BIRDS, BANTER AND COUCH POTATOING

If you are not a Molesworth fan skip to the photo of the cherry leaves.

G said in an email re blog - Any fule no gardning good for sole. Even Fotherington-Thomas (Hullo garden shed, hullo mud) no that. Very insprashunaI.

Reply - Actually spend most of my time eating, watching telly, couching potato or is it couch potatoing?

Oh! And I play a bit of golf to keep the sinews working.

I am much more Fotherington than Grabber and not much Molesworth.

What ho!

Duncan

ps could use this in blog?

It is good to get responses to my blogging. Even if they are like this - especially if they are like this.

The last of the leaf fall is done - the cherry leaves have been splendid so we move on from this -

to this -

Yes, I own up - this is a last year picture for we have not had any snowfall yet, a few hailstones and a frost or two but that is it. Anyway I thought I would show you the view from the kitchen door over Rosside.

(This is because I am a bit short on pics at the moment being idle and doing a colour pic of Cawthwaite Square for the boss at - (http://cawthwaite.com/cawthwaite-village news/drovamjqj1rpzsl7pi4jsub5n1w5xy) or click on The Cawthwaite Project in the links on the left and go to Cawthwaite Village News.

The birdlife in the garden just increases and increases - always goldfinches and tits, occasional dunnocks and robins etc etc.

Just spilled bird seed all over the place outside.

Will be inundated with real twitterers.

The clear up continues, the old growth is removed, weeds weeded and the manure is spread. I think that by March we should have got most of it done. The difficulty is garden versus golf handicap versus poem making versus telling the English cricket team to come home now from Aussie land (why waste time getting pasted when you could be down the pub, feet up in front of a good fire, Cumberland sausage and chips in front of you, a pint of Lancaster Amber on you mat.)

The collected stick pile is so big now that it will need sorting and storing properly. I sawed off part of a fallen branch for R to take to S's so it could be made (turned) into napkin rings.

Whoa - Greater-spotted woodie on the feeder. Not a great photograph but you can see what it is.

No siskins nor bramblings yet but the redwings and fieldfares have been by. Bye bye berries. (R has just pointed out I had written ramblings not ramblings - how apt!)

Time to go out and garden - Oh! Dear, it has begun to rain, how sad.

Whilst R is playing the piano I will get the soup on for lunch, make some toast and wait and see.

Lunch is over, it has stopped raining though we have not had much recently - the stream is almost dry. So out into the garden, sorting sticks, raking leaves off all the chipping paths - this is important to prevent the leaves rotting and giving weeds a good medium in which to germinate - and - I found our bin top - the one that had disappeared in the storm. It was up the big sycamore but near enough to knock down.

Of course R has been to town and bought another bin so . . .?

R is doing her clearing of dead plant material, filling her plastic trug and taking it to the big compost heap.

I am back inside washing the shoes I have got muddy - and should not have been wearing in the garden and thinking of cups of tea.
And a big vanilla slice from the Market Hall.
Yes, definitely thinking of that!