GARDEN QUIRKS AND FAST JAM

Today is bright and sharp so out with camera noting the things around the garden that are not growing - small odds and focal points, personal quirks.

Metal dogs under the feeders by the kitchen spattered with bird droppings,

the moss sporangia on the stone with the sundial highlighted by the sun,

Doc is fading as the years pass (aren't we all),

and Roy's little house under the magnolia needs a little repair.

Up the garden the chimes are still hanging in the ash tree above the snowdrop, and later, daffodil banking. I had thought the branch to which they are attached would have fallen off by now but not so.

On the windowsill outside the living room are odd pebbles brought back from distant travel, inside a sculpture bought at Workshop Wales in north Pembrokeshire.

 Down by the pond are Adam Booth's metal birds and Linda's falcon. The broken pot in the background is there for a toad shelter. (Whether they use or not I do not know but it is a nice idea.)
And, of course, the useless faded plastic heron I got from my brother peers into the water.

There is rubbish around too - the decaying log pile, a haven for creepy crawlies and a cd up a damson tree. I think I had been using it as a bird scarer to keep the pigeons off the veg. It never worked so I stuck it up the tree and it has been there for several years.

 There is a cracked pot under the downpipe at the shed as the pipe was too short to reach the ground and I couldn't be bothered to buy a longer one and a robin nest box on the big sycamore. There are several tit boxes up in the wood.

Back up at the house rattling birds hang from the roof over the paving outside the kitchen. The duck from my son and the strange one in a nest from my sister-in-law. Come a breeze they clatter away.
The duck has been blown off twice but I have repaired it. When the swallows nested nearby the young fledglings used to sit on top of the duck.

And feeding stations - there are two. This is the one outside the kitchen with a plethora of feeders. For some unknown reason I get them as Christmas presents but they are very welcome. It is just that it takes more and more stuff to fill them.

Now, just because it is February and raining does not mean that it is not jam making time - the wonders of the freezer!
So today was Raspberry Jam time - a super easy quick recipe.

2.5 pounds raspberries, 3 pounds granulated sugar and juice of half a lemon. (Say 1.25 Kg fruit to 1.5 Kg sugar.) Put sugar in oven to warm.
Do not wash fruit. You want them dry if possible. If frozen thaw then bring to the boil and  boil rapidly for 5 minutes. Add sugar warmed in the oven and stir until dissolved. Bring back to the boil and boil hard for 1 minute only. Skim and put in hot jars and cover. I use old jars with metal lids which seal themselves as they cool - you can hear them popping.