Blooms and Beasties

Another year ahead!

2012-01-01T21:19:00.000Z

We've been in this house and been tending this garden for just over a year now. At first I thought I would never settle, but at last I feel at home and love the garden every bit as much as our previous one. Not that I've done much in it for the past month or so - I've been preoccupied with homeschooling the daughter and my own literature study. However, I'm putting all my faith in the Winter fairies, knowing that the garden will bloom resplendent come the Spring. Already there are the tips of daffodils and various other Spring flowers poking their way through the soil. I love this time of the year, when it's still cold and bleak yet the first signs of growth and Springtime can be seen.

Speaking of fairies, the harsh weather can give the garden a battering so one of my projects for the coming months will be to make it prettier and more comfortable for my little helpers. The above picture and the one below, are examples I found by googling, of what I would like to do in my own garden. Sweet, aren't they.

I've pretty much got the design of the garden how we want it, but there is still some work to be done. I'm going to plant a couple of rambling roses. One will be rosa New Dawn (pictured below) and I've yet to decide on the other. There are so many fabulous ramblers and climbing roses on offer. My other tasks will be to make the garden even more wildlife friendly than it is now and I'd like to plant more fruit bushes.

The beginning of 2011 in our new garden was pretty grim, because of the flooding we had, but it all came together. The highlight for me was being blessed with little Jack's company. Hubby and I still think about him often and hope that he fared well over the Winter.

I'm so looking forward to the coming gardening season.

Happy New Year everyone!

Tribute to Charlie

2011-08-14T10:18:00.001+01:00

Charlie (left) and Meg, who I used to dogsit

After I had a break from blogging, I didn't want one of my first posts on my return to be a sad one. Now I feel the time is right to post about our Charlie. On Tuesday, 24th May he passed on. That day began as a normal day in our household. There were no signs to let us know that things were about to change. The dogs carried on with their usual routine, Charlie included. Tea-time came, hubby filled the dogs' dinner bowls. Bob stayed on his bed in the corner like the old gentleman that he is, Benji's nose sniffed the air and his tail wagged with pleasure while Charlie dashed around excitedly like the clown that he was. Hubby had no sooner put the bowls down when Charlie let out a howl and flipped over on to the floor. We rushed to him. He lay very still. I immediately telephoned the vet, while hubby comforted Charlie..... but there was no time to do anything else for him. Within minutes he had gone. Speaking to the vet later, she told us it sounded like he had a seizure. In some ways, we're glad that he didn't have a long illness and didn't appear to have suffered at all...... he was his usual self right to the end. In another way, it was difficult for us to accept the suddenness of his going. We weren't prepared at all and kept saying we couldn't understand or believe that it had happened. We've accepted it now though. Charlie was nearly 16 years old; he had a long and happy life and it comforts me that I can still still feel the essence of him all around our home.

I found this lovely story at Simply Me's blog. Permission granted, I'm re-posting it as a tribute to our Charlie.

Dog's Purpose from a 6 year old

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ''I know why.''

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the way I try and live.

He said,''People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?''
The Six-year-old continued,''Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.''

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
Take naps.
Stretch before rising.
Run, romp, and play daily.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

I daresay we all have our own doggy lessons we could add to this list. :)

Thank you Charlie for your companionship and all the funny things you did that made us laugh.

More wildlife in the greenhouse.....

2011-08-10T08:52:00.000+01:00

Once Jack had vacated the greenhouse, I got down to some serious potting on. I picked up this pot, which had been lying on its side, to find a beautiful baby toad inside..... all grubby brown from probably burying himself in the dirt and with gorgeous bronze-tinted rings round his eyes. It made my day to see him because there were lots of frogs and toads in our previous garden, and we hadn't seen any at this one..... until this little fella turned up.

Yeah I know you're not daft..... but....

To give you an idea of what size he is, the circumference of the pot (at the lowest point) is 6 inches (15 cm) and the diameter is just 2 inches (5 cm). I would compare him to the size of a peach stone! I put the pot carefully back, so he could settle down again. I'm not surprised he likes it in our greenhouse, as I'm always finding snails and slugs on the pots..... and it's not watertight either so there's always an air of dampness. It's a wonder I get any plants to grow in there at all.

The almost-empty bag of compost the pot is sitting on, is one I brought in from the patio. As you can see, it's sodden wet after being left out in the rain for days. There's also the remains of straw that had been in the pot that Jack used to shelter in overnight. I never have been a tidy gardener, just the way the wildlife and I like it.

Jack's gone 'home'.

2011-08-06T18:40:00.000+01:00

I feel like I should be setting off fireworks to celebrate what I thought would be a momentous occasion, but it all went off very smoothly and with little fuss. Last night, during the early evening, I told hubby that I thought Jack would progress much quicker without the confines of the greenhouse. Most of his time was spent getting excited when he saw the other birds, and trying to figure out a way to get to them. As Jack was fluttering about and knocking himself against the sides of the greenhouse, hubby agreed with me. For a couple of days, I had been feeling as if we were keeping Jack a prisoner, instead of caring for him..... especially as he was now feeding himself. So, as it was still light and a pleasantly warm evening, we opened the greenhouse doors and went off to watch the second episode of Corrie. After the programme had finished, we looked in the greenhouse and there was no sign of him. Well, that's it..... he had gone. I sent a little prayer out into the universe for him and went on to think of the highly charged and emotional words that I would put together for this farewell post.

I went to bed quietly confident that we had done the right thing........ only to be awakened by hubby excitedly running up the stairs at around 6 a.m.

"He's still in the greenhouse!"

Jack had just settled himself down, in a well-hidden place and hadn't left at all. However, we left the doors open thinking that, now it was daytime and he was alert, he was bound to make a bid for freedom. Wrong. All he did was continue to peck seeds and chase off any other sparrows that dared to venture past the doorway! We watched him for what seemed like hours and, not once, did he attempt to step outside.

I decided that he needed a little encouragement, so I went into the greenhouse and quietly began to tidy up and move some plants around. Jack didn't like this as he now saw me as a threat. After a while of dodging me, it wasn't long until he snuck out the door and round the side of the greenhouse. I smiled and thought, "Yay, he's free." I continued to potter about while discreetly watching to see what he would do. Realising that he was in the open air, he paused momentarily and looked up at me with what I intrepreted as a bewildered look.

Then he hopped off into the hedgerow. I went indoors for a cup of tea and came out to the greenhouse later to do some badly-needed potting on. Lo and behold, there was Jack having a dustbath in the soil under the hedge. As I worked, I watched him with the other sparrows, pecking up seed and crumbs of bread. So much for his infant diet of cat food, seed, baby dinner and suet pellets! He's attached himself to a group of sparrows that shelter in the leylandii hedge at the back of the garden and they don't seem to have any objections.

I'll leave the doors of the greenhouse open tonight...... just in case he needs a warm place to lay his little head, but I somehow don't think he will take me up on the offer. Now that he's in the big wide world, there's no going back.

Rock on little Jack Sparrow!

Flora ......... and, er, um.... little Jack.

2011-08-02T20:17:00.000+01:00

Frilly Blackcurrant Poppies

Crocosmia 'Lucifer' ~ the wasp, whose bottom you can see, was sitting on my hand as I took the previous photo :O)

Young, fresh nasturtium leaves and buds ready to burst into flower ~ This is Nasturtium 'Alaska' with its distinctive mottled/variegated leaves

The Strawberry Patch ~ the little blue pansy grew there all by itself ~ the photo can't convey the wonderful sound of buzzing bees and hornets

A Nasturtium flower at close quarters ~ art at work in nature

........ and this is the one you've all been waiting for. Come on, admit it! Here's the little boy himself, only not so little now. A few days ago, his wildness was becoming more evident and he refused to let me feed him. He's now feeding himself all the time. I've transferred him to the greenhouse where he can have some space to grow stronger and exercise his wings until he is able to fly off in safety. Don't worry, I've got the windows open so he doesn't cook! The windows are closed at night to protect him from cats. Jack's safe in there for now, but he avidly watches the comings and goings of the other sparrows and cheeps excitedly when he sees them. I'm glad to say that my earlier worry about him becoming imprinted on me is now forgotten, as his natural instincts are developing daily. I am absolutely amazed at the difference in him now since a couple of weeks ago when he toppled from his nest. I'm looking forward to the day when I can take a photograph of him sitting on the fence with all the other sparrows. Way to go Jack!

"Hey, whatcher lookin' at?!"

2011-07-28T21:15:00.000+01:00

We anticipate the little fella will be leaving us within a week or two. He's been pecking at the bottom of the cage - whether he's actually been pecking up seeds or not, I'm not sure, because as soon as I turn to look at him he freezes, stops what he's doing, and studies me as closely as I'm studying him! But he's on the right track. He's also beginning to exercise his wing feathers, so that's promising. I put the cardboard inner tube of a kitchen roll inside his cage and he's sheltered in there now..... yet he seems to know when he needs food and makes himself conspicuous. Whoever coined the phrase 'bird brain' was so wrong!

Too late for rehabilitation?

2011-07-26T00:37:00.001+01:00

Little Jack's chances of survival are looking good, so I've been thinking about how I go about rehabilitating him back into the wild. After googling it, some people say that it can't be done as the bird will have become imprinted on the human carer and wont be able to care for itself or socially interact with its own species. At this point, I am beginning to slightly panic. Others say it can be done, with great care and correct timing.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'm going to put him outside in a clear container so he can see the outdoors and hear natural sounds. I'll bring him indoors at night. Thankfully, I haven't been handling him much. I haven't even lifted him from the box to feed him, but reached down towards him with the food. I will have to try hard to resist the urge to keep peering inside his box.

I also have the telephone number of a wildlife organisation which I'll 'phone tomorrow to ask their advice. If anyone else has any advice, I would be glad to hear from you.

Update 26th July

I rang the telephone number I had for a wildlife centre only to get an answephone message that they were closed for two weeks due to illness. So I googled for wildlife rehabilitation centres and telephoned an RSPCA one for advice. They gave me a contact number for Durham, who in turn gave me Hilda's phone number! Hilda is the Mrs. Doolittle of the North and lives only a few streets away from us.

Anyway, I explained the situation to Hilda and told her how worried I was about little Jack possibly not being able to be rehabilitated into the wild. She told me that, once they're in the outdoors, they will recognise their own species and soon forget their early encounter with humans and that he would have as good a chance as any other baby bird - possibly better considering the regular feeding he's been getting. I told her what I've been feeding him on and she said that sounded fine, but to reduce his feeds to hourly instead of half-hourly. I have to encourage him to peck at seeds by dropping them in front of him and attracting his attention to the seed. Once he is able to peck food for himself, then that is the time for him to go. Hilda says she'll help me with that. There's a wildlife area at the nearby allotments, away from lots of people, but close to a number of bird feeders, so it will be a relatively safe place to conduct his release when the time comes. I feel a lot better now since speaking to Hilda and, since she has raised and released many young animals and birds, I have faith in her. Once again, why didn't I go to Hilda first!

Just checking in to let you all know that........

2011-07-24T16:25:00.000+01:00

.......... little Jack Sparrow is doing well. That's not birdie poo in the photo, by the way.... it's baby food and has since been removed. :) I think he wanted a lie in this morning. I got up ready to start feeding him at 5 a.m., but he wouldn't accept anything till about 6 a.m. He gave me scare. I thought, "Oh no, the beginning of the end." It was such a relief when he began tucking into his breakfast shortly after. He's also been taking very small amounts of water off the end of my finger. His menu today is: baby porridge, baby Sunday dinner, soaked dog biscuit, crumbled up suet pellets and a small amount of seed. Thank goodness for my wooden manicure stick. It's the perfect implement for 'spoon feeding' tiny sparrows. This is his fourth day with us - I'm just beginning to dare to hope.......

Not about sparrows this time. :D

2011-07-22T19:01:00.001+01:00

I took some photographs today just to prove that I have actually been doing some gardening over the past few months!

Our resident duck

The apple tree ~ its first year.

I don't really like those perennial cornflowers. They were already there and I intended removing them until I saw a pair of goldfinches return to them time and time again for the seeds.

Bob peering through the front gate, one of his favourite past-times

Benji participating in his second favourite past-time, sleeping. His first is eating. Hubby's in the photo too. Can you see him?

Always blessed with fairies!

There are strawberries in there somewhere!

Bob being handsome

Bob being extra-handsome!

Come on in

Look, hubby's managed to get himself in the picture again!

It took a long time for me to settle in this house, but I'm glad to say that it now feels like home and we're happier here than ever.

p.s. I didn't take any photographs out the back because the grass needs cut! :O)

p.p.s. Couldn't resist a small update. Saturday, 23rd July ~ eating well and gaining strength

Update on baby sparrow

2011-07-22T12:44:00.001+01:00

Well, so far so good. First of all, I understand everyone's concern about not interfering with nature. I believe in leaving baby birds for their parents to care for, but....... (there's always a but!)....... in this case, this little nestling was too young to be out of the nest and I thought that, even if its parents did find it and continue to feed it on the ground, it was too fragile to survive the drop in temperature through the night without the body heat of its siblings. So I've got it in a little box filled with lots of pieces of ripped up kitchen roll, and the box is on top of a hot water bottle. I've been feeding it every half-hour (since 4.30 a.m.!) and I'm glad to say that its feeding well and seems to be a strong little thing. I found this website with lots of good advice on caring for baby birds. I realise that if it does survive its ordeal and gets stronger, it will be totally dependent on me for another two to three weeks. I really hope that it's not too long before we're releasing it back into the wild where it belongs.

What to do? Urgent advice needed please!

2011-07-21T19:06:00.002+01:00

It's happened again. Yet another nestling has fallen out the nest from under the eaves of the roof. Luckily it is still alive, as we created a softer landing stage for them and amazingly it worked. I spotted the tiny bird shuffling about amongst the grass and cuttings. Now what to do? I'm in a quandry. I googled caring for nestlings that have fallen out their nest and some people say that you should make a makeshift nest in a box and tie iton a tree or somewhere near to the nest, so that the parents will know it is there and continue to feed it. But what if the parents don't see it? What if they're too busy feeding the ones in the nest to notice the missing one?

I've already given it a tiny drop of water and sugar, placed on the outside of its beak and it accepted that. I have baby food I can feed it too. I know it would need feeding ever half-an-hour up until dark and then from sunrise in the morning. No easy task, but I'm prepared to do it if I have to. So what do I do...... place it in a box directly under the nest and risk the parents not finding it..... or do I try my best to care for it myself? Any advice would be gratefully welcome.

I don't understand......

2011-07-20T16:22:00.000+01:00

I don't understand why house sparrows have to nest so high up. They're nesting under the eaves of our roof and on most days, I find a dead or badly injured baby bird on the ground below. As a fledgling cannot yet fly properly, the first venture from the nest is going to be fatal when the nest is situated at such a height. Why do they do it? I'm getting so upset and angry that it's happening. I feel like buying a few kiddie's trampolines and placing them directly below where the nests are..... or breaking up the concrete path with a mallet, getting rid of it and replacing it with grass to cushion their fall. Hubby said when the nesting season is over, he'll seal up the space so they can't nest there next Spring...... till then, there's going to be some more fatalities. :( Does anyone have a rough idea when we would be safe to do this?

Hoping to be back soon.....

2011-04-08T14:09:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone,
Sorry about my prolonged absence. We've been having some family concerns which has laid me a bit low.... then my internet connection went down. I'm waiting to be fixed up with a new subscriber, so it shouldn't be too long now. I'm making some progress with the garden as we've been having some lovely weather over the past few weeks. Looking forward to getting back with you all and catching up with all your news.
Lesley xxx

This is what you call a 'blank canvas'!

2011-02-15T20:25:00.000Z

Here's a corner of the back garden. With the flooding we've had, I've been turning the lawn over. I think it will be easier to pave this bit, while the dogs are still with us, rather than struggle to restore the lawn to an acceptable condition. It's heavy and hard work though.

I'm trying to think of this scene a year from now! :O)

I haven't a clue what this plant/shrub/climber/triffid is. Most of the plants round the fences have become old, tangled and overgrown - some of them have just given up and died....like the clematis in the photo' below.

Lots of prunings to take to the council tip..... and this isn't all of it!

But at least we have some snowdrops.... in amongst the fungi.

You can see what fun I have ahead of me, in between decorating the house..... or should I say, decorating the house in between doing the garden! :D I have to admit to having been feeling very sorry for myself, as I clean all the clods of muck off the carpets that the dogs are bringing in, despite wiping their feet - wiping 3 sets of paws at regular intervals becomes tiring after a while...... then I read an article from Pan Magazine ....... and I realised I have the 'stuff of stars' on all my carpets. :D

"A teaspoon of living soil contains a million bacteria, 20 million fungi, 1 million protozoa, and 200,000 algae - a stupendous reservoir of genetic materials that have evolved continuously since the dawn of the earth. These micro-organisms are busily engaging in photosynthesis at the surface. They fix nitrogen to roots. They bury carbon that is then released back into the air through the transformation of organic matter into carbon dioxide, a process known as soil respiration.

The soil is active. The soil is alive. The soil is a life related to our own life. And our very sustenance comes from the soil. Billions of years ago, the same carbon that is in our bodies today exploded from a supernova, became the stuff of stars and helped give rise to the planets."

(excerpt taken from Pan Magazine, Autumn 2005 - Pan Magazine is published by the World Pantheist Movement)

Save Our Forests!

2011-02-01T19:16:00.001Z

The British Government is planning on selling off our publicly-owned forests. Since organisations such as The National Trust, etc. will not be able to compete with property developers, the forests could end up being replaced by holiday resorts, golf courses and adventure playgrounds. It would be an environmental disaster.

I am joining forces with the many other bloggers who have already brought this to our attention. Act now while there is still time. Follow the link below to sign the petition to save our ancient forests.

http://38degrees.org.uk/

My mum...........

2011-01-29T21:24:00.001Z

For the past year my mum, who is now 86, has been in decline. We visited mum and dad today and I came home with mixed feelings. She smiled and laughed today for the first time in a year. Depression and indifference seems to have been all she has known as the ageing process takes a stronger hold - yet, today, her blurred thoughts and confused mind somehow caused her to forget what she's been depressed about, and she chuckled and smiled. It was good to see.... yet sad also, to look on this little old frail woman who is my mum - the person that gave me so much of what is good in my life.

Both my parents love plants and the garden my older brother and I grew up with was a joy. There was something in it for all of us. Mum and dad had their rose garden. Together, they would choose some new roses from a catalogue on an annual basis, and they would let Ian and I choose one too. My dad didn't do things by half..... he used to test the soil for its acid and alkaline content, add various organic materials to it so it would be perfect for the roses which he would prune at just the right angle and at just the right time. He even got to be quite an expert at grafting them too. He laid pipes under the soil to help with the drainage and he especially liked to take care of the lawns by carefully edging them, mowing them and then going over them with a roller.

Despite the attention lavished on the garden, it wasn't a show garden. My dad made a mini putting course on one of the lawns, complete with holes and markers.... and we were always having picnics on the grass, especially when joined by members of the extended family. We were never told to keep off the grass or not to pick this or that, etc. It was a garden that was enjoyed by the family. Against one wall was the rabbit hutch and run that my dad built. One day mum got in a panic because she thought I had disappeared with my friend, when all the time we had snuck inside the rabbit hutch along with Candy, Floss and Titch! On one of the borders was a section that was given to me, where I learned to grow my first seeds..... radishes.

Mum always had a vase of cut flowers in the living-room, taken from our garden and when I gave birth to my eldest son in hospital, dad brought me a huge bunch of roses, mixed with other garden blooms - the nurses admired them so much that he brought a bunch for them at his next visit.

I remember a navy cord jacket that mum wore when I was a child. To me, it seemed to smell of plums! Then, one day when I was much older, I was walking beside the river and I could smell that familiar scent. After a while, I realised it was coming from the Himalayan Balsam that was growing alongside the river...... the scent was just like mum's jacket! So now, the scents that I associate with my mum are plums, Himalayan Balsam...... and most of all, her favourite perfume - Coty L'Aimant (which has nothing at all to do with gardening!).

I'm so glad that my parents were not only such keen gardeners, but that they allowed my brother and I to enjoy the garden without the fear of 'spoiling' anything in it. My love of the outdoors has been gifted to me by my parents, but not only that - my faith also, for it was in the outdoors that I found it. I love you mum and dad.

Gathering Moss by Dr Robin Wall Kimmerer

2011-01-23T15:32:00.000Z

Gathering Moss - A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses

By Robin Wall Kimmerer

I've had this book for some time now and dipped into it numerous times. It's a book I will never tire of and new bits of information stand out with each reading. Robin Wall Kimmerer is Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

This is not just a book on identifying mosses - it is much more than that. Dr Kimmerer writes beautifully and passionately with a scientific mind and also a mind that has come to know the environment intimately through her native american heritage. She tells the story of mosses in language that does not necessitate the need for being a botanist to understand - how these amazing plants "live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings." (quote from the back cover)

Robin Wall Kimmerer

"I think it is this that draws me to the pond on a night in April - tadpoles and spores, egg and sperm, mind and yours, mosses and peepers - we are all connected by our common understanding of the calls filling the night at the start of Spring. It is the wordless voice of longing that resonates within us, the longing to continue, to participate in the sacred life of the world." Robin Wall Kimmerer

An excerpt from the chapter, An Affinity for Water, pages 39 & 40:-

"Watch a drop of rainwater fall on a broad, flat oak leaf. It beads up for a minute, reflecting the sky like a crystal ball, and then slides off to the ground. Most tree leaves are designed to shed water, leaving the task of water absorption to the roots. Tree leaves are covered with a thin layer of wax, a barrier to water entering by absorption or leaving via evaporation. But moss leaves have no barrier at all, and are only one cell thick. Every cell of every leaf is in intimate contact with the atmosphere, so that a raindrop soaks immediately into the cell.

The leaves of trees are uniformly flat, to intercept as much light as possible, and spaced far from one another to prevent shading. But light is of less concern to mosses than is water. Therefore, the nature of moss leaves is entirely different from trees. Each leaf is shaped to make a home for water. Lacking roots or an internal transport system of any kind, mosses rely entirely on the shape of their outer surfaces to move water. In some species, the flow of water is accelerated by the wicking action of minute threads, or paraphyllia, that densely cover the moss stem, like a blanket of coarse wool. The shape and arrangement of some moss leaves collect and retain water, a concave leaf holding a single raindrop in its upside-down bowl. Others have long leaf tips, rolled into tiny tubes that fill with water and channel the droplets to the leaf surface. Leaf overlaps leaf, closely spaced, creating tiny concave pockets, a continuous conduit for water moving among them."

Dr Kimmerer's book is a joy to read and would make a wonderful gift, either to yourself, or to someone you know who is fascinated by these wonderful plants.

From the preface:-

"In indigenous ways of knowing, we say that a thing cannot be understood until it is known by all four aspects of our being: mind, body, emotion, and spirit. The scientific way of knowing relies only on empirical information from the world, gathered by body and interpreted by mind. In order to tell the mosses' story I need both approaches, objective and subjective. These essays intentionally give voice to both ways of knowing, letting matter and spirit walk companionably side by side. And sometimes even dance."

Go here to read more about Robin Wall Kimmerer

For anyone interested in studying mosses and even growing them, go here for a fantastic download.

Seeds is a synonym for joyful promise

2011-01-19T10:56:00.003Z

During the month of January the weather can be a bit hit and miss. Some days you can get out into the garden to work, most days you cant.... whether it's because of rain or a hard frost, like today. One of the activities I enjoy at this time is all the extra feeding of the garden birds and watching them from the warmth of the house..... another is planning on which seeds I'll be sowing.

I'm particularly fond of Sweet Peas and I've got some different ones to grow this Summer. This one (above) is Royal Family mix.

This one (above) is Air Warden

Above is Old Spice Starry Night

Sweet Peas are so obliging - their germination rate is excellent, they grow well with very little attention, they come in colours to suit everyone and, best of all, the majority of them are scented. Furthermore, the more you pick the flowers, the more they will send out new blooms..... so, throughout the Summer you can have cut flowers for the house and flowers in the garden right up till Autumn. Perfect!

Hyssop officinalis - blue

Hyssop is an evergreen bushy herb that can be used in cooking and for medicinal purposes. The list of its health benefits is endless.... everything from digestive problems to treating wrinkles - think I'll be making myself some hyssop oil this year! I especially want to grow it because it looks pretty and I love the shade of blue of its flowers. I've also got some seeds of the white variety to try as well. I've got a small section of the garden set aside for herbs - it will be growing in amongst lemon balm, parsley, rosemary and angelica.

Borago officinalis

Borage is another herb with pretty blue flowers. It's sometimes referred to as Starflower because of the shape of the flowers. You can make an infusion with the leaves - it has a subtle cucumber taste and makes a nice refreshing drink for hot Summer days. Both the flowers and leaves can be used in salads and if you pop a flower in each of the ice cube compartments, they make a healthy addition to your drinks. Borage contains a host of vitamins and minerals and is particularly helpful to people with respiratory complaints.

Cichorium intybus

Chicory is a perennial herb. The roots, when ground and roasted, make a healthy substitute for coffee and is said to cleanse the blood and improve the health of the liver. The young leaves can also be used in salads.

Sweet Pea Help for Heroes

The seed and plant company, Mr Fothergills is donating £1 for every packet of Sweet Pea Help for Heroes that is bought, to the charity of the same name. Go here to buy your packet.

I found this lovely poem about the joys of seeds.

He Knows No Winter

He knows no winter, he who loves the soil,

For, stormy days, when he is free from toil,

He plans his summer crops, selects his seeds

From bright-paged catalogues for garden needs.

When looking out upon frost-silvered fields,

He visualizes autumn's golden yields;

He sees in snow and sleet and icy rain

Precious moisture for his early grain;

He hears spring-heralds in the storm's ' turmoil

He knows no winter, he who loves the soil.

SUDIE STUART HAGER

Spring in the air........

2011-01-13T21:41:00.001Z

The sun was shining today..... it was, I saw it from my window! So I decided I'd take the opportunity to get out in the garden and get something done. It was lovely and mild with a definite hint of Spring in the air.

At the back of the garden, there's a lovely little corner where we think the wrens take shelter and probably nest. On one side is a leylandii hedge with ivy growing underneath, and on the back fence there's Winter jasmine. I planted some wild purple foxgloves at the back, underplanted with wild strawberries, both of which I had grown from seed. We've placed the arch nearby and I'm training one of the clematis over it...... as I was tidying it up today, I saw a nest within it's branches. I saw a second nest, again in a clematis, in another part of the garden. I hope the birds continue to make their homes here even though we've moved in, as the house had been empty for quite a long time. On the back fence, there's a honeysuckle and the leaf buds are making an appearance....... oh, what delights Summer holds!

Having had such a good day in the garden set me off dreaming about the features I would like to have.......

greenhouse by Gabriel Ash

This is my dream greenhouse, just the right size for our garden, with matching coldframes... ideal.

How about this pond, fed by running water and adorned with gorgeous water lilies. Oh.... Bob, Charlie and Benji would have such fun plodging through a pond like this!

Next on my list would be a romantic ruin ...... somewhere to while away the hours and forget where I am - forget which century I'm in......

Somewhere in my garden there would be a grotto, dark and damp with lots of lush ferns growing all around.

...... and when I've had enough of lingering underground, I would wander through the wildflower meadow with the butterflies and bees.

Methinks I will have to scale things down somewhat!

In the attic.....

2011-01-07T19:31:00.000Z

Artwork by Mark Sach ~ go here to see more of his work

Shortly after moving into our new house, we could hear noises coming from above the bedroom..... like scratching. The most activity occurs very early in the morning, but I hear it at other times too. At first I could only guess as to what was making the noises. Rats? Squirrels? One weekend, I treated myself to a lie-in, book in hand and cup of tea on the bedside table that I'd ~~made~~ asked hubby to make me. As I was reading, I kept noticing birds flying to and fro outside the bedroom window - some were perched on the telephone lines and others were flying to and from our roof. They were Starlings and I wondered if they were our mystery lodgers. It was confirmed that they were when hubby saw one go in one of the air vent tiles on the roof. They're very posh Starlings as we had the attic insulated last week, so you could say they're living in a giant carpeted nestbox. We don't mind them lodging in our attic, in fact they were no doubt here before we were...... but I'm wondering just how early they'll wake us up in the mornings when Spring arrives!

Whooooohooooooo, I feel good!

2011-01-02T18:49:00.004Z

We had a dry day today and I spent from 1 o'clock until dusk out in the garden, yay! I dug over the part that gets flooded (read about that here) and found that there were paving slabs underneath the soil with just gravel thrown on top. I know that next-doors pipes will still cause problems until they are fixed, but at least with the removal of all the submerged slabs, the water will have somewhere to go and it mightn't be so bad, fingers crossed. It was hard and heavy work, but I feel all the better for it and so glad that a start has been made. It's time to stop feeling sorry for myself and just get on with it.

I also managed to tidy up a bit - when we moved in we had so much to do that the plants in pots were just littered around the garden. I've retrieved the ones that haven't been squashed to death by Big Foot Benji and put them in an orderly fashion, somewhere out of his reach .... I hope.

Big Foot Benji (in our previous garden)

My next job is to prune the shrubs and climbers on the fences before the new Spring growth appears. The garden may look like a disaster area just now, but I'm happy to see that there are quite a lot of good shrubs already here, ones that I would have chosen myself, such as pyracantha, buddleia and winter jasmine, etc.

It's been such an enjoyable day and the icing on the cake was looking up to see some long-tailed tits feeding on the fat balls I'd hung out. I also saw one of the wrens (hubby's seen two in the garden), bobbing about in amongst the shrubs, a blackbird winked at me from the fence (honest, it did!) and a collared dove sat atop next-door's roof calling to its mate, "Oi, it's Lesley.... we've found her, the grubs over here."

Illustration by Annette Abolins ~ to see more of her work, go here.

I'm back to being a happy gardener..... bring on the Spring! :D

Fungi, Tiny nests and Sheep!

2011-01-01T18:43:00.002Z

At last I have been able to photograph something in the garden! I'm hoping someone can identify this fungi. It's growing about a foot's distance from the hedge.

Below is a closer image of it. It's sort of ruffled and the edges are laced with white.

This is another fungi (pictured below), growing on a tree stump in the garden. Does anyone know what it is? It looks quite disgusting - like some form of excrement! I hope neither of these fungi are poisonous because of our dogs.

Charlotte (daughter) and I went out for a walk today - we even got the old man to come too! The picture below shows a tiny nest - there were three of them within yards of each other. I wish my photo' could show just how tiny they were. At a guess, I'd say they were about four inches in diameter and they were built mostly with sheep's wool. :D Does anyone know which bird might have built these perfect little nests?

Could these be the very sheep that provided the building materials for the above abode? They were in a nearby field. I love the ones to the left, with the white faces. :) This is between Oakenshaw and Brancepeth.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T18:27:00.002Z

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you lots of health and happiness for 2011.

In praise of........

2010-12-28T16:25:00.001Z

I wonder if you can guess who the following quotes belong to, someone who is deeply sensitive and writes as wittily as Oscar Wilde, loves animals and became a vegetarian at the age of 14.

"I like animals very much - lovable, dumb chums, loyal, decent and lovely - and if I'd had my way I'd've been reared in a menagerie."

"I really craved the company of animals - the wordless simplicity of it. Even now, with my cat Morrissey, I cherish the moments that I'm absolutely alone with him, and the unrecorded tenderness that no one will ever know of - I don't even feed him that much any more, 'cos Lynne, the housekeeper, does that now. But he seems to want something from me that isn't food, and perhaps that thing is love."

"When I was eleven, I got a gerbil, Barney. I worshipped Barney the way primitive people worshipped the animals they hunted, seeing in the creature a connection to the natural and the divine. My devotion was swiftly rewarded when Barney, with scant regard for his gender, quite brilliantly had a litter of babies. I treasure the memory of these tiny, pink, squirming chipolatas. It was miraculous - like how Christmas should feel."

"It's difficult to believe in yourself because the idea of self is an artificial construction. You are, in fact, part of the glorious oneness of the universe. Everything beautiful in the world is within you. No-one really feels self-confident deep down because it's an artificial idea. Really, people aren't that worried about what you're doing or what you're saying, so you can drift around the world relatively anonymously: you must not feel persecuted and examined. Liberate yourself from that idea that people are watching you."

"For me happiness occurs arbitrarily: a moment of eye contact on a bus, where all at once you fall in love; or a frozen second in a park where it's enough that there are trees in the world"

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Well I never!

Russell Brand, twice voted The Sexiest Vegetarian Alive (2008 & 2009)

All quotes taken from 'My Booky Wook' by Russell Brand

I was inspired to find out more about Russell Brand because of something I'd seen on t.v. I can't remember which programme it was, but the production company had arranged for a woman, heavily laden with parcels and carrier bags, to drop them in a busy London street, viewed by a hidden camera. They did this numerous times to see if anyone would stop to help her. No one did for ages until along came a lanky lad with a woollen hat hiding his hair. At first they didn't recognise him - it turned out to be Russell Brand!

If the Christmas tables were turned.....

2010-12-26T22:39:00.007Z

You go!

Christmas has got me thinking of all those turkeys, geese, chickens and ducks that have ended up on our dinner plates (not guilty!). I'm having fun thinking of how animals could wreak their revenge on humankind. Heh, heh.

Disclaimer: I apologise for the images portraying humankind as male - if I come across any with female images, I will include them. :D

Oooops

Tit for Tat ~ get those slimey peeps!

This Zebra is Crossing

Chappie-bank

Mister-ouse

Stuffing the Christmas Peeps

Hee-hee

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

2010-12-23T18:55:00.002Z

Oh my goodness, it's so long since my last blog post! The main reason for that is because I haven't been able to do any gardening since moving to the new house. We had one half-decent weekend when I managed to cut the grass down with shears - the garden has been neglected for quite a long time so the grass was long and coarse. Since then it's either been raining or snowing and the back garden, we've found, is a perpetual bog! This is because of damaged underground pipes in the next-door-neighbour's garden - the pipes are linked to ours so our garden gets flooded as well as hers. Unfortunately the neighbour, an elderly lady, spends most of the time down south with her sister, so we're waiting to see what she's going to do about the pipes. Meanwhile, I'm considering just turning the whole of the back garden into a huge pond. :)

I have to confess I've been a teeny weeny bit down in the dumps at not being able to get started with the garden, but I'm telling myself that it will be worth the wait. Anyway, because I have no garden photos, I'm posting ones that I took while out walking today. Part of my walk took place during a 'white-out' - a man stopped to offer me a lift. I told him it was okay, that I was out for a walk to take some photographs and thanked him. "Yer mad," he replied and sped off before I could come up with some witty retort, such as, "Madness is relative" or even accuse him of being mad for driving in such dangerous conditions. Ah well, I enjoyed my walk nevertheless and if it hadn't been for me needing to go to the loo, I'd have stayed out longer.

Here's two lovely cows I met while walking along the old railway line. They were sheltering in the corner of the field and were totally indifferent to the interest I showed in them. One of them glanced round briefly at me, the other didn't move at all. :)

A road bridge going over the old railway line - it leads to a farm

Horses in the snow

You didn't know Narnia was in County Durham, did you! It isn't really - this leads into the nature reserve at Oakenshaw.

These reeds are growing in the lake, which is now frozen over, at the Oakenshaw nature reserve. I love the contrast of the straw-like texture and golden-yellow of the reeds with the dark green conifers in the background.

It's dusk now and the light in the photos is changing. This is the frozen lake with a little island in the middle. There are usually lots of ducks here, but I think the cold must have taken them somewhere else where they might get more food..... I hope.

Having left the nature reserve and village of Oakenshaw behind, I am now approaching my home town of Willington. These sheep made a peaceful and restfull scene, but when I approached them with my camera they jumped up and moved off. I apologised for disturbing them.

I make my way along the farm track that takes me to the top of the pit bank. I'm very fond of this particular spot - it looks scenic whatever the season.

At the top of the pit bank looking down on Willington

My walk was just over 4 miles and I was out for only a couple of hours but I enjoyed it so much, except for the bit when I couldn't find the exit at the nature reserve and got a bit disorientated...... it looked different all covered in snow. I didn't much like the thought of me stumbling through the trees in the dark..... not with my imagination!

Update on my NaNoWriMo novel - I didn't get it finished within the month, so I didn't get a winner's T-shirt (boo-hoo), but I've since finished it and now at work with the editing. It was a really fun experience, one that I would thoroughly recommend to everyone.

And now I would like to wish everyone a

HAPPY CHRISTMAS & A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!

See you soon.....

2010-10-31T15:26:00.000Z

'Fall Day' by Phil Morin

We're off to our new house and garden and I wont have my internet connection for another week, so I wanted to say cheerio for now. I'll miss you all and have a good week everyone! :)

A Nostalgic Farewell

2010-10-27T21:44:00.001+01:00

We only have until the weekend in this house before moving to our new one, so I've been looking through my photographs of some of the plants and creatures that have made the time in the garden special.

Here's Charlie strolling up the path. This was in the midst of Summer and all the plants are in full growth. One of my favourite plants is the Angelica which you can see in the middle foreground, with the large lime-green seed heads.

These Anemone de Caen were a gorgeous surprise. I planted the corms not knowing what colour they would be and I was delighted. I never knew flowers could come in such a shocking pink! They looked stunning on the patio.

This is Esmerelda who lived in the greenhouse a few Summers ago. She laid eggs and I saw all the little babies after they hatched - hundreds of them!

This is a beautiful climbing rose called Cecile Bruner. I can thoroughly recommend it. It's a strong grower, but doesn't get out of hand and it produces flowers in early Summer with a repeat flowering in the Autumn. The flowers are gorgeous, especially when the buds are just beginning to open. The flowers are tiny and produced in abundance.

Here's a very special friend, the robin who nested in our greenhouse and kept us company from early Spring right up to late Summer. It was pure joy to work in the garden with Robin flitting backwards and forwards with food to feed its chicks.

A favourite fuchsia, 'Blue Heaven'. This one is the closest to a blue fuchsia you can get, in my opinion. It's a robust and beautiful plant and I still have one flowering strongly even though it's nearly November.

'Bart Comperen', my favourite of all fuchsias. The dark aubergine of the corolla and the rose-pink sepals is an entrancing contrast. If I could only grow one fuchsia, this would be it.

This is our friends, the collared doves. They visit our garden daily.

This little nettle is one of my favourite wildflowers in the garden. Growing at the base of a birch tree, it produces a neat bushy plant and the flowers provide early food for bees. I think it looks very pretty, especially intermingled with the Geranium Johnson's Blue.

Robin again!

Seeing the garden like this in its full glory reminds me of all the happy days spent in it, or just watching the wildlife from behind the windows - the frogs, mice and all the different birds and insects. The house we're moving into is smaller and will be more economical to run, but it has a garden to three sides of it and I know that we'll spend many happy years there too. It's only a few minutes walk from this house so I'm hoping that we'll get the same birds visit us at our new garden. I'm not sure what distances they travel to feed but I'm hoping it's within their boundary. We have really appreciated the pleasure that the garden and its inhabitants have given us - I hope that the next people who come to live here respect and care for it.

I'm a versatile blogger - Ethelmae says so!

2010-10-15T19:00:00.000+01:00

I apologise to all my blogging friends for not posting & commenting recently. This is because we are moving house on the 1st November, the very day I start my novel! (see no.1 below) My visits to blogland will probably be few and far between but once November has been and gone, normality should resume.

Having got that out of the way, I'd like to thank Ethelmae for this award. I feel honoured to be one of her nominees. With this award goes the custom of revealing eight facts that no one knows about moi - I had to do this some time ago but here's another eight unknown facts ...... full of surprises, eh? :O)

Ethelmae

Here we go:-

1) I am about to write a novel in thirty days, along with thousands of other people! National Novel Writing Month takes place between November 1-30th. It's exciting and fun ..... and completely bonkers. The NaNoWriMo website is here.

2) I have an alter ego called Eliza. She lived in a house that I once lived in. She and her very large family occupied it during the 1860s. I got very strong feelings about Eliza and sensed that she was a strong person with a personality to match. Whenever I find myself in a difficult situation I think, "What would Eliza do?" The grown-up's equivalent of an imaginary friend?

3) My hubby was once a jockey and also a bantamweight boxer. When he left school, he wanted to join the army but was too light. He was sent away and told to come back when he had put weight on - he tried for almost a year but couldn't increase his weight. He is still petite with lovely firm muscles to match. :D

4) My hubby is my second husband. My first husband Robert (Rab), and I went to school together and got married when he was 16 and I was 17. He died when he was 23. I have two sons to Robert who are both over 6 feet tall and a daughter to present hubby, who is the smallest in her class at school and who, at the age of 13, has to wear clothes for ages 10-11. :O) I also have a stepson (from hubby's previous marriage). Anth's a good-looking chappie and a dead ringer for the gorgeous Tom Hardy (pictured right).

5) I have recently taken up hula-hooping, a wonderfully creative way of keeping fit that has been all the rage in the USA - we Brits are slowly .... very slowly catching on. I have since bust the living-room chandelier fittings and put a huge scratch on the t.v. screen, as well as almost scaring the dogs to death. They scarper when they see me reach for my hoop! Here's Chrisabel Zamor showing how it should be done, and there's a YouTube film of her at the bottom of my blog page.

6) My first job when I left school was as one of those glamour girls who work on the cosmetics counters in posh stores. I worked for Gala Cosmetics in Lewis's at Glasgow, Scotland. It was the ideal job for a sixteen year old girl with all the freebies!

The Forth Rail Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland (opened 1890)

7) If I was given the chance to go back to being school age (the gods forbid!), I'd want to be an engineer and build beautiful bridges.

8) I had wanted to call my first-born son 'Jason', which was a really cool name in the late sixties/early seventies. However, my mother got her way (as she always does) and he was named Jon-Paul. She must have been a visionary because this name has become a popular choice in the past few years. Feeling piqued at having given in to mum's choice, I got a kitten and called it Jason - Jason turned out to be a girl cat! I still called her Jason though. :D

The rule of The Versatile Blogger Award states that I have to forward it on to 10 more bloggers. If I had my way, I'd award this back to Ethelmae, but I don't think she'd thank me for it somehow! She has brought me much pleasure and laughter with her blog posts. Thank you Ethelmae. Anyway, without further ado, here are the numbskulls..... er, I mean nominees:-

1. Gf, sorry - you're it again! Go here to enter the world of Greenfingers at his blog, A Gardener's Life in Motion. Gf truly is a versatile writer - he can take any subject ..... and I mean any subject, and make it a literary gem!

2. Everyday Goddess is here. This blogger can turn her hand to anything .... poetry, fiction and simply telling it how it is. A must read.

3. Phil's the man.... and we're priviliged to have him belong to County Durham.... nah nah nahnah nah :D He's a botanist, author and university lecturer at Durham University. Take yourself here and here to poach some of Phil's vast store of knowledge at two of his blogs, Cabinet of Curiosities and A Digital Botanic Garden.

4. You need to go here to catch up on the shenanigans of John at Sedgedunum Warbler. John is very committed to the blooms and beasties of the world and he always manages to make me smile with his funny posts. He's a terrific photographer too.

5. Visit Helen here at her blog, Downland Views. She's not afraid to get down and dirty with all the work on the land that she does. Her lifestyle sounds idyllic but hard work and it's a pleasure to read her posts.

6. If you like photography, visit Adrian's blog here at Adrian's Images. I never appreciated fungi so much till I saw Adrian's photos of them! He always manages to come up with something beautiful, exciting and unusual - a real visual treat...... er, I'm talking about his photographs peeps! This is the effect Adrian has on me - his latest post is about flashing. :O)

7. Visit Syd here at his blog I'm just F.I.N.E. -- Recovery in Al-Anon. Syd writes about many things.... his journey in Al-Anon, the things he gets up to in his retirement, his garden and his pets, etc. He writes with understanding and empathy and I always feel a warm buzz when I've looked in on Syd.

8. You'll find Michael and his blog, Spice of Life here. This man has been everywhere! I've enjoyed the many locations he writes about from my comfy computer chair.... mind you, with his fantastic photographs and the way Michael describes the locations, I want to be there for real!

9. You must pop into David's blog, Orchids, Nature and my Outdoor Life. You'll find it here. David writes about his wonderful garden and posts equally wonderful photographs of it. He's also a very keen walker and I love the posts he does about that and the magnificent photos, especially of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

10. For a sheer visual delight, go here to see Andrea's colourful photographs of the exotic flowers and landscapes she writes about in her blog, Andrea In This Lifetime.

That's it *takes a bow* - curtains close ...... now off you go and get acquainted with all these fab blogs!

A rainy Sunday walk

2010-10-04T14:52:00.004+01:00

Hubby was in a self-righteous mood with a self-righteous air to match, as he went about the house tidying things away. I'd been doing that all week and decided I needed to get out for a dose of fresh air, so off I went and left him to it, hee-hee. :) The rain was pelting down but it wasn't icy cold, in fact it was refreshing.

Leaving the town behind

This is a view looking back towards the small town of Willington. I was heading towards the village of Hunwick on what used to be the railway line and is now a popular path used by walkers, cyclists, horse riders and runners.

As I walked along the old railway line I thought of what it must have been like when trains ran along the route and of all the people who journeyed here. At dusk it can be quite eerie. My daughter sometimes claims to hear the sound of a distant train - childish imagination perhaps?

The old railway station at Hunwick

This building used to be the railway station serving Hunwick, and is now somebody's lovely home. It doesn't appear to have changed that much though, and it's quite easy to imagine travellers waiting on the platform for the train to arrive. My dad and his brothers would have boarded the train here on their trips to Durham and Bishop Auckland, as his family belonged to Hunwick after moving from Ireshopeburn in Weardale.

The Oak Tree at Rough Lea Farm, Hunwick

Just off the railway line is Rough Lea Farm. My dad's best friend lived here when he was a child and it was a working farm then. They used to climb this tree which is hundreds of years old. Rough Lea Farm no longer belongs to that family as they have all passed on and it's since been transformed into a very posh residence, but it's lovely to see the big oak tree still there. Children are seemingly still enjoying it as there's a rope ladder hanging from one of its branches.

Back down at the old railway path, I saw lots of different kinds of fungi. I don't know what kind these are but they looked so beautiful I just had to take a photo of them.

Despite the pouring rain - or maybe because of it - I really enjoyed my walk. There weren't many people about except for two cyclists and some fishermen as I walked back home by the river. Glancing up at the grey sky two geese flew overhead, and a Jack Russell dog was barking as it playfully jumped in and out of the river. That wouldn't please the people fishing!

Usually when I go out walking I powerwalk, but today I just wanted to relax and take my time. I wanted to see things I usually miss, like some hazelnuts lying on the ground - now on my kitchen window-sill waiting to be planted. Besides, the longer I took the more industrious hubby would be at home and he might even have the dinner ready for me on my return. :)

Slugs!

2010-09-27T08:53:00.005+01:00

Every morning, one of the first things I do is go on to the patio to throw some food out for the birds.

"I'll just finish this and then clean up that poopsie one of the dogs has left," I thought, still dazed and bleary-eyed - that is ..... until I noticed the 'poopsie' was moving. :O)

"Oh! It's one of those big orange slugs," I thought to myself as I took a closer look. On googling I found that it is the orange form of the large black slug. There's some more information here.

I measured him and he was 6 inches (15.5 cm) long, but he could extend himself up to 7 3/4 inches (20 cm) if he wanted to.

I laid a fuchsia flower beside him to illustrate his proportions. He showed a little interest in the flower before heading off behind a large flower pot.

When I was googling for information on slugs, much of it comprised of methods on how to kill them. I'm horrified at many of the suggestions and wonder at the kind of people who could carry out such grisly actions.

This particular slug, I discovered, prefers to feed on rotting vegetation rather than living plants which is probably why I have since noticed him hanging out round the compost bin. As you might guess, you wont find any Hostas in our garden - though I'm considering growing one or two as a treat for 'our' sluggies! I have to say that the slugs in our garden have been kind to us and have never caused any destruction to the plants. Maybe it's because of all the frogs that live here...... or maybe it's because I'm such an untidy gardener that there is always plenty of available foodstuffs already provided for them.

I liked this.
(Taken from Hill-Stead's Nature Blog by Dianne Tucker.)
"Slugs can stretch themselves up to twenty times their original length, enabling them to fit into tight spaces. Their slime is laid down in a continuous trail that they can retrace to a satisfying food source. Their friends and relatives can follow it too. Snails have an interrupted slime line."

Your single foot it leaves no print,

It just sets down a slimy hint

For you to follow later when

You go back for a snack again.

A body-made roadmap comes in handy

When you hanker for some greenery candy!

You can read the full blog post and the rest of the poem here.

Some random facts about slugs.

* There are between 50,000 and 200,00 plus mollusc species alive in the world today. Many species have yet to be discovered and many recently discovered species are yet to be identified and named.

* It travels at a speed of 2 feet in 43 seconds.

* When slugs' teeth wear out, new rows move forward to replace them, conveyor-belt style.

* They have 25,000 teeth.

* Only 5% of the slug population appears above ground at any one time.

* Slugs have four noses!

* They can live up to 6 years.

* If a slug loses an eye or an ear stalk, it can be grown back.

* A slug's blood is green.

* A slug lays 20-100 eggs several times a year. They can lie dormant in the soil for years until conditions are right for them to hatch.

Final word because I love this. :)
"Slug slime is a natural anaesthetic. If you lick a slug enough, your tongue will go numb. In fact, some Native Americans used to put slugs in their mouths when they had toothache and let them crawl around. I don't recommend licking a slug because I'm sure it's not good for them."

I love that! A person after my own heart. :)
Taken from Tser's 'All About Slugs' which is here.

Tidying and pottering

2010-09-19T16:11:00.004+01:00

I've been spending a little time today doing some tidying in the garden and greenhouse, sorting the plant pots neatly by size and planting what I can while the weather is still reasonably mild. The one thing I hate about tidying in the garden is disturbing the creatures that live there. Lift a pot and out scurries dozens of frantic little woodlice - I feel so guilty for disrupting their peace. I think of them carrying on with their lives, doing whatever it is that woodlice do, until I happen along and create chaos in their world. That's why I very rarely tidy up in the garden.

As I reached for a plant, from the side of my eyes I saw this fella in the pot next to it - he made me jump! I didn't produce the same effect in him - he didn't budge while I went for my camera and took his photograph. He was probably sleeping off his Sunday dinner of slugs.

This is one instance where I should be more careful - tidying away the seed packets. I'd left this lot stuffed in a plant pot on the floor of the potting shed and the mice have made some pretty cut-out patterns! Thankfully, they didn't feast on the seeds - they must have only wanted the paper for their nest.

After tidying up, I had a little wander round the garden and took a photograph of this beautiful sedum. It's Sedum spectabile and it's the first year I've grown it. I have it in a container where it cascades over the top. It's so pretty with its tiny starlike flowers. I hope it survives the Winter.

I don't know how I've never noticed this before. It's the main stem of a white Jasmine I have growing over one of the metal arches. While examining the plant constantly throughout the Summer for signs of flower buds, I missed the lovely pattern on its stem. I only noticed it when looking at the nasturtiums growing nearby. I don't know why it hasn't flowered yet as it's about three years old - never mind, at least it has a beautiful stem. :)

Here it is a bit closer. And if you look carefully, you'll see a white hair - one of Benji's. :O)

My tidying up in the garden is finished for this year, so any creatures that want to settle down here will be quite safe to do so.

Emergency Ward Gastropod

2010-09-07T08:14:00.005+01:00

Horace on a runner bean leaf with raspberry

I've been looking after another casualty for the past week. Meet Horace. I found him on our kitchen door after following the silver trail he'd left behind on the carpet. We had various bits and pieces in the garden that needed to be taken to the council tip and we think he'd been brought in on them and knocked off in the process.

Part of his shell had been damaged but luckily his internal organs were intact, so I was hopeful that he would make a good recovery. I've read that snails store deposits of calcium that can be used in the event of damage. I thought at this stage it would be unwise to release him back into the garden in case he got an infection in his wound or became dried out. So into a plastic container he went along with a selection snail goodies.

Sure enough, within a couple of days a film began to grow over the damaged part of the shell. It's now quite tough and protective. Today, Horace is ready to leave intensive care and return to his natural environment. I'll take him down to the bottom of the garden where the ferns grow and it's nice and shady. He can then find a comfy spot to sleep in and rest while his body continues the healing process.

You can go here to read more about snails' shells.

Benji's Invalid Ramp

2010-09-04T20:54:00.002+01:00

Benji's 13 years old now, the youngest of our three dogs and the least able to get around. He was having trouble managing to get up and down the steps in the garden, so I made him a ramp. There was a drop of about 3 feet at the side of the steps which I built up with soil taken from one of the compost bins. I planted self-heal, yarrow, clover and birds-foot-trefoil in it and then put down grass seed.

Here he is enjoying todays sunshine, lying on the cool grass on his ramp..... which has totally surprised me by growing so well! It took him a while to use it. In fact our other two dogs, Bob and Charlie, used it first. Eventually, Benji realised that it was much easier to saunter down the little grassy bank than tumble down the stone steps.

I've been doing a few jobs in the garden so that it will be easier for the old boys to get around..... like removing shrubs and flower borders from the centre of the garden and planting it up with grass, and disposing of gravel so that they wont lose their footing or get bits stuck in between the pads of their paws. I'm aiming to make the garden as O.A.D.-friendly (old age dog) as I can and anyway, grass is good for wildlife too..... even though I'm rubbish at maintaining lawns!

Garden art ......... and architecture

2010-08-29T17:53:00.003+01:00

I felt a sudden compulsion to get all arty, so I took this photograph of the inside of a Nasturtium flower. The colours and pattern are amazing! It wasn't easy to get this because it's blowing a gale outside and the petals were waving around. I had to quickly click in between gusts of wind.

This is a lovely little silvery-green Sedum (sorry, not sure of its name) alongside Houseleeks that are growing in an old metal watering-can. The can is under a Rowan Tree and that's how the berry came to be there.

I think this is the first time I've taken a photograph of an insect and it didn't fly off! Okay, I know it's not a great close-up, but it shows how pretty the Sweet Pea 'Cupani' is.

I just had to show you this, although it's difficult to see from the photograph just how small this little nest is. I found it in the potting-shed while tidying up. Don't worry, it's not being used or I wouldn't have moved it. It's 4 1/2 inches wide and the shallow hollow in the centre is only 2 inches wide! It was on the floor in the corner, behind some plant pots. I'm not sure which bird built this..... anyone any ideas?

A good heart is very hard to find......

2010-08-19T21:27:00.007+01:00

..... and thankfully, my son has one. Seeing this photograph from his album makes me smile. It reminds me of a sunny day when we were in the garden together. He was about 13 years old at the time. I spotted a tiny beetle crawling up his arm and went to blow it off.

"Don't!" he cried, swinging his arm away, "You'll break its legs!" He then proceeded to lift the beetle on a leaf to safety.

wildflowers and mountains of Switzerland

Jon-Paul lives and works in Switzerland and this is how he describes part of his journey to work:

".....every day I walk down the little hill to the train station to go to work I see the Swiss/French Alps and Lac Leman. Every day I see birds of prey flying overhead, hunting or playing with each other in flight, and quite often over the rooftops of the houses in Vevey, they seem used to civilisation here. See quite a few different kinds of birds, and lizards too, the fire salamanders are my favourite, black with yellow spots/splashes."

Gruyere, Switzerland

This was taken when we lived in the Scottish Highlands. Jon-Paul is on the right and brother, Robert Francis (Bobby) is on the left..... pretending to be a stag. Hmmmm, wonder if he still does it?! Lol, look at the 1970s pudding-bowl haircuts. (I'm so for it for this!)

Jon-Paul with his partner, Nadia

....... just me having a few sentimental moments.

A Bowl of Flowers

2010-08-18T21:12:00.004+01:00

One of the joys of having a garden is being able to bring some flowers indoors. This simple arrangement consists of Sweet Pea, Purple Loosestrife, wild Yarrow and Achillea 'Summer Berries'.

This is Buckwheat, a useful and very attractive plant. If you double-click the photograph you can see each individual floret in detail. Seeing it close up, it reminds me of apple blossom. Buckwheat has many uses including feed for livestock, food for humans, honey crop, weed control and green manure.

Buckwheat is not a true cereal but is related to sorrels and docks and, in my opinion, is as pretty a plant as any other in the garden. I've grown it as groundcover previously, to protect the soil from being leached of its precious minerals by the rain. Next Spring I want to grow lots more just because of its pretty flowers, which are also of great benefit to bees because of its long flowering season.

This is Achillea 'Summer Berries', which produces flowers in various shades of pink. It's extremely pretty and looks wonderful grown en masse.

And here is the common Yarrow, one of my favourite wildflowers.

Folklore tells us that if some Yarrow is sown up in a little pouch and placed beneath the pillow, you would dream of your future husband/wife. You also have to recite the following charm before dozing off to sleep:

Thou pretty herb of Venus tree
Thy true name be Yarrow
Now who my bosom friend must be
Pray tell thou me tomorrow.

Beverley Nichols

2010-08-12T18:35:00.005+01:00

One of my favourite writers is Beverley Nichols (1898-1983), author, pianist, playwright and socialite. He wrote books on a diverse range of subjects including politics, travel, religion, detective mysteries, children's novels, his cats and autobiographies.

I particularly enjoyed 'Father Figure' in which he freely confesses to attempting to murder his alcoholic father several times, all of which failed. Although he describes the fear that his father inflicted upon the family, written in Nichols's own style, it becomes a hilarious and heartwarming read. Believe me! :O)

It's his books that he wrote about his house, garden and nature that I enjoy the most however. Today, I'm not sure how many people remember or know about the writing of Beverley Nichols. If you enjoy reading uplifting books, sprinkled with lots of humour throughout that leave you feeling sorry when you've read the last page but feeling good, then you should seek out his novels. Luckily that wont be too difficult as Timber Press are offering re-prints of many of Beverley Nichols's books. Here's a direct link to those available.

Here also is an excerpt from his book, 'Laughter On The Stairs'.

"This fourth spring I went bird's-nesting, by which I do not mean crashing like a bison through the bushes, wrecking other people's houses. It was a question of watching, and listening, and, when the time came, of standing and staring. For the miracle of a bird's nest is almost the greatest miracle of all. Think of it like this....... An aery meeting, a flutter of feathers and then, before you know where you are, a beautiful house, perched in the branches of a tree.

That is only the beginning of it. Shortly, on the floor of the house, exquisite ornaments are deposited by unseen hands. These ornaments are light blue, or pale green, or speckled like a fritillary; they are oval in shape, and fashioned from the most delicate, fragile porcelain.

Even then the miracle has only just begun. For each of these ornaments contains music. Liquid music, sleeping music, disguised in the form of two magic fluids, one gold and one white. Unwritten music, as yet, but music which one day will echo through the woods like distant flutes.

These ornaments are filled with unwritten music. It is all there, 'tuning up'. There is the white and there is the yolk, and between the two of them there will one day be a bird, with a swelling throat and an eager heart, singing for you and me.

You may tell me that you could rhapsodizde, in the same way, about the embryo of a baby. Perhaps you could. I couldn't. Having babies is in no way to be compared with depositing delicate pieces of porcelain in the branches of cherry trees. It is a far less decorative process. Whether it is a more useful one is open to question."

'Laughter On The Stairs', pages 151, 152

To find out more about Beverley Nichols, go here.
Timber Press publish books about gardening, ornamental and edible plants, garden design, sustainability, and natural history. For their UK website, go here.
For their Oregon USA website, go here.

"To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat."

Beverley Nichols

The best laid plans o' mice and men.......

2010-08-05T18:05:00.008+01:00

Last year I grew some celery, but it was tough as old boots..... not even Benji, our canine composter, would eat it. I liked the colour and form of the leaves though, so I kept one plant back and left it to grow at will in an old half-barrel.

Here it is with its dainty pretty flowers.

During a quick tidy-up in the greenhouse last Summer, I came across some lily bulbs. I always grew the lilies in containers but because of the time it takes to water them, I decided to cut down on containers. Having come across the discarded bulbs I thought it was a shame to leave them there, so I planted them in the nearest little plot of ground at the side of the greenhouse. I'm so glad I did. They're one of the highlights in the garden this Summer. Their roots not being confined to a pot (and a couple of liquid feeds), allowed them to grow almost to the height of the greenhouse! I took this photo early in the morning and the sun was shining on them making them seem paler than they are. The colour is more intense.

Here's another unplanned success. We were given this rose some years ago but everywhere was crammed full of plants. The only place available was down at the bottom of the garden where all the prunings and green 'waste' go. Being a rambling rose, I thought it would grow along the top of the fence amongst the other plants. Instead it scrambled its way through the Weeping Willow tree, reaching for the sunlight. Each Summer I think it wont survive and each year I'm proved wrong as it grows more beautiful than ever.

This little corner of the garden has been planned! It's a shady plot where the Weeping Silver Birch tree grows and behind it, ivy has almost covered the old stone shed. I've underplanted the tree with fern and foxgloves and some smaller woodland flowers. The birds like this part of the garden too, as it provides them with a sheltered place of protection. This is where all the baby blackbirds have perched throughout Spring and Summer, waiting for mum to bring them their meals.

The Millenium Bugs at Durham Botanic Gardens..... and 13 year old daughter. :)

This photograph has nothing at all to do with this post. :O) It's for John of Sedgdunum Warbler.

.........down at the bottom of the garden.

2010-07-28T08:10:00.004+01:00

We've got a bees nest in our garden shed...... not in the potting shed thank goodness, but one of the others at the bottom of the garden. I've been doing a bit of tidying up down there - nothing major, just so we can walk in a straight line without stepping over obstacles - and I noticed all these lovely little bees periodically crawling through the gap under the door of the shed.

Bombus pratorum, the universal pollinator

What gorgeous bees... with orange bottoms. I'd never seen bees like this before so after typing 'orange-bottomed bee' into Google I discovered that this species is called Bombus pratorum, the Early Bumblebee. As for not having seen this kind of bee, I read that it is our universal pollinator, pollinating well over 140 different kinds of flowers. You can read more about Bombus and see some beautiful photographs by going here.

Although I sometimes go into the shed, for a bamboo cane or a seedtray, etc., I haven't explored the corner where I suspect the nest is, and it's too dark to see as ivy has totally covered the only window. I remember putting a bag of shredded paper there some time ago, which is now well-hidden behind various discarded garden pots so that's probably where they are.

A nest of Bombus pratorum

'Our' bees are welcome to stay in the garden shed for as long as they like. I enjoy watching them coming and going from under the door and they take no notice of me at all, but fly round me and off on to the more important job of collecting pollen.

I don't think they'll be here for much longer though, as I've read that bees die off round about Autumn. Just when I was missing the robins, Mother Nature sent me bees. I wonder what she'll send next.

(photographs courtesy of the worldwide web)

Naming names

2010-07-08T21:30:00.018+01:00

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to name a plant after anyone we wanted to. Here are my choices.

Doctor Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

Doctor Schweitzer was a physician, humanitarian, theologian and musician who started a hospital in Africa to treat African natives. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 for his efforts in the campaign against nuclear weapons. His philosophy in life was one of compassion towards all life, human and non-human species. He is amongst the greatest of role models. If I could name a plant after Doctor Schweitzer, it would be a Bamboo which, in China, is considered to be 'a gentleman with perfect virtues'. It has the perfect balance of grace and strength. To find out more about Doctor Albert Schweitzer, go here.

'At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us'. (Albert Schweitzer)

Sophia Magdalena Scholl (1921-1943)

Sophie Scholl was a young German student who, along with her brother Hans, was a member of a non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. The group, horrified at hearing accounts of soldiers' behaviour at the Front and of the mass killings of Jews, began to compose and distribute anti-war leaflets. Sophie and Hans were eventually caught distributing leaflets at the Univesity of Munich. Subsequently they, and other members of the group, were executed. Sophie was a member of the resistance group, The White Rose, but I would name a yellow rose after her. It signifies her last comment and, in floral terms, bears the meaning 'I care'.... which she certainly did. To learn more about Sophie Scholl, go here.

"Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go," she continued, "but what does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?" (Sophie Scholl just before her execution)

Christopher Reeve (1952-2004)

When the name Christopher Reeve is mentioned, the fictional character of Superman springs to mind. Christopher Reeve was not only Superman in the world of films but in real life also. After suffering a spinal cord injury during a horse-riding accident, he became a wonderful ambassador for the funding of stem cell research and he never lost hope that a cure would be found.

Of Christopher Reeve, UC Irvine said, "In the years following his injury, Christopher did more to promote research on spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders than any other person before or since." The two words that describe Christopher Reeve to me are dignity and hope, so his special flower would be the dahlia since that is what it signifies. The Superman colours of blue and red would be ideal, but I'm not sure that anyone has bred a dahlia with blue in it yet. :D To find out more about Christopher Reeve, go here.

"Don't give up. Don't lose hope. Don't sell out." (Christopher Reeve)

Jane Tomlinson (1964-2007

Jane Tomlinson was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1991. Amazingly, over the next six years, she went on to complete the London Marathon three times, the London Triathlon twice, The New York Marathon once and cycled across Europe and the United States. She raised £1.85 million for charity and since her death, the charity she founded has announced a new fundraising target of £5 million. I would name a gladiolus after Jane Tomlinson as this is the flower that symbolizes strength of character, which Jane had in abundance. To learn more about Jane Tomlinson, go here.

Thank goodness the world is full of good people and heroes! Who, apart from family members, would you like to name a flower after?

Woody's Escape

2010-06-30T09:17:00.004+01:00

It was a beautiful tranquil morning, the sun already shining, patio doors wide open with the faint hint of a breeze wafting in. I'd just seen daughter off to school so I settled down with a fresh cup of tea and began what precious moments of Open University study I can snatch.

Suddenly there was a commotion in the garden, lots of movement and what sounded like a frantic flapping of wings. Sparrowhawk, I thought! Fleeing into the garden, there I saw a cat gripping a woodpigeon by its wing. I'd been watching the woodpigeon pecking peacefully for bits of grain earlier on. Waving my Open University unit wildly and spluttering expletives, the cat darted off and Woody flew to safety.

During the encounter the woodpigeon left behind quite a few feathers..... some large wing feathers and lots of little downy ones. I wanted to immediately clear away the visible signs of the violent scene..... but I needed a cup of tea first! Sitting with my cuppa I felt glad that Woody had had a lucky escape and hoped that he would recover well . Looking out at the garden I saw that the sparrows were taking advantage of the incident...... there they were flying off with beakfulls of fluffy feathers to refurbish their nests! Just as well I didn't dispose of them.

Here is the very unit that helped to save Woody's life! :D

To visit the Open University, go here.

Bon Voyage Harry!

2010-06-08T20:54:00.006+01:00

Today is a special day because Baby Harry has taken his first steps (or slithers) into the big wide world. Here are some photos he posed for this morning.

This illustrates his size. I said I'd release him when he grew to the size of a nasturtium seed but, as you can see, I put it off until he reached the size of a pea.

Here he is chomping on a fresh dandelion leaf

Hi there big boy!

At half-past eight tonight Charlotte and I said our goodbyes to Harry and took his jar from the shed into the garden. Whispering a short prayer, we released him on to a cherub statuette under the Angelica. We decided to let him go in the evening while it was cool and damp. As the saying goes, the world is now his oyster...... or the garden at least, full of abundant greens and minerals. From the tiny dot I first encountered on my kitchen worktop, it was wonderful to see him skimming over the surface of the cherub like Stirling Mollusc...... way to go Harry!

To all the humble beasts there be,
To all the birds on land and sea,
Great Spirit sweet protection give,
That free and happy they may live!

John Galsworthy

Bittersweet Sunday

2010-05-31T08:14:00.007+01:00

I arose quite early yesterday morning to find hubby coming out the shed with the garden spade. "What are you doing?" I laughed, as 99% of the gardening jobs are mine and it was too early for spadework. The smile soon left my face when he told me he was going to bury one of the robin chicks which he'd found lying lifeless on the path. It didn't have any apparent injuries, so we ruled out cats and bigger birds, and guessed that it could have been blown against something when attempting to leave the greenhouse, as it was very windy yesterday. We were devastated but had to put a face on things as we'd promised Charlotte, our daughter, that we'd have a look over to the coast.

This is the beach at the village of Hawthorn in County Durham, looking down from the cliff-top. It's a fantastic view and to get down to the beach from here, you have to climb down a winding series of wooden steps, which was lovely because you get to see all the beautiful tiny wildflowers at eye level, growing on the cliff-side.

You can see some wonderful photographs of these wildflowers by going to Phil Gate's blog. Click here. I'd been to Hawthorn many years ago and it was Phil's post that made me want to return.

This is a closer view of the beach which has been blackened by the tipping of colliery waste during the industrial days of coal mining. The pits were closed by the 1990s and the action of the sea is restoring the sand to its natural condition.

It was very windy and the sea was rough as the waves pounded the shore. Exhilarating! We even managed a game of tennis with the plastic racquets that Charlotte had bought from Poplar Trees Garden Centre at Shincliffe, when we stopped there for something to eat. Whilst attempting a magnificent tennis dive I had a fall and grazed my right knee but it could have been much worse..... if I'd fallen on my left side, I would have broken my camera which was in the left-hand pocket of my coat!

Evidence of pre-medieval settlements have been found all along the Durham coastline, being ideal for fishing and foraging for other foods further inland. We found traces of modern-day campfires and empty bottles of Frosty Jack.

Fungi growing on a felled tree

To get to the beach, we walked through Hawthorn Dene. Some parts of the woodland here has existed for 400 years!

Although tinged with sadness, it had been a good day out and when we came home I saw that the nest had been lined with new pieces of moss...... so it looks like Mrs Robin will soon be laying a new clutch of eggs. They're still busy feeding the other chicks at the bottom of the garden. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth getting so involved in watching wildlife closely....... but how can we help ourselves?

"Aye pet, they're not babies for long........"

2010-05-27T09:28:00.008+01:00

Click the photo to enlarge and see the chick

One of the first things I do in the morning is pop into the greenhouse to make sure everything's alright. This robin chick had moved to the top of the nest, the spot where mummy robin perched in the evenings. I took a quick photo and left. Before I went out yesterday, I checked the greenhouse again and there on the ground was the chick, looking up at me with its bright little eyes and taking a few tentative hops backwards. After a gasp of delight I backed out of the greenhouse, leaving only the smallest of gaps in the door so that no cats or larger birds could get in.

I couldn't wait to get home later to get another glimpse of the chick and mabye peep into the nest again to see how many were left. I did see the chick but when I looked into the nest there were no babies there at all! I'd assumed this was the first chick to leave the nest when, in fact, it's the last. Both parents are still frantically busy taking food into the greenhouse so the chicks must be sheltering in various 'hidey-holes', which is a relief as they should be safe in there till they're ready to fly properly in the big world outside. No more dashing in and out of the greenhouse for me and the dogs are barred out for now.

It doesn't seem like two minutes since I noticed the presence of the new family and now they've left the nest, soon to be fending for themselves. I'm going to leave the nest in place though, perched on top of the seed trays....... just in case they have a second brood. :)

Mummy Robin

Click the photo to enlarge and see mummy robin..... she is there, honest. :)

Updade: Robins' Nest & Baby Harry

2010-05-17T08:03:00.009+01:00

Mummy and Daddy Robin have chicks! A couple of days ago I peeped into the nest, standing on an upturned stone pot. Amidst that pile of leaves is a compact cup-shaped structure, but I couldn't see anything. Neither of the Robins were present and I wondered if there were eggs so I very gently reached into the nest. I felt something warm and soft, quickly withdrew my hand and up popped some little heads with beaks wide open. I don't know how many there were as I was too excited to stay long enough to count. I went running to the house to tell hubby that there were chicks in the nest only to be firmly rebuked for having felt inside it. He's right and I wont do it again now that I know there are babies there.

The Robin parents are on the go all day long, bringing food to the babies..... then in the early evening the female sits on the nest with them. I'm doing as little work in the greenhouse as possible so that they can get on with the feeding undisturbed. When I need to do potting on, etc. I have a table on the patio where I can work and catch glimpses of them flying in and out of the greenhouse window.

I said before that I wouldn't release Harry into the wild until he was at least the size of a Nasturtium seed. That time has come, so I've begun the process of hardening him off..... just like a plant. I think it would be too big a shock to his little system to put him outside after being in the warmth of the house for so long. I've been putting his jar outside during the day and bringing him in for the night. Gradually, I'll leave his jar out all night until I think he'll be accustomed to the temperatures outdoors, then I'll take him from his jar and find a safe place to leave him. Shouldn't I just keep him protected for a while longer..... until he's the size of a pea perhaps.... or an olive.... or a chestnut.... or a....... I knew this would happen!

Maternity wing in the potting shed!

2010-05-13T11:14:00.009+01:00

Click on the photo to enlarge ~ Mrs Robin is just to the right of the topmost tray. I altered the lighting of my camera in order to see her better as it's fairly dim in the shed.

Sorry about the pun but it's apt. Look what I discovered this morning..... mummy Robin in her nest! You have to click the picture to enlarge it so you can see her more clearly.

Why haven't I reported the nest in our shed before? To be honest, from below it just looks like a pile of leaves and, despite hubby's best efforts, there are lots of gaps (I call it ventilation) where leaves can be blown in. I had seen this 'pile of leaves' and not given it a second thought; they could have been arranged there in one clump 'Harry Potter style' for all I knew. Anyway, I just went about the daily business of sowing, pricking out and potting-on, unaware of the important events that were going on simultaneously.

Hubby and I had seen a Robin going in and out the greenhouse, via the open window, but we thought it was going in for insects. Then yesterday, while I was potting up some violet seedlings, I turned round for a pot and there was Robin with a grub in his beak. He wasn't taking food from the greenhouse, but bringing it in. That's when I realised he was obviously feeding something...... I may not be very observant but I'm not entirely thick. :D

I abandoned my potting-up activity and watched the goings-on from behind the patio window. When Robin entered the greenhouse, he was in for about 12 seconds. He was gone for about 1 1/2 minutes before returning again and this went on constantly for as long as I made my observations, and longer I expect.

I couldn't fight the urge to have a closer look, so this morning I carried a chair down to the shed to stand on. There, amongst the leaves was Mrs Robin sitting still and quiet, her dark bright eyes just feet away from mine. I'd seen this particular Robin before because her red markings struck me as unusual. We all know that Robins have a red breast but this Robin's red pullover goes right over her face! Because of the richness of its colouring, I had assumed this to be the male. Now I know it's the female ...... and sitting on eggs!

Encountering our 'neighbours' in the potting shed was one of those moments that make life seem so worthwhile. Joy like this can't be bought but is freely given. Cheers Mother Nature, I owe you one!

This is what the nest looks like from ground level, with normal lighting. Thank goodness I didn't get round to tidying up all those pots and trays!

Durham Botanic Gardens

2010-05-09T23:13:00.007+01:00

Living in beautiful County Durham we're very lucky to have an excellent botanic garden nearby. It's about a half-hour drive from our home, so on Saturday off we went.

Cherry blossom rain
Showering me in swathes of pink
I feel like a bride

(me ~ May, 2010)

In the scree garden there's a beautiful clump of gentian. The colour is amazing! There is a distinct lack of blue flowers in our garden. I need to sow some gentian seeds.

I zoomed my camera in on this little fella sitting on a bough about twelve feet or so above us. He was giving it rock all, singing his little heart out in accompaniment to another robin on a nearby tree. He's obviously used to people, as passers-by didn't distract him at all. By the look on his face I wonder what he's thinking, as me, hubby and daughter gaze up at him. :)

This is a new development since our last visit and I can see it's going to be one of my favourite parts of the garden...... a beautiful woodland walk by the stream, a place where you can wander peacefully away from the busier more crowded areas. We did meet this family though..... Mr and Mrs Duck, possibly searching for their offspring.

...... could this be her? Mary the duckling, basking in the afternoon sunshine. See if you can spot her when you visit the Botanics at Durham. :)

Who lives in a house like this?

2010-05-03T08:04:00.008+01:00

I was doing some planting down at the bottom of the garden near the old stone sheds. Engrossed in a little world of my own, I became aware of a bee that was going in and out of the ivy that covers one of the sheds. My first thought was that perhaps there was a bees nest there. Do bees nest in ivy on walls? When it finally left I peeped into where it had been investigating, to find this tiny immaculate 'self-build' tucked firmly in between the branches of the ivy. Not cup-shaped but about six inches deep, it's made mostly of moss with an entrance about two and a half inches wide. I didn't want to hover round it for long, but parted the ivy slightly to get a photograph, making sure to leave it as it had been.... perfectly hidden in the greenery. I would never have noticed the tiny nest had it not been for the inquisitive bee.

I'm not entirely sure but I think it's probably a blue-tit's nest. I'm hoping one of the experienced birders can help me out here. Nearby is a Weeping Birch tree where the blue-tits like to pick off the caterpillars and eat the seeds. The wall where the nest is, is not visible from the house so I haven't noticed any comings and goings.....my conclusion is guesswork. I'm not even sure if it's a new nest or one left over from a previous season but, thinking back, we did enjoy the company of baby blue-tits last Spring.

Whatever the situation, it was a joy to see this tiny skilled piece of engineering and it reminded me how wonderful the works of nature are. To put it in a nutshell, it made my day!

All nicely covered up again

Benji, Beatrix Potter and naughty seedlings!

2010-04-26T08:32:00.006+01:00

This is my mini 'Beatrix Potter' garden. New additions are the houseleeks and sedum in the watering-can and some lovely Saxifrage (Arendsii pink) just beneath it. The canes are ready to support the Runner Beans when they're big enough to plant out. This little part of the garden isn't doing too badly considering the treatment it gets from the dogs, which you can see in the photograph below.

Benji Bigfoot chilling out. Does he think he's under an umbrella? The clown!

Aquilegia McKana, one of my favourite garden flowers. I love everything about them.... the ferny delicacy of the leaves, the pretty nodding flowers and the pastel shades are a dream.

Another of my favourite garden plants is the herb Angelica. It's a statuesque plant that can grow up to 6 feet or more. It produces many umbels of tiny frothy creamy-white flowers and the leaves are large and lush. It also is generous in self-seeding and sometimes the seedlings turn up in the funniest of places........

Tee-hee!

A Match made in Heaven

2010-04-21T17:16:00.005+01:00

When Emily, our female cockatiel died, poor Edmund (her partner) was inconsolable. We wanted to see how he would settle on his own, as we hadn't planned on getting any more pets, but as the week went on he became more distraught. It was heartbreaking (and ear-shattering!) listening to his anxious shouting from morning till night. He even looked depressed... or at least what I imagine a depressed bird to look like. Afraid that he couldn't go on for much longer in his vulnerable emotional state, we made up our minds that Edmund needed a new wife...... and soon!

Edmund (right) ~ Crystal (left)

...... and here is the happy couple. Edmund's new wife is called Crystal. She's gorgeous with large bright eyes and rich orange cheeks, she's healthy and robust, cheeky and curious.

Advertisements in local papers and internet searches yielded no results so, in a panic, I went running to a friend of ours who acquires abandoned and poorly animals. She's well-known to the RSPCA who frequently ask her to foster animals. I should have gone to Hilda first.... she had not only one cockatiel, but three! Good old Hilda! After selecting the one she thought would most suit Edmund, we got to bring Crystal home and...... it was love at first sight. As soon as Edmund sensed the presence of a female, his depression disappeared and a renewed interest in life came to the fore..... and when he saw her he thought he'd died and gone to Heaven! I have to admit that some hanky panky took place that very first day.

Crystal, sporting a sassy Jedward hairsyle

John and Edward aka Jedward

Eleanor's advice, from Cockatiel Cottage, was that if we got another bird to put it in quarantine for a month. My apologies to Eleanor for not following this instruction but we were unsure if Edmund would physically last that long and Hilda assured us that Crystal was healthy, so we had to take a chance on it. Thankfully, Edmund and Crystal appear to be happy together and peace in the household has been restored.

Goodnight Emily

2010-04-03T19:42:00.000+01:00

About 7 years ago hubby took some rubbish to the local council tip. Someone had left 6 cockatiels in a dirty old cage; four of them were so poorly they had to be humanely destroyed and hubby brought home the remaining two. Daughter named them Emily (left) and Edmund (right). This photograph was taken a few of months after they came to live with us; they're both looking much better than they had done and have a gleaming new cage.

Sadly Emily died today after being ill for the last two days. She'd never been a particularly bonny or robust bird. Where Edmund's eyes are large and bright, Emily's were small and bleary and her orange 'cheeks' weren't as pronounced as Edmund's. I guessed that poor Emily would go before Edmund but it's still very sad that she's gone, especially as she was eating and drinking well up until two days ago. That's the thing with birds..... once they succumb to an illness, it takes them very quickly.

Although Em wasn't very pretty, she gave us many laughs and she stood no nonsense from Edmund. Quite often, when he got frisky, she'd give him a good clout with her beak and he'd scuttle off to the other end of the perch. The funniest thing was their first Christmas with us..... they musn't ever have seen Christmas tree lights and when we switched ours on, the crests on their heads shot up and the look of amazement on their little faces was priceless. :O)

I'm feeling sad tonight but no doubt my attention will be on Edmund tomorrow when he starts looking for Emily again.

Our animal companions bring so much pleasure but it's so hard to bear when they leave us.

Horticultural rarities

2010-04-01T09:07:00.000+01:00

Lucky for me my husband is acquainted with someone in the plant breeding business. This person works for a large firm of garden bulb suppliers and it's his job, along with his colleagues, to develop new and novel Spring bulbs. Hubby managed to get some bulbs for me, three in all. They're still being trialed and, therefore, not on sale to the public yet so hubby had to pay a fair bit for them, though not as much as he would have had to if it wasn't for his friend. I was given these bulbs last Autumn on my birthday and have been tending them with all the loving care I could muster. I'm thrilled to bits with the results. They're very beautiful, as you can see.

Narcissus spiral nebula pink bobby dazzler

This is absolutely gorgeous. I especially like the blue frill round the corona (the trumpet-shaped cup in the middle of the flower). Although I've got this planted in the garden, it's well protected with a home-made wire cage; I'd be in floods of tears if the dogs were to tread on it, especially Benji Big Foot! Hubby paid £75 for this bulb so I wasn't taking any chances of inciting his wrath.

Galanthus cosmic constellation pink perfection

This is my favourite. I've always loved the delicacy of snowdrops and the introduction of pink seems to set it off for me. It's a truly feminine flower, but I'm sure it will be a hit with all the gentlemen too. As you can see from the photograph, it really stands out amongst its white relations and you can imagine how it would look in a snow-covered landscape. Hubby paid £50 for this bulb and a real bargain too!

Crocus megacosm galactic cluster pink starburst

What a cracker! Because of its frailty this one is safely tucked away in the greenhouse, unheated of course as I don't want the petals to fall like a dud firework after waiting so long to see the bloom. I can imagine that when the trials are over, this crocus will become really popular and will well and truly live up to its name as it graces lawns in pink starbursts of megacosmic glory! Another snatch at £50 for the bulb. I wonder what they will cost when they go on the market.

So I'm a happy little Easter bunny just now and I just had to share these horticultural treasures with you........ but don't spread it around in case hubby gets into serious trouble and his friend would no doubt lose his job.

Benji Big Foot

A little borrowed soil.......

2010-03-23T08:42:00.000Z

(click to enlarge)

This is a view of the gardens in our street. It's a long row of houses which were built for local coalminers in the 1880s. There was no pebble-dashing then.... or conservatories, just modest little brick houses with the barest of amenities. At the bottom of the gardens, where the Poplar trees are, was the railway line which ran from Bishop Auckland to Durham. The railway line closed in the 1960s and is now a footpath and cycle route, and is very popular.

(click to enlarge)

This is the same view when there was a beautiful hoar frost (and an ugly satelite dish!).

(click to enlarge)

Here is our little borrowed patch of land. I say 'borrowed' because it is never truly ours. In fact I find it comforting to think of all the people who enjoyed (or possibly didn't) this garden for the last 130 years and will continue to do so for however long the house remains standing. It gives a sense of continuity.

(click to enlarge)

..... and here we are amongst the greenery, the garden transformed from the skeletal beauty of Winter. The lush growth of the plants and trees block most of the outside view and, for a while, our lives seem to run parallel with the non-human creatures that live here too. We are contained together in privacy and peace in 'our' shared territory.

(click to enlarge)

Here's the 'Multi-species Diner'. Everything that grows here feeds birds and insects..... and we even get some of it too. We don't mind sharing the crops with other creatures; we all live in this little borrowed patch of land and it makes us very happy.

Mother's Day

2010-03-13T21:04:00.000Z

Sunday, 14th March is 'Mother's Day' in the UK. It is a special day for marking the love and respect we feel towards our own mother. It is also a fitting time to celebrate the beauty and richness of the mother of all ~ Mother Earth.

Tennessee Mountains, USA

Earth mother, star mother,

You who are called by

a thousand names,

May all remember

we are cells in your body

and dance together.

You are the grain

and the loaf

That sustains us each day,

And as you are patient

with our struggles to learn

So shall we be patient

with ourselves and each other.

We are radiant light

and sacred dark

- the balance -

You are the embrace that heartens

And the freedom beyond fear

Within you we are born

we grow, live, and die -

You bring us around the circle

to rebirth,

Within us you dance

Forever.

(Starhawk)

Ireland

"I am of the family of the universe, and with all of us together I do not fear being alone; I can reach out and touch a rock or a hand or dip my feet in water. Always there is some body close by, and when I speak I am answered by a plane's roar or the bird's whistling or the voices of others in conversation far apart from me. When I lie down to sleep, I am in the company of the dark and the stars.

Breathe to me, sheep in the meadow. Sun and moon, my father and my father's brother, kiss me on the brow with your light. My sister, earth, hold me up to be kissed. Sun and moon, I smile at you both and spread my arms in affection and lay myself down at full length for the earth to know I love it too and am never to be separated from it. In no way shall death part us."

(David Ignatow)

Loch Garry, Scotland

There is religion in everything around us,

A calm and holy religion

In the unbreathing things in Nature.

It is a meek and blessed influence,

Stealing in as it were unaware upon the heart,

It comes quickly, and without excitement,

It has no terror, no gloom,

It does not rouse up the passions,

It is untrammelled by creeds.....

It is written on the arched sky,

It looks out from every star,

It is on the sailing cloud and in the invisible wind,

It is among the hills and valleys of the earth

Where the shrubless mountain-top pierces the thin atmosphere of eternal winter,
Or where the mighty forest fluctuates before the strong wind,

With its dark waves of green foliage,

It is spread out like a legible language upon the broad face of an unsleeping ocean,

It is the poetry of Nature,

It is that which uplifts the spirit within us.....

And which opens to our imagination a world of spiritual beauty

and holiness.

(John Ruskin)

The Rocky Mountains

Grant me the ability to be alone,

May it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grasses,

among all growing things

and there may I be alone,

and enter into prayer

to talk with the one

that I belong to.

(Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav)

St. John's Chapel, Weardale, England

O our mother the earth, O our father the sky,

Your children are we, and with tired backs

We bring you gifts that you love.

Then weave for us a garment of brightness;

May the warp be the white light of the morning,

May the weft be the red light of evening,

May the fringes be the falling rain,

May the border be the standing rainbow.

Thus weave for us a garment of brightness

That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,

O our mother the earth, O our father the sky!

(Tewa Pueblo Prayer)

Baby Harry Update

2010-03-08T08:43:00.000Z

Harry's luxury apartment

John from 'Sedgedunum Warbler' (visit his blog here) was enquiring after Harry's health so I thought this was a good time to do an update. The little chap is thriving. You can see his temporary home in the photo above, on the shelf in my computer room (aka spare room) amongst all the little knick-knacks that don't belong anywhere else.

Harry has a shallow layer of compost in his jar that he can burrow in if he wants. In the wild, snails need to burrow for various reasons, e.g. to lay their eggs, to avoid predators and to keep out of the heat, etc. I've been renewing the compost regularly and also gently spraying the sides of the jar with lukewarm water to keep Harry's home slightly humid and comfortable for him.

I have to make sure that the pieces of food that I put in for him are cut thinly so as not to crush him! He has a slice of cucumber just now which I'll replace today with some apple. The most important thing Harry will need while he's lodging with us is cuttlefish. He needs this for the calcium it will provide to help his shell grow big and strong, and for his general health. In the wild, snails get calcium and other minerals from the soil.

The man himself, fast asleep

Here's Harry fast asleep on the side of his jar...... and when I glanced round, he'd woke up. The little black squiggle near his tail is snail poop, perhaps the reason for his arousal from sleep! :O)

Good morning Harry

"Where's me grub?"

...... and here he is speeding towards the cucumber. This will provide him with both food and water.

Baby Harry will stay with us until he's a toddler and much bigger than he is now. By that time the early morning frosts should have gone and he can be introduced to the great outdoors. I will need to find a safe place to put him where he wont be trampled on or spotted by a Thrush..... but that's a while off yet and, meanwhile, it's lovely to have another gastropod guest. It brings back fond memories of Henry.

He's still breakfasting on the cucumber...... that's ma boy! :D

Meet Harry, the baby Gastropod

2010-02-23T17:02:00.000Z

Harry

Earlier this afternoon I tidied and trimmed the foliage on one of the plants in our kitchen. As I began to wipe the worktop I noticed this little fella. Thank goodness I did or he would have been one squashed little gastropod! That's not my finger pointing to him in the photo by the way.... it's a slice of carrot with bits of compost sticking to it. :O) The plant I had been tidying was one I'd grown myself from seed so I think little Harry must have hatched from an egg in the compost. I'll have to keep a sharp look-out for lots of other little Harry's! After escaping a grizzly death, there was no way I could put him outside in the freezing cold, with the remnants of this week's snow still evident and an impending night frost. The little soul measures less than a centimetre long. So he's now safely ensconced in a jam-jar with some compost to bury himself in, bits of carrots and cucumber to eat and, don't worry, I put lots of miniscule air holes in the lid to keep his oxygen supply fresh. I'll look after him until the weather is milder and it's safe to put him outside. I'll have to harden him off like a plant!

Red Clover, Self-heal & Bird's-foot-trefoil

Not so long ago I got some wildflower seeds. I set these ones away on the 9th of February and it didn't take them long to germinate after having spent a few days in the propagator. Below are photos (taken from the web) of how they will look in flower.

Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)

This is a beautiful perennial wildflower and a member of the Mint family. It was once used as a herbal remedy for throat complaints because it is aromatic and astringent. In fact, it became known as Self-heal because people once believed it was a holy herb able to cure all sorts of diseases in humans and animals. It's a common meadow flower and the plants I raise will be planted in our lawn to add colour and to provide food for bees and butterflies.

Bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)

Another common perennial wildflower (a member of the Pea family), Bird's-foot-trefoil got its name because, after flowering, the seed pods are arranged in a bird's foot pattern. It is also known as 'bacon and eggs', represented by the vivid orange and yellow of its flowers. It provides abundant nectar, each flower supplying enough for several visits for foraging bees, butterflies and other insects. This little plant will also go into our lawn, but on the edges where it will not be smothered by the grass as it is not a competitive plant.

Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)

Red clover is also a member of the Pea family, a perennial and is a good provider of food for bees, butterflies and other insects. This plant wont go in my lawn as it grows up to 2 feet tall (60 cms). I have white clover for that purpose. The red will be planted in groups round the garden where we can easily see them and where we can hear the buzzing of all the bees that are going to visit. The leaves can be added to salads as they contain Vitamins C and B, Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, Selenium, Chlorine and Calcium so it's a good all-round plant to have for the benefits and beauty.

So that's what I've been up to and now I'd better check on baby Harry!

Ghostly goings-on in the garden.... I don't think so!

2010-02-16T21:56:00.000Z

"Rose Red"

aka Thornewood Castle Inn and Gardens, Lakewood, Washington, USA

Rose Red Mansion

Click here for the beautiful soundtrack

Last weekend I watched a dvd called 'Rose Red'. It's a film based on the novel, "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer" by Ridley Pearson. Stephen King wrote the script for the film. Briefly, it's about a psychology professor who is obsessed with the house and wishes to awaken it from it's sleep and get scientific proof, at the same time, that ghosts exist. She gathers together a group of psychics, each possessing a different paranormal talent, to help her in her mission. Having been directed by Stephen King, you can imagine the scrapes they get into. And that's putting it mildly! This was right up my street... hauntingly beautiful background music, a house that makes Wuthering Heights look like a funfair attraction and a gothic garden that would turn Ozzy Osbourne green with envy.

Having enjoyed the story I was intrigued to find out where it had been filmed. The location was Thornewood Castle Inn, Washington, USA and if I had expected to happen upon a house with the same dark foreboding as Rose Red, I couldn't have been more wrong. The house, of course, is stunning and I can easily see how it could be temporarily transformed into Rose Red. I'm not sure what I expected to find when I followed the link to Thornewood.... statuary that comes to life? Triffids? Shadows with no substance? What I found was a beautiful house with glorious gardens.

Thornewood Castle Inn

Thornewood Castle Inn is a popular venue for weddings. The gardens provide a heavenly setting.

Aha! Some statuary...... but more cheeky than chilling. And a duck. :)

The English Sunken Garden

It was interesting to read some of the history of Thornewood. Materials had been salvaged from buildings dismantled from various parts of Europe and the UK. It's ironic to think that if I was to make a visit, I'd have to save up a couple of thousand pounds when, originally, a large part of the mansion once stood in England. I think this is what you call Sod's law!

Visit Thornewood here.

Blooms and Beasties Crafts

2010-02-10T10:38:00.000Z

As far as the garden goes it's in a transitional stage. In the propagator there are pots of seeds just about to spring to life (the seeds, not the pots!). There are no jobs needing done at the moment..... I prune the roses at the end of February, all tidying up will wait until the warmer weather and the only digging I ever do is when I'm planting something big. I'm a member of the 'no-dig brigade'. I prefer to let all the underground beasties do the work, such as breaking up the soil and aerating it. So I'm posting some garden-related crafts that I thought would be fun to make.

Loveworm Bookmark

Here's the ideal gift to make for someone you love this Valentine's Day..... and make one for yourself too! Click here for instructions.

Fuchsia Earrings

I'm definitely going to have a go at making these. Fuchsias are one of my favourite flowers. This could also be adapted into a pendant or a bookmark, using one of those silver/silver plated hooks. Go here for instructions.

Daisy Friendship Bracelet

This is sweet and very simple to make. Click here for instructions.

Rock Talisman Necklace

I like this because it's a nice way of keeping a special stone or pebble close to you. Here's the instructions.

..... and just to end with.....this made me smile

Ooooops!

I took this from the bedroom window a few days ago. These are our 'resident' collared doves. I'm thinking the one on the lower branch should get himself a hat! :O)

February pretending to be November

2010-02-04T09:28:00.000Z

(image~ stock photo from web)

Well that's we Brits grumbling and moaning again! We thought we'd seen the last of the snow that was here for weeks but over the past couple of days it's come back and it's as cold as ever. Ah well, we wouldn't be true Brit if we didn't complain a little, especially about the weather. It didn't help that our central heating boiler began playing up, leaving us without heating and hot water. Ma little tootsies were numb and eyes a'bleary. But the heating firm was very good and came out and fixed it......... in the evening!

Looking out at the world today, it seems more like November than February. Everything is shrouded in mist and a covering of snow. There are jobs I could be doing in the garden such as tidy the potting shed but I don't want to disturb any hibernating creatures that may be in there.... it's not an excuse, honest. We had a hedgehog ambling about the garden late Autumn and he could be tucked up fast asleep amongst the plant pots and shredded paper. After my blunder last year with the family of frogs, I'm leaving well alone. And what about all the spiders and other wee beasties that shelter in the greenhouse and under branches and stones..... nope, the tidying up can wait until we're well into Spring. Everything should be wakening up then and I'll have an easy conscience.

Don't think I'm sitting around looking at gardening catalogues all day.... no, I'm still being kept busy feeding the waiting birds at regular intervals throughout the day and our Deppy's too, re-filling the birdbath, reading Stephen King, vacuuming, reading Stephen King, dusting, reading Stephen King, studying my Open University course (just in cast my tutor's looking in!)..... and reading the latest Stephen King novel that hubby bought me (I've either done something wonderful to deserve that or he's harbouring plans that need my approval. I'm not sure yet which it is).

Our Bob

Here's one boy who isn't complaining about the snow. This is our fifteen-year-old Bob. Just lately he's becoming a bit reluctant to go on his walks and he doesn't want to go far before returning home, but he's like a pup when it's snowing. He loves it! So he's a happy chappy just now.

...... a couple of cheering quotes:

"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of Winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream."
Barbara Winkler

"Surely as cometh the Winter, I know

There are Spring violets under the snow."

R.H. Newell

And now I'm off to read some Stephen King!

And I said, "No more pets!" Huh!

2010-01-28T12:14:00.000Z

It looks like my plans for a wormery is about to be put into action. Reading the latest edition of Permaculture Magazine (click here to see mag), there's a link to a wonderful do-it-yourself homemade wormery that even my budget can run to. The shopping list consists of a few plastic boxes, a water butt tap, some old newspaper and a drill. The species of worms to introduce to your wormery are Brandlings and can be bought at fishing tackle shops, but I've found they are naturally attracted to compost bins so I'm going to vacate some from there into their new home, where they will be well and truly spoiled with all sorts of tasty tit-bits.

Here's the link for the d-i-y wormery. The instructions are very easy to follow, in fact I think..... no, I know I will be able to make this myself without hubby's help. There are clear drawings, diagrams and a sweet little cartoon piccy of a worm.

We have.....

No bones

No shells

No teeth, as well ~

No lips, no beaks

No chins, no cheeks

No horns, no claws

No talons, jaws

No legs, no wings....

No fancy things

Like fins or scales,

Or fluffy tails

Or blubber like the big blue whales.

We're soft

We're small

Not much at all.

We're nondescript ~

But we're equipped

To eat your dirt.

It doesn't hurt

Us.... not a bit.

In fact,

We like the taste of it.

We toil in soil.

We've got true grit!

by Elaine Magliaro

Wanted to share with you

2010-01-17T17:15:00.000Z

The Rookery in Winter at dusk

Spider Tribe's Bardic Blog

I've recently begun following this blog and the poetry of the participating members is an absolute joy. It's well worth a read. 'Urban Dusk' by Claire is the most recent post. I think it's incredible. Amy Claire Rose also writes poetry for the blog. She is extremely talented and I had to look twice at her age..... 12 years! Click here to read their poetry.

Jackdaws and Rooks

Crows

Stunning artwork by Lemon Street Gallery

I'm a recovering Scoleciphobic.....

2010-01-15T22:38:00.000Z

Scoleciphobia is the fear of worms and it seems damned unfair that someone destined to become a gardener should be born with or have developed this affliction! It's true..... from as early as I can remember the sight of a worm has caused all sorts of reactions like trembling and panic attacks. I used to hate having to walk to school when it was raining and the pavements were covered with worms. You can imagine the hilarity this generated amongst my friends and, especially, my older brother who chased me round the garden one day threatening to put a poor worm down my blouse! I took refuge in the bathroom and stayed behind the locked door for almost an hour.

You'd have thought my father would have known better...... I used to spend most days in the garden with my dad from being a toddler. I have a vivid memory of me happily playing with some mud and a bucket and spade when, in amazement, dad turned round, "Look at the size of this!" Of course, he was chortling with laughter as he held a monster of a worm about six inches from my face. I ran in the house screaming and mum gave dad the riot act.

"Ye'll make her ill, ya stupit buggar!" (mum's from Glasgow)

I grew up loving being outdoors and cultivating the little plot that my parents allowed me to have all to myself, but many gardening activities were halted when confronted by an innocent worm. When I think about it now, it's incredible how I've continued to enjoy gardening and how I didn't give it up altogether at an early age. In fact, it's downright puzzling. For a scoleciphobic, I'd have thought the natural route to take was avoidance.

Anyway, thank goodness I didn't shun my life in the garden, along with all the earthworms I would encounter throughout my life. In fact, slowly...... very slowly, I have come to accept their presence. I can look at one without running indoors. I can even hold one, as long as it's not too big! I suppose I have controlled the phobia myself by exposure therapy, but it took an awfully long time.

I even rescued one a few years ago from being run over on the road. I was taking my daughter to school and on the path was one of the biggest worms I'd ever seen. No way could I pick that one up, but it was heading towards the busy main road! I waved daughter off at the school gate, hurried home and returned with a trowel and carrier bag. I didn't dare look to see if anyone was watching or I would have chickened out with embarrassment. After scooping it into the carrier bag, I carried it home and put it into the safety of the compost bin.

Having my phobia under control is wonderful because I have begun to enjoy seeing the worms while gardening and welcoming their presence. There's nothing stopping me now..... my next step is...... a wormery!

Dandelion days......

2010-01-12T11:26:00.000Z

dandelion

My favourite part of the garden isn't where the roses grow, or the lilies and irises. It's not even the herb or vegetable patch. It's a small section set aside for wildflowers. There's ivy sprawling over a rotting tree trunk, bright blue speedwell, plantain and dandelions. It makes good groundcover for the creatures that live in the garden. Often, while strolling down the path in the Summer, I've caught sight of a frog sheltering from the sun under the ivy leaves.

This year I want to add more groundcover and introduce wildflowers into other sections of the garden, even under the roses, irises and lilies! Wildflowers are so pretty. I love to see patches of speedwell growing in a lawn and masses of golden dandelions. I have to admit to feeling deflated when the local council comes along with their mowers, leaving sqares of uniform green instead of the cheery yellow blooms.

Clover is another favourite. The scent of white clover is as intoxicating as a lily and red clover reminds me of my childhood, when my friends and I would search for what seemed like hours for the illusive four leaved plant.

red clover

I was delighted to come across an eBay seller who's offering wildflower seeds and sedum plug plants at bargain prices. Click here to see her items. I now have some fantastic plug plants nestling in the propagator and red clover, white clover, birds-foot-trefoil, dandelion and self-heal seeds to set away. Mind you, the dandelions aren't just for the wildlife...... they're also for our salads and I'm planning on making dandelion wine . Hubby doesn't drink but I like wine and if I make it from dandelions then I could possibly convince him it really is for my health.

Sedum cauticola

Sedum spurium

Sedum weihnstephaner gold

"Blessings on thy sunny face,

In my heart thou hast a place,

Humble Dandelion!"

Helen M. Johnson

Dream on!

2010-01-04T19:18:00.000Z

Today the first seed catalogue of 2010 popped into our mailbox. It was lovely to browse through it with a nice cup of tea while outside the UK is still blanketed in snow. It set me off daydreaming about plants I'd like to grow this gardening season. Here are some of them.

(photograph courtesy of Unwin Seeds)

This is Sweet Pea 'Oxford Blue'. Last Summer we grew Sweet Peas, as we do most years, but there were no blue ones amongst them. They were all varying shades of pink. Hopefully this year I'll be able to enjoy the exquisite scent. My sense of smell was just returning at the end of last year after losing it because of a chest infection. Sweet Peas are remarkable flowers. For the cost of a packet of seeds they're easy to germinate and will produce fantastic flowers all Summer long. They look beautiful in the garden, are good cut flowers and most of them are scented. You can't get much better value than that!

(photograph courtesy of The Telegraph Newspaper)

I've been talking for a few years now about making a 'green roof' so maybe this is the year to go ahead. A green roof consists of sedums, small succulent plants that are able to grow in inhospitable conditions...... like on a roof! :O) There are all sorts of reasons why people want to grow this feature...... retaining heat, sound insulation, a habitat for wildlife and simply because it looks pretty and makes a good talking point. We have two old sheds at the bottom of the garden which would benefit from a sedum garden and, after having read this article, there are many other exciting and novelty ideas to consider.

(photo courtesy of Marketworks.com)

I've always enjoyed dried figs but tasted fresh ones for the first time last Summer when our local fruit & veg man got some in..... he's getting very adventurous, bless his little cotton socks! I loved the fresh ones and was very surprised to learn that they can be grown in the UK, in a sunny spot. So I'm going to get a couple of plants to grow on our patio which gets the full blast of the Sun throughout the Summer.

(photograph courtesy of Thompson & Morgan Seeds)

This is Runner Bean 'Painted Lady'. Last Summer we grew 'Scarlet Emperer'. They did well and produced a heavy harvest of beans right up until the first frosts. We've grown painted lady in the past and I'd like to grow them again because their two-tone flowers of orange and white are so pretty. I'd also like to try Runner Bean 'White Lady' whose flowers are......... erm, white.

(what.....edited? as if!)

Now this is one flower I would LOVE to be the first to grow. Unfortunately my knowledge of plant breeding is minimal, but if I could come up with a yellow fuchsia then there would be no need to buy my weekly lottery ticket ever again! Ah well, like I said...... I was only daydreaming. :)

2009-12-31T21:04:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

Yew (Taxus baccata)

( Click to enlarge)

This is the beautiful and majestic Yew tree that stands in the grounds of Saint Paul's church at Hunwick, a village about two miles from where I live now. My parents were married in this church, my brother and I were christened in it and many family funerals have taken place here. In fact, that was the reason for my visit today, to lay wreaths on the graves of family members.

It was bitterly cold but the church and the cemetery looked gorgeous amidst the swirling snow . In the older part of the cemetery, round the church, there are lots of very old trees and the blackbirds were poking about in the undergrowth for unsuspecting (probably sleeping) insects.

I'm smiling to myself as you'll probably wonder why I've put the heading, 'Happy New Year' with a photo of gravestones underneath! I wasn't taking a photo of the stones, interesting as they are, but of the Yew tree that stands sentinel to the church. To pagan civilisations, especially the Celts, Yew trees were (and still are) regarded as a sacred tree. To the Celts it's magical and a means of connecting to the otherworld, to ancestors gone before. It's no accident that churches stand next to a Yew tree and in many cases, a circle of Yew trees, a Druid grove. The trees often existed long before the church was built, planted there by members from ancient faiths.

The Yew is a tree symbolic of healing, transformation, death and rebirth ....... and so I find it an appropriate symbol for the beginning of a whole new year. Here is a beautiful passage written by Glennie Kindred:

"The knowledge we gain from the Yew makes it an extremely important tree for healing. It can help us overcome our fear of our own death and, by freeing us from this fear, bring us a greater stillness in our lives. Death heralds the end of something. It may be a physical death, or the death of our old selves, an old way of life or an old way of looking at things. Each end, each death, is a new beginning, hope, future and transformation. Sometimes things need to end or die before the new can begin, and understanding rebirth always requires seeing beyond our limitations."

To read more Glennie's words, click here.

The beautiful gates at the side entrance to Saint Paul's Church, Hunwick, County Durham

(Click to enlarge)

Wishing you Happiness, Health and Prosperity!

Blooms and Beasties

Another year ahead!

Tribute to Charlie

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Jack's gone 'home'.

Flora ......... and, er, um.... little Jack.

"Hey, whatcher lookin' at?!"

Too late for rehabilitation?

Just checking in to let you all know that........

Not about sparrows this time. :D

Update on baby sparrow

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Save Our Forests!

My mum...........

Gathering Moss by Dr Robin Wall Kimmerer

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In the attic.....

Whooooohooooooo, I feel good!

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Happy New Year!

In praise of........

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Walking in a Winter Wonderland

See you soon.....

A Nostalgic Farewell

I'm a versatile blogger - Ethelmae says so!

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Slugs!

Tidying and pottering

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Benji's Invalid Ramp

Garden art ......... and architecture

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A Bowl of Flowers

Beverley Nichols

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.........down at the bottom of the garden.

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"Aye pet, they're not babies for long........"

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Who lives in a house like this?

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A little borrowed soil.......

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*Baby Harry Update*

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February pretending to be November

And I said, "No more pets!" Huh!

Wanted to share with you

I'm a recovering Scoleciphobic.....

Dandelion days......

Dream on!

Baby Harry Update