It's such a warm December that...

Ah i was thinking of Poole. Sorry.

Yes Brownsea off coast of Dorset. We went there by boat from Poole.

I've seen them on Brownsea and somewhere in the Lake District

Isn't Brownsea on the coast of Dorset? I think You are thinking of Drakes Island although I don't think there are reds in there.
You also can see them on Isle of Wight

You have to come to Anglesey or maybe somewhere more remote and Scottish to see red squirrels. They really do have tufty ears. Or that little island near Plymouth - Brownsea.

Saw some hedgerow daffodils out today!

How lovely JessM, I've never seen one.

Squirrels are not a hibernating species BTW. They store food away for the winter months.
Scuse me while I brag... that on my daily walk to Waitrose (past the historic coastal graveyard with the primroses and beautiful views) I sometimes see red squirrels collecting nuts from the feeder in the woods and running away with them, rather than eating them there and then. OK brag over.

Primroses peeping out here.

We had three raspberries from the garden at Christmas lunch, which we nearly had in the garden.

The magnolia is in bud. (Have I said that already? Must go out and have a look at it again, perhaps they're opening. That would be sad, because a frosty spell is surely due now we've had a full moon)

Oh yes - and I saw a bee on a flowering plant in the flower shop.

I too don't remember a winter like this before. Outside my front window is a bush which has still not lost all its leaves. Christmas lights are usually put on its bare branches. Roses and marigolds are blooming in my garden and I found dandelion flowers on the lawn. Cherry blossoms are beginning to appear on the trees along the road into town.

Granted it has also been very wet here in Lancashire with rivers and drains overflowing and many poor people suffering floods into their homes and businesses.

I have seen several squirrels that do not seem to have hibernated.

Worst of all my DGD came down the other night because there was a wasp in the bedroom!

Robin is giving it some wellie before dawn

I cannot remember another 'winter' like this one. I am currently waking to a morning chorus, and a twilight one and the birds are singing during the day as if it was spring.

Hedgehogs have not hibernated at all this year, although there is time yet.

It was 16 deg here in N Wales last night. That counts as a summer temperature.

I have one daff flowering and lots of buds plus winter iris.

That's unbelievable, isn't it MOnica? I'm quite sad to see the birds carrying nesting material.

I picked two roses and two ripe strawberries on Christmas day.

The daffodils in my garden are now in bloom!

Mother Nature has obviously become post-menopausal and is suffering from a hot flush Skyweek1

In Sussex our cat is bringing in more mice than ever before. They are thriving in this mild weather and hunting them down around the house to return them to the wild is driving us crazy!

I'm never a cold body (my disabled husband needs the gas fire on much of the time, but I'm sweltering). But on Thursday I found 3 flowering dandelions and my cowslips are in full bloom. Ridiculous! Hasn't anyone told Mother Nature that it's late December? Last time I remember this was in the early 70s, when my parents were living in Herefordshire and we had Christmas lunch in glorious warm sunshine sitting just outside the front door in the porch!

I think the plants are all doing so well because of no frost. It feels colder than the temperature because of the wind I think.

Another storm forecast for poor Cumbria. There really must be more money given to the Environment Agency so that they can improve the existing defences.

A neighbour has just posted photos of her lupins and marigolds on facebook! I'm starting to wish I hadn't cut all mine back, now. It would be rather nice to have a bunch of lupins on Christmas day. I shall have to make do with some roses instead - I bet all the florists around here are suffering.

It's so warm here that even our church was too hot for our carol service - the heating wasn't even on, but it was standing room only and of course everyone (apart from us choir members who had been in earlier for a rehearsal, so knew to discard our outer layers) had their coats on. It was so hot in there, with all those bodies and the candles, that my glasses kept slipping down my nose as I tried to read the music. Normally it's so cold in there, even with the heating on, that I have to wear fingerless gloves so that I can turn the pages.

My Welsh poppies are still going strong in the back garden, although I can't say I've noticed it being particularly mild...(that's probably just me, though!)