Where we used to live

Sunday 24th May 2026

Is that robin or a red kite? A recent survey found that many people struggle to know the difference. Even the blue tit was apparently hard for some people to recognise. Is it because we are too busy or do we see most of our wildlife on screen?

It was hard to recognise the robin yesterday when walking by the canal a red and brown ball dropped from the tree. If it was autumn, I would have thought that it was a ripe apple falling. Then the loud chirping started and the ball began to jerk as I realised it was two robins in combat. They rolled along the towpath until finally giving up and flying off in separate directions.

I nearly gave up on our delivery of a compost bin I ordered online this week. They indicated the delivery time as 8am to 8pm. I tracked it on the link. Any minute now it would arrive. The line showing progress on the ‘Out for delivery’ page was nearly at our house. We waited in the front room so we could easily see and hear the van. But no van came and soon my page was showing a message ‘Delivery attempted’. Our bin was sent back to the depot. How could they? We were here and watching and waiting – no one attempted to deliver anywhere on our road. It arrived the next day smoothly and easily without me even having to track it. Now we have a delightful compost bin at the bottom of the garden looking very much like a wooden beehive. It is quite attractive and shows none of the delivery hassle it has been through.

My friend has been through hassle because her email has been hacked. The first I knew was an email I received from her saying, ‘Hope you are well. Could we have a quick catch up over email?’. I was surprised as she does not usually contact me through email, but I was ready to answer in case something was wrong. It was then I noticed that the message had been sent to quite a few friends including some businesses. I did not reply. She got in touch later to say about the hack.

I had a celebration party last week. It was my birthday. So, I invited relatives to a tearoom at the top of our long farm lane in East Yorkshire. I welcomed family spanning a few generations that had also lived at the farm. Then we all walked down the lane to stand outside the big farmhouse where we used to live. We all recognised the robin but not a red kite because it was not that far north in those days.

(Taken from my column in the Shropshire Star)