Re: Gardening Thread.

[Sabot]

My little Pug Dog has suddenly gone blind. Not unusual, apparently, although I can't see anything wrong with her eyes.
She is bumping into things and started to follow me everywhere. But she is eating okay, and trotting about on her lead. So now I have to walk in front of her so she can follow my legs in and out of the house.
Not that it matters. And I amn't paying for an MRI Scan to be told that her retinas have detached, which is almost certainly true.
I will keep a very close eye, but she has no trouble finding her food dish or where the water is.
And I have become very protective.

Funny, you know. I told her previous "carer" that I would have her even if she was blind. I just didn't expect it to happen.

[bb1]

Oh no, Sabot! But don't panic - I've had two blind dogs before now, and they compensate far faster than humans ever can.

Their sense of smell and hearing is much more acute than ours, and they navigate that way....just try to avoid moving furniture etc. I've also had deaf dogs (you can tell I'm a sucker for waifs) and it's much, much harder for them.

It'll be OK.   

[Sabot]

I once had a blind Shar Pei, and she got by okay. So I'm not that bothered. But she has become so very wary, when she was such an ebullient little thing before.

I am a bit upset by it, but only for her sake. It was just so sudden. But not at all unusual for Pugs. Shit, I hate interbreeding. It is an abomination. But she will be okay. I just don't like seeing her bumping into walls because she missed the door. But she does see light better than dark. So I have to turn her head in the right direction when she is coming into the house.
Perhaps this is why she started whining a few days ago. Trying to tell me something. I thought she was just being a pain. Poor little soul.

[Sabot]

I have got One Plum. Glory be. Four years, and one plum.

But The Wisterias have been great. The White one especially so. Much longer flower trailers, and they have a really sweet scent. I shall only be growing that one in future. Heaven knows how it happened because the seed came from the same original plant. If anyone wants seeds, Email me. It only takes six years from seed to flowers.

Also managed to drag some Chestnut seedlings from the ground under an adult tree. All with tap roots, and looking good, although still in pots at the moment. I will be giving them away as I just don't have room for a chestnut tree myself.

Growing things is such fun.

[Lamplighter]

Sounds like you are having a good time with your garden, ma petite. Having finally got ridf of the barn, which was collapsing and the resultant rubbish, I now have the Gobi Desert outside my front door. I do have wheat growing on the baclk field, I let a neighbor use it rent free as I have no use for it and he maintains it. I am not very good at growing things, I am afraid, just weeds. LL      

[Sabot]

Sounds like you are having a good time with your garden, ma petite.  Having finally got ridf of the barn, which was collapsing and the resultant rubbish, I now have the Gobi Desert outside my front door.   I do have wheat growing on the baclk field, I let a neighbor use it rent free as I have no use for it and he maintains it.  I am not very good at growing things, I am afraid, just weeds.    LL       

It's a labour of love, LL. Often without much result, and I am constantly disheartened. I swore I was never going to grow Tomatoes again, but I did try again this year, resulting in four minuscule plants, one of which totally disappeared overnight last night, along with one of four Squash seedlings, and one of the other three appears to be dying. But you only need one plant to grow a Squash, which I achieved last year after four years of trying. This was a glorious moment for me, and worth all of the disappointments.

Pleased you got rid of The Barn. Can you grass it? Although it will probably grass itself in time. Don't worry about the weeds. I have turned weed ridden waste land into really good lawns with constant mowing.

You could try growing Broad Beans in containers. Broad Bean seeds, planted in containers in November will survive anything, and need no help at all. I now have lots of actual beans. Small at the moment, but I will be harvesting them in about six weeks.
It's the doing it that matters.

[Lamplighter]

I happen to dislike broad beans, and I could easiy kill a cactus tree probably just by looking at it. One of the local lads cuts down the weeds here, they grow like hell along with something the locals call bad grass which can cause breathing problems, kind of advanced asthma. When I had my London home there was a gardener to keep the place looking good. In the Orkneys when I was a kid my mum was the gardener, wonderful green fingers she had. LL

[Sabot]

I happen to dislike broad beans, and I could easiy kill a cactus tree probably just by looking at it.   One of the local lads cuts down the weeds here, they grow like hell along with something the locals call bad grass which can cause breathing problems, kind of advanced asthma.  When I had my London home there was a gardener to keep the place looking good.   In the Orkneys when I was a kid my mum was the gardener, wonderful green fingers she had.   LL

Pity I didn't live near you. Cutting grass and disposing of weeds one way or another is what I have done to earn a living here for the past 20 years. The job satisfaction is enormous. Although it was difficult in the beginning to get some people to employ a 55 year old woman. I got one very good contract because having turned me down to employ a man, the man then turned out to be unreliable.

I actually came to gardening late in life, but I think I am probably better at Flowers. My Hydrangeas are fantastic, all grown from cuttings and not even hard work. I cut bits off and stick them in a pot. I've got five going at the moment, including a white one which are quite rare.
I do this with Rose Bush cuttings as well. About half of those "Take".

Now waiting for Autumn when I shall have another bash at an ornamental Holly. I have grown two of those from cuttings so far. The original was deposited in a pot by some passing bird. Four years on it is now quite big and has berries on it. The flowers were orange, if anyone is interested. I had never seen a Holly flower before.

In the end it is something to do, and things to watch. I also plant by The Moon which I had never heard of before I came here.

[Sabot]

Guess what. I might be getting a Baby Crow to look after. My neighbours rescued it four days ago and are currently hand feeding it, but they have to go back to UK this week.
It's mother is dead and two others babies then died. This one was on it's last legs, but is looking really good now on a diet of raw mince.
It can't fly yet, although they have been trying to teach it.

Any Crow stories, anyone? Or tips.

[bb1]

I have absolutely no idea, Sabot. Do they like insects and things? Have you tried google for help?

[Sabot]

Marion has tried Google, and learned a few things. Basically, they are carrion, so minced beef should be okay. But I will have a look myself later in case they need more than just meat.

I know they make very good pets, sort of, not actually wishing to keep it in a cage, although he is in a cage at the moment. But hand reared Crows don't normally stray far from the people who fed them.

Can't wait to get my turn. Apparently he kicks up a storm for food in the mornings, and is very funny.

[Lamplighter]

Try here, ma petite. LL http://www.ehow.com/how_8301062_rear-orphan-crow.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVVnHvhJ6q0

[Sabot]

Bugger. I need an Adobe Flash Player, and can't make head nor tale of how to instal it.

But thanks, LL.

[Lamplighter]

Bugger.  I need an Adobe Flash Player, and can't make head nor tale of how to instal it.

But thanks, LL.

Try here, LL http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Adobe-Flash-Player

[Sabot]

Thanks, LL.

I have completely cocked up the whole thing now.

PS. This is not your fault, LL. It's me and new technology

[lily]

I once rescued a swift as it was being attacked by a cat and it's one wing was hurt. The poor thing was shaking so badly but I picked it up and gave it one drop of whisky in an eye dropper to calm it down. It worked a treat - didn't know what else to do. I fed it minced beef like you are going Sabot. Then I found out a local man who specialized in birds and he told me that I had done extremely well to keep it alive for the time I had. He was going to come to see the bird be it died before he could.

I was so worried because I had seen the swifts gathering for their migration and knew this little one would miss it. Airlines were willing to take the bird to join the flock who would have ended up in South Africa.

Long story short, sorry, Sabot. You will have a lot of fun with the bird and they do remember kindness and will return it to you.

[Sabot]

I must say that he is very beautiful, Lily. Marion has been launching him into the air, and he spreads his wings, but then he flutters to the ground. So she thinks he hasn't grown his flight feathers yet. It's actually a miracle that he survived at all. I guess he must be a toughie.

But wouldn't it be amazing if he does return once he has learned to fly.

[lily]

I did similar with Jonathan Swift trying to get him to fly. You will get there.

How beautiful if he returns to you.   

[bb1]

You could call yourself something mystic like Crow Mother, Sabot.   

[Sabot]

Oh Dear. Just a Thought. Aren't Crows sometimes Witches Favours?

That Anna Guedes will be glimpsing at this.

His name is Georges for several reasons. Atlhough he could be Georgina for all I know.

[lily]

Perfect, Sabot.  Look at this.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/zoo-animals/angry-crows-memory-life-threatening-behavior-110628.htm

Crows remember the faces of threatening humans and often react by scolding and bringing in others to mob the perceived miscreant, according to a new study published in the latest Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

ETA: This one too as they remember kindness.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/jul/06/2

[Sabot]

Gorgeous Georges arrives tomorrow, for a week. He is gorgeous, and I think he likes me. I fed him today on a cherry stick, but he can now drink water. But he still can't fly. So we have decided to keep him locked up inside until Marion and Chris get back in a weeks time, in case he learns to fly and gets lost.

According to Google, baby crows stay dependent on their mothers until Autumn, and he ain't going to fend for himself much before then when he will hopefully meet other crows who will teach him how to.
But he does recognise other crow noises. Such fun, he is.

All sorts of unhelpful comments about leaving them alone to survive on their own, but he would undoubtedly be dead if Marion hadn't rescued him. His mother was dead, along with two other babies, and Marion is now beating herself up because she initially took notice of this.
She could have saved them all.

If you find a baby crow on it's own who can't fly, rescue it. It's not all that much hard work.

[Sabot]

George is coming along in leaps and bounds, and he does a lot of that. Leaping about, that is.

He can now feed himself from his dish but he likes being hand fed, probably because he is still a baby. He takes food from me and then drops it on the floor so he can root for it later.
He cracked a whole raw egg a couple of days ago, ate the yoke and then ate the shell. I am pleased about this as scrunching egg shells into tiny pieces is tedious.

I don't know if he can fly yet because there are too many cats on my side of the road to risk it. But Chris and Marion are due back next week, so they can deal with that. But according to Google he is only just coming up to that, but will need feeding for some weeks to come.

He certainly knows how to piss me about, and much prefers scrambled egg and macaroni. But he can't live on that alone, so we have a bit of a battle and I put meat in his dish, which he eats when he thinks I'm not watching.

What a joy this has been. Clever, clever bird.

[bb1]

Oh, that's good, Sabot. I can contribute a less-interesting bird story....I was eating my lunch yesterday when I heard a frantic flapping and squawking behind me ....

A young blackbird had flown in the open front door and was now thoroughly confused. I got it out by shutting the curtains and inside doors to cut the light, and chased it out the way it came. It carried on squawking in rage, or something, outside.

The dogs just stood and looked at it, clearly thinking, What's that? What's it doing in our big kennel?    

[Sabot]

Charlotte is very interested in George, despite not being able to see him. But she can smell him getting fed when she isn't. And of course, she thinks the tinned dog food is hers. He quite likes dog food, but not as much as scrambled egg.

I am as usual, doing some "Grounding" as I do every Summer. i.e. walking around bare foot, so Charlotte is stepping on my feet instead of me on hers. This is painful.

I haven't paid much attention to Blackbirds, Bonny. It probably lost it's Mummy and was squawking for her.

PS. My house now smells like a dirty bird cage instead of the kennel I am used to.

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