Chilly Weekly

The penultimate weekly of 2009 is nor printing and the digital version is available. This week it the third pre-Christmas warning, and we've added the the Christmas button to the website home page, linking the Christmas page with all the vital dates and deadlines.
it was clear overnight and we had a very hard frost but by morning it was thick fog which has not lifted all day. The feeders have been smothered with everything from tree sparrow to nuthatch with most things in between too.

Weekly update

The first marsh tit was seen around and about this week and the feeders have been overflowing with birds. The goldfinches squabble for space, the tits queue up patiently and wait their turn and the spuggies hoover up whatever drops and the dogs clear up anything they miss.

It's been interesting with the threatened and now happening postal strikes, a huge heap of mail on Tuesday then very little and of course today nothing. There are reported delays to 40% of mail according to Royal Mail. CJS Weekly is printing and will be dispatched from here as usual, collection is due tomorrow (and should happen) but it's bound to get stuck in the back log. So don't forget if your copy is one of the many stuck in a heap somewhere you can contact us to obtain an electronic one. This week there are 74 new paid posts, 45 direct to CJS over 11 pages.

3000

That's the number of jobs advertised in CJS Weekly so far this year.
That's new, not previously published paid countryside jobs all in the UK.

This week's edition is currently printing and is already online. In addition to the usual jobs there's the training calendar for November.
Also a reminder to complete your subscribers surveys if you've not already done so. You'll also find more details about the forthcoming postal strikes and details of what you can do to obtain your copy of CJS Weekly.

The fascinating feature article this week is about a request for you to photograph ladybirds, apparently now's the time they're all coming in to hibernate and CEH would like you to photograph any you see and send them your photos.

And finally as if that lot is not enough for one posting, earlier this week we had the first reports of snow buntings, KH saw three on Saturday and AW's father-in-law reported 2 at Greenend, yesterday a small flock of redwing was seen heading into the field in front of the CJS office. Snow shoes at the ready then, usually three weeks after the first buntings...

Weekly update

Sorry, it's a bit late but we did publish CJS Weekly as usual this weekend (a bit busy on Friday and didn't quite get round to the blog!) This week it's nine pages with 54 new paid posts.
http://bit.ly/2rXthB Who burns off when a gale is predicted? Apparently land owners on the NYM! The Egton blaze was visible from the village on Saturday and the smoke drifted across the valley for several miles.

The bird feeders have been taken out of storage and filled, vast clouds of various finches promptly descended and the feeders were very quickly in need of refilling!

Tuesdays are normally good days

but not today.
Started first thing when I threw a full mug of tea all over the papers, my desk, the dogs, me, the keyboard. We were stunned into immobility as the tea dripped into the floor, fortunately the dogs were not so slow on the uptake and started cleaning up the floor. Several towels later and the spillage was mostly mopped up and now we're all dried up.
Then we put through the card details to take payment for an advert and forgot to bill the VAT, so had to do it again. Plus a few rather odd emails and a couple of slow running computers.
Hebe (the juniorist of office dogs) has a queasy tum on account of the large quantities of butter she stole. So far that's it but we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

On the positive side a charm of goldfinches arrived on the feeders this morning and a family of long tailed tits has just left. Which means winter is just around the corner, lovely for those who relish the cold and pretty gloomy for the hot house flowers who are quietly shrivelling at the hint of impending chill.

Another edition

Should now be with subscribers - Royal Mail permitting, threats of more strike action of the weekend and a ballot on national strike action is looking likely. We'll keep you up to date with how any action affects CJS.
The seasons have definitely turned - on last Thursday morning the wire on the top of the field fence was lined with 60-70 swallows, the final muster of the summer, sure enough by tea time they'd all gone and now there are just the odd one or two martins. Over the weekend the first geese skeins have been sighted, and yesterday Maia picked up the first conker of the season, I managed to make her drop it before she crunched it up and ate it - next will be the fly agaric, she's a very strange dog (even more so after the fungi...!).

4 & 20 blackbirds

No, not baked in a pie but all over the garden. Just been to make afternoon coffee (a little late in the day but hey it's Friday and in the CJS office that means furrowed brows and smoking keyboards) and looking out of the kitchen window the lawn is covered in blackbirds somewhere between 12 and 18 at a quick count. One brood have a very distinctive paler head, almost fawn on some of the females; another lot appear to be wearing collars. There's no difference in the food available, still nuts and a sunflower mix plus the off windfall plum although not too many because the Labradors hoover them up (and in Hebe's case pick them from the tree). Any ideas for the sudden flock?
Earlier this week the nuthatch put in it's first appearance for quite a while.
Brows are not quite so furrowed as CJS Weekly has now gone to print, a small seven sides, not bad after the Bank Holiday (and IT problems) there are 57 new paid posts, 39 direct to CJS.

Friday at last

It's been a rather uneventful week which has made it seem very long.
On the wildlife watch we've had a pair of adult tree sparrows feeding a brood of three fledglings, one of the adults has even been coming to the nut feeder hanging outside the office window. We're hoping they're still here as yesterday a rather large female sparrowhawk came whizzing past the window into the hawthorn hedge and then bounced out into an ash tree. Perhaps she also scared a visiting yellowhammer which has not been seen since.
CJS Weekly is now printing, this week it's eight pages with 66 new paid posts of which 40 came direct to CJS.
Today is also Amy's last day before she goes on maternity leave. During her absence Helen is stepping up to cover Amy's main roles.
We wish Amy, Nev and their 'Bean' all the very best and look forward to her return next year.

Tree Sparrow family

Picture from RSPB

This morning on the apple trees outside the office window an adult Tree Sparrow was feeding a brood of fledglings! Wonderful.

For more about Tree Sparrows and why we're so excited read their profile on the RPSB website at: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/t/treesparrow/index.asp

40 days of sun or rain?

So what was your St Swithin's weather like?
We had fair, wet, hot and summery - in that order. maybe we'll get 10 days fair, 10 days wet etc or perhaps each day will be divided into quarters.
Not a clue what I'm rambling on about? Read all about St Swithin and the history and truth behind his lore on the BBC at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8151499.stm

2000 jobs!

Since January 2009 CJS Weekly has carried adverts for over 2000 new, not previously advertised, paid UK countryside, conservation jobs. Not forgetting the voluntary and training opportunities too! Monday's edition is already online and will soon be printed ready for mailing. This week it's 10 pages with 79 new paid posts, 51 of which came direct to CJS.
The local Royal Mail offices are being reorganised and the the collection of your CJS from the offices is changing - we have everything crossed that there are no hitches (!). Troublesome sagas continue with BT, we thought it was all solved and everything back to normal but then we got a letter requesting bank details for the direct debit for the new Rent-a-Ranger phone account, after quite a while listening to lovely canned musak a real person assures us that the direct debit has been set up and it is for the correct BT and bank accounts - watch this space. But remember if one day you can't reach us by phone you'll know that it really did go pineapple shaped (10 times worse then pears) and they've cut us off.
This week the owl has been back on the telephone wires, but we think it's one of last year's youngsters as it's a bit smaller and the colouring is paler. Last night it was considering bat for dinner (or should that me breakfast?). There were two pipestrelles flying around the eaves and one was definitely chasing the other. We're not sure what was going on as they're both the same size and have been seen in proximity before - if you have any suggestions please let us know.

Busy birding.

There's something in the air.
Thunder and hail yesterday and today the dogs are behaving most oddly; Hebe is usually as mad as a box of frogs and this morning was even more crackers than usual, even Cara (the large hound) is acting strangely. All except Juno who's a little subdued she has injured her paw and had to visit here favourite veterinarian on Monday and is now on antibiotics.
We hadn't heard the cuckoo for several days but yesterday evening it was calling again. Lots of the garden birds were yelling too because the owl was sitting on the telephone wires again, looking thoroughly miserable and more than slightly soggy. And today it's been the turn of the swifts to be screaming around, our very own Springwatch right outside the window.
This week the Monthly has gone out and Monday's Weekly contains the July Training Calendar added to which we launched our facebook pages too.
We have two pages, one all about CJS at www.facebook.com/pages/Countryside-Jobs-Service/20284044858 but if you're not interested in our news (then why are you reading the blog?!?) and want to get straight to the action then become a fan of the CJS Jobs page at www.facebook.com/pages/CJS-Jobs/73274275980 So it's been a busy week all in all. The Weekly is currently printing, it's 11 pages plus five for the training calendar containing 60 new paid posts of which 29 came direct to CJS. As usual it's already online and paper copies are due on Monday.

Birthdays, butterflies, dolphins, rain and jobs...!

After a beautiful weekend and start to the week the weather broke and it's cold, grey, wet and miserable today. The swifts and house martins are conspicuous by their absence, they've gone to hunt in brighter skies although the nest building is coming on well. The big event this week was most junior office dog Hebe had her birthday, she's now two years old and officially no longer a puppy - will someone tell her that please, apologies to any callers who heard strange squeakings, it was just the birthday ball.
Our article in Monday's edition of CJS Weekly is about the incredible migration of the painted lady butterflies, one has been reported in Goathland so they've reached us too. But even more amazing is that bottlenose dolphins have been reported off Whitby, see our local paper, The Whitby Gazette, for more details.
Oh, yes and CJS Weekly is now printing, 10 pages this week with 91 new paid posts of which 27 came direct to CJS.

Birding news

Although there a were few around the feeders over the winter we thought they'd moved on and left us but there (right now) is a tree sparrow hopping around the Norway spruce in the garden just across the lawn from the CJS office window. And not content with one unusual (for us) sighting whilst looking at the tree sparrow we saw climbing up the trunk was a tree creeper.

Sunny Friday

But just don't mention the windows....
What is it about new windows? When Niall had his replaced it led to the "Everest saga" (see www.grovesdyke.co.uk and click on Windows) The replacement windows for the two big bay windows are the wrong size - no it's not that they won't fit the hole, just that the glass is too small and the timber casements too big more than double the ones they are replacing. A major summit of all interested parties was called yesterday and after much discussion new plans are being drawn up and it looks like eight more new windows. Watch this space.

Well at the back of the building, bathes in glorious sunshine we carry on and have been doubly busy this week, subscribers are getting CJS Weekly (10 pages 68 jobs, 36 direct) and CJS Focus on Training, 14 pages of articles and adverts. Non-subscribers get their copy online on Monday. Details will follow next week.

Summer is officially here, the swifts arrived on Thursday morning, three screaming around the eaves. We think (hope) that they're last years ones returned and will nest again.

Good heavens

It's Easter (or Eostre if you prefer) already. Where is the year going? Well Easter or not we're still here bashing out your copies of CJS. The big printer is still not mended, "we've not seen that before", they said! The engineers are talking to their next up who's talking to the manufacturers. Someone will contact us early next week to let us know the next step - I think it's new machinery time but that why we lease and don't buy so it's their problem and not ours (except for not being to print colour properly so we have to use the other smaller printers and it takes for ever).
In the mean time this week's edition is (fortunately) all in black and white and is even now falling off the printers, it's 12 pages this week containing 88 new paid posts, 57 of which came direct to CJS. The digital version will shortly be online and the paper editions will be collected by Royal Mail tomorrow for delivery on Tuesday (Monday being a Bank Holiday).
First swallow in the village has been sighted by AW's father-in-law this morning. The field in front of the office has had ewes for a few days, this morning the first lambs were born, spring is here and summer is just around the corner (yes, we know one swallow does not a summer make).
Have a good Easter, we'll be here on Monday and there are a few jobs booked for the website.

Photography

Any budding photographers out there?
If you've any photos of British wildlife you might like to enter them into a new competition, you could win up to £5,000 and see your work exhibited around the country. We're sponsoring the Habitat category of the British Wildlife Photography Awards, other categories are sponsored by organisations such as WWF and Natural England. The Wildlife Trusts, National Trust and National Trust for Scotland are also supporting the awards which were launched on Wednesday. Click on the link for more info.
After the excitement of the reappearance of the Owl and arrival of a noctule bat the wildlife spotting died down a bit but the first tortoiseshell butterfly was seen yesterday and the first swallows int he area have been reported in the local paper.
But on to more mundane things, like CJS Weekly. Which is now rolling off the printers, 11 pages this week with a monster 186 new paid posts, of which 126 were sent direct to CJS, there are also a couple of pages of voluntary posts. Don't forget that although next week is Easter CJS rumbles on as usual so digital copies will be available on Friday but paper editions will be a day or two late (thanks Royal Mail).

Return of our owl

This morning the blackbirds were kicking up a louder than usual yammering. A quick glance up at the telephone wires, and yes there she was. Our tawny owl was back. We've heard the owls hooting virtually every day for the last couple of weeks and they have been very active in the evenings but this is the first re-appearance of 'our daytime owl'. And very welcome she was too (we assume she's a female because of the size).
Add to that yesterday evening a big bat was heard patrolling the vicinity, the bat detector came out and at around 22mhtz we heard the squelch of a noctule. this adds to the pipistrelle we detected a few weeks ago.
So all the nighttime beasties had better be aware, the predators are out and active.

Sunshine

Lovely warm sunshine all week, but not quite as much as TB who is sitting on a beach in Alicante knitting (yes, she's taken her knitting on holiday, needles safely in the suitcase). Good job it's been a quiet week without our fastest editor, back next week so you can start sending those job ads now!
On Wednesday evening the chirrup of bats was heard for the first time this year. The new (Christmas pressie from NC, thanks) bat detector was taken out and once a smoke alarm had been robbed of its battery, don't worry we replaced it later, the small speaker soon gave the squelch of a pipistrelle out of hibernation and looking for supper. We're hoping to hear brown long ears (they use the garage as a summer roost) and to catch the squeak of daubentons and noctules on their way across the fields to the river and nearly trees.
In fact it's been far too lovely to be stuck in the office...
CJS Weekly is now rolling off the printers, this week it's 10 sides long with 58 new paid posts, 40 of which came direct to CJS. it also contains the one thousandth vacancy advertised this year as well as the latest advance warning of the impending subscription rates change.

Sunshine and snow

Although it's brilliant sunshine now we had another dusting of snow this week and there have been some very hard frosts overnight. Yesterday we had yellowhammers on the feeding station and it seems as if we're the join between two lots of robin territories - we've seen a few dust ups! Winter hasn't quite given up yet although spring is definitely chasing hard on its heels with some glorious bulbs showing their head above ground and the first few seedlings are appearing in pots in the greenhouse.
Despite the glorious sunshine we beavered away at the machinery and got CJS to print on time, this week it's nine pages with 53 new paid posts of which 30 came direct. the online copies are already available and post allowing paper editions will be there on Monday. This week's edition also contains the first advance warning notice of an impending change in subs rates.

Green grass!

At last, the fields are green again even the white margins have been erased. The birds are singing and no longer flocking to the feeding station although we've had a pair of robins very delicately sharing food and several dunnocks flirtatiously waving their wings. A host of snowdrops were waiting patiently under the drifts and are now gently nodding in the breeze.
It seems spring really is in the air (but say it quietly in case Jack Frost hears us and decides to return for one last fling). And amid all this productivity the next edition of CJS Weekly drops off the printers, online already and paper copies due on Monday as usual. 13 pages this week with 104 new paid posts of which 69 were sent direct to CJS.

Counting birds

We did our bird count over the weekend - did you?

It was a real finch-fest! When we got to 26 chaffinches we stopped counting and trying to keep track, they just won't sit still long enough! And greenfinches are very good at merging into the vegetation so we gave up on them at 21. We also counted 5 goldfinches and 6 siskins. Nearly all the tit family put in an apperance with 3 blue tits, 2 each of great tits and coal tits and a family of 9 long tails. Only one of our nuthatches visited during the count but two robins (we sometimes have three if they don't notice each other). Our noisy sparrows obviously found somewhere else for breakfast on Sunday as only four house sparrows came to feed, the tree sparrows are shy and stayed away but three hedge spuggies (or dunnocks) hopped about in between three blackbirds (one male and two female). Two collared doves come for a drink and to drive off the three wood pigeons. There were also some starlings about, we could hear them but not see them, and a small squadron of gulls (herring and black heads) flew over.

This is a wonderful way to survey, sitting in a warm kitchen with a pot of tea, slabs of cake and listening to Desert Island Discs on the radio. If only all surveying could be this easy! Rather than out at crack of sparrow in the cold, dark and drizzle to search the last known locations of plants last recorded over a decade ago - ah well sometimes computer bashing has its advantages.

Results are due at the end of March / early April.

CJS Weekly

We're all prepared for the Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend. Feeders cleaned and refilled but although it has rained pretty much non-stop all week it's been really quite mild (until today when it snowed) so not many birds int he garden or at the feeders. Perhaps another chilly snap will bring them in just in time for the count.
Monday's edition is almost printed and we're about to start putting it in the envelopes ready for the Postie tomorrow morning. This week it's 13 sides long containing 120 new apid posts of which 84 came direct to CJS. Talking of post our has been a bit hit and miss this week (our regular postie is on holiday), we can't beleive that there have been only ten letter for us all week. So if you've sent something by post and not had a response don't worry - yet - I'm sure it will reach us eventually.

More Birds and a Weekly.

CJS Weekly
Monday 13 October is now printing. This week it is 8 pages with 55 new paid posts of which 38 came direct to CJS.

More birds
The siskins arrived over the weekend, not in great numbers yet but several different individuals. We've had a few visiting bramblings joining the general finch flock too. Another returning species, but new for this year's list is a willow/marsh tit (I can never tell tother from which unless they're side by side!). Our brave little tree sparrow has been and told his family about the wonderful food available at The Moorlands and we've had three together all happily munching.

The CJS Garden bird watch has started.

It's that time of year, at the weekend the nest boxes were cleaned out and the winter feeders (which were cleaned a month or more ago) were refilled. Although there's been some food available all summer, mostly peanuts and some lower energy seed mixes in a few scattered feeders around the garden the arrival of the winter feeders brought the birds out. As usual the feeders went out a couple of weeks ago for the birds to get used to them again, on Friday there was a little cole tit investigating every port on the sunflower feeder. A clear indication that it's time to get some 'real' food out there. Over the weekend new sacks of nuts, sunflower hearts, hi-energy feed and niger seed were opened and their contents used to fill the various feeders. Since then the garden has been full of birdlife and the feeders need refilling every other day or less, I can see that we'll have to invest in some bigger ones – and some stronger brackets too! We're trying wax worms again but so far no takers, the robin seems perfectly happy with sunflowers.
Our species lists for visitors to the feeders so far is: cole tit (in greater numbers than blue & great), blue tit, great tit, chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch (more numerous than the other finches), song thrush, blackbird, collared dove, wood pigeon, nuthatch (at least two, possibly three), robin, dunnock, house sparrow, tree sparrow (on the nut feeder less than a foot outside the office window, brilliant!), greater spotted woodpecker (very confused). We have also seen wrens and gold crests in the garden but not on the feeders. The long tailed tits have been heard but seen. Siskins are conspicuous in the absence, they'll arrive later, we hope. The winter migratory geese have been flying over head in huge skeins heading south, one numbering about 150 – 200.
Stop Press: we can add a female yellowhammer to the list os species visiting the feeders.

Weekly update.

Our house martins have fledged this week and have been whizzing around after the multitude of midges but in the last couple of days have not been seen as often. The swallows have been gathering in great groups too. But at least it stopped raining and the sun came out yesterday so everything was steaming although with clear skies and a brisk wind everything has been drying out remarkably well – but the forecast for the weekend includes lots of rain and even some thunder thrown in for good measure, so enjoy it while it lasts.
Despite the vagaries of the weather CJS rolls on as normal and is now rolling off the printer. This week's edition is seven pages long containing 53 new paid posts of which 39 came direct to CJS. It's one of the smallest for a while which we think is partly due to the end of the summer holidays (including the Bank Holiday on Monday). There's also a bit of trend towards fewer vacancies which we're blaming on the credit crunch with people less willing / less able to move job or house. However CJS still receives a respectable 50+% direct from the employer, this week it's ¾ direct.
Blogger-in-chief is out of the office next week, officially on gardening leave (the real sort, done with a spade and hoe) but the garden is still sodden and any work on the soil will probably only make the damage even worse so maybe virtual gardening and plant-buying trips instead.

Catch up.

Well it's been a frantic, stressful and strange few weeks but we've made it.
CJS Weekly has continued to be produced as normal and most people seem to be coping with the new log in details without too many problems.
In the midst of it all Hebe has been fitted with her zip, she was very brave and didn't even look at her stitches, she's been unpicked but now has a frozen tail. Totally unconnected with the surgery but from playing too roughly within a visiting small person, she's feeling more sorry for herself about her tail than her zip, however, it is beginning to defrost and to wag again. The Owls have visited regularly, especially in the frequent downpours. In the high temperatures of a few weeks ago we were adding ice to the tropical fish tank! And KH was asking for a walk in freezer (doesn't do hot, but loves the snow). The plum tree is infested with greenfly which have also damaged the hop, roses and apple trees, the birds have been feasting but not really making any significant impact on the population explosion. Although it is nice to have flocks of long tail tits in the garden at this time of year reinforcements were called for and yesterday a package of ladybirds was released. It was really funny the way the ladybirds suddenly spotted (no pun intended) dinner and stormed off into the worst areas.
At last this week's edition of CJS Weekly is being printed. This week it's thirteen pages containing details of 106 new paid posts of which 33 were sent direct to CJS.

Not enough time...

Well we've been rather busy, there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day or days in the week so the sooner we find an admin assistant the better!
Last week's CJS Weekly did go out as usual, it was 13 pages with 90 new paid posts of which 33 came direct to CJS. This week's edition is huge! It's 15 pages plus a training calendar for June of five pages AND this week's edition has a Special Edition supplement which is eight pages all about Access & Rights of Way. I just hope your mail box, be it physical or electronic, is big enough for it all…
Whilst the rest of the country has been basking in sunshine we've been shivering under sea frets which pushed over the hill, rolled down into the valley and stayed there. Yesterday brightened up a bit but today is grey and gloomy (very Eeyoreish) again. However, on Monday our Owl came back to visit us and sat on the phone wires for several hours until it was virtually completely dark before she went off hunting. On the not so good side a rabbit has also been sighted in the garden, the dogs saw it off, Hebe did a wonderful Tigger impression and almost bounced right over the wall, and so far there's no evidence of damage to any of the plants. AW is hearing the patter of tiny (webbed) feet, two goslings have hatched and are making their first excursions into the great outdoors.

Summer arrives – oh, no it doesn't!

The first swallows were sighted on Sunday – summer's here, almost. Then on Thursday we awoke to an covering a snow and the Post Master had to go to the top of the hill because the delivery driver with the newspapers was too chicken to drive down into the village. Any way they got here and we collected ours to scan for Monday's CJS Weekly. Which is even now printing. This week it's 13 pages plus three for the Monthly training Calendar, there are 80 new paid posts of which 39 came direct to CJS there's an advert for a conservation working holiday programme (a new area for CJS), not to mention the Wombles – yes that's right, the furry residents of Wimbledon Common, SW19. You'll have to read it to find out why…

We like bank holidays!

It's been rather quiet this week which has allowed us to develop lots of new ideas including a new webshop which we're planning to launch next week to coincide with the implementation of the new subs rates. Good news first – we've had bramblings and a TREE SPARROW in the garden on the feeders, the first Tree Sparrow for nearly 20 years. On the down side we're losing a member of staff (how careless!) so we're once again on the look out for a new team member. Any slightly mad, computer literate, dog lovers out there fancy joining the bunch of harebrained, balmpots who keep the CJS show on the road? Send us an email.

Back to business, CJS Weekly is now rolling off the presses, this week it's just nine sides but contains 61 new paid posts of which 35 came direct to CJS. The fascinating feature article is all about the return of the ospreys to Scotland and a new webcam at Loch Garten, viewed on the RPSB website.

Spring is in the air.

Nice holiday thank you, but now back to the grindstone! So how did you survive the earth quake last week? You'll have gathered that CJS kept rolling on and last week produced a 12 sided CJS Weekly containing 86 new paid posts of which 59 came direct to CJS. This week's edition is just about to go to press and has 93 jobs (62 direct to CJS) over 11 pages.
We've had a few stormy days (and nights too) recently and one lovely old alder at the edge of one of the now drained village ponds succumbed tearing itself in two.


However, as these lovely tête-a-tête mini daffodils show spring is here – well almost. Enjoy the sunshine whilst you may, more storms are predicted for Monday.

A bit of a blow - hold onto your hats

And your coats, your dogs and if possible something nailed down, to say it's rather blustery out there is somewhat of an understatement. We've just seen a dustbin go flying past the window, the field in front of the office is full bits of debris from the building plot down the road, torn off tree, out of bins, I'm sure you can imagine. Very few birds around, they're all wedged in somewhere out of the gale. But at least the wind is drying up the very wet ground. We have the first shoots from the bulbs are beginning to show above the ground, some of the shrubs have little green tips and the cobnuts have small catkins just waiting for some sun and warmth to burst open, first signs of spring all around – we must get the apple trees and roses pruning finished before it's too late.

But here in the snug, cosy office (a little too warm if we're honest, the wind is fair making the woodstove roar away!) we've been beavering away and this week's edition of CJS is now printing. It is 14 sides this week including lots of voluntary posts as we try to catch up on the backlog of those previously put on hold to allow space for the paid posts to be published. There are 95 new paid posts plus a few re-ads, 50 of the jobs were sent direct to CJS from the employer.

Quick word of warning. Our web hosts are migrating from one server to another over the weekend and this may disrupt service to the website and possibly emails. If you email us and don’t get a reply by the end of Monday please contact us as it may have got stuck.

CJS Monthly - December edition on route at last!

After a several delays and more than a few problems (some mechanical, a few technical and some human error) we finally managed to get CJS Monthly, printed, put in its envelopes and it's now somewhere in the postal system. Bearing in mind Christmas post it should be with you by the end of the week. However, it's freely available online as usual.

Today has dawned bright and very cold, treacherous underfoot when out with the dogs this mooring. The birds are queuing for the feed station – it's now early afternoon and where the sun hasn't reached the frost is still lying thickly.

Birds, lamb, sprouts and jobs

We've had an exciting week, on the nature front we've had a new bird in the garden on Monday we spotted a Redpoll, of course it didn't sit long enough, or still enough, for us to determine which subspecies it may be so we're guessing at the Lesser but whichever sort it was it is the first time one has visited the garden. Today the first of the winter Bramblings came for a feed and the numbers of Siskins have to be seen to be believed, festooned over every feeder (except the red nut feeder which was bought specifically for them as they are supposed to like red feeders – ha, not here, sunflower hearts please!). The wind is fierce and today bitingly cold making it feel like winter, earlier in the week it was exceptionally mild and wet more like autumn and yesterday was a typical grey miserable November day.

In other CJS news AW's lamb went to slaughter earlier this week and when it returns nicely jointed in bags from the local builders merchant some of it will be swapped for a turkey for Christmas dinner but the sprouts failed so some will have to bought – gasp, buying vegetables, unheard of!

It's must be almost Christmas as CJS Weekly is only a little one this week, eight sides containing 83 new paid posts 62 of which were sent direct to CJS. And it's just about finished printing so will be on its way to you very soon.

CJS Weekly, electricity & snow - perhaps

Hi folks -The replacement of the electric string apparently went well and we came back on stream without any problems (well, no known problems yet…!).

The temperature is plummeting but the skies are high and clear although snow is forecast overnight so we may some pretty pictures for you by Monday. The birds are filling the garden and emptying the feeders. We've just received a new mesh tray to try meal worms for the robin, we'll let you know how if gets on as last year's experiments with meal worms and bowls were a complete disaster the only thing that ate them was the dog!

Anyway the Weekly is still printing so we'll be working long into the night to ensure it's ready for the postie tomorrow morning. It's eleven pages, with 67 new paid posts of which 31 came direct to CJS.

birds and no 'leccy

The siskins returned today, two males and one female so far. All the poor birds are looking very bedraggled and fed up with this seemingly never ending rain. Our lovely new path is now covered in a sea of mud created by the rebuilding of the drystone wall. A brush and some buckets of water will fix that – once it stops raining!!

An advance warning – tomorrow (Thursday 22 November) our electricity supplier is carrying out their pre-winter line checks and maintenance which means we will be without electricity for most of the day. Back to the battery powered laptop and an old fashioned phone with a wire! We'll soldier on and hopefully you'll never notice.

It's done.

The builders have finished, tidied up and gone away. The new path looks lovely and the brain is in overdrive planning the new borders, grass paths, plants, shrubs etc. But that will all have to wait, rebuilt wall next.

And CJS Weekly is also done for the week and the printers are rolling away. With the reduced scope (fewer publicity / fundraiser etc) it's only nine pages this week but over 60% of the jobs came direct to CJS, 41 of 67.

No storm damage to report – thank goodness. Although CJS is based on the east coast we're about nine miles inland safely protected behind very high cliffs, so high the Vikings called the area cliffland when they sailed past. Over the following years cliffland has been corrupted into Cleveland the county just above North Yorkshire on the map. The woodstove is fizzing away keeping everyone lovely and warm and the hoards of birds in the garden are keeping us entertained. We do seem to have fewer blue tits than usual but great tits seem to be at about the same number as last year (see this week's feature article). The nuthatch has also returned feasting on peanuts and sunflower hearts.

Lots of news.

Sorry for the brief hiatus, the blogger in chief has had some time off! So lots of news for you.

First, last week's edition of CJS Weekly was 10 pages with 67 new vacancies of which 29 were sent direct to CJS. As Royal Mail have now ceased Sunday collections this was the first time CJS Weekly was been collected on a Saturday. It would appear that the system was not quite ready for the sudden influx of extra mail on Saturdays with many more than usual subscribers this week reporting non-delivery. Let's hope the wrinkles have now been ironed out and that copies land on doormats on Monday as usual. This week's edition is now streaming off the printers, it's 12 sides of 85 new paid posts of which 34 came to CJS direct from the employer.

You'll find the results of the Subscribers Survey and our responses. A couple of changes are that we're looking carefully at the types of posts we advertise, excluding some we previously included and possibly adding a few ones. We're also reviewing the look and format of the voluntary vacancies. Many thanks to everyone who replied and sent us their thoughts; and congratulations to subscriber 37634 - the lucky recipient of a set of Bird ID Insights cards.

Now, just in case you hadn't noticed Monday is bonfire night (see the article about hedgehogs and bonfires in this week's edition). Being a rural area we're very lucky in not plagued too much by excessive and inappropriate fireworks. But one CJS subscriber has become an unknowing victim. This package was received in today's post:

Once opened we very gingerly handled a soggy envelope and extracted the contents which still smell smoky. There was also a note from Royal Mail which states, " The enclosed correspondence intended for your address was unfortunately damaged and recovered in this condition. I would like to assure you that whilst every effort is made to ensure your mail is secure at all times, you will appreciate that acts of mindless vandalism by unknown member o f the public do sometimes occur and are beyond our control." In other words, some idiot put a firework in the pillar box!!

Last week we had to light the wood stove for the first time this year, but then we've let it go out and now have the windows open again, this must be one of the warmest beginnings to November. We've also cleaned all the bird feeders and refilled them and now the garden is full of very hungry birds, they were just waiting, no sooner had the filled feeders been put on the hooks than the first finches arrived – even before we'd got back inside! This year there seem to be more cole tits than before and several large families of long tailed tits have been checking us out but as yet none of the large flocks of siskins that have been reported elsewhere. Several skeins of geese and one of swans (probably whooper but too far away to confirm categorically) have flown over this last few days. Hebe has discovered that she likes bird food and is digging under the feeders for all the scraps, she's not yet realised that a couple of them are within reach – yet….!

Oh, and for those of you worried about the poor traumatized pup - Hebe managed OK during the rugby, we were very restrained despite wanting to scream – it was a try, it was a try (it wasn't but there you go), so well done to the boys for a sterling effort and roll on 2011 when we'll do all again! In the mean time I think we'll have to go with some desensitization exercises prior to the six nations.

It's been a busy week.

It looks like it might be good news on the postal front with RM & CWU having reached a provisional agreement and this week's strikes being called off – let's hope that's an end to it. Well CJS Weekly is now printing, this week it's 12 sides with 113 new paid posts of which 27 came direct to CJS including a small splurge from the Environment Agency. It's been a busy week and AN has been on holiday; just after sending out a tranche of Special Edition letters resulting in lots of enquiries!

Our latest round of recruitment was not successful – how hard can it be to find one slightly mad, computer literate, doggie person? Apparently in this corner of the country extremely! So here we go again, new ad, new approach and everything crossed.

The local peregrines have been across a couple of times this week scattering all the garden birds but the falcon was just passing though not actively hunting. Hebe (the new puppy who's almost 5 months old now!) is claiming slave labour, that it's not right for a such a young personage to have to work such long hours – I couldn't agree more but how else is she to earn her bonios? She got rather upset last Saturday at around 9.30pm when her people (or Beans as she refers to us) got rather excited at events in Paris. We already on tenterhooks today so heaven help her tomorrow…..

We have owls - aren't we lucky

You may remember last year we told you about our 'daytime owl' who hoots during the day – often at lunchtime. This year it's gone one better and has been visiting us. She (we're sure she's a she!) arrives and sits on the phone wires going to the house next door - a matter of yards from the CJS office window. Some days she turns so her tummy is bathed in the warm sunshine and basks and in the pouring rain she huddles under the eaves in the dry. And then as if daytime visits weren't enough one evening she brought her owlets! None of them were in slightest bit bothered by us, the dogs or even the flash from the camera. To see the results click here.

Not good..

Well, it's still raining so no change there then, the grass has not been cut for nearly three weeks because the lawn is awash but it's so wet the grass would appear to have stopped growing.
Bad news – young Bill (the latest addition to the pack of office dogs) has been lame for a few weeks and yesterday he was x-rayed which has shown a deformity to the top of the humerus where it meets the scapula. So it's another two months of restricted exercise – have you tried keeping a seven month old collie pup on restricted exercise? And then if no improvement further investigation.

Rain (again), posties on strike & CJS Weekly.

We might not have pictures of several feet of standing water (thank goodness) but my, didn't it rain? – and the Met Office are predicting a load more so don't put the waders away just yet.

The leaning apple trees now have new stakes on the other side and are going to be slowly pulled upright again and then held there until they have grown new anchoring roots, I think some major pruning will be needed this winter instead of the usual trim and tidy. The good news is that the CJS office staff (and assorted livestock) seem to have survived the weather without too many problems – so far and fingers crossed for the weekend! And so CJS Weekly is now printing, this week's edition is 13 sides with 99 new paid posts of which 32 were sent direct to CJS. However, it is quite likely that postal copies will be delivered late. Today is the first postal strike over a decade with no collections or deliveries and although our mail is not collected until later in the weekend it is probable that dealing with the backlog will delay deliveries to you.

It rained and rained and rained, and no power??

It rained and rained and rained

The average fall was well maintained

And when the tracks were simply bogs

It started raining cats and dogs

After a drought of half an hour

We had the most refreshing shower

And then the most curious thing of all

A gentle rain began to fall

Next day was also fairly dry

Save for a deluge from the sky

Which wetted the party to the skin

And after that the rain set in. Anonymous but believed to originate from New Zealand (it's pretty wet over there too).

However, I think CJS has escaped pretty lightly. A few leaky windows, a very soggy garden with two leaning apple trees. These were planted about four years ago and are growing well, however, a garage further down the road has been demolished which changed the path of the wind and after the battering of the last few days and standing in exceptionally soggy ground has pushed the trees sideways. We've hauled them upright-ish again and retied the tree ties but new stakes are going to be needed to counteract the new wind direction until the trees can put down their own anchoring roots. Fingers crossed they won't grumble too much.

Power out – what power out?

We came into the office today expecting to have to reset everything only to find the power wasn't cut at all! Still it was an interesting day, some of us had a day off and some of us held the fort by camping out in an office further up the valley. Still everything is now back to normal.

Water, water, everywhere.

What has happened to the weather??

Last weekend was hot and sultry, Monday was steamy like living in a jungle and Tuesday it started to rain. It seems like it's not stopped since although I'm sure it must have done, if only for a few minutes. The garden resembles a shallow pond, I'm sure it will be a lake by teatime but the gunnera and bulrushes are very happy as are the Labradors who insist on bringing as much water as possible back into the office. The roads are passable with care but not officially closed.

Meet Councillor Mr Carson!

Congratulations to Niall, he was elected to Whitby Town Council in the elections last week. The ballots from his ward weren't counted until late Friday evening.

The sounds and smells of summer.

Well that's it summer's arrived. On Sunday the first swifts were first heard screaming overhead and then a few minutes later the squadron (of three so far) did a low level fly past to say, "we've arrived, summer starts here." Yesterday at tea time we had the first rain for nearly a month and it smelt like August, rain on hot dry earth – lovely. We may have had grey, cold, miserable weather for the last few weeks but no real rain. The ground has drunk it up but still looks parched we could do with a bit more.

Spring has sprung - it's official.

It may have been a shorter than usual week but we've been as busy as ever. Monday's edition of CJS Weekly is rolling off the printers and is now available to view online. It maybe only 10 sides long this week but it has 109 new vacancies of which 68 came to CJS direct from the employer.

Nature news: On Wednesday at 4.35pm the first swallow was sighted, resting on wires in the yard of a local farm and today another local has reported hearing the first cuckoo. CJS staff have been stuck in the office so have not been to see or hear these new arrivals, although we have been watching the new lambs in the field across the road from the office and the starlings feasting on leatherjackets in the lawn, which was mowed for the first time this week.

The vulture's back.

Earlier this year an African white-backed vulture was spotted in the area but was subsequently thought to have been killed in a road accident. But – it's been seen again and this time was photographed in Grosmont (by a reader of the Gazette, photo from their website), the next village down the valley from Goathland. It must be shivering today it's been snowing on and off all day.

To read the full report in our local paper The Whitby Gazette please click here.

The end of another week.

The first daffodil opened today and was nodding in the weak sunshine until it clouded over.

Monday's edition of CJS Weekly is now printing, it contains adverts for 99 new vacancies, 53 of which were sent direct to CJS. We're also sending the email copies using the new software again and this week we've got our fingers crossed that the attachments don't disappear into the ether like last week. There are rumours of snow next week, BBC weather gives us light snow showers on Monday and Tuesday but Metcheck says rain showers so we shall see. Any important news will appear here.