way to resole or repair the walking boots instead of landfill & buy new? Thanks