In a Vase on Monday - Making the most of small offerings

Cathy has posted her vase within the snow..with some lovely winter offerings.  I am sure other contributors in difficulties will have made the effort, and then we have friends in warmer climates who will have beautiful selections of flowers and plants from their gardens, so do join their links from Cathy's page.

Until Sunday we have been housebound, except of a slow walk along the icy pavements.  We just had to get out and feel the air and listen to the bird song.  Luckily whilst the lock down lasted we have had much to entertain us in the way of tasks, reading and watching the birds, and getting on with jobs inside.

When we got to our local supermarket we were surprised to find it open, and managed to get a carton of our special milk, and a little fruit.  Virtually all the fresh produce had been sold and the supermarket was more empty that late on Christmas Eve!  We are being patient and understand that it will be several days before supplies get back to normal.

On Sunday when the snow started to melt and temperatures rise, I didn't hesitate to get out into the garden.  For one, pots had to be moved around:  precious plants had been moved from the front of the house into the garage, from the shed to the utility, and from the conservatory to the house, and they were all shuffled back to their usual overwintering positions.

A little peer over the little of the garden that is planted out, and the pots gave me very meager but non the less pretty offerings for my vase.

The twig is a piece of the Dwarf Forsythia which I had from my Kenilworth Plantwoman friend Janet.  This shrub has the loveliest of forms with branches that swoop and curve, and is less than 25cm high and in still in its pot into which it was first planted, along with species crocus and Ophiopogon planicscapus Nigrescens. I'm not sure of its particular name.

The delightful textured leaf with purple wash on its mid leaf vein and ruffled edges is Teucrium scorodonia 'crispum marginatum', which also is known as curly wood sage.  This plant came from Alison C and the gift is being cherished.  It is a very tough little plant but cutting this shoot which grew slowly over the winter will ensure that the many smaller shoots will be encouraged to spring up as soon as the temperatures warm up.  At the Bishop's Palace a large round urn in the centre of formal garden is planted up with a mixture of curly wood sage and succulents, and when Alison C and I were admiring this plant last year, she offered me a little plant from her 'mother plant'.

The Primula stem has been saved from the hoard of slugs who are sure to emerge very hungry from their temporary freeze.  The plant was chosen for me from a selection of old Primulas at The Vyne by my little Grandaughter, several years ago.

Easily identified garden birds and some others

When you are sitting having your lunch there is always a cheeky robin who is ever so grateful for fresh water just after the snow melt.

It is still so cold but the sun is shining and there's time for even more washes

Even the Fieldfare is happy that more chopped apples have been put out.

But then we see an unusual shape in the distance and have to get out the binoculars.

Any ideas what this bird is?

We have pheasants strutting around as well as pigeons.  It caught a pigeon on the floor, flew off then came back to its view point.  Any suggestions please....

Keeping Hens

Today on Facebook I was reminded by a childhood friend about my first memory of keeping Chickens.  Her father a hard working doctor just loved chickens and at one time had a pen of them in their garden.  Of course I was quite young then.  During the periods the family were away, I remember being on chicken duty, and having to see to water and grain each day.

I do remember clearly the incident  when a very large and strong cockerel went for a scab on my knee, and blood spurted out.  However this did not put me off and the next day, I went in with a bandaged knee, and one of our gardeners armed with a yard brush to steer Rico away.  There were other hens too but the image of Rico a large and beautifully feathered cockerel remained with me.

When my son was young I was looking for 'pet ideas' and settled on hens.   I realise that the urge to keep hens was for myself and started way back when I used to look after Uncle George's chickens.
I used to have an allotment in South Marston, and it is from there I became friends with a local farming family.  I learnt to look after hens etc...however, in the end I bought lovely Maran Eggs from Corinne each week, and we ended up with a dog instead!  If you know about Marans then you will know that they lay the darkest of darkest brown eggs...think chocolate!

Many years later, when I was looking for an interest when I was very busy working, it was suggested that I join The Cotswold Pheasant and Rare Breed Club.  I ended up choosing to keep a few Bantam Hens. 

I loved sitting in the garden early in the morning watching the hens, and would often have my morning cuppa very early before setting off for work.  The hens even recognised the sound of my car, even though there was a similar car further down the close.  David would shout out to me: "For goodness sake go and say hello to the hens, they are waiting by the back door for you".

The keeping of hens period was  back before the times I started this blog...and looking back over the old pictures,  found one shrub that I have to find room for in the new garden:  Rosa Canary Bird:  Such a pretty Spring Show....

We planned for the hens, and traveled around looking for arks, none have all the features we wanted, Mr S designed and built the hens a 'bespoke' dwelling.  It had two floors, with perches and nest box accessible from the outside, and easy to clean.  During the day when we were not at home the hens were kept in their house as we backed onto woods where Mr Renard could have sulked.  Yes that is one thing I learnt from the club, not to use the f word...but Mr Renard!

My first hens were a trio of Buff Rocks, and I named the Cockerel Rico after the one who pecked my knee.  Rico is short for cockorico..which is what french speaking Cockerels call instead of Cockadodledoo!  One of the hens was called Amber.  Mr S was worried about what the neighbours would say, and Rico had to go back to the breeders after the first weekend.  I wrote a letter of apology to all the neighbours with an explanation that Rico was being returned.  Despite their saying they liked the crowing, Mr S insisted he went back...it was still Spring and he did not think their tempers would last long once the days drew out.  Bantams despite their small size pack a mighty loud crow.

In exhange for Rico and quite an large additional sum I acquired an extra two black Australop hens.  Now this breed is meant not to go broody...but Jet, so maned on account of her more pointy tail, must have been the exception.  The other was named Ebony.  

One season I bought a mixed assortment of fertilized eggs for Jet to sit on.  Mr S built a seperate box, and true to her previous broody nature Jet made an excellent mother hen.

She was really patient waiting for remaining eggs to hatch...but I think they were barren.

Always corralling her chicks within hours she introduced them to different areas of the garden

One of their favourite patches was where the golden marjoram grew.

Even as the grew they had their own separate dust bath area

They loved roosting high up.  As it drew towards midsummer it became a game of hunt the hens before shutting them up each night.  For a few nights we gave up totally...but found them again the next morning very early at their feeders.  We did find out where they roosted...up on the stretchers of our large garden umbrella which we left open to offer shade to the junior's nest box.

The rest of the hens are in ecstasy here in their own dust bath area.

Neighbours and friends children loved to be amongst the very small hens, and we were on the afternoon walk paths of many locals who used to peer through the fence.  This was a little before the big back garden hen keeping revival and the development of plastic eglus, and many children had never seen hens and chicks.

Here are the hens coming to sit on my lap...you have to have them tame and used to being handled to show them.  Its a very good way to check them out.

All good things come to an end.  We did find a very home for them all, including the house, all the feed, oyster shells, feeders etc.  Its been great reminiscing with Mr S about this period in our lives. 

Snow

Most of the country is in the grip of icy blasts, and until yesterday we had no snow here near Wells.  Then it started....

By about four o'clock yesterday it had started to settle.

It snowed all night with snowflakes smaller than I have seen before...instead of the mizzle, which is what we call the very finest rain, more that mist and less than drizzle, Mr S and I devised the name snozzle for this finest of snow.  As I looked out in the evening it was as if a ton of jewels had been cast across the snow surface as twinklings lights reflected off the surface.

The wind has been blowing all night in gusts, moving this fine stuff into drifts, sometimes catching a sizeable buildup on a roof and making it into what looked momentarily like a whiteout as the snowdust remained suspended in the air.  

In the morning, the views from upstairs were uniformly white, and neighbours were busy clearing axel wide tracts...even though no vehicle has entered or left the close.  Children were using the icy furrows to fling themselves down the 'luges', the laughter and joy was infectious!

In the afternoon heavier and larger snowflakes started to fall and having enjoyed watching the birds from the windows front and back, I decided to don hat, gloves, boots etc.  Mr S cried after me: "Is your journey necessary?  Is it a question of life and death?"  I replied: "yes yes!", as I went into the garden to spread more birdseed, raisins, and chopped up apples from the store.

We had been watching the birds and I had noticed that around the perimeter of the garden, fieldfares, redwings, blackbirds and thrushes had been busy clearing the snow to expose the heavy composted soil looking for worms and food, and finding perhaps warmer hollows in which to shelter from wind.  One had more or less tunnelled right under the fence to the next door garden..that is where I remember all the snails like to congregate!  I have never before seen so many of these birds in the garden together at the same time.

This picture of the redwing is taken from inside the study right to the end of the garden...so many apologies for the poor quality from my simple camera.  Of course the batteres for the better camera are flat...but they are now on charge, and I have set a couple of hours aside tomorrow to refamiliarise myself with its many functions.

We have each taken full advantage of the enforced isolation...I got out some of my pens, which have very sadly been laying idle for nearly two years..and I am sadly out of practice.  However you have to start somewhere...I've decided to make all home made birthday cards this year, and I wonder if this little fanciful sketch will end up in one?

In a Vase on Monday - Shapes and shadows

On Saturday, I was getting rather excited preparing for the visit of two IAVOM friends the following day, and felt a little gardening would calm me down.  I wanted to start the preparations for planting out new snowdrops and later I attacked an old potentilla shrub that miraculously survived builders as the conservatory was under construction last year.

Here we are Alison C and Sandra D and myself...very cold but enjoying good company, winter gardens, and snowdrops.

Sadly the the lovely angel sculpture within the Palace has been moved....but here it is from when I posted about a visit in 2017 .  I have a thing for angels in the same way that Sandra has a thing for pineapples.  I am sure she will be writing about her Pineapple experiences in Wells!

At first I didn't particularly like this shrub, and would have had it out, except that Mr S liked it.  It would therefore seem quite disingenuous of me to dig the Potentilla out whilst he was away running model layouts at the weekend with friends!  Besides which, I felt it had earned a little reprieve having flowered its little socks off almost until Christmas.  Usually if I like a shrub or plant I carefully research and prepare for the best way to reduce or transplant it...if I don't, I usually just go for it.  I have since read that from time to time Potentillas do need a seeing to and will bounce back from even the harshest of prunnings....so it will recover, but maybe not flower until 2019.

I got busy with the secateurs and quite soon what was once a shrub a metre high and across became much reduced.  As I worked through the bush I became to appreciate the shape and curves of the woody stems, and saw the first sign of spring growth.  I chose some stems and 'pushed' them into a lovely  studio vase which my father brought back from Japan in the 1960s.

The shadows on the wall too added to the interest, but I have neither the skill nor the patience today to show this to advantage and have just added one of those tones available on the photo storage system I have.  The black elephant again is pottery from my Husband's family home, and the two little keys rings, skillfully made from wire and small beads,  were brought as souvenirs by my sister after her holiday in South Africa. 

The stems reminded me of the thin leaved scrubby trees we used to drive through, in one of the drier regions in Mauritius near Black River, where,  as children we would imagine we were driving through African grass lands with  acacia trees with rhinoceroses and elephants.  We had no television in those days, but we had large books with black and white pictures of landscapes from around the World, which I often had my nose in.  We would even see Lions in the clouds. 

I am sure you would like colour and for that you will be enchanted by a flower originally from the same continent as the rhino, so head off to Cathy's post this week.  Cathy is the creator of IAVOM....and without this post I would not have had such a special day with two new friends.