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Diary – 2021 March
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All my diary pages going back to 2009
DRAWING & PAINTING:
1 March
With more people in the parks nowadays, the geese get to expect more attention (food) when you walk past them. If you slow down, they come right up to you. I think these ducks might were looking for bits of food washed down from the upper pond.
5 March
Miniature daffs by the riverside, and Butterbur (we think) in the river, which will grow into big plants with tall pink flower stems.
More ducks inspecting the weir for goodies washed down. Here is my robin, when I throw out a pellet his head swivels down while he is deciding whether it is safe to go down for it. He notices when someone is in the kitchen.
9 March
Our first walk in the woodland this year, now that the ground is dry. My favourite parts are always the little streams.
There were big muddy patches which everyone walks around, except the horses!
Lots of bird calls in the woods, the loudest being the crows, their croaky cries were echoing everywhere - except when one has found a worm or snail.
There are some fields at the back of the woods, and sheep in the distance. I like the brown one, you would not have to dye the wool.
Brown Teddy found lots of very lumpy trees, natural lumpy bark and this one with galls all over it.
Looking closely at the lumps, we saw a ladybird getting warm in the sunny patch.
This fading tree stump looks like a little Stonehenge, especially as we have been watching the programmes on it!
Back home, here are our two collared doves sitting on the far birdbath. They have been searching for nesting material in the garden, and we put out some extra torn up pieces of dried grassy bits, which they took very quickly.
12 March
Heavy rain today, and Woody has decided to get under his wings washed.
13 March
We bought some bamboo sticks to make a screen. We noticed the edges of the roll of weed suppressing material had regular holes in the weave, so that was very useful for spacing and securing the sticks. It needs more work to make it firmer.
15 March
A walk around the neighbourhood looking for shows of daffodils.
19 March
My home daffs are doing very well. I really like the orange middles.
Time to repair the garden paths. Someone will get the pressure washer on the cracks to really clean them out. All this campanula has invaded the paving from the flowerbed. We scraped it up and replanted the bits, as it regrows very quickly from fragments.
We used quick-set cement powder, dribbled down the gaps and then wetted. My job was to smooth off the cement here and there.
21 March
A visit from a coal tit to the shallow bird bath.
The robin now owns the garden. He often chases the sparrows, but sometimes just lets them get on with finding the crumbs.
22 March
The black patch in the middle is the tadpoles. The fish seem to be leaving them alone.
Lots of wriggling going on, especially when it all warms up in the sun.
23 March
We have been repairing the cracks in the paths. I am glad this side part is now done, there was a big crumbly hole here. The flaking brick was repaired by putting some real watercolour paints in various browns into the cement mix - not recommended on the packet, but the result is very good and rock hard.
26 March
The new climbing rose has arrived in its paper bag. As it is bare root, it has to be soaked for a few hours.
I will let it grow and make lots of new roots through the summer, and then plant it in the autumn. This is because it will be in a rather crowded place, in order to cover the fence, and it needs to get a head start with its roots. It is Francois Juranville, with small pink flowers that look like almond blossom.
29 March
At last, freedom to go out on the trains. We went to Crystal Palace Park.
There is a city farm area over the back. It looks like the sheep have eaten all the grass, but I am sure they get lots of sheep pellets in their trough.
The dinosaur lake is looking very good, last year it was choked with weeds.
This is the new swing bridge over to the dinosaur island. It is very decorative and curvy. Swing bridges are normally to let boats through but we think this one is to keep people off the island unless they are park staff or official tours.
The big rook had a very splashy bath before sitting up on the dinosaur to have a preen.
We like the white and speckled pigeons, they look like different characters from the normal grey ones.
Most of the pigeons were lazing around on the warm soil. They press themselves right down.
Camellia and catkins.
Lots of primroses around the lake edges.
This is the pedestrian crossing near the south gate of the park. Clearly the dinosaurs know how to work a swing bridge to their advantage!
30 March
Another train day, while the weather is warm. We went to Ravensbourne Station, which has a lot of stairs to get up to street level.
This is Beckenham Place Park, which used to be a golf course a few years ago. We went up these steps to walk along the high path.
These deadwood wigwams look like fun, the parks people are always doing something interesting or unusual with all the old branches. Sometimes parks make an edging to the paths with the cut branches and brushwood.
The Ring Necked Parakeets are very noisy. We walked as near to this crow as possible, to see what he would put up with, but finally he flew a short distance away.
Here is where we had our snack. It was getting warmer and warmer through the afternoon, quite unusual for this time of year.
We walked back through the woodland. These young trees stood out against the bare woodland.
31 March
My favourite bush at the moment, forsythia. These are windflowers in the daffodil pot.
This two tier low wall at the side of the pond needs redoing. We have taken out the raggedy grass that was in the lower part and put it all in a tarp with some water to soften it. I think the robins and blackbirds will investigate when it is quieter, as it is full of worms of all sizes.
We have redone the wall as just one wall with a wider bed above. We buried the grass clumps upside down, well down in the soil, so they will rot away and not grow. It was my job to look round the garden and see what bushy plants could be moved here. Eventually it will have a low narrow hedge to entirely screen the fish, but that is not ready yet. Someone else handled all the soil and mud, and it took ever so many rinsings to get it out of the gloves!
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 in
the UK:
https://www.facebook.com/LostboxTeddyBears
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