Re: Gardening Thread.

[Sabot]

Hooray for you.  Who doesn't just love wisterias?

I loathe them for most of the year, Lily.  Especially come Winter.  I am not step ladder material any more.  But I will enjoy them once again.
I did manage this last Winter, but I am beginning to wonder for how long I can keep on doing this.

Dear Julian,  Mummy needs help with The Wisteria.

Dear Mummy,  I will be over shortly.

What a bloody pain in the arse. Three hundred miles to cut back Mummy's Wisteria, and probably three hundred quid in Ferry Fares to do it.

[bb1]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/EasyKut-Telescopic-Ratchet-Pole-Pruner/dp/B0012TW79A

Tell your family you want one as an early Christmas present.

[lily]

I have a similar one, Bonny, except I don't use it.

[bb1]

I have a similar one, and I do use it. They're rather vicious-looking things, but very useful when you don't do ladders....

[Sabot]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/EasyKut-Telescopic-Ratchet-Pole-Pruner/dp/B0012TW79A

Tell your family you want one as an early Christmas present.

I have got one of those, Bonny, but they are not very precise. Lidl, France. 10 Euros. Absolutely marvellous if you don't care about what you are cutting. But I do care about the fekcing Wisteria. feck knows why.

[lily]

I like to pay people.......

[bb1]

Those things will also come in handy when faced with a Zombie Apocalypse.

[lily]

Thank you for cheering us up, Bonny. I know what I could do with mine....

[Sabot]

I like to pay people.......

I wish I could afford to. But if you have to live on 120 Pounds a week then there isn't much chance to that.

[lily]

I totally sympathize with you, Sabot.

[Sabot]

I totally sympathize with you, Sabot.  

I don't actually know. Is 120 Pounds a week a really bad deal? It's what I get and have to manage on. And it ain't going to get any better.
I do manage, and quite well. I just mostly freeze in Winter.

My beloved Hot Water Bottle fell to bits a week ago and soaked the mattress. But the two I fast ordered from Amazon arrived this morning.

[Sabot]

Babies in the Blackbird's nest.

But absolutely fascinating, she leaves downy feathers over them when she is out foraging. Just one a few days ago, but three feathers yesterday. I thought it was an accident when there was just one feather, but three babies and three feathers is a bit too precise to be accidental.
I don't get much of a look because I don't want to frighten her off, but I did see their hearts beating under the feathers.

I can hardly credit how clever this is.

[bb1]

Oh, how lovely!

[Sabot]

Isn't it, Bonny. Such plain common sense. I can only suppose that she pulls out some down feathers when she goes off for a bit, just to keep in the warmth.

Sorry if I am sounding a bit hysterical. I am just amazed.

[bb1]

You don't sound hysterical at all, Sabot. I confess that, at the start of Spring, I empty the odd Dyson-load of dog hair in the garden, as I read somewhere that a lot of birds like stray hair for nest-lining.

[Sabot]

You don't sound hysterical at all, Sabot. I confess that, at the start of Spring, I empty the odd Dyson-load of dog hair in the garden, as I read somewhere that a lot of birds like stray hair for nest-lining.

They do, Bonny, so that's a good thing to do. They even use human hair, which doesn't biodegrade.

I don't know, really. Saving birds, I mean. But such a glorious collection I have in my very small garden. And they are at the sunflower seeds with in seconds of me putting them out. Not always at the same time. So I wonder what tells them.

Now, it will be interesting to see if she lays another clutch because this lot will be grown and gone within about four more weeks.

[lily]

How lovely, Sabot.  Who doesn't love birds?

[bb1]

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/01/let-dandelions-have-their-day-in-the-sun

On the delights of dandelions. I'm not neurotic about them either, they're cheerful and good for birds, etc. It's not as if dandelions are Evil, like ground elder....

[Sabot]

My neighbours help themselves to my Dandelions. Not that I mind at all about that.

[lily]

I do enjoy dandelion leaves in salads.  In fact I love salads.  

[Sabot]

Right. One baby survived. I saw him or her yesterday and the day before, sitting in the nest looking healthy. I did find one dead on the ground.
I think the survivor is probably female, brown with a pale beak, but I have no idea when males become black with orange beaks.

But today the baby is gone and the nest is empty. Such a short time.

I wonder if they will use the nest again. I shall have to keep my eyes pinned. They leave scatterings of moss underneath where they are building.

It was this time last year when I saw my first nest.

Altogether, really interesting.

[lily]

Aren't our feathered friends amazing?  

[bb1]

I haven't seen any fledglings, but I suspect I'm a couple of weeks behind you, Sabot.

[Sabot]

I haven't seen any fledglings, but I suspect I'm a couple of weeks behind you, Sabot.

Probably, Bonny. But I doubt if I would spot a fledgling if I saw one. I will look tomorrow. But I don't think it's in The Camillia.

Apparently they take off elsewhere. Possibly get driven away.

This is all such new stuff to me. But I do wonder how I could have been so ignorant for so long.

[lily]

I will never forget finding the tiniest nest with the tiniest eggs inside one of my hanging baskets a few years ago.  Hummingbirds!  Unbelievably amazing.  Never seen a nest since.

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