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Diary – 2020 June
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All my diary pages going back to 2009
DRAWING & PAINTING:
1 Jun
On the left is the pond filter box and when the cap at the bottom is taken off, the muddy water gushes everywhere. We tried this green tarpaulin to make a river bed for it. I think next time we will direct the water into a big plastic crate and empty it by the other apple trees.
Mr Blackbird looking for bits outside the kitchen window. The hose is kept here and so the ground is softer for him to dig in. The young speckled robin is bathing in the sun, which heats up the feathers and drives any parasites out.
4 Jun
We have loads of starlings visiting regularly. They like to push their beaks into the grass, looking for grubs. I think they are listening for the slight noise as the grubs wriggle around underneath. They eat the daddy-long-legs grubs (cranefly) so, starlings, please carry on and eat them all!
I am very glad the pair of goldfinches are regulars here, but they don't come every day. The blackcap has also made this his regular bath place. The advantages of a quiet and undisturbed garden!
I have put some chicken wire over this big pot, as sometimes a fox may come and dig out any loose soil during the night.
5 Jun
This is the harvest moon rising. I got up at 2.30 during the night and the moon was back to its normal white colour.
6 Jun
Big downpours today, but the fish love it, and have a good time clearing up any flies washed in. There was even some hail, very unusual for the month of June.
7 Jun
Another oriental poppy. This is is an opium poppy growing amongst the pansies in my big tub.
8 Jun
There were nine starlings on the greenhouse roof all making a lot of noise. The parent is the black one and was working hard to feed them all. Eventually they all went down on the lawn and found their own food. We sat in the greenhouse during downpours in the afternoon, but a few drips got onto the paperwork. I always take in some bird pellets with me, as the sparrows start hopping about on the grass outside the door.
9 Jun
Here is the speckled robin again, sunning himself. This time he is leaning against the hosepipe, which was full of hot water from being in the full sun.
10 Jun
Our regular perky sparrow comes to the sill to ask for food, and hops along and back until he is noticed. Then he flies down to the grass in anticipation of the bit being thrown out of the window.
11 Jun
Today perky sparrow actually came into the greenhouse to get a piece of bread that had bounced back off the door onto the mat. He was very bold and not frightened at all.
14 Jun
Today is cleaning day. This is the ventilation grille on the chimney breast, where an old fireplace used to be. I unscrewed it for washing. The black hole looked scary and was full of waving dusty cobwebs. Maybe it is a time machine back to when this house was built a long time ago!
Brown Teddy dusted the family pictures. The dust sticks to the nylon duster and someone has to take it outside to de-dust it in the breeze.
Now for some woodwork. This small piece is to go underneath the door catch, so it meets the part on the door properly. Now the door will close without jumping open again and we don't have to look at the stuff stored inside all the time! I will paint it white and then put the metal catch back on.
At last some time in the greenhouse, with my drink, Ipod and notepad. More bird pellets at the ready in case of visitors on the lawn.
These wild strawberries are good at spreading round the garden. The fruits are very small. I tried growing it in a hanging basket once, but it produced a curtain of very long runners hanging down but no fruits!
I have replanted these little green shrubs and buried the stem to make it root. It has a rock on top to keep it down. At teatime we had the giant potato and it only took one to feed all of us. Of course it had to be accompanied by the smallest potato as well!
15 Jun
The young sparrows have parked themselves in the climbing rose on the fence, enjoying the sun. They have probably had enough greenfly to eat for now. I have to keep the bird bath water very clean, so they can drink as well as bathe. It gets very dusty after a big bird has had a bath.
16 Jun
Today we are going to have a woodland walk. We had a look over the bridge but we didn't see any trains coming round the bend.
This is a bramble flower, and they are always full of bees. This is a bramble stem, the reason we don't have brambles in gardens!
Here is a big nettle plant, and all these tiny stinging hairs can be very painful and itchy. We kept well away.
This piece of drainage pipe is a bit clogged, I wonder where it goes underground. This fallen tree makes a good bridge over the little stream, but slippery. I suppose one could cross it sitting down, but I am not going to try that, there is a lot of mud to fall into.
We kept going and came out in the sunshine to a big grassy field. We saw these lovely field poppies growing in a patch. I hope next year there will be more.
Back in the shady woodland. Lots of little streams everywhere and all quite muddy. Some are just a trickle and some are just damp mud at this time of year, but there are little bridge paths over them.
Brown Teddy says these trees must have gone down with lots of creaking, cracking and big thump. The rangers will make fallen trees safe and then leave all the bits there for the wildlife and insects.
This open area is a big damp hollow, and I think probably boggy in winter. There were lots of foxgloves just finishing, so another year we will come sooner and see if there are more of them.
This tree are growing on a big mound of earth, with a lot of roots on the surface before they enter the ground. This may be one of those saplings that grows on top of a fallen tree, which would explain the mound it is on. This tree has been split by lightning, charred and split up the trunk.
Brown Teddy found an old birch tree branch left to decay. It was covered in moss, lichen and bits of fungus brackets, all different shades of blue and green.
21 Jun
Another little friend having a dust bath and sun bath.
We have tried to count the fish but they keep moving. We took some photos and will do some counting with those, as we can mark up the photo as we count them. It is difficult to count the black ones!
22 Jun
The plant saucer bird bath we made a few weeks ago is low down and too close to the shrubs, as we saw a visiting cat thinking about settling down nearby to watch. So now we have made a hanging one from another pot saucer. When the birds start using it, we will take the other one way.
We went for a river walk. It is very cool and shady on a hot day. The river is full of waving green plants with open channels between. The water is always very clear.
This big willow branch has cracked and fallen from on high. The council will clear it later. Brown Teddy's favourite place is this tunnel outlet. Further back the river goes over a small but steep weir and the sound of it travels down the tunnel, with a distant booming noise.
Further along there are some very shady stretches, with no sunlight getting onto the river.
23 June
This rhododendron did not settle into its place, despite being watered with pond water and shaded, and most of it went brown. When we dug it out, its roots had not spread or grown at all. We have cut everything off and are relying on all the buds to come out and replace them. It is going to go in a shallow corner of the pond, so that its feet are in the water.
24 June
While putting the rhododendron pot into the pond, we disturbed Froggie. He swam a little way away, coming to rest on the thick blanket weed underneath the tube that goes to the air bubble stone.
25 June
Woodie likes to sit and soak, with feathers fluffed out. The bees are coming for the water again, but not so many as in previous years.
27 June
On the riverside area, the duck was watching out carefully while the ducklings were poking about around the edges. There is a raft of sticks at one side to enable them all to climb out if necessary and get to the stream. I like this shallow sunny part of the stream, with its giant leaves and clear water.
28 June
Woodie sitting on the greenhouse roof, while we were sitting inside. We wave something about to move him on, as he can make a mess of the glass.
29 June
These are the plants in the big pot that we like to admire when sitting in the greenhouse, pansies and double trailing fuchsia.
You can use the space on your 404 page to help find missing people by embedding info from notfound.org See Yellow Teddy's 404 page
Where to report a lost or found teddy or toy https://whiteboomerang.com
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