I should know better

Trying to recover the Christmas spirit now thatSonja is improving, I headed out into the overgrown back garden to find holly and berries for the Christmas wreath.

I have lots of holly, both sexes, all the females planted within a few yards of their husbands - I love that fact that you need different sexed trees to produce the berries. And there`s always the cotoneaster that was absolutely guaranteed not to make 25 feet when bought many years ago....So I went quite hopefully.

I looked everywhere. Bunches of stalks, waving cheerfully in the breeze. Not a berry.

And I thought -

"Damned Fieldfares!"

They came and went a week ago. They come coasting in, huge flocks of big grey thrushes straight from Scandinavia and Germany, strip off everything edible, and fly off at once. Feathered locusts. They would take the leaves off the trees if there were any left. You can see the local birds hanging about in sullen groups, beaks open, muttering about illegal aliens, and that after all, we won the war. And the next day the feeders are very busy indeed.

I found some berries on the variegated hollies nearest the house, but it`s a very skimpy wreath indeed this year.

Next year the Papillons will be trained to go on holly patrol.