‘Butterfly Conservation have put together a video for people to watch during lockdown as part of the local Chiddingfold Wood White Project. This should give people an idea of things they can do to help wildlife in their own gardens, especially butterflies and moths.’
Grab yourself a cup of tea and have a watch –

Mezze

I love the Mediterranean culture of eating together, long leisurely meals with family anecdotes and stories of life.   The Spanish, Italians, Greek, Portuguese all have their way.  We are always in a rush to clear plates and bustle along.  

Now we have time, so much time let’s stay slow, the evenings are wonderful.    I’m not a fan of BBQs , not English ones.  The hunter gatherer he man, beer in one hand and lighter fuel in the other is symbolic of the British summer.  But I’d much sooner enjoy a Braai or Asado. Hours spent preparing the fire and long long time cooking the poor unfortunate beast on the rack.   So when our cavemen are gassing and burning let’s sit a long slow starter of Mezze, carne freda, charcuterie.   OUR HERITAGE TOMATOES

It was a beautiful spring morning last Sunday for the 2020 dawn chorus walk in our gardens – although it was probably more of a sit under a blanket with a cup of tea than a walk for most of us!

People were listening around Malthouse Lane and at the Hydestile end of the village.

Between us we heard a total of 25 different birds which is about the amount we usually hear when we’re out and about.

We heard: blackbird, blackcap, blue tit, Canada geese, chaffinch, chiffchaff, collared dove, crow, cuckoo, garden warbler, goldfinch, great tit, hedge sparrow/dunnock, jackdaw, jay, magpie, pheasant, robin, rook, song thrush, sparrow hawk, tawny owl (up late!), woodpigeon, wren and great spotted woodpecker.

It was a lovely, peaceful way to spend an hour but we’ll all be very glad to be able to meet and walk together again next time.

So we should be bringing an end to 2019/20 season and hopefully celebrating some silverware for the club. It was a season that promised so much for the football club. We were fielding 5 sides for the first time in our 100+ history. All of the teams were competing well and there was a real chance of success. We were also competing at the highest level in the clubs history with the first team in the Premier division of the SCILW league for the first time. However with the business end of the season fast approaching the season came to an abrupt end with the lock down coming in March.

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Please note that the shop will be delivering as usual this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Because of the way the shop roster works, we’d actually prefer if you could place your orders on Bank Holiday Friday, in preference to Thursday or Saturday, if at all possible. If you’ve already placed an order for Thursday there’s no need to change it.

As usual, we’ll attempt to deliver all orders received before 12 noon on the same day.

Many thanks.

Suffering long term isolation and lockdown is not so rare an imposition as you may think for residents of our area. Not too many years ago the two institutions of King George V Hospital Hydestile and Milford Hospital were home to 100’s of patients suffering from Tuberculosis.

“It’s life, Gill, but not as we know it”

As it will have been impossible not to notice, our ‘Little Shop’ as it is often affectionately known, is not currently the shop we all knew and loved.  Gone is the usual question ‘morning, how can I help you?’ from someone behind the deli counter, gone is the sound of milk being frothed for a cappuccino, gone are the people sitting at the picnic tables eating croissants and drinking lattes, gone are our army of volunteers manning the till and gone is the warm and friendly atmosphere that envelops you as you push open the door and step inside.  But despite that, our Little Shop is still functioning, and remarkably even thriving, in these challenged times. 

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