December 1995  - Edition No.39

Christmas is coming... but at the time of writing this, the weather has only just become slightly more seasonal after a wonderful summer and an incredible 'Indian' summer. Nature has certainly played a few tricks, with plants flowering out of character and out of season - my amaryllis produced a September/October stalk with six [were they late or early?] blooms, and the normally one-head-a-year yucca has produced seven spikes, with two more still struggling against the cooler weather of the last couple of weeks. There has been a prolific and varied array of fungi and last week I was delighted to see, for the first time ever, a small flock of long tailed tits in the Valley. Peggy Eppingstone, like many other people, wonders "where have all the blackbirds gone?"

Debbie has generously donated one of her Harrods Bear tins of biscuits and this, with other items, will be raffled at the Post Office with tickets available from early December. Proceeds of the raffle will be sent to Children in Need and the Salvation Army. Thank you, Debbie.

My thanks to everyone who has contributed to this issue, especially ALL the artists whose illustrations really 'make' our Newsletter and Nigel for the cover. February will be our next issue and items will be needed by the middle of January, but before then have a very happy and peaceful Christmas.

Judie - Ed