Following on from the last blog, we have at last had some decent rain & all the garden has benefited from it, new growth everywhere, especially the weeds, which seem to come from nowhere. It has been said many times before that a weed is just a plant in the wrong place, I can assure you the wife does not agree with that, she would say a weed is something that is determined to take the garden over & if left it would. The worst this year seems to be between, what we call Milkmaids & wild Garlic or Ransom to give it it’s correct name. As neither of us like Garlic you can see that this is a bit of a problem, though it is said that wild Garlic is much milder than the “real” stuff. I hopefully will never know.
Of course along with a bit of rain & sunshine the grass starts to grow, which in turn means that it has to be mowed, I personally hate doing the first cut because you then know that for every week from then on it is going to need cutting, true to form mine has had two haircuts, though I am keeping it fairly long until no chance of a frost to damage it.
I also stated last blog that birds were starting to pair up & most have, we realised that the Blackbirds (who are always the first) were still queueing up at the back door for their early morning sultanas, but were in fact storing them in their beaks instead of eating them. So we therefore knew they had babes somewhere (the first year for ages I haven’t found a nest) & today we got our first fledgling Blackbird of the season. The beauty of this (if it survives) is that after a few weeks the parents bring their youngsters to the early morning sultana feed & we can see how they are progressing, I will try to get some shots of this when it happens. So below is that first fledgling hiding, thinking I cannot see it, don’t worry I had my long lens on & was well away from it, social distancing you might say.
Also last blog I told you about the Sparrows nesting, I think the majority of last years sites are now taken, but do not think there are any additional ones. So below are some shots of those sights & two of the most established ones you will see are so full of debris I am not sure what room there will be for eggs, let alone babes.
Well we might still be in lockdown, but we have a lot to keep us entertained & I hope that you are suitably occupied during this difficult time, just all stay safe, obey the rules & we will ALL get through this.