Which I suppose is star.
One of the problems with bird feeders is that they attract other, perhaps less welcome visitors. Pheasants are ok, grey squirrels are a nuisance but then there are rats, a whole family, R's least favourite creatures.
So, I put out the rat trap - with the virus the ratman said to take down the feeders and he would, reluctantly, come out if the family rattus did not go away. And I caught - a stroppy blackbird!
What day is it? . . . . Ah! Yes, it is Wednesday, (I think).
Lawns mown, sown nigella (Love-in-a-mist) where the snowdrops are fading outside the kitchen, eaten asparagus again, we now have a mole invasion beyond the veg beds. Rang the mole lady but she is self isolating as she has asthma. Moles will be happy anyway.
Down at the pond no sign of the ducklings. The nest is empty and the mallard pair are still around. I wonder where she is hiding them?
Bogbean and water lilies doing well and saw my first dragonfly today.
The stream under the hedge is remarkably clear and not overgrown. I do like the variegated yellow flag iris which is thriving.
The overflow from the new spring seems to run for about ten metres and then the ground dries up. Either there is an old drain or it is the old course of the stream which is taking the water. At least we will not need a drain all the way to the hedge ditch.
Disasters aside, we may get a good crop this year.
On the other hand the seedings in the veg beds are struggling - is it mice, is it pigeons? The ground is so dry it cannot be slugs and snails.
I have one carrot seed germinated so have sown a new row and netted them against the birds.
I have also netted the red currants (right) against blackbirds (black currants to the left) - I know - put the rat trap down there.
And we walk the lanes - this is the view across Morecambe Bay from just along and south from the house - much like the view from the house.
The fence men are here and replacing the 100 metres between us and the back field - stock proof fencing, 6 stretchers, posts every 2 metres (safe distancing) and a double strand of barbed wire to stop cattle leaning on it.
In the garden we have a very deep yellow berberis - almost Gamboge tint - and in the hedge at the back there grows the wild berberis, now a bit hacked and pruned by the fence men.
Not so many yellow Welsh poppies this year but the orange version is doing well, a plant I like seeding itself (unlike the wild garlic which is getting out of hand.)All in all then garden is a delight and it is such a pity we cannot share it with friends and family.
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