"Bits and Pieces"

The days continue to merge into one!


As long as it is not raining I wander round the garden several times a day looking for new plants in flower, birds and insects.

More flowers on the patio clematis and

a different variety (no idea which one) clambering over an arch further up the garden.

Thyme continues to flower

Miniature strawberries - to be honest I am not sure if they are "wild" or planted over 40 years ago by the previous owner but they appear each year. We used to grow strawberries in a fruit cage but that was in a different area of the garden.

Timothy enjoying his daily walk!

Choiysa in flower - mum and dad bought us this shrub many many years ago.

Hawthorn - sadly never flowers profusely - I blame OH for over pruning it although he says this is not the case. The garden has not been tended that well so far this year as B has had a lot of problems with his legs. An xray just before lock down suggests he has osteo arthritis of the hips and spine which he needs to see the doctor about when they are accepting appointments again. Ibuprofen helps him a lot but the GP took him off that as she said it was causing his blood pressure to increase :(

Timothy again - he does like azaleas!

This is the border that has been taken over by Red Campion - really pleased about this!

Common Vetch (I think - please correct me if I am wrong)

Azaleas

Rock Rose

Water Avens by the pond

This morning there were 7 eggs in the Blue Tit nest and

she has begun to incubate. It is good to see the male goes in regularly to feed her.

Sadly, over the last few days a Magpie has been seen again several times near the Blackbird nest so I suspect this will eventually get predated.


Speckled Wood butterflies are still being seen most days and today I saw a male Brimstone. Tawny Mining Bee and Tree Bumble Bee are new species for the year. The Large Red Damselfly seems to have disappeared or moved on perhaps.


Wildflower area and mini woodland at the top of the garden.

I've been keeping up the "journal" but not drawing every day partly because of the rain and not going into the garden to find items to draw.

I'm just taking each day as it comes and trying to keep my mind occupied. I am still doing the heraldry course and the os puzzle book and reading fiction and non-fiction. I've knitted a little owl and just have to sew it up. I finished the OU free War Memorial Course which, although short, was interesting and certainly makes you ask questions about the different forms memorials take, the location and symbols etc. When all this is over I will be taking a lot of photos whenever I can find them. I've signed up for another OU free course on Life in the Palaeozoic which may well repeat information I learned years ago when I took Geology courses with them. But as I have forgotten a lot of what I learnt it will refresh it in my memory!!





It was E's birthday last week - it was not the celebration she planned as two short holidays had to be cancelled and she couldn't meet friends but we made the best of it in the circumstances.

I found a Christmas Pudding sparkler we hadn't used to put in the cake.

*D

Flowers sent by one friend

*D

Another friend left flowers on the drive for her.

Birmingham Airport has been used for "military" exercises with sightings of a Chinook helicopter and this plane.

*D


An old spirograph gift was found in a wardrobe and put into use.

*D


Pressing garden flowers

*D


The hammered silver coin from Queen Elizabeth I's reign I mentioned D had found in my last post.

*D

*D


Apart from an Apple and Blackberry crumble no baking this week


Tea cooked by D using up pitta breads and peppers.

*D


Glamorgan Sausages again made by D with a Watercress, Apple and Walnut salad courtesy of me!

*D



Plain flour has nearly run out but I must thank Sarah Head who kindly left a comment in the last post asking if I had tried Shipton Mill as they release delivery slots at some stage during the day. Yesterday I visited the website and kept refreshing it every time I was on the computer and I was fortunate enough to get a delivery slot so all being well I should have some plain, self raising, wholemeal and bread flour in a week or so. I wasn't greedy I just had two 1 kg bags of each but at least we can bake again for a while without worrying about running out for a few weeks. I did consider buying a few 16kg sacks (which they sell from a different shop) but B was not keen on having too much flour lying about.

So thank you Sarah.



I hope everyone is staying safe and well. Take care.



*D Photos taken by D with the Canon SX 50 HS bridge camera
Rest of photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera

Trying to keep busy!

Recent Reading

I treated myself to The Wren a few months ago when life was normal and I was able to go to a bookshop! It was reduced probably because the paperback had just come out? I loved this book - lots of fascinating facts about the wren and charming illustrations. I think the author has written a book on The Robin which I will look out for.

It took me a while to get into the first book (The Windermere Witness) as the format is different from many other detective books but I did enjoy it and, of course, it is set in the Lake District an area I love. As you can see I bought an omnibus edition of the first 3 books in the series.

I bought this magazine a few months ago on an impulse in W H Smith. I have a lot of books on The Tudors but sometimes a magazine format with lots of illustrations makes more relaxing reading and I am reading a few pages a day.

In the Garden

I managed to get slightly better photos of the Large Red Damselfly which we were seeing daily in the garden. For once it posed nicely for the camera :)

I'm thrilled that half dozen Lady's Smock plants have re-appeared in the bog garden. Sorry not the best of photos - I couldn't get close enough without falling in the pond!

Hawthorn is coming into flower.

We picked a few garden flowers - some to press and some to put in little jugs.

Clematis is flowering on the patio

and the orange Azalea is now in bloom.

We haven't seen Hedgehogs in the garden for years but I have found what looks very much like a hedgehog dropping deposited by the wildflower area. Thanks to Pam and Amanda for confirming id. I have been out in the garden at dusk but haven't yet seen an actual hedgehog but, of course, it could visit at any time during the night so I will keep looking.

Vegetable seedlings in the small greenhouse

We think the Blue Tit has started to lay eggs - it is hard to see as she covers the eggs with nesting material during the day as Blue Tits don't normally start incubating until the clutch is complete or nearly complete.

We thought the female Blackbird's nest in the laurel had been predated as she was making a real song and dance early one morning. But as she is still going in and out of the laurel bush we are hopeful the eggs are still there.


Baking

The flour is diminishing rapidly and it seems impossible to buy any anywhere but E did make this lemon curd and cream sponge one day.

I made some flapjacks another day as no flour required!

To use up some stale bread Timothy helped make Bread Pudding - again no flour required :)

This and That

D is still sorting out his coin collection. More replica sets.

He did find a hammered silver coin from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I dated 1537 and I will try and get a photo for the next post as this coin is original although not in the best of conditions!



I've continued with the little "journal" of garden wildlife. My drawing does not improve sadly and some of the proportions are wrong (note size of leaf of Red Campion compared to flower!!) but I am getting a lot of pleasure from it and as mentioned before I am noticing far more detail in flowers and leaves than I would normally.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well. Take care.


All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera