End of January Blog

February is on the doorstep; will it be as warm and wet as January. We have had coffee on the terrace three times this month and I have picked our first rhubarb, a month early. Poached in the juice of an orange with a chopped piece of stem ginger, it is delicious with yoghurt for breakfast, especially the early rhubarb. We have had to split some of the plants this year as they had become too big.

The egrets continue to visit us every day, they are so dainty and beautiful, and we think we have two moorhens which is excellent news and the wild mallards are also here every day, the numbers vary from 4 to 18. They can be very noisy. The pheasants are always an attractive addition to the garden and we have a large flock of waxwings which are very chatty. 

Winterborne Stickland Church has just installed an 1820s organ and last Sunday they had an organ recital which was wonderful. It is a very special organ as it is the only survivor by the maker so organ aficionados are very excited. They plan to do more recitals this year an excellent use of the church and its organ.

We are followers of Voces 8 who are based in the City of London. They have a summer music festival based at Milton Abbey School, very near to hear. It is a residential week with people from all over the world staying and learning and then every evening there is a performance, by Voces 8, Apollo 5 and at the end of the week by all the participants. They work with a number of schools to try and ensure that music is available to pupils. It is a fabulous week of music in the summer with drinks and picnics on the lawn in front of the Abbey which is an exquisite setting. The school is on holiday which enables the participants to stay. Milton Abbey School, Bryanston and Knighton House are all very close to us, roughly 4 miles, which make sit easy for parents to use here as their base.