More good weather. OH finished digging the Grasses bed, so hopefully can get it trodden and raked and get them re-planted tomorrow, and then the Runner Beans can go in their area of the veg garden where the Grasses have been resting. I’ve been washing various greenhouse trays, making space for the Tomato and Cucumber growing bags, doing things he would normally do, and checking laundry etc is all up to date for going away. We’ve both been planting things this evening, which were ready to go out in the flower beds. J worked in the nursery of a primary school this morning; tomorrow he’ll be in a P3 class and he may be needed Thursday and Friday too.
Brenda – the garden is far from perfection, but I have managed to keep it hoed while OH concentrated on clearing all those roots out of the Grasses bed – it had been there 9 years, so can’t grumble that it needed a clear out – and we are not putting any invasive Grasses back – just the clump-forming ones. We have been lucky that I am quite well right now, so could do extra jobs. I must admit: I am very pleased with the Cool Colours Corner, where there are a number of pink and mauve flowers already.
Diane – sorry your connection has been poor – solar flares again?
AQ – a very adventurous shopping outing – I hope you didn’t overdo it! Clever move sending OH to baby-sit for your Daughter!
Patricia – lovely photos from Castle Espie – I do love those Whistling Ducks, WWT had them at Washington too.
Alan – sorry it was a wasted trip to the Vet for Hamish – most annoying! I’m pleased Eurovision has one fan – but didn’t think that it would be you!
Linda – welcome back – again!
Alicat – beautiful Baby – doesn’t look like a newborn. My middle one (Daughter#2) looked about 3 months old from the start – but she did weigh 10lb!
House Martins have been gathering over the past ten days or so – and we have nests started on both our gable ends. Goldfinches have early babies – they are usually quite late breeding so that there are seeds in the wild, but they obviously think they have a reliable supply here (RSPB delivery today). One of them brought three young to the feeders – one was nearly as big as the adult, and almost as loud as the young Starlings!
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
Hi OG nephew's sister my niece sent photos by text as they live away he weighed 9lb and a bit when he was born last night
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Alan, those two pics of Jay and Nuthatch are absolutely super - you must be able to zoom in better than I can with my cam. Also great pics from Bodnant Gardens.
Margo - glad you enjoyed your trip to Devon. Going to North Devon in September.
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/
ALAN PETRIE Celebrating the 3rd hatch at Loch Garten by drinking beer and watching the Eurovision Song Contest 1st semi final. Bliss!!!!!
Celebrating the 3rd hatch at Loch Garten by drinking beer and watching the Eurovision Song Contest 1st semi final. Bliss!!!!!
Been an absolutely glorious day here, Northampton reached 24 degrees , hotest in the Anglian region apparently. OH and I did our lawns so they are up to date, garden takes care of itself.
Like OG, we have been working in the garden. I want to start planting my large pots and hanging baskets. We bought the plants about three weeks ago and they have been growing rather fast, but I have to remove the pansies first, which are now looking lovely. We saw our first swallows flying above our house today. They must have returned to a nearby barn again.
OG, I do appreciate how hard it is to remove the roots from the grasses. A few years ago I offered to help my brother with his and oh, was it hard work !
AQ, Are you trying to do too much, too soon, but you will know what the doctors told you, and I really have no idea. It just sounds very quick to do supermarket shopping on your own.
Patricia. Love your photographs, especially the whistling ducks. They must have been fun to watch.
Alicat, Beautiful baby photograph.
Alan, Sorry Hamish didn't have his tests today. Vets are usually more efficient than GP's when it comes to blood tests.
Linda, Good to see you back again, just in time to see chick 3 arrive.
Lynette, I wish our garden looked after itself :-)) I wish we could spend more time to just sit and enjoy it.
Evening all: Marathon shopping trip this morning - and Costco tomorrow! OH and I finished cleaning the house then went out to dinner for his birthday (Indian food). Pre-visit prep nearly all done now and hope to spend tomorrow afternoon poking about in the garden and taking it easy. Spoke to sister in Lincolnshire today and she said that after weeks of rain all of a sudden the sun showed up and she had to dig out summer clothes she hadn't bothered to iron yet. Now to catch up.
Alan: That's a gorgeous little Jay - and the Nuthatch - marvellous colors. Really love the pix taken against the slate/moss wall. And Bodnant Gardens too! Googled Meconopsis, I was so taken with it - interesting in that it's found mostly in the UK and the Himalayas (of course, silly me! Must be the similar climates). :-) Typical that Hamish's appointment at wrong time for his meds - someone not paying attention. I may be wrong, but I think it's Egret and Great Egret - I've been corrected many times for saying Great White Egret (we have lots of both here) and the Audubon Society refers to Great Egrets. Regardless of what they're called, it's exciting that they've crossed the channel to the UK.
Lynette: Lovely pix too - especially that pretty pink coaltit. I'll take your word for it that that's the Dyfi nest! :-)
patriciat: Glad you had a nice day at Castle Espie. Love those white-faced whistling chicks and that beautifully outfitted Mandarin duck. What a gorgeous creature.
Trish2: We're relying on you to keep Mrs. Sparrowhawk et al at bay. :-)
Sandra: Thanks again for those peregrine chick pix, including our wide-bodied friend at Nottingham.
Diane: The eclipse was interesting - had none of the right gadgets to watch it properly. What was odd was having "winter-sunset" lighting coming from "summer-sunset" position. We had about 80% coverage and I was really impressed by how much light 20% provided. What an amazing star! Spoke to my granddaughter in Prescott, AZ and they have such awful fires there that they couldn't see it at all through the smoke blowing through the valley.
Margo: Soooo good to hear you had a good few days away with your sister and got to tour around a bit, especially to the Donkey Sanctuary. What a thrill to meet Billie's former owners and to find out her Mom lives up the road! Brilliant and so happy they've decided to leave her with you. Wonderful! :-))
Alicat: Will you be seeing the new baby at some point? Oh my - he looks older than a day or two - well, no wonder at 9lbs. How's your shoulder?
OG: Must give you some of the good advice you often send my way: Don't overdo things! Would love to see photos of your veggie garden in progress; it sounds wonderfully productive - I should be growing veggies. :-(
BrendaH: Lawn bowling sounds like a relaxing pastime. Was talking to my sister in Lincolnshire last Sunday; she was in the garden and interrupted what she was saying to tell me the first swallows she'd seen this year were flying over the garden.
AQ: So how did your OH do at baby-sitting practice? :-) Interesting about the humpback. They make a big deal out of the swallows that "come back to Capistrano" every March 19, but apparently they forgot to outfit the swallows with calendars since they weren't that timely. In the last few years, development in the area around Mission San Capistrano has resulted in a greater choice of protected breeding places but fewer insects (or so says Wikipedia) which equals fewer swallows opting for the Mission buildings.
Smilesam: Hallo there! Haven't met you before. :-) That chick is so huge it would be hard to miss, but I see Alan has solved the mystery. Had to smile at your comment about needing more than one glass of wine to get through the Eurovision Song Contest - wasn't there some scandal the other year about Eastern bloc countries ganging up to get their competitors to win? In the old days (when I lived in the UK) it was never that exciting. Now laughing at Alan's comment that the Russian grannies were older than Englebert! :-)))
That's all the catch up for tonight. Will blather more tomorrow!
Take care everyone!
Diane: Are you watching Frontline tonight? Disturbing story on the high death rate among tower climbers in the cell-phone industry and, of course, no-one wants to take responsibility. Grrrr.
Good Morning, Everyone. Lovely sunshine here again. Must get more stuff on the line......
Unable to reply to any of your posts as have not had time to read them properly yet, but promise I will do so. I have to go out now but will be back later to watch the little Humbugs of course.
See we have a new poster: Welcome to Smilesam. You will enjoy yourself on here, everyone is so friendly...
Morning all,
Just dropped Hamish off at the groomers, He is one hairy dog and is too hot in this weather. Sun has not ventured out of the mist yet but expected to be very warm later.
Smilesam : What a great place to watch the Eurovision Song Contest Final. Hope you have a great time on Tiree.
What a great week it has been around the nests and more to come I expect.
Russian village grannies make it to the Eurovision finals here
Just poppig in to say Good Morning. Glorious sunny morning. Window cleaner has just been, the washing is drying outside and off now to do some gardening. I can hear the LG cuckoo as I type this. I didn't watch the Eurovision Song Contest semi's, although I have seen the Russian Grannies before. I think they could have a chance of winning.
SANDRA Like you I stopped watching Eurovision sometime back in the Middle Ages. OG Think you are being a little unfair. Surely Eurovision has 2 or 3 fans!!!!
Off to town to get new lens fitted. Only on 1 pair as I felt that at £140 a lens I didn't want to get all 3 pairs done until I know my eye has stopped its rapid deterioration.
Morning all: Quiet on here; everyone busy no doubt.
Alan: That link to the Russian Grannies didn't work for me, but I found a March 12 (I think) appearance by them at the contest. What a hoot! Love that tiny little old lady; good for them!!
Off for final shopping expedition to Costco this morning; last couple of laundry loads now started. Take care all.