Signs of Growth in the Garden

Sorry for lack of posts recently. I haven't really had chance to get out anywhere interesting and on the occasional day when I have had a few hours spare time its been raining or snowing! Lo and behold I notice that blogger have yet again made a change - this time in the way you upload photos. It was a nightmare trying to separate the photos so I could type inbetween so I haven't a clue how this post is going to turn out!

A quick walk around the garden this morning revealed lots of signs of new growth.

I haven't a clue what this plant is called but I call it "Elephant's Ears" as it has huge fleshy leaves. I find it rather ugly but it does produce quite a lot of flowers.



The wallflowers I put in pots last autumn are now producing buds. Hopefully in a few weeks they will be flowering and attracting some bumble bees.



Winter Jasmine has been flowering for months



Buds are forming on the daffodils,



camelias and



rhodendrons.



Primroses have been flowering for weeks now - looking a bit wilted today after a frost.



Daffodil and bluebell leaves in the wooded area at the top of the garden.



Female hazel flowers have appeared looking like miniature sea anemones



with lamb's tails (male catkins) above.



Sadly, the yucca which we have had for years has come to an untimely end - its only ever flowered twice. Husband thinks it was the weight of snow recently. I only hope it wasn't the intruder we had in the garden recently. An all round nightmare experience as he'd been seen roaming round gardens and then decided to exit via our garage roof jumping onto the bonnet of Emily's brand new car. Luckily, he was seen by a neighbour who called the police who managed to catch him. He has been given a prison sentence but unfortunately that means no compensation for Emily and she is now faced with a situation of paying for the repairs herself (quotes so far vary between £720 and over £1000!!!) or claiming on her insurance and paying the excess and losing most of her no claims bonus. Its not been a good month!!!!



Recent gales have brought down a branch from the Eucalyptus tree.



These pretty little seedheads look almost like flowers.



Silver birch



This is the old hanging basket on the patio where up to 5 wrens have been roosting. They are still ignoring the roosting pouch above it even though the basket drips with rain when its wet.



I was really pleased to receive this Green Man from David for Christmas - its now hanging in the porch.



David's been on holiday today and we went for lunch at our favourite pub - the Plough



and here's one of the Pom Pom ducks wandering round the car park.

An Interesting Warwickshire Church

I've been meaning to visit the church of St Mary the Virgin at Lapworth for some time and on Tuesday as I was in the area I decided to go along and have a look. It took me absolutely ages to find the car park but I was fortunate in that the forecasted heavy rain never arrived although it was very gloomy.

The first sight to greet me in the churchyard were the first Snowdrops I had seen this year.

The church which is a Grade 1 listed building dates back to the mid twelfth century although it is believed there may have been a wooden chapel on the site from the Saxon period. A restoration of the church occurred in the nineteenth century.

I was a bit nervous about exploring the interior of the church as part of it is alarmed and I seem to remember another Blogger, who shall remain nameless :), set off the alarm by leaning into one of the alarmed areas resulting in the verger appearing in a hurry! If anyone was going to accidentally set off the alarm again it would be me but luckily someone had just set the church alarm and very kindly turned it off so I could explore the whole church for half an hour.

Last Supper Reredos

There were some beautiful stained glass windows in the church the photo below shows a window showing the Adoration of the Magi, the Nativity and the Shepherds

The Lady Chapel - now known as St Catherine's Chapel rededicated to those who died in the First World War contains the Adie Wade Memorial Window which is beautiful. Adie was from Lapworth and he died towards the end of the war when the hospital he was in recovering from an injury was bombed.

The chapel also contains The Florence Bradshaw Memorial tablet by Eric Gill. It was commissioned in 1928 and is called the Mater Amabilis and depicts Madonna and Child. It is made from Portland Limestone and is situated on the west wall of the chapel.

Above the Memorial tablet is a fragment of a Medieval wall painting.

This window with Heraldic shields was reconstructed after serious damage by severe gales in 1925.

The Madonna and Child statue by A John Poole was dedicated in 2001.

The fourteenth century octagonal font has carved faces at each corner.

The Royal Arms were painted in 1819 by Isaac Brown from nearby Rowington

The Lapworth Missal is considered the most important surviving Medieval manuscript associated with St Mary. It was handwritten in Latin with colourful illuminated borders and contained text of the Roman Catholic Mass and prayers used throughout the year. It was made in the fifteenth century probably for use in St Mary and was used in the church until its removal during the Reformation. It is now in the archives of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. A reproduction of the painting of the Crucifixion from the Missal is on display.

The West Porch was built around 1250. The room above the passageway known as the West Chantry Chapel since 1373 was once used as a place to display holy relics.

St Mary's Church is a rare example in Warwickshire of a church constructed with a detached tower. The tower was built in around 1380.

I stopped off at Baddesley Clinton for lunch - Parsnip Soup and Ginger Cake - both delicious!

No sign of any lambs yet but the sheep were munching happily away

i like the stacked logs by this pruned tree. The logs will provide good habitat for fungi and invertebrates

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

Its the weekend of the RSPB Garden Birdwatch held every year in January. I've been taking part in this for years now - ever since the children were little.

I counted birds for an hour yesterday and managed 14 species - about average. As always there are always a few of the regular visitors that don't visit during the hour - I think everyone encounters this :)

Fieldfare 1

Robin 1

Great Tit 1

Dunnock 2

Goldfinch 2

House Sparrow 8

Wood Pigeon 3

Coal Tit 1

Blackbird 1

Blue Tit 2 (noticed them for the first time this year starting to check out one of the nest-boxes)

Feral Pigeon 1

Greenfinch 1

Magpie 1

Long-tailed Tit 3

No signs of the Fieldfare today - its looks as though now its much milder it has moved on so glad I didn't leave the Birdwatch until today.

I started the Birdwatch with the overly ambitious idea of trying to photograph the birds I saw. I soon gave up on the idea as I was spending too much time trying to take photos instead of watching birds! Also, the birds are really too far away for the 70-300 lens.

Here's a few I took at the beginning - just a few record shots!

House Sparrows

Goldfinch

Dunnock