It has been a wonderful cold, bright Friday with the nearly full moon visible in the sky. Alison stayed overnight from Bournemouth and we went out for a walk down the hill, through whippance farm and up along the eroding coast path towards Cowes. Alison is recovering from a cold but still enjoyed the walk. We saw a lady with a telescope who had counted 240 Brent Geese that had literally just flown in as we returned from the walk. There were also a couple of redshank, several oystercatchers and higher up the cliff, a kestrel hunting. Last week Thursday I counted 175 Brent Geese so I think that more have flown in. I also saw what looked like a redstart which was cool.

What I have discovered about living with a garden that backs onto woodland is the wide variety of birdlife to surprise you. Today Alison pointed out a Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding off my peanut feeder as we were tucking into soup for lunch. Two days ago (Wednesday) I saw a Green Woodpecker grubbing about at the bottom of the garden nearly all day.

This is the temporary flower bed that I have made where the turquoise shed once was at Brookside. Although it was an amazingly sunny autumn day today I mainly stayed indoors. I tried to get up to date with our finances, surfed for wedding venues and about 430pm went next door and had a cup of tea with John and Sue our neighbours. They had once tried and failed to get planning permssion to build a bungalow at the bottom of their garden.

I am getting excited about going to Kenilworth this weekend as I think I may have found a venue for our wedding (for a small wedding) at Kenilworth Castle. I have to get myself organised to do my first self-employed writing contract at Canon's Asby in Northamptonshire.

We will have to see how it all goes.

It has been eight months since I last really wrote in this blog. I think a good six months I was living alone in Ventnor in a tiny musty bedsit striving to learn my new job with National Trust at Newtown and also finishing my MSc. project with had been two years outstanding. So many different experiences and changes in these eight months that I had to search hard for a photograph to summarise this entry.

I have chose a photograph of the quay at Newtown Harbour as I have had a few challenges going out in the small boat and tying it up afterwards. I still have much exploration to do of the estuary waters.

Also, we have now moved! We are living together and sharing the good times (wedding fairs, dinners with good food and a business trip to Korea) along with the bad times (long travel to do anything on the mainland, Samuel being kept late at work)

But today on the 1st November I feel much more alive and with so much time to myself I hardly know what to do with it. at noon I went for a walk outside. Along the Rolls Hill Road (six cars going by) and through Whippance farm track to the seaside at Thorness Bay. I love this walk already. Not the car part...but reaching the shore at low tide. Today with the sunny weather, about 15*C average temp. it says on the net. I saw three groups of Brent Geese Feeding at the water's edge that must have arrived for the winter. They all appeared to be the pale-bodied form. In the first group I counted 35 geese, then 29 then 30. I saw about three Curlews, one feeding with each group. En route to the shore I heard and saw a meadow pipit churping and saw 4 collared doves and a couple of rooks resting in an oak tree in the field after the farm. A Crow or two were around too. In amongst the seaweed were at least 7 turnstones and a beautiful white Little Egret trying its luck.

I saw a red admiral today as well. Not bad for November. My general knowledge of wildlife has increased exponentially since arriving at Newtown to work. This year I saw many things for the first time including an Osprey, Ringlet, White Admiral and Silver-Washed Fritillary Butterflies, a long-winged conehead cricket and a singing Nightingale, a tall sprouting Ivy Broom Rape and many other natural history wonders.