I SAW a squirrel the other day. It ran across the road in front of my car. It was quite a narrow road with Scots pine trees on either side and it was a red squirrel.

Over the next couple of weeks you will probably spot large groups of swallows perching on roof-tops and telephone wires and ‘chattering’ to each other.

Over 3,000 species of fungi grow in this country and many of them are good to eat.

I WAS sitting on the terrace of a hotel enjoying some autumn sunshine when a bird walked over my foot. It was a bit startling. A family of pied wagtails were busily working the terrace searching for whatever it is pied wagtails regard as food.

I WAS sitting in front of the computer but instead of concentrating on the screen I was looking sideways out of the window, staring rather vacantly at a neglected meadow, hoping for inspiration.

A FRIEND and neighbour of mine owns a farm on which there are several hundred beautiful mature trees. He loves them but recently they have cost him rather a lot of money.

THE other morning I woke early in my bunk on the boat and I did what I always do first thing in the morning —- I pulled back the curtain to check on the weather.

THE other evening I was sitting on my patio enjoying a glass of chilled white wine before dinner. It was warm and still and this is my favourite time of day, when work is finished and it’s time to relax.

I WENT fishing the other day. Fly fishing for trout in a small stocked lake. The day was hot, there was no breeze and the sun blazed down on a lake that looked as though it was filled with molten lead. These are not good conditions for catching trout.

I HAVE been adopted by a wild bird. Every time I go outside it appears within minutes and follows me around. It gets very close. It’s a rather odd sensation. The bird is an immature robin, still in its speckled baby plumage.