One of the photos in an earlier post has suddenly disappeared and until the problem can be solved I have decided to post the photo again.
The Phantom Photo
25 Tue Feb 2014
Posted in Gardening
More Flowers in my Garden
23 Sun Feb 2014
Posted in Gardening, Rural Diary
Tags
Christmas box, crocus, daisy, grape hyacinth, iris danfordiae, iris reticulata, lichen, rosemary, Scilla sibirica, snowdrops, tete a tete narcissi, viburnum bodnantense, winter aconites, winter-flowering honeysuckle, winter-flowering jasmine
Scilla sibirica. Brilliant blue flowers like miniature bluebells, they start to flower as soon as they emerge from the ground and continue elongating until they are about 10cm/4ins tall. As you can see, mine have started to spread and the young ones are just coming up around the original group.
Winter Aconites. Eranthus hyemalis. Hooray! At last! A member of the buttercup family. I can’t get rid of creeping buttercup and these won’t spread – most confusing!
Yellow crocus in the grass under the variegated sweet chestnut tree.
Yet another picture of my miniature iris, iris reticulata – I love them. Look carefully at the bottom right of the group of flowers and you will see a bloom that has been nipped off and discarded by one of the kind animal visitors to the garden. Towards the bottom left of the photo you can see some yellow iris danfordiae just about to come out. I am really feeling quite smug about these as they are notoriously difficult to get to survive in this country. The bulbs break up after flowering into bulblets which take a few years to mature and then flower. One has to recreate the conditions where the plants originally came from – danfordiae from Turkey, reticulata from Turkey, the Caucasus, Iraq, Iran. Good drainage; baked in summer, cold in winter. As you can see, my soil is very stony in this bed and it is south facing so gets sun for most of the day in summer.
A tub containing snowdrops and tete a tete narcissi.
A rosemary flower. Rosemary grows very well in our garden. I have two large plants one of which is next to the front door in the herb garden. Rosemary under the pillow wards off bad dreams and nightmares; rosemary next to the front door keeps witches away! Rosemary for remembrance.
Daisies growing in the grass. I couldn’t be without daisies.
Viburnum bodnantense flowers.
And again! I found it difficult to get the right angle to photograph them from.
Winter-flowering Honeysuckle flowers. Again I found it difficult to photograph these. Gorgeous scent.
Christmas Box flowers. These tiny flowers emit the most lovely scent – best on still, mild winter days.
A really pretty tiny grape hyacinth.
Mauve crocus under the weeping crabapple.
More mauve crocus.
Winter-flowering Jasmine. This has been in flower since the beginning of November.
Two types of lichen on cotoneaster horizontalis.
And again.
An Afternoon at the Beach
23 Sun Feb 2014
Posted in Rural Diary
I have had a busy week with hardly any time in the garden and no time to add a post to my blog – until now. The weather has been a little better this week – good for all the young people on their half-term break.
Wednesday 19th Feb: A beautiful orange sunrise – a pleasant mild day with lots of cloud and some sunshine. A returning to Sheffield today so she came with me when I took my mother shopping in Diss. We took her to the station after getting the groceries and waited with her until just before her train arrived. She texted later to tell me what a long and unpleasant journey she’d had. A landslip between Chesterfield and Sheffield meant that she had had to change trains at Nottingham. Over an hours wait for the new train to arrive and then a long circuitous route to Sheffield avoiding the damaged track. A dislikes travelling at the best of times – delays make her doubly grumpy (don’t they A?!)
Thursday 20th Feb: Rain overnight and a cloudy, gloomy, breezy morning. While R and I were drinking our morning tea we watched a deer wandering through the garden – probably muntjac though might have been roe; couldn’t see clearly. Heavy rain followed by rain showers today. Did lots of food shopping and then lots of ironing. Watched a pair of deer grazing in the field on the other side of the lane at the front of the house. The sky cleared after dark.
Friday 21st Feb: A beautiful clear bright morning – almost a frost. Water droplets had become gel-like but not frozen. As the sun rose everything shimmered and sparkled – heavenly! Took Mum to the eye clinic at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital again to have another injection in her eye.
Poor lady has glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration and the injections are for the latter. Her eyesight was so good until fairly recently. She now finds reading, knitting, sewing difficult as well as all her household chores. She it was who taught me to be observant, teaching me when I was tiny the names of flowers and birds. I remember her showing me how to colour pictures with the natural dyes from grass and flower petals while we were on a camping holiday. She pointed out bilberries to us all when we were walking across the North York Moors. All we could see were rabbit droppings at first so that was what we called rabbit droppings ever afterwards.
Surprised at the large number of dead deer at the sides of the road. Noticed bumble bees flying in the garden this afternoon.
Saturday 22nd Feb: Another lovely day – more bumble bees about. I managed to take a few photos of flowers in the garden this morning while R was trying to do something about filling in some of the deep holes and ruts made by the JCB. The elder tree is coming in to leaf. I am so pleased we have an elder tree as I love the frothy flowers in mid-summer and the beautiful berries in the autumn. I really like elderflower cordial and the flowers also go well with gooseberries – they are in season at the same time. Elder trees are traditionally magical – some traditions have them as evil trees and some as good. In some parts of the country it was thought best to ask permission of the tree before pruning it or taking anything from it. Boggarts are thought to live in Elder trees. (I remember reading ‘The Boggart’ by Susan Cooper to A when she was little). Elders are very useful trees. Flies do not like their smell so they were often planted near to cottages – larders, kitchens, dairies, outside lavatories!
R and I decided to drive to Dunwich and walk on the beach this afternoon. It wasn’t as busy as we thought it might have been seeing as the day was so fine. Lovely rolling waves – R pointed out the hissing noise the pebbles make as the water recedes before the next wave rushes in. What a good work-out for leg muscles walking on deep shingle beaches is! I found a mermaid’s purse, a dogfish egg case, and gave it to E when I got home. We saw a little egret fishing in a pool near the shore. We drove home as the sun was setting – the trees, black silhouettes, showing every twig and growing leaf bud against the pale sky.
Waves on Dunwich beach
View out to sea
Stonecrop, rope and other bits and pieces above the strand line
More waves with a juvenile herring gull
A fisherman with the town of Southwold and it’s lighthouse in the distance
View inland from the beach
Little egret in the pool
Little egret again. Neither of these photos clear as I had to zoom so much to take the picture
Friendship and Other Matters
18 Tue Feb 2014
Posted in Rural Diary, Uncategorized, wild birds
Tags
buzzards, friendship, greylags, Norwich Cathedral, ravens, skylarks, St. Peter's Hall and brewery
When we awoke yesterday our house was enveloped in thick fog and there was frost on the grass and our cars. (Like a lot of people we have a garage full of rubbish and no room for even one of our cars!) However, by 7.40 when R left for work the fog was clearing, the sun coming out and the birds singing loudly. The geese had got visitors – I counted eighteen geese on the field behind the house – and the couple of muscovy ducks which belong to one of our neighbours were having a stroll together round the big pond.
I had to take E in to Halesworth for a hair appointment at midday and afterwards I shopped in the supermarket. On the way home, in fact only a quarter of a mile from home, we saw something flapping at the side of the road and as we approached we realised it was a large bird with prey. As it took off we saw it was a buzzard. This is really exciting, as until just a very few years ago they were not to be found in this part of England. When we lived for eighteen months in Somerset near Wellington we saw them every day and I got to love their mewing call. The only other time I had seen them was when visiting the North or West Country on holiday. I then remembered having seen a couple of buzzards soaring over us as we worked in the garden on Sunday. How could I have forgotten this? Are they here to stay?
Thinking about our short residence in Somerset, reminds me that we had a couple of skylights in the roof of our house and I used to love to sit under them, looking up at the sky, watching clouds and buzzards and ravens. Yes, ravens too, with their deep croaking bark of a call.
A busy but fun day today. My dearest friend W has come to East Anglia for the week as her husband is working in the area. We met in Norwich and walked to the cathedral which we wandered round and then had coffee in the refectory. I then drove us to St Peter’s Hall, here in ‘The Saints’ and we had a lovely lunch, talking all the time. The last time we had met was at her eldest daughter’s wedding in 2012 but naturally we weren’t able to talk much then. We heard skylarks singing above the brewery next to the hall as we left to spend the afternoon at my house.
W was so supportive when my first husband left when A was thirteen weeks old. I had also just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and could hardly walk. She used to visit every few weeks bringing food as well as her own baby (my god-daughter) who was five and a half months older than A, kept me company and cheered me up. Thank-you W. I love you.
Tree Pruning and Sundry (also Sunday!)) Activities
16 Sun Feb 2014
Posted in Gardening, Insects, Rural Diary
Tags
cooking apple, crabapple, eating apple, Evening Prayer, fig tree, greengage, ladybirds, pear tree, Tree pruning
I thought I would post a couple of photos of what our pond looked like last winter and spring so you can see what a difference has been made by the work we have had done. By last autumn the willow trees had grown so large it was difficult to see the pond and not only had they grown upwards they had grown sideways and were spreading into the pond itself. We decided something had to be done. R thought he might be able to do it himself but the task was so huge and he was away from home so often and the weather so bad we decided to get a local landscaper to do it.
The first five pictures I took while we had snow and ice and the sixth is of the pond once the leaves had appeared. I have also included a photo of one of the molehills in our garden.
Today R and I pruned all our fruit trees. We have a Concord pear tree, a Brown Turkey fig, two eating apple trees – a Saturn and an Egremont Russet (the apples don’t look like Russets so we may have been mis-sold), two cooking apples – a Bramley and a Norfolk Biffin, a greengage and three crabapple trees. The big weeping crabapple is a species tree, I think, and has the most beautiful blossom and strong rose scent. Apples and roses belong to the same family. The fruit is tiny and very popular with the birds. I was given an Evereste crabapple tree for my birthday about ten years ago and I kept it in a large tub for a few years and then planted it at the front of the house near the weeping tree and gave it a prune. The Everest then sulked for a few years and refused to grow though it flowered beautifully and had lots of apples. Last year it began to grow at last but not very much. I always leave the crimson and yellow apples for the birds. They wait for the tree to be frosted a few times which softens the fruit and when the apples have started to rot the blackbirds especially, gobble them up. This year the apples haven’t had the hard frosts to soften them so most of them are still on the tree. The third crabapple is a Harry Baker with maroon leaves and dark crimson flowers. The fruits are dark red, enormous and make gorgeous crabapple jelly. We discovered the tree when we moved here, planted so close to the gas tank it had become quite distorted. R dug it out and replanted it at the front of the house. He has cared for it and nurtured it for nearly eight years and at last, last year, it started to grow really well and has started to put on some height. It will always probably need to be tied to a stake but it looks so much better now.
The day today was fine and sunny and the wind had dropped considerably though it was still fairly strong and chilly. The ladybirds hibernating in our bedroom are starting to wake up. They were marching round the window wanting to go out so I left the windows open for a few hours. Some have left, others went out for a while but came back later and some are still asleep. R and I spent some time outside tidying borders etc. R also cycled to Rumburgh church after lunch to put the heating on as we had evening prayer there today. It was Caroline’s (she is one of our Readers) last service before retiring and moving to Beccles. As often happens, we had no organist but we all sang with gusto and the service went very well. We will all miss Caroline and her family very much. It was very pleasant to be leaving Evensong in the twilight tonight – proof that the days are getting longer and the nights shorter.
Our Pond
15 Sat Feb 2014
Posted in Gardening, Landscaping, Rural Diary
Yet Another Windy Day!
15 Sat Feb 2014
Posted in Gardening, Rural Diary
Such a windy night last night and it’s still windy now. Walked down to the big pond earlier and could hardly keep upright – we certainly miss the protection from the prevailing wind the willow trees used to give us.
Something has eaten some of my iris flowers; a few blues, a couple of purples and my one and only plum-coloured one. The flowers have been nipped off neatly so a mammal not a bird; deer, rabbit or hare. I get so disappointed when this happens but I know the animals see my flowers as food and they take advantage of a ready supply. I don’t like putting edging round my flower beds but I think it may deter casual browsing/grazing. I often resort to chicken wire but that is so ugly. I will also try attaching human hair to something near my favourite plants. Apparently, deer cannot stand our smell and will usually stay away from anything with our scent on. The RHS in their gardens hang up stockings filled with hair collected from hairdressers to protect trees and shrubs from deer damage. Not attractive but worth a try.
Some early purple crocus are out – so pretty and dainty – pale mauve with bright yellow stamens and at last some of my winter aconites are emerging. In the garden we had in the house before last the aconites appeared first, before the snowdrops, in mid-January and they spread so quickly, especially into the gravel in the driveway. Here however, they appear in February, reluctantly, and have no desire to spread anywhere. I cannot find a place where they want to be. We have a cold, exposed, windswept garden and there aren’t enough well-drained areas – probable causes.
Dogs Mercury is coming up in the ditches. A strange plant from the spurge family with tiny greeny-yellow flowers. Extremely poisonous with a rather fetid smell, it is pollinated by midges. It is also sensitive to disturbance and a sign of ancient hedges and ditches. A woodland plant.
The heavenly blue scilla are appearing under the Escallonia which also suffers in our garden and I have no idea why.
It is so good to have both my daughters at home. They get on well with each other most of the time (there is eleven and a half years difference in their ages) but they do tend to tease each other, spend considerable time apart in their own rooms and then are disappointed that they didn’t spend enough time with each other when A goes back to Sheffield. R kindly made our evening meal last night; a tasty risotto and tonight we will have cottage pie. The girls don’t like mashed potato so I put sliced browned potato on top instead. Tomorrow we will have a traditional roast meal; roast leg of lamb.
I had a phone call about an hour ago. I answered and after saying hello a few times I was about to put the receiver down when I was greeted by a man with a strong accent, probably Indian, who said his name was Robert and was from the computer repair team. Why Robert, and why not give his own name? This is so obviously a scam that giving his own name wouldn’t make much difference. In fact, it may make me listen a little longer.
When I was growing up in Kent my father used to patronise the corner shop run by a very hard-working Indian or Pakistani man called Dave. My father used to get his tobacco and cigarettes from there and Dave kindly cashed cheques for Dad. Dad was always short of money. When my mother asked what Dave’s real name was my father was astounded. ‘His name’s Dave!’ he said.
Apologies
14 Fri Feb 2014
Posted in Rural Diary
Tags
I feel I must apologise for last night’s sentimental outburst. There is no real excuse for it, but the night was so lovely, and, a little bit of soppiness (within reason, of course) never did anyone any harm – yet.
Not much to report so far today. The day started cold and frosty with ice on the ponds. This quickly disappeared as the wind got up and it is now raining hard – again.
The rooks have started fiddling about with their old nests in the rookery. Mark Cocker in his book ‘Crow Country’ says that they dismantle the nests each year and start again. I am not sure about that, though I am no expert. The rooks pair for life but they still feel the need to court each other again each year – bowing and nodding and lifting the feathers on the back of their necks. Human couples, in the main, don’t seem to continue to woo each other after they have decided to get married/live together. Perhaps they should (I don’t mean bowing and nodding etc. – they’d get funny looks from passers-by) but perhaps try to remember what it was that attracted them about their partner in the beginning/make an effort to listen to each other or spend more time together/try not to take each other for granted – I’m sure you can think of lots more. (What has got into me?! It must be Valentine’s Day!) R and I decided some years ago to forego sending each other cards and giving presents on this day (at my instigation if I remember rightly) and what a relief it was not to have to sort through hundreds of simply awful cards trying to find something appropriate to us and our marriage. We ended up with cards with no message and scenic views or gardens or flowers on the front and then wrote our own rather restrained messages. I’m not usually a sentimental person (last night was an aberration) and I found it an uncomfortable experience. It all seemed very silly. As a girl I would have loved to have received a card from an unknown admirer but as a middle-aged woman….. No, ridiculous!
The geese don’t have the big pond to themselves any more. The moorhens are very busy, paddling about doing moorhenny things and a group of five male mallards have arrived. They are stalking one lone female – waiting for their chance!
Lunch break over – I must get back to the ironing and then I’m off to Diss to pick A up from the station. She is coming home for a long weekend and I am looking forward to it very much.
Moonlight
13 Thu Feb 2014
Posted in Rural Diary
Tags
Moonlight, orion, shooting star, stars, ursa major, ursa minor
I just happened to open the curtains upstairs to see what the weather was doing and saw a magical landscape. I put on my jacket and went out. The moon is almost full and the light so bright and silvery I could see everything clearly, even the colours of some objects – my car, the garage doors. The stars seemed dim next to the moon; orion at the front of the house and when I walked to the back I saw the plough and ursa minor. All I could hear was the soughing of the wind in the trees and the drumming sound one hears as the wind hits ones face and ears. No owls or moorhens – then a solitary car coming along the road from St. Margaret South Elmham. When it’s noise had died away I looked up at the stars again. A shooting star – a millisecond of light streaking across the sky from near ursa major. I didn’t make a wish. There didn’t seem to be anything more to wish for. I thank God for this beautiful world and for being alive in it.
Flowers
13 Thu Feb 2014
Posted in Rural Diary
This post is full of photos of some of the flowers in my garden at the moment.
A plum-coloured miniature iris
Blue miniature iris
An early primrose
Snowdrops under the crabapple tree
Witch-hazel flowers
Catkins with tiny crimson female flowers. These will turn into lovely hazelnuts that will all be eaten by the squirrels!
Catkins
Spring is on it’s way!
