A rather strange photograph

Last weekend, I went to the cottage and took some pictures. I didn’t pay quite so much attention to the ones I took of the parts of the garden which are in reasonable condition – I was more interested in the bare, rubbly parts at that point.

Yesterday night my husband was looking at all of the pictures I had taken, and we discovered something rather odd on one of them. There appears to be a misty ball of light by the holly bush, and it looks like it is moving.

It was a dull day, so we don’t think it is a reflection. The holly is quite dense, so we don’t think it is a light shining through.

So, a trick of the light or an otherwordly willo the wisp? Who knows, but I prefer the more imaginative and magical option. I just hope it’s good at gardening!

Also, if anyone knows what kind of tree is to the left of the holly, I would love to know. It has a small rowan growing up into it, but as to what the large one is, I have no idea. It looks like it has been there for a very long time!

A real animal!

This is my new hoover - sorry, vacuum cleaner.  It looks like something out of Star Wars, but it behaves like something out of Harry Potter.  Yes, I know it's very sad to be blogging about a household appliance, but trust me, when you have two perpetually moulting dogs, anything that makes life easier is very well received!

This creature has cut my hoovering time in half, and makes the stairs so easy. 
Not to go on too much, but I wish I'd just bought one of these Dyson Animals in the first place instead of faffing about with hoovers with fiddly filters, and that lose most of their suction after just a few weeks of having their insides clogged with Frankie's hairs!

Expensive, but worth every penny!  It also has a five year guarantee, and is the only hoover I have ever been able to put together from the box unassisted (not that that says very much!!).

Happy Hallowe'en (or Samhain)

I have always loved Halloween - the ghosts, witches, spooky goings on and scaring yourself silly watching horror films. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6468637/Halloween-a-history-of-All-Hallows-Eve-from-Samhain-to-trick-or-treat.html

When I was at primary school, we had an acting group come to teach us some songs and dances at Halloween.  They split us up into different groups, and I can remember being a little bit disappointed at being in the bad guys group as a witch's cat!  The spooky thing is that I have never forgotten the song!  If I ever need to learn something, I just put it into a song and I can remember it for a very long time!  At least 24 years in the case of this one!

When night winds howl and thunder roars
And folks stay safe at home indoors
When ghouls and witches all come out
To sing and dance and leap about

Tis then we practice all our spells
We love our cauldron’s evil smells
We’re friends of snakes and spiders too
We’d like to get out hands on … YOU!

Garden woes

When I'm out and about, I'll very often pick up a packet or seeds or two.  Even worse, if Thompson & Morgan have a sale on, I might get several packets. 
With all of the delays and problems with the cottage, I've got stashes of seeds in drawers, on top of the kitchen cupboards etc. 


Today I decided to gather them all together to help me with my garden plan, and see what I've really got. 
Result?  A huge amount of seeds - in fact, enough to plant an entire garden come the spring!!

I have a wonderful mix of vegetables, flowers, herbs, salad leaves and wildflowers. 

Now where am I going to put them?

I've been out in the garden this end today too. Despite the beautiful weather today, autumn has a firm grip, and leaves are yellowing and decaying on the ground.  My poor garden has been sorely neglected since we took on the cottage, and the autumn decline has become much more obvious.

All of our time has been spent on the renovations over there.  And it shows.  I was having a browse at my all-time favourite plants, my false castor oil plants, or Fatsia Japonica to give them their proper title (I wish I could take them with me) and in amongst them I found a stray rowan sapling!  I only noticed it because its leaves were in full autumn colour!

Will this really grow?

Allegedly this spud will sprout and become a sweet potato vine!  I hope I've got it in the vase the right way round.  You are supposed to put the pointy end in the water, but all of the sweet potatoes I bought were pointy at both ends!
If anyone knows, please get in touch...

The vines look so pretty that I really hope it will take off.  I probably should have started it off during the summer, but I'm sure the central heating will keep it warm and I was just so curious to see if it would work that I couldn't possibly wait until next year!

A new front door

Finally we have our new front door fitted.  This was a bit of a bargain - a clearance door at a warehouse, but it's solid oak.  It won't be staying this colour - we don't think it looks right.  The house will be painted cream and we think a light coloured door will blend in too much, so it's going to be a blue-grey shade.

Here's my fox door knocker.  Again, this was a bargain at 50% off.We've done quite well on some things for the house either by scouring the sales or by trawling ebay. 

A play on words

Something I've just discovered is Wordle.  It works by 'arranging' the words of your choice that you can paste in, a favourite poem for example, or by choosing them from a link you provide.  This Wordle is from my blog.

You can change the colours, fonts, styles and have a lot of fun with it. The Wordle at the side is Tam O Shanter by Robert Burns - one of my favourite poems and perfect for the lead up to Halloween - full of witches, demons and things that go bump in the night!

The real twitter

Did you know that it was National Feed the Birds Day yesterday?  The RSPB has been holding a series of events nationwide all over this weekend that you can join in with.  I haven't been to any of the events, but I have bought some seeds and peanuts for my feeders. 
The RSPB website is not just about birds, they have a great section on how to make your garden more wildlife friendly.  You start by answering a few questions about your hous and garden, and then they come up with a range of suggestions you might want to try which will help to attract more wildlife to your garden.

One of my favourites is this - a wildlife stack.  The insect equivalent of a five-star hotel.

There are loads of ideas on the RSPB site, and there's some great gardening tips and information on there too.  It's not all just about birds!

You can check out their homes for wildlife scheme here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/hfw/index.asp

House progress

All of the windows are finally in!  We had a three-week wait for the french windows upstairs, after the originals supplied had been measured wrongly and were too small.  But never mind, they're here now.  The roof at the side is being tiled this week.

Fancy a Tipple?

Not being the most patient of people, I was very disappointed to learn that our renovation budget did not stretch to the purchase of the greenhouse I wanted.  I had visions of planting, sketching and painting in my own little glass den.  Sadly it is not to be.  Now, I am not the type of person to patiently save up the substantial sum of money required to purchase one in two or three years time, I want something now, so that I can plant it up with veg in the spring!  I had intended to use the little plastic one I have to start off some veggies in the spring, but then I found, and fell in love with, this!!  It's a tipple glasshouse, designed around the base of a barrel.  It's a perfect size for my modest vegetable ambitions, and it looks great!  By mid-winter, I will have put aside enough money to make my purchase!  It's quite small, so it has the added advantage is that it won't block the lovely views at the back of the house.  As for my drawing and painting, I can sit by the french windows upstairs, or just get myself out into the garden!

More elephants

I apologise if I wax lyrical about these little guys, but the stories of their rescues are so heartwarming.  It's great to know that there are people who care so much about them, and do some much to raise awareness and help to protect them.  Elephants are under threat from drought that their habitats have suffered, and also from the poaching and bush-meat trades - both of which are big business.  Poaching is often driven by the demand for elephant products in the far east, notably China.

This picture is of Meibai, and shows him being welcomed into the orphanage by the other ellies, it's thought that this elephant is about two years old.  The reason for being orphaned is unknown.  I think it's wonderful they way they greet each other and make new arrivals feel so wanted straight away.  No bitching on Facebook or office politics for this lot!

Another recent new arrival is Shukuru, a much younger elephant at only one month old!  She was found having got trapped in a manhole, and luckily rescued by a tribeman, who not only rescued her from the manhole, but also from the other tribesmen who wanted to use her as bushmeat. 

When they are so young, they are very trusting of humans, and take to them straight away.  Here she is getting milk and fluids before being taken to the orphanage.

Chilly mornings, gorgeous afternoons

Today is the first day of autumn that I have been able to see my breath in the air (here in Flint anyway!).  On the way to work the outside temperature was just 3 degrees.  By lunchtime it was 14 degrees and a bright and sunny day - perfect for dogwalking, but unfortunately for them I was in work!

Rush, rush, busy, busy

On my recent Healing Trust course, I got a gentle reminder from the tutor that 'not having time' is not really a very good excuse at all. 
Is it just me, or does everything seem to be getting faster and busier?  Rumour has it that this is what happens when you get older!
How many of us though, just rush through life without ever stopping to think what really matters and what is really important?
I've been ill since Saturday, and it struck me that this is the first time in ages that I've actually slowed down, and that's only because I've had to.  I've had time to sleep, think and read, because I haven't been able to do much else for three days.  I've had time to think about my dreams and goals, and all of those things that I've put on the backburner.

Whilst I wouldn't advocate being ill as a way to get back some equilibrium, it certainly has given me some time, and a great deal of food for thought.

 http://www.nfsh.org.uk/

Kindle

This little device is an electronic library and reader capable of holding over 1500 books in its memory.  It's soon to be available here in the UK from Amazon.com.  Apparently the screen is designed to look like the printed page.  There is no backlight, so no glare, and you can see from the pictures how thin it is.  This gizmo is tipped to revolutionise the book world, and I can see that it would be really great for anyone who likes reading and travels a lot, or is always on the go. 
But wouldn't you miss browsing the bookshops, skimming your bookshelves at the library deciding what to read next?  I guess you won't find ebooks in charity shops or car boot sales either. 
I love books not only for their storylines and plots, but also the way they look and feel.  The gorgeous, mouthwatering photographs in cookbooks, and the often beautiful covers and dustjackets.  I can't imagine getting the same feeling from a machine.  It will also cost about £200.  You can buy a lot of books for that!

Damsonfest

After just 30 minutes of picking, I have found myself with 5kgs of damsons, and up until an hour ago I had no idea what to do with them all!  Thank goodness for the internet - I now have two lovely recipes for damson and orange gin and spiced damson chutney.
The damsons have come off the tree at the cottage, and rather than waste them, I thought I'd pick the ones that are still left on the tree - there are probably a couple of kilos on the ground too.  I was sure to leave plenty for the birds - they can have the ones I can't reach (70% of the tree!).

We also took the dogs on their favourite forest walk.  Hubby got dragged round by a camera phobic Collie and an over-enthusiastic Jack Russell whilst I took some pictures in the peace and quiet of the forest...

These were taken on our walk around Overton Hill.  It has been a beautiful, clear Autumn day.  We are wondering when we will next get any heavy rain.  We haven't had 'proper' rain for quite a few weeks.  Being so dry this year, we should see some beautiful autumn colours this time round, rather than the soggy, rotting leaves of 2008.

And this is the view from the top of the hill.

The nice bit...

And the 'nasty' bit...

You can't see too well from the picture, but there is a lot of industry, particularly petrochemicals.  Although you can see it from the top of the hill, it feels as if you are thousand miles away from it when you can hear the birds singing just behind you.

Babylon's Ark

This is next on my reading list.  A little bit late, but I read his most recent book first.  It's about rescuing the animals from Baghdad Zoo!!

If you'd like to hear an update on the zoo, and also about Lawrence Anthony, click on the link below.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/audio/2009/feb/20/conservation-wildlife-lawrence-anthony

Indiana

I looked after this little chap for a couple of days a few weeks ago. 

He was a fledgling who had decided to fledge before he could actually fly!  My neighbour found him (I call it a him, it could have been either, but personally I think he's a bloke!) in her garden - between the two of us at the time we knew very little about baby birds - I know quite a bit more now, thanks to the RSPB!  I named him Indiana after the intrepid archaeologist, embarking on what could very well be his last crusade!

Untold stress levels occured over the couple of days I looked after him as I learned to recognise his call, and also the sound of the bell on a cat's collar at 6 o clock in the morning!  Sorry to my neighbours if anyone got the unwelcome sight of me tramping round the garden in my dressing gown - I'm not mad, honest!

Just as well this little bird could cheep and whistle, because his parents (Goldfinches) heard him and came down (into our hedge where I had put him) to feed.  He was there for two days, and I really did try to resist picking him up and sitting him in the palm of my hand.  On day one he was there sitting quite happily for a couple of hours, just relaxing, whilst I was agonising over what to do with him.  By day two he wanted to be off!! 
I'd heard a myth that if you pick a baby bird up, it will be abandoned by its parents because they will smell human scent on it - according to the RSPB this is rubbish, because birds have a poor sense of smell.  Best thing you can do is leave them where they are, or if they are likely to be cat prey, move them into a nearby hedge or tree out of harm's way.  It's uncanny how their parents find them and how they call to each other... and pretty wonderful too!

By the end of day two he had gone...

Anyway, today I spotted a couple of Goldfinches in the garden, as I'd put some niger seed in the feeder (apparently they really love this stuff!) and I couldn't help but wonder...

Hard to believe that such muted colours would, in time, develop into the most striking plumage!  Stay safe wherever you are my little feathered friend!

New old gates

We found these gates and post tops in a reclaimation yard.  They'll look great at the cottage and cost a lot less than buying new.  The gates need to be rubbed down with a wire brush to remove the rust before they are repainted.

And just a few days has made a lot of difference to the building work too.  The main roof is now completely tiled and the small extension has been felted and battened ready for tiling.

Aye Aye

My first attempt at drawing.  Not a masterpiece, but not a total disaster either, considering I haven't picked up a pencil or pastels for 13 years!

Kid in a sweet shop

One of my friends does a lot of art, actually she's really great at it, and I hope she gets her own blog up and running soon so that you can see it.  She's got me interested in drawing again. 
I haven't drawn anything for a long time, but I used to really love it. 

Only problem was, I ruined things when I added colour!  Same thing happened last weekend when I had a go.  Solution?  Something that has been under the spare bed for three whole years untouched.  I dug it out today, it's a sketching box with pencils and pastels and I am now a proper kid in a sweet shop - I don't know where to start or what to do.  I have so many ideas! 

I think I'm going to start with an unusual little creature I saw for the first time ever on tv...

Looks like we missed our 'Last Chance to See' Northern White Rhinos?

When I logged in to BBC iplayer to watch some back episodes of a programme that I found on TV yesterday (Last Chance to See) but missed the first two episodes of, I never guessed I would be watching a programme where they wouldn't be able to find a single member of the species they were looking for - the Northern White Rhino. 

Gone largely as a result of the war in The Congo and poaching.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4152951.ece

Seems they've all gone from the wild, and have the sad label in captivity as 'unviable'...

Words fail me...

Beach frolics

A day off from the renovations means a trip to Llandudno with the pups.  The weather has been dry, though cloudy, but fairly mild.

Here's Bobby waiting not very patiently for chips.  Normally he hates the camera, but here he has been distracted by something far more important.  As you can see by his waistline, he really likes his food!

And one very happy Jack Russell who has just finished frolicking in the waves.  Once he discovered he liked the sea, we couldn't get him out of it.

Ideal home? Not yet!

Just recently, progress on the cottage has been great!  The roof on the main house is almost tiled, and we are starting to have some windows fitted.  of course, there's still a long way to go, but we're close to achieving our goal of having it watertight before the winter sets in, thanks to hubby working so hard!  I'm looking forward to getting to the inside, so that I can do something to help!!

... the rest of the 'garden' is a different matter!  Still, I have a blank canvas and the space to have a lot of fun!  Now that the nights are starting to draw in, and the autumn nip is in the air, I can spend some time in the evenings drawing up my plans. 
I'm planning a very natural garden, with lots of wildflowers and wildlife-friendly plants to encourage my animal friends to come and visit, and maybe even move in if I'm lucky.  We put the pond in a couple of months ago, and already it's inhabited by a range of insects and resident frogs Flip and Flop.

Come into my garden...

The cottage we are renovating is coming along really well now.  The building works have taken their toll on the garden though.  The side garden has remained in reasonably good condition...

North & South

This must have slipped under the radar when it was first broadcast.  I ordered it from Amazon on DVD and loved it!  Period dramas are not normally my thing at all, but this was so good!  Even hubby loved it and put up with my drooling.  See picture above for raven-haired reason... 
I loved it so much I was... but I'd spoil the ending. 
If you haven't seen it, watch it!

Elephants again!

When you adopt an elephant from the Sheldricks, you begin to receive monthly watercolours. I thought I would share the August painting with you.  They're painted by Angela Sheldrick.

Mutara & Tumaren

Well, I finally got around to starting up my blog again!   So let's start by meeting my new friends Mutara & Tumaren! 

Both lovely little orphan elephants living in Kenya, and carefully looked after by The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.  You may have seen Elephant Diaries a few years ago on TV , all filmed in Kenya with these guys.

Please read their stories, and help by sponsoring an elephant if you can.

http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/