Kaleidoscope of colour at the table

FIRE in the briars as bright as fires in the gorse in late summer.

December light strikes the hedge, silver on the ivy, gold on the briars, a feast for the eyes as brilliant as a treasure trove. The frosted grass winks and shines on the white field beyond and birds crowd the bird table for breakfast. In fact, they will have breakfasted long before I wake, but it is a pleasure to watch them while I eat mine.

On these chill days, the peanut feeders are a-flutter with activity. I’ve hung two on a pole of laurel with many thin branches, one a wire mesh cylinder, the other of plastic mesh. I cut the pole in the local jungle and secured it to a balcony post. The branches provide many perches where diners may queue until a space is vacated on the feeders. They are so close to the windows that they are the next best thing to being indoors. An infant grandchild will be visiting this week and I expect he will be intrigued by these fluttering, busy creatures dancing in the air or hanging upside down, the sun catching their colours in the morning light.