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This bulk bag of 'Harvest Gold' was delivered just before 10am Monday.

It took a flatbed lorry with a crane to lift it onto my front. The driver operated the arm by remote control, like some enormous Meccano set. With the precision born from countless years of practice, he dropped it exactly where I wanted it; the closest possible point to its destination! Then, with a cheery wave, he was off, leaving me to complete the job using my own technology.

Not a remote control in sight.

Nineteen loads of this wibble-wobbled their way down the side of the house, through the back gate, across the corner of the lawn (avoiding the scratchy pyrocantha!), down the path, over the slab and swooosh.

A bit of attention from the garden rake, smoothing out random heaps, and...

Hey presto!

It's taken me two years to create this from the remnants of Mark's pond!

All I need now is a small table and a wooden bench with the correct number of slats!

Oh yes... and some sunshine (which currently appears to have disappeared again!).

Flat pack phobia

?

Could the human being cowering in this box possibly be my 6 foot something, just turned twenty, mountain walking, rock climbing son?

What on earth could bring about such a change?

...

...

...

Ah! I'm beginning to understand!

Oh help!

Move over. I think I want to cower in the box too!!

.......................................

Instead, we packed it all away and waited until the next morning, when we started nice and early! 

And it wasn't quite as bad as it appeared :)

Eventually, I might actually get this seating area finished!

A rather special garden

While the lads were away at camp, I spent a few days up in Shipley with a friend and we had the pleasure of joining others of our New Wine 'family' for Sunday dinner.

I've posted photos of this garden once before, as has Jenny Freckles on her blog, but it is the kind of place that is worth showcasing again and again; steeply terraced and bursting with colour!

Because it was such a bright day, some of the photos are not quite as sharp as I would like, but you can still get the feel of just how vibrant this oasis really is.

Now, I'll stop interrupting and allow you to enjoy the rest in peace.

A gorgeous garden and a delightful afternoon :)

Marginally better

Definitely looking a bit tidier now...

... than it did a couple of days ago.

I wonder how long it will last this time!

 

Stand off!

Half way down my garden, tucked behind the small pond, where the ground begins to slope, is a broken fence panel. It's one of the ways the foxes come in.

This furball knows better than to come through while I am watching!

Carefully selected corners

This is the time of year when my garden is at its best; when the bulbs and blossom are out, but the weeds have not yet grown to swamping level. Once the weeds do take hold, it is a constant battle for me to keep up with pulling/digging/burning them out.

This is part of the wild area (which fills quite a large proportion of the lower half of the garden). The cow parsley is coming up nicely. I love to see it when the white flowers are swaying in the breeze.

The flowering currant bushes are all at different stages. This one is in full bloom. I love the deep pink.

The spirea brightens up this shady corner beautifully. Two summers ago, I dug over this 'bed', covered it in weed matting and planted the spirea, a euonymus and a small hebe. I finished it off with a layer of bark chippings. I was pleased, both with the effect and with the reduction in the area requiring weeding. Overnight, the foxes came to play. Oh well. At least they didn't dig up the actual bushes.

I might try again this summer and weigh the whole lot down with some big chunks of rock!

My severely lopped hawthorn tree is leafing nicely. It will be much stronger for losing all of its dead branches. Eventually, old age will win the day, but for now it has a new lease of life.

And in the very bottom corner, under the shadow of both the sycamore and the leylandii hedge, this kerria seems to thrive.

Spawn

Last week, Rosie from Corners of my Mind wrote a post called It's Murder on the Pond Side!

As soon as I read the title, I had a good guess as to the subject of her post, because it's happening here too!

The pond is full of this...

Many, many croaking, copulating frogs have endeavoured to produce, and produce they have. The writhing, boiling, churning waters are now filled with huge slimy blobs of egg filled transparent jelly, looking very much like a large vat of anaemic kiwi and lime jam.

The only problem is that, while the frogs are busy copulating, they tend to be somewhat preoccupied and unaware of lurking danger. This failure to take sensible precautions makes them easy prey.

And these guys know it!

Every spring!

They turn up like a pair of hooded Nazgul, settle like silent shadows and watch... and wait... and kill!

Last spring, I found a number of picked-at carcasses lying around the pond and on the path. Twice I saw wriggling frogs being carried away in sharp, clutching claws and twice more saw dead bodies being ripped to shreds by long vicious beaks.

I suppose I'll have to buy a roll of netting!

Spring

It has been positively spring-like here over the past week or so. The sun has made an appearance and it is starting to feel warm. I'm even managing to get washing completely dry on my clothes line; as opposed to just a bit less damp.

The garden is also responding to the change in temperature, with the flowers and blossom basking in the warmth, while the brambles are growing like wildfire. In fact, thinking about it, wildfire is probably what it would take to deal with the brambles effectively. Yesterday, I spent about half an hour battling with an unwanted bramble. In the end of course, I won, but not before it had inflicted the usual damage. I estimate that I must have chopped about 30 metres of the stuff into little pieces to make it fit into my now bulging garden waste bin!

But away from the brambles and onto the flowers, where the theme seems to be predominantly yellow and blue.

Primroses on the edge of the patio.

 

Daffs near the pond.

These pretty purply blue things near the fence. (Name please anyone???)

Miniature daffs overlooking the tag end of the snowflakes.

And this hyacinth smells so beautiful!

I just need another few days of uninterrupted work time to make it look even vaguely loved! I do love my garden, but I'm not what you would really class as an educated, dedicated gardener! It grows so much faster than I can keep up with!

Snowdrops 2011

I'm always pleased to see the snowdrops. I'm not daft enough to believe that they mean spring is here; we could still have icy cold weather or even snow, but they do mean that we're at the right end of winter.

Another few weeks will see a variety of bulbs beginning to emerge and flower, the nosing out of fresh green leaves and the buds on the trees turning into blossom.

And, the slowly lengthening days will also mean I'll travel to and from work in the light!
 

Anyone know when the clocks change?

S is for sneak thief!

...otherwise known as the grey squirrel

  who is rather fond of helping himself to the food I put out for the birds.

You have to admire his agility,

his cheek,

and his persistence!

He has a few more seeds to go yet, so while he's finishing their dinner, maybe you would like to saunter over to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday to see what else is on offer.

Out of the darkness

Remember this? That vague shadow which scuttled off into the darkness before I could focus! I said I'd get her sooner or later, and I did!

Well, nearly...

Nice tail...

Stupid animal! Turn THIS way!!!

Better!

Ooooh! Much better!

They spend quite a lot of time doing this.

See?

And it's so annoying that their favourite place to hang out is about half way down the garden, just where the line post gets in the way from every bedroom window x-(

But, eventually, one of them scurried up a bit closer.

In the summer, when I won't freeze to death hiding behind a bush or up a tree, I hope to get some better pictures from reasonably close up! If I do, I'll post them.

Regular visitors

Coal tits visit my feeders on a fairly regular basis, but my old camera could never zoom in close enough to take a reasonable photo.

This particular feeder is very popular. They guzzle their way through it in no time at all.

But my tatty old, cobbled together bird table still sees a lot of action too.

He even invited his cousin along.