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!

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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......

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.

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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.

*****

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!)

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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.

*****

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!

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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.

*****

ABC Wednesday......

Q is for QUACK!

Meet Jemima.....My partner teaches at a primary school (ages 4-11). The school buildings form a rectangle round a central courtyard, in the centre of which is a small pond.

For the last 4 or 5 years, a duck has flown in at the first sign of spring, and made a nest. The children have named her "Jemima". Here she is, two week's ago, with this year's batch of new quackers hiding under her wings.....here they are just two days old...

There were 12 eggs and 11 hatched.

The sides of the pond are too steep for the youngsters, so the school caretaker put in a ramp for them:

Here's a short film of them using the ramp, proud mum standing by and going "Quackackackack". The food is special grain bought by the school from a pet shop.

These next pictures were taken this Monday. Look how they've grown in less than 2 weeks!A proud and happy mum.

Still 11, all present and correct!

There will soon come a time when the pond is too small for them. Luckily, the school has a larger one. Unluckily, it is on the other side of the buildings- remember, the pond is in a courtyard enclosed by classrooms. Well, don't worry! When the time comes, they open the door of one of the classrooms and lead the family straight through and out the other side, much to the amusement of the children.

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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.

*****

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!

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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.

*****

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!

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

where you will see a blogroll of those taking part.

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