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.

*****

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......

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:

*****

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......

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.

*****

ABC Wednesday......

P is for PURPLE......

Lots of purple coming up in my garden. Most of this was planted by the previous owner of this house. I thought that maybe she had just been mad on purple, given the number of purple flowers. Then I read that purple and blue plants grow in the shade whereas brighter colours might not be shade tolerant: more than half the garden is in shade for more than half of the day.

I think this is Honesty.....
This osteoperum (sp!) was cut from a huge spread of the stuff in my mum's garden. This is its first flower here. I'm glad it's "taken".
This is Periwinkle......
.....it was spreading across the ground and choking everything else, so I've cut it back a lot. Now I'm trying to train it upwards. I think it looks good against the glossy ivy.
Ahh... an iris. My favourite flower. These ones are huge. And something I didn't find till I cut back some almost dead lavender. What a nice find!
Now that the weather has cheered up, I'm enjoying getting out and planting some new things. Today I'm looking for a suitable patch for some fennel. I never imagined I'd get into gardening, but I love it.

... this is what I love:

• the smell of the soil as I dig;
• the lift I get inside when I see something I've planted and looked after is thriving;
• using herbs I've grown in our cooking;
• the birdsong, and the cheeky brave robin that keeps me company;
• making two gardens in one- a tidy bit to admire, and scruffy corners and edges to keep the wildlife happy. .....P is for perfect!

*****

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......

O is for Overcast........ views from my back garden half an hour ago. It's sunny but more rain is approaching.

It's hard to plan things at the moment. One day it's fine, the next we have downpours. Saturday was the warmest day of the year so far. Now it's cold and rainy again. See? How do you plan things? Yesterday wasn't so bad and I bought some herbs to plant out today. Looks like they'll be staying in pots for little longer!


O is for Overgrown.......Another snap from my garden half an hour ago! This is rosemary. I think it may be a little overgrown!

But why trim it back? All it will reveal is boring decking. I'd rather have the rosemary. Frogs hide under the lower branches sometimes. And when baby sparrows have first fledged, they snuggle in and hide here too, waiting for parents to return with food.

Sometimes part of the garden might look a little scruffy to human eyes, but these are the places nature likes best!

*****

For more info ABC Wednesday posts, go to Mrs Nesbitt's blog

where you will see a blogroll of those taking part.

*****

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I took these at 8am today.
This is the back garden from the back of the house.
It isn't snow: that's frost!

I had put out some food for the birds, as well as getting the ice out of their birdbaths and re-filling, with tepid water. You can still see the ice that I removed from the birdbath yesterday and the day before- it's been too cold for it to melt!This is one of a lot of cheeky chappies we get.
We have about 9 blackbirds visiting us regularly, though I've counted 11 in the tree at the same time. This is unusual as they're a territorial bird most of the time. I think they're putting up with each other in the cold, as they know there is a regular good source of food nearby. Most of them are male, I've only ever seen two females at the same time.Here you can see our Christmas Tree! Still in its pot, I water it regularly but leave it here on the decking. My plan is to put it in a big terrocotta pot when it's warmer. I'd love to plant it out but the garden isn't really big enough for a Norway Spruce!The spruce looks like it's covered in snow. I think it's whispering to itself, "Wow! I'm a real Christmas tree at last! At last!"

Hmmm... I guess I should have put that washing line away.... hey ho!

I don't mind it being cold, so long as the sky is bright and blue. I hope it warms up for the wee birdees soon though.

Goldfinches!

Isn't he beautiful? But this is a youngster- the adults have red on their faces, covering the eye. Or to be more precise, the males have a red eye mask that covers the eyes completely, and the females' eye mask stops half way across the eye area. If you look closely at the last photo, you can just about see his dad on the right, towards the back. You can see the splodge of his red eye mark.

But anyway, my point is, this fella is lovely, but he'll get even more colourful as he gets older!

It took us ages to get goldfinches to the garden. They eat a tiny seed called nyger seed. It's so small you need to have special feeders so that it doesn't just spill out everywhere. The first feeder we bought, we ended up throwing away. No one came to it. And then, earwigs inhabited it. Yeauck!

In the spring, I heard the goldfinches' very distinctive call again, so bought a new feeder. I tried it in a few places, before they 'found' it here, in our hawthorn tree.

One day, I was standing at the kitchen window, finally deciding that yes, this window is filthy and could really do with a clean, when a goldfinch flew down and half hovered, half leaned on the window-pane, just up in the corner. I watched, amazed, as it pecked away at a cobweb. He fluttered to and fro doing this, several times. They use the cobweb material for binding together the moss in their nests!

It gave me a good reason to leave the window cleaning for a bit longer, and also made me think of spiders in a SLIGHTLY better light. (I'm still terrified of any bigger than an inch, though, and feed them to my Dyson.)

This wee fella confirms that these lovely birds have been breeding nearby. Horray!

One other thing, just look at all the berries on this tree! It is absolutely smothered in them. My mum says that this is a sign that a bad winter is to follow. I've heard that before. What I want to know is, how does the tree know this?

Strange Light

There's always a strange light in the evening here, this time of year. It only happens for a week or so. You get a sort of orange light. It lasts about half an hour, before it starts to grow dark.

I can't capture it with the camera. The last shot is out of focus, I know, but gives a bit of an idea of what it's like. In reality, the gravel, terracotta pots and the red hot pokers were all glowing with a sort of fluorescence that doesn't come out here.

Look at the red hot poke at the top there. Amazing colour. Yes, maybe that top photo is the closest after all.