ABC Wednesday......

Z is for ZEBRA FINCH

This ZEBRA FINCH is one of many that live in a big butterfly house we visited a few years ago in The Cotswolds.

I didn't have a digital camera then, and I can't find all the other prints!! Aaagh! I had lots. I've scanned this one in and, I have to admit, brightened it a bit and cropped it. Hey ho.

This fella is a young'un, I think, and very cute. You'll just have to take my word for it that he had lots of cute pals, all flitting about between exotic trees and flowers, and drinking from little waterfalls.

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For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

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ABC Wednesday......

Y is for YELLOW......

This is the laburnum tree in my front garden. I took these pictures in May. The yellow blossom has now gone, leaving paler bunches of seeds hanging down in their place.

It was lovely to look out onto this tree in the evenings. Even if it were stormy or overcast, it was like a burst of sunshine.
I could also show you yellow fields of rape seed oil growing in the spring, daffodils, or even the yellow walls of my living room and dining room! Yellow is my favourite colour. But I am feeling a little yellow myself at the moment, as I have just come back from the dentist!

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For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

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ABC Wednesday......

This week's letter is X,
like the X in the trellis around my Sweet Pea!

see?

And now.... oh, any excuse to show you them!
These flowers are very delicate, but you wouldn't believe how strongly scented they are! You can smell them from a few feet away.

I've never been able to grow these successfully before. These are all from one tiny pot which I spotted on the 'reduced' trolley on the way out of the Garden Centre. They were 49p. I took pity on them and bought them. I put them straight into this larger pot, filled it with organic compost, put the pyramid trellis on top and hoped for the best. I didn't imagine they will fill the space, as they were just a few tiny shoots, barely alive.

I love them. They have always been a favourite. It's very special to have some of my own.

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For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

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ABC Wednesday......

W is for
Where the Woodmouse Was.....

Honestly, he was right here! But he popped back down by the fence as I took the picture
This is a little corner of the garden that I keep a bit wild, really. I started a little log pile of larger cuttings at the back, and within a week some bumblebees moved in! Recently, I've added the herbs in the foreground. I don't usually like labels on plants in the garden, but I've put some in here because, otherwise, I'd forget the names of the herbs!

Anyway. Back to this woodmouse.......
He came back later but it was a bit too dark to take his photo. I didn't want to scare him with a flash, but can you spot him?
Close up!
In this next one you'll need to make it larger an look up close! I'll leave it here as a challenge for you. I promise you, he IS here! He is nibbling on a bit of pear near the centre of the picture.
The woodmice used to live in the house. I liked them. I sleep odd hours and they used to keep me company at night. I would leave a few hazelnuts in the corner of the kitchen for them. That's how I knew they were around. They tried out lots of odd places to nest in or use as a store: my partner went to put his shoes on one day, and found 11 hazelnuts inside one of them.

When the nuts stopped disappearing from the kitchen corner, I knew they weren't living with us any more.

To close, here's a wee video I made when we had a regular cheeky mousie visitor. It also features Dilly, a croco-dragon. This mouse is a rather large specimen. Most are dinkier than this.



Some people squirm when I say I used to have mice, but these weren't house-mice: house-mice have a nasty smell. Not so with woodmice. I suppose there is still the hygiene question: but I have no kiddies, so a quick wash and vacuum did well enough for me. They made me smile, and that's the main thing. And now they have the same effect, when I'm out in the garden!

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For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

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ABC Wednesday......

V is for VERONICA

The other day I dug out around the lawn in the front garden. It had previously gone up to the front of the house and this part was hard to mow. Also, it was very bad quality here, very patchy and with lots of weeds. (The not nice weeds, not the weeds that I let grow and call "free flowers".)

I took these pic's this morning, and it is quite overcast here today....

I wasn't sure whether to plant something round the edge, or whether to just leave it "cut in" as a neat edge to the grass. (As you may have gathered, I like the back garden a bit "wild and natural" in places, for the wildlife, but I like the front garden to be a little neater!)

In the end we went off to the garden centre, with the intention of getting some small marigolds. But look what I brought home instead!

And no, not just because I knew I had to find a "V" for this week!

The common name for "Veronica" is "Speedwell". This took me back to my childhood....

I grew up on a housing estate called "Weeds Wood Estate". I walked past Speedwell Avenue on the way to school, up Yarrow Road and across Silverweed Road. School-friends lived nearby; Jo was in Myrtle Crescent and Kim was in Sedge Crescent.

It was never a luxurious place to live, but OK as council estates go: lots of trees and grass verges. But I've heard that since that time, it has gained a horrible reputation as being quite rough and a place to avoid. E.g., Buses no longer drive through the estate after 6pm, as kids attack both vehicle and driver. Wouldn't have happened in my day..... (Oh, I sound old!)

I wonder whose idea it was to call the place "Weeds Wood Estate". If they had called it "Wild Flower Estate" would it have turned out better, do you think?

I'm curious to find out how big these will get. The label said 20cm (8inches) but my book says three times that high!

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For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

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ABC Wednesday......

U is for UNDER...
...and UPDATE!

The people who lived here before us put some old railway sleepers in the garden, as edging and in place of a small wall. I find all sorts around them. I spotted mousie tucked behind one the other night and threw him a grape. I didn't really know what to throw this wee fella, though:

Can you see him?
It's about 9pm, and he is just coming out of his daytime snug-spot under one of the sleepers.Bit closer.... (and a bit blurred, sorry 'bout that.. )We're told that years ago, maybe till 2002, there was a pond in the garden. The previous owners filled it in as they were worried about their toddler falling in. Nobody told the frogs and newts, and we still get them! I might see a maximum of two frogs in the daytime, but if it rains in the evening they all appear. I creep about the garden looking at them, saying hello and counting. (I'm fully aware that either the frogs or the neighbours or both will think I'm barmy. Hey ho.) The record so far is 18. I wonder where all the others hide out????

We can't do a pond, but we do have birdbaths on the lawn, and one or two frogs snuggle in under that. I also keep a small, covered tray filled with water under a tree for them. Sort of a mini frog-lido:
That's a ceramic lizard in the front of this next pic, but he soon gave the frogs the right idea. Here's one enjoying the cool pool, safe and secret, under the roof:

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Remember "Q is for Quack" a few weeks ago???
Are they OK?
Are they still together?

Well, "U" is for "Update", after all, so.....hey, what's this?....
Ah! A pile of ducks!!!!
Looks like the kids have got new shoes....
"Look, Ma! Winglets!"
She looks very pleased and proud:
And no wonder- she still has all eleven, safe and well!
During the "Half Term" week's holiday, when the school was closed, the caretaker went in and checked on them regularly, with food etc. There were lots of storms that week, and heavy rain, so it was important to see that they got through it OK...

We don't know when it will be that they are lead through the classroom and out the other side to the school's larger pond, but we've asked them to give us notice of the great event- hopefully we'll get it on video!!!

Meanwhile, here's a few seconds of them moving around(!)-

If you can't see it here, try direct on YouTube via this link.

Hope they made you smile!

*****

For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

*****

ABC Wednesday......

T
is for
Table Toes
..........and Tea!

I have a confession to make. I like toes. I don't mean in a kinky way. I may be slightly bonkers but I'm not dangerous. No. I mean toes are cute. I really love to sneak up on Fluffy when she's warm and dozy and sniff her fluffy warm toes. This is the kind of expression she gives me when I do. But it doesn't stop me...


This brings me to my first "T".... table toes.

About ten days before Christmas last year, it was suddenly decided that everyone was coming to my place for Christmas dinner. Oops! Our dining table wasn't up to this. We'd been talking about replacing it, and now we had to jump into action.

Every shop we went to said that, although they had tables there in the store that we liked, they couldn't possibly let us have those ones, we'd have to have one from storage, and that couldn't be done till January. Not helpful.

Then we spotted one in a charity shop. We bought it straight away, and had it in the house ready, with just a couple of days' grace. It's lovely. Well made, good wood, highly polished and with comfortable chairs (very important, that bit, when you're having family to dinner). And the £100+ went to the British Heart Foundation.

It wasn't till it was in the house that I noticed its feet.
Could it be???
Oh my!
"LOOK!" I screamed at my fiance, "Our table has TOES!!!!!!!!!"

"Oh gawd...." he muttered. But it's true:


Now for what is on top of the table lately. TEA.

I have to drink tea. Come on, I'm English. Lots and lots of tea. Made properly, with water that's been freshly boiled in a kettle. (NOT a saucepan! No! No no no! It won't taste the same. Just don't do it. Please.)

But since a cold I had back in April, I seem to be unable to taste very much. And when I do it can be quite odd. I made a chicken and tarrogan thing the other week, and to me it tasted like rice pudding.

OK. So Over the last week I've got a bit frustrated at this sudden inability to appreciate tea and have been buying lots of little boxes of the stuff in the hope of finding one I can actually TASTE. Here's some of them:

Russian Caravan was a nice surprise. It's a bit like an Earl Grey but really strong. Yum. Come to think of it, scratch that. It IS yum, but don't take my word on what it tastes like. It could be like toes for all I know.

Last but not least, I want to show you a really cute little porcelain tea-set we bought for Jasmine Tea. We found it in a sale for £7:


It's tiny, in fact, it's quite Bear-sized:What I really like is the removable basket for the leaves:
Right! I'm off for a cuppa now! Ermmm... Kenyan, I think.

*****

For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

*****

ABC Wednesday......

S is for Sultanas and Starlings.......

Take one dish of sultanas (or raisins, or currants....) that have been soaked overnight...

...place on the lawn.........and wait.....Of course, there are usually more than this, but today, as I wanted pictures of them..... hey ho! One day last week I counted 37 young ones. The adults made it at least 50.

I know some people try to discourage them, but I love to help out the starlings. Their population has declined 75% since the early 1980s. If we're not careful, we'll lose forever that glorious sight of large flocks coming in to roost. Thousands of birds, turning and twisting through shapes in the air, a cloud opening and closing, hoops of black feathery water pouring down into the trees....

...not here though. Here, I give you SEVEN STARLING fledglingS popping by for a lunch of juicy SULTANAS:

(ooops... I think on recount, that's actually eight! Sorry!)

*****

For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

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ABC Wednesday......

R is for Rolo....

ROLOs are soft caramelly toffee covered in milk chocolate. I remember them from my childhood. They were made by Rowntree-Mackintosh back then. Nestle bought the company but I'm pleased to say that they didn't change the recipe. Although......... I'm sure the pack used to be bigger! Here is the pack I bought yesterday, with Bob T Bear (esq) for scale. (Bob is an 8inch Bear.)The shape of a Rolo is unique:

This pack says "NEW creamy toffee" but they've always been soft and creamy, so I don't know what this means.Once you unwrap them they all come tumbling out..In the early 1980s an advertising campaign was started with the tag-line, "Do you love anyone enough to give them your last Rolo?" I was still at school, and can testify to many teenage crushes around me being made official by the exchange of a last Rolo.

The tag-line has stood the test of time in the UK. Receiving a last Rolo is like receiving a single red rose.

Last year, I bought my partner a solid silver "Last Rolo" for his birthday:
WAIT a minute!!
WHAT the????
Oh dear- never leave a Bear near an open pack of chocolates, especially Bear-size ones...

Ahh!
For me?
Oh, thank you, Bob! The last Rolo? I love you too!

*****

For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to

Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see info on how to join in, and a table of links to those taking part.

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