Caitlyn meets Daisy

Last Sunday afternoon the sight of a snake devouring one of my large goldfish didn't bother Caity one little bit but this 'oversize stone' that suddenly move when she touched it sent her into a panic.Gently we introduced the two of them and Caity soon became confident enough to feed Daisy with dandelion flowers. So confident that we had to watch carefully to make sure Catie's fingers didn't get into Daisy's mouth. She's no teeth as such but her gums are sure razor sharp as I can testify to when shes chomped on my unsuspecting toes!

Drama in the Garden!

It's been a funny day. High grey cloud stubbornly refusing to disperse. Spit spotting with rain and a pleasant gentle breeze. It's been quite warm as well with temperatures about 20 degrees. A very quite day, despite 'Truckfest' across in the East of England Showground. There's usually some noise that drifts across but not today. Well not much anyway. At 3o'clock the old Lancaster Bomber flew over to do several 'fly pasts' over the Showground. I was in the garden with my camera in hand. No pictures though. It was low and a little far over and the trees obscured it.

The garden's been a hive of activity today. I think the robin feeding chicks somewhere. He's been fetching food all day long and he soon took all the meal worms we put out for him. Other birds have been feeding and courting rampantly.

The heron flew over but never had a chance to attack my fish in the pond today as the crows hassled him and saw him off with a great deal of cawing and squawking.
A different squirrel appeared in the garden this morning. This ones older and bigger. He soon decided the squirrel proof bird feeders were a piece of cake to crack.

I chased him off several times before he got the message. Squirrels have already chewed through several of our bird feeders before they've been caught and chased off.

The fish have been swimming lazily around the pond and have even started to spawn. It must be getting warmer.............................................................. They never saw Hissing Sid appear!

Arrrgh.........................He caught one of my big goldfish!!! Several times bigger than his mouth.

It went in head first. Poor fish. Never stood a chance.
Sid never let up . It took him over three hours to stretch his little mouth around the poor fish and swallow it!
Going, going.................
Gone.

Last seen Sid was heading back up the stream to his lair behind the water fall with a very full bulge in his belly. I hope that satisfies him for a few days now.

May Flowers

May seems to have brought some warmer weather and true to the season the garden is becoming a colourful canvas. My Acer Brilliantissimum has begun leaf out into this beautiful salmon pink colour. I first saw this tree in a garden of a house I was visiting some years ago so when I saw one in the garden center I bought it. We trim it to this lollipop shape every autumn to keep it small and to keep its shape.

The leaves begin this wonderful colour and as the season develops they turn to a yellow and eventually to green.
The aquilegia's or 'Grannies Bonnet' are beginning to open their flower buds. This deep purple one is the first with many more to come. They self seed and pop up all over the garden and if I'm not happy with where they are I dig them up and move them.

The rockery's looking really good this year. I ripped it all out last spring, renewed the soil and grit and replanted it. It's paid off this year, although I expect the ants nest right in it's center will appear once more. I've been fighting them for years now and they always win. It's a bit of a nuisance when I need to stretch over to week as they all swarm out and attack me!
This clematis macropetala is a picture with it's nodding purple/blue blooms. It's the first one out in the garden . Well if you don't count the winter flowering clematis Cirrhosa Balearica. It's lovely lime green flowers with purple speckles cheer up the bare fence in December and January.

I love these colourful bushy plants This ones bright orange and I have another purple one. They belong to the wallflower family but are an evergreen bush. At the moment I can't for the life of me remember their name. Oh dear 'senior moment'

A little bit of Frustation

Well himself has his birthday laptop out of the box now. That's as far as its got though. I suspect I'm going to have to set it up properly for him. He's a bit frustrated now because he can't get online yet. I have to get a new router and set the system up for wireless. I'm finding the technology a little more difficult and I'm having to take it all slowly. The trouble is the more I read about it the more confusing I'm finding it. Help! I may need it yet!

What a Difference a Week Makes

The last three days have been really warm and quite sunny with no cold frosty nights. Spring has now sprung forward at a rapid pace. You can almost hear the plants growing and the leaves bursting from their protective sheaths. So different from last Sundays cold Novemberish day.
The Birthday boy and I took Number 1 son and Dawn, with the grand children and great grand daughter, to Pizza Hut for lunch today. Pizza Hut is not a place we would usually go to. Too many calories so it was an indulgent 'pig out' day for us. A little different to our usual Sunday roast. Quite an enjoyable change though.
It was No 3 sons birthday today and he should have been with us with his daughter, our third grand daughter, Grace. I think Ja was a little upset Grace hadn't come this week end and so he didn't feel like coming with us. After lunch we all piled around his tiny house to say hello and happy birthday. How did those little 'three up, two down' terrace houses cope with large families in the Victorian times when they were built. We were spilling out of his front door!

Little Caitlyn-Rae is showing a talent for driving like her great granddad and her granddad. Her Dad has no interest in driving though!
After returning home the laptop was finally decanted from it's box! I think we need to sort out the broadband and upgrade to wireless before he can really appreciate and use it. I'll have to get it sorted this week.

My Garden Wild Life

Several morning over the last week my pond has had visitors. Not the usual cheeky heron but three ducks waddling and swimming about. They turn up about this time each year. Always one female and two drakes. Admittedly they have cleared some of the weed and algae from the pond but Oh they do make a mess and they've eaten all the tadpoles. Reluctantly I've chased them off each time. It's not as if they are short of water space around here. They've three great lakes to swim on over in Nene Park.

I was just sitting down to a late breakfast in the conservatory this morning when I spotted 'Hissing Sid' basking in the warm sunshine. He's a grass snake and has been around for a few springs and summers now. He was half out of the water on the water fall. I grabbed the camera and creeped up on him, OK or her! He has a large fat bulge in his belly. Was it a bird, one of my fish or one of the frogs? Well what ever he had swallowed it will keep him going now for a few days. It's amazing to watch his elastic mouth open to swallow whole a frog whose girth is several times larger than the snakes.

The Celebration Dinner

The reluctant dinner guest seen here conducting without a baton had cheered up and accepted his lot!

He had been grumpy during the journey to the pub. He took exception to being forced to change out of his beloved jeans, from not knowing where he was going and not being allowed to drive. He got in the car declaring 'I don't like surprises'.

Once he realised the guests were just close family he cheered up. His brother and sister in law from Yorkshire were not able to come down to be with us. Sonia had unfortunately slipped and fell, breaking her hip in two places. She had unwittingly sprung the surprise the night before so 'himself' knew we were going out to a party but that was all.

Sean and Dawn had picked up Darrin and Jason and my main gift for him. The laptop he had been wanting. That cheered him up even more. My sister, brother in law and my Mum completed the guest list.

The Pub, The White Hart at Ufford, is a lovely 'oldy worldly' stone built pub. The bar is decorated with railway memorabilia and the seating deep leather sofas. We had a large oval table in the Orangery part of the restaurant. The food was really good and the service efficient and friendly. Definitely a pub to revisit and to be recommended. We had a really enjoyable and pleasant evening