The early birder catches?

We have discovered a down side to bird watching.....the weather. This week we have been looking for birds near large expanses of open water. Normally, in June, you would think this would be a pleasant experience. Not so! There was a North Easterly blowing that wouldn't have been out of place in the English Channel in February!
Alan Titchmarsh says there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. How right he is! Bird watchers have to be a hardy lot as this hobby requires them to be out early in the morning and at dusk to have the best chance of spotting and in all types of weather
We wouldn't have minded the wind so much if there had been any birds to see but they obviously had more sense and were tucked away somewhere warm. However, lessons learned, next time we will be like boy scouts and prepared for all weather conditions.

It's been a heron of a week

Yes,yes, I know I usually say it's been a funny old week but this week has been downright queer. Bri has started bird watching and I have been watching him, but as the week has gone on, I think we have both been watched or even maybe stalked. Monday we went to Middleton Lakes looking for a kingfisher, found a yellow wagtail, nuthatch and loads of goldfinches and we were watching the Heron chicks on the top of the tree in their nest when a man behind us shouted, " look up!, look up!"
 and there above us were a flock of them circling over our heads really low. Come Tuesday out we were again looking for a kingfisher when Bri is looking down stream at Elford in the river Tame and there, sitting on a big tree stump right in the middle of the river was, yes you've guessed it, a very large Heron.

 He then flew over Bri's head and disappeared. We then went on Thursday to Wheat's Garden Centre looking for a kingfisher and there on the island in the middle of the lake flew in another Heron right into Bri's view. Friday we went to Fradley Junction, looking for a kingfisher and yet another Heron flew in front of Bri and landed on the jetty, Then walking from there to the car guess what I spotted a ............ wooden one. Queer or not I ask you?  Now, I want to know did the Heron follow us around all week, have we been hallucinating, have the Herons got it in for us? Or had someone taped a picture to the lenses of Bri's new bins?  Either way I know what Heron looks like from every angle but I would rather see a KINGFISHER.

A-twitching We Will Go

We have a new hobby. For years my brother-in-law has been a fanatical bird watching enthusiast. I used to wind him up by saying to him " they are all brown and black". How wrong can you be!
Recently, I have decided to take up twitching ( a birders term) myself. Plum has been keen for years but I wasn't interested.
One day we went to Middleton Hall where there is an RSPB site. There, they have bird feeders set up and all manner of birds use them.  Plum took a close up of a Greater Spotted Woodpecker which is fantastic. I thought that I would buy a pair of binoculars from the local charity shop to see if I would like birding.
Of course, as soon as you can see them magnified, it is a different story. I was hooked.
Back to Middleton we go and start watching in earnest. Then we go to Wolseley Bridge Nature Reserve to see if we can spot a kingfisher ( no luck there)
you will have spotted by now that the term "bird watching" is not used by us birders. Only non participants use this.
The next thing is I obviously need a better pair of bins( that's what we birders call binoculars) This meant a day of intensive research as to which would be the best and which I could afford. Another trip to Wolseley Bridge to test them out as there aren't any specialist shops around any more.
Various pairs are tested and a decision is made.
Now we are off and running! Another trip to the charity shop to buy books on birding and also watching wildlife in general. We are really into it now..... equipment sorted and books read it is time for the serious stuff to begin.

Just for the Joy of it...

... This year getting the plot fixed up and ready to go has been a real joy. We have used our greenhouse to start everything until it was bursting with new life. We have fed the ground with manure, the very best I might add, bought by the girls we all have come to appreciate. We limed where we should and we planted out, tended, watered as we should and we are now seeing why the 'old boys', always said, 'the answer lies in the soil'. 
We have also worked on the look of our plot this year adding little picket fences front and back and planted flowers alongside them. The Gazinias are exploding with colour every time the sun comes out which has been often the begonias are holding their own against the wretched slugs and my pretty little Aqualegia foliage has emerged ready to go, though probably no flowers until next year now. I can wait. I have waited seven years to see my plot how I pictured it when we first started. Full of flowers including the lovely big blousy yellow roses I got from the pound shop. Even fuller with veg of all sorts, swedes, onions, parsnips, cabbages, sprouts, calabrese (though not so happy with that), squash, peas (two kinds), celeriac, shallots, potatoes (three kinds), parsley, beans (two kinds), leeks, courgettes of course, corn (our favourite extra sweet), broad beans,lettuce, radishes, beetroot and then... there is all the fruit, strawberries (not so many owing to them being new plants, raspberries, plums (two kinds), apples (three kinds),blackcurrants and red, rhubarb, perennial now as well as spring, and of course cucumber indoor and out and tomatoes three varieties indoors and out. 

Our little picket fence

So we are happy bunnies this year so far and as long as the slug pellets hold out. I do have a new pet in the greenhouse or you could call him a secret weapon, he is Charlie our toad. The other thing we had fun doing this year was adding a few very old stepping stones from the reccy yard to our little path by the greenhouse well it is just half paved because we stopped at the overhead quote I put up a while ago of Lord Byron's which seemed just right...' there is a pleasure in the pathless woods'. Yes, this year has been a real joy working on our plot I just hope we are eating our labours well into winter and sprouts come Christmas.

To the pathless woods

Ready to Grow

The Christmas Visitors

Molly and I were busy as usual getting her breakfast when we heard a knocking at the back door. A bit early but a visitor is a visitor and will always be made welcome at our house. Well you could have knocked us both down with a feather for there on the step were Molly's old friends Henry and Ferret who had moved house eighteen months ago. What a wonderful surprise wasn't it? They had come all the way from their new house to see us. What made them come now the week before Christmas? Not only that but together. Was it a  planned visit. It makes you wonder doesn't it. Needless to say they got lots of fuss and brekkie which I can tell they expected and then quietly left again. The gang reunited just for a while was Molly's gift for Christmas I think she has really missed them. We let Tom know to make sure he knew they were here and on their way back. It was sure like old times a really special visit from two very special friends...

what's cookin'

When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's, Mum stayed at home and looked after the house and Dad went out to work. Men did not cook. I used to pass through the kitchen on my way somewhere else but never washed a plate, or made a cup of tea. When we got married, Plum could  cook so there wasn't any need for me to learn. Over the years I have got a bit better. I am sort of Sous chef in that I prepare vegetables for soups and stews but, apart from boiling the odd egg or making porridge, I still didn't cook After watching many series of Masterchef, Nigella and Nigel Slater you would think I would have picked up a thing or two. Plum always said that she wished I would learn for, apart from the fact that she would get a break, not that she was bothered about that, should she become ill, she was worried that I wouldn't be able to look after us both.
Last week she was in bed with 'flu for a few days so I had to step up to the plate. With written instructions I made soup. It was very tasty. After that I made a stew, and,after a suggestion from Plum, an apple crumble to go with it. That was pretty good too. I was on a roll.  When she was a bit better, I made sausage, mash and beans under her supervision. Today I am doing pasta and bolognese sauce. Next year maybe I should apply to be a contestant on Masterchef? ........

The Plumkin Patch

I have just taken over another patch down the front of our allotment in front of Alison who is now in the middle of our two plots. My aim next year will be to grow stuff good enough to eat. After this year anyone down our allotment will know that this is easier said than done. Am I ready for another year's challenge? Yeah, I am. Not only that,  I now vow and declare I am going to enter something in our our Centennial Show. After all I owe to my predecessors who have kept Hill Allotments alive and well through wars, bad weather and other tough times. People like Fred, Tut and Lionel who had our plots for forty years and kept the soil in great nick ready for the next generation. Next year, come hell and high water, which it probably will be, I am growing something I can be proud of and it will be on one or two  of the judges tables. Are you with me Hill Allotmenteers?  Do I have some competition? Bring it on....

Pea'd off with the peas

I am soooo disappointed with our peas they were looking wonderful before I put them out and under fleece for protection a couple of weeks ago..... and then.... horror of horrors when we unveiled them they were the sorriest sight, pale and uninteresting doesn't cover it. They were like lace curtains and they hadn't grown a jot. What on earth happened? They had plenty of water, they were warm, they had slug pellets around them, what else could I have done? I want to know!!!!  If anyone out there can explain what got 'em please tell....  If the unveiling had been a few days later I would have blamed the swarm of Hawthorn flies (St. Marks Fly, they usually appear 25th April, but it was probably too cold for them too) that turned up without warning but it wasn't them.

people who live in glass houses

It all started at the end of January. We were down at the lottie moving some things so that the hedge behind the shed could be trimmed, when our old friend John Badger came up to see us. He said that he was going to sell his greenhouse as he had bought a new one to use at home, so we  got all excited and said that we would have it.
Terry said that he had a week off in March and he would be able to help us  and JB said he would also help to dismantle it and show us how to put it back up. At the committee meeting John Davis said he had put up and taken down 36 greenhouses so with his help as well  it was all systems go. Ten days ago we started clearing and levelling the ground it was going to stand on. After that we ordered the slabs and bricks to go underneath it and they duly arrived on the Friday after a three hour wait in the freezing cold.
Saturday morning we got the sand, as instructed by Terry, and set to work. Sunday morning off we went to carry on, but it started snowing! We had no choice but to go back home and hope that it would stop so that we could finish laying the base as Terry was coming on the Tuesday. Thankfully it did stop so we were able to finish the base on the Sunday afternoon. Monday we rested from our labours and bright and early on Tuesday last we arrived at JB's plot to start dismantling. The two Johns, Davis and Badger, had the glass out in double quick time and Terry and I took the frame up to our plot and set it upon the slabs which it just fit.
By this time the sun was out and it was looking to be a lovely warm sunny day. As we started bolting the base to the slabs, we had a lovely surprise. Our niece and nephew and our great niece had been to a local wedding on the day before and, as a surprise they came to see us.Our little niece, Issie was dressed in her flower girl dress and was carrying a basket of petals which she scattered down the path. Then she went and danced in the greenhouse with her granddad! It was a joyous, wonderful start for our greenhouse. Our first happy greenhouse memory and when the seeds start germinating and the tomatoes start coming there will be more.
We cleaned every pane of glass until it was so see through and shiny, that when Plum said 'is that the pane that is missing?' and put her finger where she thought it was, she bent her finger on it! Now, a week later, the panes that were broken have been replaced, the seedlings are on the staging and growing rapidly, there are flower borders around the greenhouse, hanging baskets and tubs of pansies on the patio, and it looks like it has always been there. Thank you to everybody who helped us make this dream come true, we couldn't have done it without you!