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Season Starting 2009 (part II)
Posted: 02 Mar 2009 Posted: 01 Mar 2009 Posted: 25 Feb 2009 Posted: 20 Aug 2008 Posted: 16 Aug 2008 All Entries |
sharon mc's Blog
Season Starting 2009 (part II)
Category: Gardening 2008 | Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:32 pm I forgot to say in my most recent blog entry, that I've been trying to hard to make my grotty blue plastic pond AKA my 'environmental area' :) more attractive to both us and to any potential wildlife by incorporating levels of slate, stone and fallen logs. Anyway, this is the result! [img] 
I think it's a little more attractive; well, from this view anyway! And hopefully, the logs will provide cooling shade for frogs and other creatures which, I am hoping, will help to demolish the resident slug population. I haven't seen any frog spawn anywhere yet; probably too early in the year but if necessary, I will advertise online on the local UK 'Freecycle' sites for any donations from ponds which may have enough to spare me a small amount, to try to get a colony established.[/img] This blog entry has been viewed 438 times
Season Starting: 2009
Category: Gardening 2008 | Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 5:35 pm It's been a truly beautiful day here today; once the early morning mist and cloud passed over, the sun came out and it was really easy to believe that spring was on it's way although according to the Countryfile forecast, we are in for another cold snap during the next week. There are signs of life in the garden although they are currently few and far between. The boat we use as a container has got some crocus and miniature iris hawing but the mini daffs are very late in showing themselves this year. [img] 
and some of the containers have got crocus coming up in them too but it's very slow in starting the season [/img] 
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Even the twisted hazel is only showing very few catkins, not that we're ungrateful for the ones it has produced [img] 
These little signs of life inspired me to start sowing some flower seeds but I was worried that any cold snap would kill them off in the greenhouse, so I had the idea of using a 'portable greenhouse'. You know the type? A set of shelves that has a polythene zip-up cover? I brought it in and put it into the bedroom, which faces south as I thought we'd have a better chance of maintaining a more regular temperature and although I only started very few, just in case of accident, I've got: Cherry Tomatos,some Confetti Mixed Petunias,some Sweet Peas called Firecrest, which are a really vivid orange and some unusual Dianthus that I saw in a catalogue, which are black and white. In addition to those, I did some Amaranthus called Autumn Pallet, which have really feathery flowers, a bit like Pampas Grasses and finally, some Carex, with the notoriously convoluted sowing instructions that I mentioned last year. With the exception of thes, everything else has started to show, which we're absolutely thrilled about; just hope that I can maintain there health until it's planting-out time, which lets face it, is ages yet! Up in the veg plot, 'Himself' was busy establishing some crowns of Rhubarb, which his Mum was kind enough to donate to us; they're on a layered bed of chicken manure; one of the few plants that can apparently tolerate the acidity of this without months of rotting down although the stuff we used is quite old, mixed in with some of 'Marley's' offerings and then built up into a layer of earth on top. [/img] 
We really hope that these take as we both love Rhubarb and apart from that, working on the checkout in the supermarket, I've been absolutely stunned to see the prices being charged for it. Honestly, £2.20 for about four thinnish stems...truly shocking! Next to those, we added some onion sets which again, we were donated by a friend and in an effort to protect them, we placed this old bit of meshed fence over them. [img] 
We really hope this works, as last year, we lost so much stuff from a variety of predators: pigeons, crows, magpies, mice and then rabbits and slugs, it was heartbreaking as well as being costly in both terms of time, effort and of course money. Speaking of which, I decided to make a sowing of broad beans two days ago and chose two sorts: the Sutton dwarf variety and another called Exhibition Long-Pod. To give them a good start, I did them in oversized modular trays rather than straight into the ground and left them outside for their watering to drain through. I realised later that night that we'd forgotten to put them into the potting shed but as it was a mild night, I didn't worry too much about it. The next morning though, birds, or perhaps mice, had dug up every single seed, more or less...I did uncover a couple where there weren't little holes dug out and I've put the whole lot into the potting shed to see of there are many left to come through but it just went to show us early on, just what we're up against, already! Last year, the only outdoor crops we had success with were: Sweetcorn, Potatoes and Broad Beans. Successive sowings of Beetroot, Broccoli, Carrots and Peas went missing or never actually appeared and of the 30+ Runner Bean plants we put out, plus a tray of a dozen or so that I was going to pass on to a friend, all got totally nibbled away and as for the brassica seedlings; they lasted less than 24 hours in the ground! Thankfully, we have the greenhouse and as well as the tomatos and salad that we had success with in there, this year we are hoping to add Sweet Peppers to the list...really, its just a case of knowing our limitations and / or. trying to add more protective features. Maybe a Scarecrow? And the rubber snake seemed to keep the beans safe last year, so we shall have to buy a few more from the £ shop in an attempt to protect stuff. Floating C.D.'s on strings proved little defence, so it's sticking with what we think will be ok, if this season is similar to the last; the Sweetcorn were gorgeous, so we're happy to give over plenty of space to those and the same with the spuds although we want to go with a heavier-cropping variety this year. Also, we're thinking of trying carrots and beetroot in containers, which we can wrap chicken-mesh around, to give more protection to and hopefully, the same with some runner beans too. Whatever we do, we're looking forward to it as following this long winter, a productive spring and summer...maybe even without the months of endless rain that the UK has endured the last two seasons would be truly fantastic![/img] This blog entry has been viewed 327 times
Chapters New
Category: Life & Stuff | Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:02 pm It's been an absolute age (6 months!) since I last did anything with this blog and during that time, we've endured one of the most sever winters for decades, here in the UK. It has to be said though, that the frosts and snow have been a really welcome relief from all the rain that's affected us whatever the season these last couple of years, so fingers crossed that we have an equally dry - or at least less wet - spring and summer. At the beginning of autumn, we were greatly saddened to lose one of our two dogs, our Collie-cross, Bricky. He was a great character and an excellent hunter; we certainly didn't see any rodents around the place, despite the poultry being renowned rat-magnets and he also helped to keep the endemic rabbit population down, too. He was also good at helping to guard the hens when they were free-ranging on the field. [img] 
Bricky's one 'vice' was to occasionally take hinself off for a walk around the local village and generally speaking, he had good road sense, keeping himself close to the verges. On the particular day that he died though, in late October, he was crossing the road below our track and got caught between too cars. Despite appearing outwardly unscathed, he was killed outright and so didn't suffer, for which we were very grateful. We had a call to say that a dog (possibly ours) had been hit and so were somewhat prepared; a lady had stopped in her car and wrapped him in a towel and 'Himself' brought him up as I was running down, fearing the worst. Despite our sense of shock...we were too stunned to cry at this point, we buried him within the hour, in one of the veg plots where he is now at peace and hopefully will continue to do good in future years as he returns to the earth and comes up roses - well, veggies :) - in future years. The strange thing was that despite the surprise summery weather that we had for the last weeks in October, the following day, after he was buried, the weather changed rapidly as we seemed to skip the end of autumn and rush straight into winter, as you can see from this picture of his grave. [/img] 
After that, the frosts set in and stayed and stayed and stayed; a good thing in a way as it killed off any remaining bugs from a wet and hunid growing season. It truly heralded a new start. Our other dog, 'Flapsy' missed her friend as much as we did although we gave her lots of extra fuss and took her out with us everytime we went anywhere, as we were reluctant to leave her on her own. Maybe we were guilty of projecting our own feelings onto her but I don't think any harm canme from it. [img] 
In the meantime, I was lucky enough to find a part-time job; not the easiest of tasks in such a rural area as this and especially not one so local to us but anyway, I joined the local Co-Operative store, sorting out all the daily, weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines and after a few weeks, progressed to working on the checkouts, something that I never thought I would have had the confidence to do. After a shaky start, when I was trying to learn the ropes over one of the busiest periods, Christmas, I finally got to grips with all the different aspects and really begun to enjoy it, especially the daily interaction with members of the public, many of whom were already familiar as this is quite a small place, in some respects, with a strong sense of community. It was a good move all round; truth to tell, I had begun to feel quite isolated here. It wasn't too bad during the spring and summer months, when we could be outside working on the flowers and veg, or pottering about generally but in thie winter months it was more difficult. Our static caravan, which is slowly being converted into a wooden-clad chalet can get claustraphobic when one is confined for days on end due to bad weather and that was sometimes difficult, causing both 'Himself'and I to feel extremely 'Cabin-Fevered'. [/img] 
A month ago, when we were at a bit of a loose end one day, we went down to the local monthly horse-mart, just for something to do. We stood watching the ponies and shetlands when I saw a pair of ears from a taller-looking beast, standing outside the gate, waiting to come into the ring. When he did, he wasn't led in or anything, just turfed out in front of the crowd; a slightly tatty-looking specicmen, which the auctioneer announced as being a Welsh Cob, Section D, 3 years old and expected to make 15 hands. He was quite thin looking, with a dull coat and although the price started highish, it went down quite quickly, due to an apparent lack of interest. At 360 guineas (a guinea being £1 and 5p, the old British shilling)he was literally "...going, going..." when I don't know what came over me but my hand just shot up in the air and my bid was accepted. None other was offered and suddenly he was ours for the equivalent of £399. I turned to 'Himself', slightly stunned at what had happened. "My God" I said "What have I done"? It wasn't that I regretted my actions; on the contrary, something about the horse had just seemed to reach out to me. Apart from the fact that I knew he had attained quite a low price, given what he had the potential to become. It was simply that although we had the facilites, i.e. a field of 3 acres, we didn't have any type of organisation i.e. fencing and that was a majot cause for concern. Also, we knew nothing of the horse's background, history or nature; we hadn't bought a catalogue as there had been absolutely no intention of us buying anything, anyway. We decided to leave him in a pen at the mart overnight and rushed home to try to arrange transportation for the following day. I was booked in for doing overtime at work and so couldn't get home before late afternoon but 'Himself' located a horsebox and met up with a friend of ours who keeps horses and after 20-odd minutes, they managed between them to attach a lead-rope onto the headcollar which I had bought in haste the previous afternoon. Surprisingly enough, 'Marl Benbra Boy' as he was named on his Welsh Cob passport was very easy to lead and load, once the lead rein was in place and when I got home from work, he was situated in the only secure place we had: our (albeit oversized) fenced chicken run, where he stayed for the next two nights. In the meantime, 'Himself' worked hard on clearing and partitioning a corner in his big workshed and with a 12' metal farm gate comprising the fourth side of this makeshift stable, we were able to bring 'Marley' in on the third day. [img] 
In total, he stayed in there for nearly three weeks. I did lead him around a little outside on a rope but was nervous as it's quite open here and I still knew nothing about his character and any potential problems. I consider myself a competent rider, in fact it's one of the few things that I pride myself on doing well but managemet is something I have limited exoerience of.. I took riding lessons between the ages of nine to thirteen and I was lucky to have a really excellent teacher; these weekly lessons were a gift from my sadly missed Nan, who loved horses herself although her only contact with them had been watching the big old shires that used to pull the dust-carts in the twenties and thirties, being taken down to the sea for a good wash off after a hot day. I wrote to the woman whose name appeared on Marl's equine passport and got a phone call almost straight away. She had bred him from their 30 year established stud and sold him as a foal but had got him back after he remained unpaid for. She kept him for about a year and had him gelded and then he was sold to a farmer, who presumably didn't do a lot with him, given that he never even bothered to get the passport ammended. Ceratinly, Marl(ey) was timid in the extreme and wouldn't even take nibbles from my hand until the third or fourth day. When the snows and frost cleared 'Himself' and I began working as fast as possible on splitting the field here into two, buying posts and rails before a local farmer came up and bashed in all the posts in about 2 hours, where it would have taken us heaven knows how long. Then we worked liked Trojans to get the rails all fixed into place. From this: [/img] 
to this... [img] 
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Eventually, five days ago, we were able to turn Marl out for the first time and after checking out his boundries and borders, he went temporarily beserk, tearing round, bucking and kicking out all over...it was truly a delight to see! [/img] 
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Examining Marl's passport in more detail, it appears he has pretty good 'lines' i.e. breeding. 'Nebo Black Magic' who was a welsh Supreme Champion three generations back appears against a couple of Marl's Great and Grand dams and there are also a couple of 'Derwen's' on the other side. The original Derwen, back in the late 60's and 70's was also a Welsh Supreme Champion whose fame reached further when he went down to England and won countless shows there. To a large extent, this is irrelevant to how I feel about Marl(ey). I was reassured by his breeder that none of their lines harbour any nasty habits and learning this gave me a much greater confidence when I was in the stable with him, brushing him and mucking out around him. It's undoubtly early days for all of us but so far, Marl appears pretty 'bomb-proof' presumably from his upbringing on farms. He has no concerns about the chickens free-ranging around his feet and allows Flapsy, our 'labby to lick his legs???? :) 'Himself' was using power tools to cut wood in his workshop, feet away from Marl's gate and (after checking, of course) the horse showed no interest whatsoever and that power-saw does generate many decibels! We have a long road to travel, Marl is of course still a baby and although in the ring it was announced tat he was "ridden around the farm" I am disregarding this and starting entirely anew with him. I have some knowledge of management from doing a horse-share 2 years ago and certainly, he is keeping me fit, cleaning out his stable and fetching and carrying hay and feed. I am lucky to have friends who keep horses, who are willing to advise on future courses of action and a local farmer sells and brings up big bales of hay for us at a very reasonanble price; I've also located allergen free wood-chippings which seem to make a really good bed in the makeshift stable, which Marl still goes into overnight. 'Himself' and I have started work on paddocking the second half of the field and in a few months, we will be closing down the makeshift stable for the summer, whilst 'Himself' builds a proper one on the yard, enabling him to reclaim his workshop! One day, I hope to have a shelter up on the field(s) too, for protection from flies and sun, as well as wind and wet. The initial outlay for fencing materials is proving costly but as I said before, I am lucky enough to be working and I reason too, that the £15+ a week that I'm saving since giving up smoking 5 weeks ago will be better spent towards 'our boy'. I would sacrifice an awful lot in the pursuit of this project, which has been a dream of mine since I was a very small girl. [/img] 
And finally, a picture of my late Nan, who arranged with her firends to place me on thh back of their pony on the old Council 'Dump' when I was aged about eight and who, I am sure, would love to have seen our newest household member...I hope and trust that she is looking down on us. [img] 
PS, she also instilled in me my love of gardening, for which I am truly grateful; a kind and gracious woman who didn't have a malicious bone in her body and one of the best role models I could have hoped for...thanks Nan...without you, I truly believe that none of his would be occuring now...and many thanks, of course, to 'Himself' who has worked so hard lately here and whom is equally enthusiastic about all our future prospects...God Bless ...and...apologies for the length of his blog entry![/img] This blog entry has been viewed 527 times
Last of the 'Summer'??????????????
Category: Gardening 2008 | Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:41 am It seems fair to say that our summer here is over before it's even began, weather-wise. Abnormally high rainfall and on the dry days, overcast and leaden skies. There have also been 'unsesonally high winds' which all together, has left the garden looking pretty bedraggled. There are some late flowerings but even these plants aren't having an easy time of it. 
I've had mixed success with the 'black' plants. The Painted Fern comes and goes (currently 'gone') but the rhizomes should still be intact so hopefully next year, it'll come back stronger. This dahlia is one of a pair but it's definitely had the better of the blooms; I realise now I should've restricted the flower-buds but Hey! it's all a learning curve! 
But what is this...my beautiful 'black' cactus dahlia? No... 
Interlopers! Now, I'll be the first to admit that it is a lovely fiery red colour but - and I hate myself for my overblown tenacity at times - it's Not What I Ordered, Or Wanted! The upshot was, the bulb company have refunded me for that part of the order although I had originally requested replacements, if possible. So, I really can't fault them for that...Thank You J. Parker Ltd. One new plant that has given me a lot of pleasure is this Golden Rod. 
It was a clump that I was given and has proved really nostalgic as it was in our family garden when I was a child. It's my Mum and Nan whom I have to thank for my gardening interest, too, so that's a nice connection. I wasn't planning to buy in any bedding plants this year but I when I found these Surfinia and garanium plants being sold at literally pennies, I had to give them a home. They looked very rain-battered at the store but they've really picked up with a bit of TLC. 
I love the versatility of containers as you can just pop them anywhere to brighten up a space. My overwhelmingly favourite plant this year has been my Amaranthus 'Ribbons and Bows'. I first saw these spectacular plants at my friend Sylvie's 
and loved them. That's Sylvie with one of the three Arab horses she has bred; two are in their late twenties , which is a pretty phenomenal age for that breed. Anyway, a few months after I'd admired Sylvie's Aramanthus plants, my gardening magazine gave away a packet of seed of the same type and I gave them a go. 
The crimson red ones are my absolute favourites 
but it's the lime green ones that have done better. 
I have to admit, that those pics were taken a few days 'pre-Rupert' and he's since been out and about in the garden. He is notoriously difficult to capture on the move, photo-wise. 
Well, as I say, Amaranthus before...and Amaranthus after! 
But what little puppy could ignore those lovely fronds overhanging his head on the path? Not Rupert, certainly and I don't blame him. I was more concerned about accidental poisoning, as I noticed some chewed-up 'Gladi leaves at the same time but he doesn't seem to have come to any harm. 
Last edited: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:43 am This blog entry has been viewed 688 times
Watch Out, Watch Out! There's a Rupert about!
Category: Life & Stuff | Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 8:08 pm It's now 10 weeks since our black labrador, Flapsy, had her first and possibly last, litter. This is her a few days before they arrived... [img] 
There were 4 pups, three boys (choc) and one girl (black) and they were a really bright, lively bunch and I named them: Monty, Rupert, Tyrone and Lil Sis, for the duration of the time that they were here. [/img] 
All of them were weaned a couple of weeks ago and over the course of the last week, three of them have gone on to new family homes. Their new owners seem kind and all were delighted to take charge of their new Honourary Household Members (i.e. Pets) It was a bit sad seeing each of them go but they were of the age where they needed to get out and about in the world and I'm confident that they will each do well with their new people. Tyrone went first; biggest roly-poly of them all, Monty went next and Lil Sis the following day. They had all been living in a proper penned area in an outbuilding here but when we waved goodbye last night to Lil Sis, me and Himself were a bit concerned about the remaining pup, Rupert. We weren't going to leave him in solitary confinement in the pen but a puppy in the house would require a bit of forethought. [img] 
Well, we brought Rupert in and he had the run of the kitchen and the adjoining porch for the day and so far, he's been absolutely outstanding. He's had his mad minutes of careering about, spooking at shadows and amusing himself with everyday objects before collapsing into puppy-naps but it's his toilet-habits that have really been impressive. In their pen, we had shredded paper towards the front and then wood-shavings at the back and shortly after being moved from the whelping box to their new home, they cottoned on to resticting their toilet activity mainly to the wood-shavings at the back. With this is mind, today we put wood-shavings into a makeshift tray-type affair and left it just outside the porch door, where Rupert could see it. And honestly, within an hour of plucking up the courage to explore the porch step, he had realised the tray's significance and visited it for it's intended use. The next time, he didn't even bother with the tray, just strolled outside and relieved himself in a quiet corner! Well, the relentless rain that we've been having here for longer than I can remember was absolutely torrential, so we had to shut the porch door and deny Rupert outside access, so a bit of a dilemma! We needn't have worried though, I brought the original tray back in and Rupert once again used if for it's intended use,in a corner of the porch. I think that this shows that Rupert is a very bright boy and whether he ends up staying with us, or goes on to pastures new, I think he'll have a very good future. Certainly, he should begin getting trained quite soon because I think he's got the intelligence and speed to catch on quick. He's certainly taken very well to living as part of a household and he's a genuinely lovely little pup: gentle, outgoing and intelligent! [img] 
This is him in his new home in the kitchen and that's where he'll be staying from now on; he certainly won't be left pining in a pen on his own. [/img] Last edited: Sat Aug 16, 2008 8:09 pm This blog entry has been viewed 490 times
...summer is delayed...
Category: Gardening 2008 | Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:23 am The weather here is really similar to last summer: unusually high rainfall levels and unseasonally grey days. There has been some activity since my last Blog update though and I've taken some pics that reflect this. [img] 
The flower bed is looking a bit bedraggled generally but there are a couple of plants that shine through, like these lime green Nicotiana plants. Unlike their more colourful relations, they don't have a scent but they are still a nice addition. [/img] 
The lilies have come into their own now and they provide an exotic feel amidst the gloomy weather... [img] 
The 'black' poppies are another small success and I'm hoping that they will self-seed next year. These ones were lucky to have come to fruition; earlier ones had their petals all blown off before they had time to open fully... [/img] 
These french beans have had less of an assault from birds or bugs than they were getting before and hopefully they will go on to produce some beans for us [img] 
The rose was here when I moved in but it was looking poorly, so I repotted it and gave it some TLC and it's come back looking lovely. No idea what type it is. [/img] 
And finally, the spring-sown sweet peas have caught up with the over-wintered autumn ones [img]  [/img]
So, a bit of a slow summer, weather and flower-wise but still some nice plants to take our minds off it! Last edited: Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:26 am This blog entry has been viewed 517 times
...summertime...
Category: Gardening 2008 | Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:57 pm The weather in this part of the UK has recently dealt us lots of rain and "unseasonally strong winds" with warnings of possible trees falling. The trees here have remained intact but my Alba foxgloves have been hit really hard by it. [img] 
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Well, they were lovely whilst they lasted but I'll be cutting them back soon, as I don't want them self-seeding too much due to lack of space. The Sweet Williams however, have lasted really well and I was really pleased to see these white ones amongst all that pink...too much pink! [img] 
So far this year, I've resisted the urge to buy-in bedding plants and I haven't really bothered with containers because I've been aiming for low-maintainance. I have got a couple though, with annuals I've grown from seed. [/img] 
I really like the little markings on these petunias; I've only ever seen single colour blooms before. Not sure what the daisy-types are though; it was free seed from a gardening magazine and I was expecting the big Michaelmas daisies for ages... [img] 
The containers look a bit lost against the water feature here but next year, I've going to try to make it much more of a flowery feature; all home-grown, too. [/img] 
Not much has been going on in the veg plot since the rabbit invasion. I discovered they hadn't dug in after all; they didn't have to, they just strolled through the gap under the fence Id created during winter when Id dug a drainage trench to try and divert the surface water. The broad bean bed had got really overgrown with weeds so I got out and spent some time with my trowel uprooting the unwanted invaders. Now that's done, I can re-seed for a continuous crop. I've been using the dwarf Sutton variety and they've done really well in standing up to the recent winds. [img] 
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Here are some of the cropped results... [img] 
The potatoes are coming along ok; they'll be due for a second earthing-up quite soon. [/img] 
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As the potatoes seem to be doing ok, I'm going to sow a 'second maincrop' variety, Maris Peer, in late summer / autumn. Another plant which seems to be doing ok too, is sweetcorn. I started 9 plants off from seed and put them out and they're fine. I've tried starting some more off in pots since but none have germinated; reminder to self...start off again... [/img] 
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The greenhouse has been a total pleasure. This being its first year, lessons are going to be learned over time but as a first attempt, absolutely brilliant! [/img] 
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The soil is quite heavy and clay-based here and it dries really solid. It probably needs nutriments too, so I'm saving the contents of the kitchen compost bin specifically to put in the beds in here in autumn / winter. [/img] 
These bush tomatos are from seeds I had remaining from last year; they seem to be doing ok but the surrounding earth is pretty bleak-looking! The cordon tomatoes seem to like the surroundings though; these are all from seed, too. [img] 
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The plants went in early and they've flowered and started to fruit quite early, too. [/img] 
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The salad stuff has gone quite well; I tried 3 different sorts of radish and they've all gone well...too well; no one could eat that much raddish! [/img] 
Wot a whopper! [img] 
The 'red' lettuces have started to be ready for picking lately and they are very tasty. [/img] 
These Granada ones still have a bit of growing to do... [img] 
So, not too bad a start in the greenhouse but lots of ideas for next season already...sweet peppers, for one thing. They're nice and they're currently costing loads in the shops... [/img] This blog entry has been viewed 481 times
...comings and goings in nature...
Category: Gardening 2008 | Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:13 am During the last few days, there has been quite a lot of animal coming-and-going activity here at home and it's 'been emotional'. Flapsy's 63 days gestation was to be up last Sunday but in the event, she went into labour on the friday night and after several hours of 1st stage puffing and panting, she began to birth at 6.45 a.m. on the satarday. I'd sat with her from the start until 6a.m. when I had to get some rest and it was at 6.45a.m. that Himself looked in on her and found her with a puppy, which wasn't breathing. Flaps had cleaned the puppy really well but despite our additional efforts, we weren't able to revive the puppy further and it died. Over the next few hours, four more puppies came: three chocolate and another black: the chocolates all male and the black female, mirroring the colours of the parents and I'm pleased to say that the little family appears to be doing well. This picture shows them today (day 4). [img] 
Flapsy's confinement however, has been an object of interest for another, other than us... To explain... Flapsy never barks a greeting, she never makes a sound unless she sees, smells or senses, a 'foreign' visitor to the premises. On many nights when we've taken both her and Bricky out for last walks, she tears over to a particular corner in the field, or runs along the trees and hedgerows which form a border between us and the field next door...this is a constant and we thought maybe it signified foxes passing by in the night. On satarday, with Flapsy busy and ourselves working mainly outside, we came inside for a hot drink and a sandwich and I thought I heard a commotion with a hen. I queried it with Himself but it had stopped. We were indoors no longer than 20 minutes and when we went out, the first thing we saw was feathers spread all over the middle of the field...my little Cocker-boy's feathers: one of my 2 Orpington cockeral brothers. Here they are together, pictured in happier times... [/img] 
We didn't know how many hens might be missing too, so we herded those we could, back inside to their enclosed run. Generally, they free-range on the field. We've all been very lucky to not have had a fox calling in prior to now - 9 months of hen free-ranging - but it may have been this which limited the numbers of hens taken because when they're on the field, they go into separate little groups of cockeral and hens and thus are not a single target, as they are when enclosed. It seemed that apart from Cocker, we'd lost a white leghorn, a Welsummer hybrid and a little brown Warren hen, which was always to be seen out and about with Cocker-boy. We followed the feathers up to where the fox had come through and it's a well-used situation. I took this picture ages ago, standing with my back to more-or-less the point of entry although of course I didn't know this, then. Talk about a fox's eye view; right down into the hen-run! [img]
It seems a very great coincidence that up until now and Flapsy's confinement, there has been no apparent fox-activity here; certainly the rabbits haven't been staying away in fear, as evidenced by my veg plot carnage. We noticed on sunday however, that the field, which is generally over-run, was near-empty of 'buns. Last evening, I was up watering the greenhouse when Himself came rushing to say that one of the missing hens, the hybrid Welsummer, had returned from across the field. We were really happy for her and assumed she must have just scattered when foxy struck. We didnt realise just how lucky she really had been up until later that night however, when Himself was walking Flapsy on a lead and saw, just from the corner of his eye, a fox slinking through the hedgerow...a couple of metres from the enclosed hen-run. He let Flapsy go and she tore across to the gap in the hedgerow which the fox had disappeared into but it had gone. I can't wait to have Flapsy up and running again, keeping a guard on the land and the poultry from this and any other predator. I don't know what action we will try to take to deal with this one; it is, after all, normal comings-and-goings in nature...but that don't bring Cocker-boy back, or 'his' girls...[/img] This blog entry has been viewed 413 times
...life abounds all around...
Category: Gardening 2008 | Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:23 pm These 2 are such good pals! 
Flapsy the black Labrador will wait for as long as necessary... 
to have full share of Bricky's spoils. 
Currently, she is unable to move as fast as she'd like 
...on account of her belly being stuffed full with little puppers! 
...roll on Sunday, eh Flaps...9 weeks be up then! Meanwhile, in the 'brooding coop' 
...of the 6 eggs that Mimsi was sitting on, 4 hatched but one chick died after being jettisoned from the nest and the final two eggs weren't fertile, so... 
...altogether, say "aaaahhhh"!! "An unkempt corner" but nonetheless beautiful, I think 
Last edited: Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:30 pm This blog entry has been viewed 473 times
...survivors...
Category: Gardening 2008 | Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 10:17 pm After the recent spate of destruction in the veg plot and, more latterly, in one of the flower beds, due to my oversight of leaving the gate ajar and letting in hens, it's nice to have a couple of pictures worth adding to this blog, even if, in this first picture, there are visible gaps where some black Poppy seedlings and the Painted Fern have been nibbled... 
I'm counting my blessings though: the fowl didn't have a chance to start on the Dahlias or Lilies, the Fern should grow back and the Poppies, truth to tell, did need some thinning out...so..."Thank You" hens! Mostly, I was glad that the current queen of my border survived intact and I feel very privileged to introduce 'Alba'... 
From a distance and in this picture, I'd be the first to admit, she doesn't look very spectacular. The closer however, that you get... 
...the more spectacular, I think... 
...she looks. She's an unusual variety of Foxglove, not just because she's white in colour but because she doesn't bear the 'pawprints' that give Foxgloves their name. Unique! The other border / bed has fared slightly better in the destruction stakes. 
There are a lot of young plants coming on but of those that have already started coming into flower, these autumn-sown Sweet Peas were the first. 
I never really considered myself a fan of pastel colours, especially pink but as they and also this Aquilegia have come through, I'm staring to consider myself a bit of a convert! 
Nothing much else of interest occurring here in this bed yet but as I say, there are other plants coming through, so hopefully some of them will be salvagable enough to include as the season unfolds further... Meanwhile, in the boat, I haven't done anything much this year although to be fair, I haven't had to. These Sweet Williams have been in place since June last year and this is their first year of flowering. 
I didn't recall what colour flowers the seed would be producing, so I was looking forward to seeing them come out but I really didn't expect this show and best of all, now that they're established, they should keep coming for a few years yet; so, Thank You plants! 
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