POND ANDONANDONANDON.

Cobbles came - well as far as the gate and he couldn't get the wagon up to the house - all a bit of cobblers!
Other arrangements are being made by our hero Gary P.

Being a control freak I told everyone I could do it all myself - what a Wally - so ate humble pie and back tracked like mad. Apologised to Gary P and asked for help.

Comment from R - "**&£@^*)_^%&"

Just been to Woodlands Nursery to get aquatic plants but a definite dearth of oxygenators - safe ones that would not take over the pond.
Avoid - New Zealand Pigmyweed (Crassula helmsii), Canadian Pondweed (Elodea canadensis), Nuttall's Pondweed (Elodea Nuttallii), Curly waterweed (Lagarosiphon major) and curled pondweed (Potamogeton crispus), perhaps Water Milfoil (Myriophyllum).
In April 2014 five of the worst invasive aquatic plants were banned - Azolla filiculoides, Crassula helmsii, Hydrocotyle ranunculoides, Ludwigia grandiflora and Myriophyllum aquaticum.

Wow! What a lot of big words.

Did get Alisma plantago-aquatica, Butomus umbellatus, Hypericum eloides, Menyanthes trifoliata, Myosotis palustris, Sagittaria sagittifolia, Stachys palustris, Elodea crispa and Eleocharis acicularis.
Have yellow flag iris, plain and variegated, waterlilies (4 plants) and there are such as water mint in the garden already.

Water runs through the pond albeit tentatively as the stream is only a steady trickle.

Enough pondy stuff - just picked a bowl full of damsons, the plums are almost overripe and as I sat outside with a cuppa I heard this ticking sound - thicky me wondered what?
R told me - it was a thrush bashing a snail on a stone to break the shell before its teatime - of course.

So for a pic - this is a glorious helianthus, sunny by name and form and colour.


Butterflies are suddenly appearing despite the buddleia being mostly over - some pruning has produced another flush of flowers.
This red admiral was determined to get at the nectar of this white phlox in the cutting bed, let me get very close and there are small tortoiseshells and peacocks about.

We do have nettles in the garden for the caterpillars - this, of course, is deliberate as part of a structured wild life strategy. (And if you believe that . . . )

The ash trees are just starting to lose their first few leaves but the canopy is a treat and spectacular. It seems hard to believe that in winter they are leafless.

Then there are unusual sights in the garden - not the rabbit I have just seen on the upper banking, but this hen pheasant up a tree. Now I know birds go up trees but pheasants surprisingly (or not) not often.

This morning I rose from my slumber and gazed on the garden. I observed to R as I looked towards the wood over the squirrel trap that I had not seen one for a month or more. Then I went to the other window to the view and there, skittering up the hazel tree in the hedge was a grey squirrel. Down it came with a nut and ran off to bury it. I spent a long time going back and forth burying its winter supplies.

I will need to get some plums and damsons ready for the Church Coffee Morning for R - make up several punnets which they will probably sell too cheaply.

So back to tidying away the heaps of old boardwalk, shifting stones and such. 

Back aches though. 

Perhaps tomorrow . . . . . or the day after?