So here's a thing - not one, but TWO sunny days during the week! Friday might have been alright too, I can't remember, as Fridays are dominated by other things. But TWO sunny days. Well mostly sunny days, but two of them!
We took advantage of the first (Monday) to do a bit of work on a client's garden - it is quite exposed when the wind is in the West or Southwest, and many of the trees and shrubs have a jaunty angle, but where it is sheltered, it is a wonderful sun trap at this time of year. Following animal tracks around, I found a glorious and secluded group of daffodils, with flower buds developing nicely. They could be out in a couple of weeks!
Yesterday (Saturday) was the other nice day - it made standing in queues at the market so much more enjoyable, and positively encouraged chatting with acquaintances. Catching up with people and passing the time of day is one of those things that has been allowed to slide with Covid, sadly. The sun also meant it was exceptionally pleasant to go to the One Acre Wood and sort out a problem on an oak tree that had been annoying us for a few years. It is a magnificent specimen, about 70 to 80 years old we think, and the main trunk is straight and true, but there was a low side branch which affects the quality of the main stem, so we cut it off. In three years, it will keep us warm. It was lovely in the wood.
The days are getting longer and things are getting frisky. If you are a semi-feral freeloading bantam, this means you are considered fair game by any young cat that is looking for a nice gift for the girl of his dreams. I don't see the chasing, I just hear the objections, and if I go out to see what the problem is, I can bet I will be faced with a very cross bantam at head height. I've tried telling Bridie that if she lived in the main run, she wouldn't have this problem, but she just won't believe me!
Something is thinking about setting up home in The Garden by The Shack - I'm not sure what it is, but it's a bit more than the test pits that the boar come up with in the wildflower meadow or the badger mess created elsewhere. If it keeps looking purposeful, I might set up the trial camera nearby to see who it is. This week there was more evidence that the hunters had scared everything off - the camera was set up by a trail and a pond that we know is used by ducks. Nothing. Absolutely nothing through the whole week other than me coming to take the camera down. I even put it in the chicken run overnight to make sure it was still working (it is). Ho hum.
(Apologies for the poor quality photo.)
During the autumn, my new found orchid obsession and half price plants at Mr Bricolage meant that the kitchen windowsill is now orchid central. The largest, most expensive and definitely most worrying of the collection arrived with one large flower, which lasted a good three weeks before falling off. But over the past two months, a bud has slowly developed and after an annoying 3 days, is now fully opened. The flower isn't as big as the one that fell off, but to my mind, it is probably a bit prettier (well I would say that, wouldn't I?).
So that's it for this week - next week there will be exciting tales of garlic planting and the latest fail with the trail camera!
Comments