my little pond

[Baz]

I had a look around my garden tonight, as I was sitting on a stone seat, I watched as a hedgehog came through a gap in the fence, which I had made. Noisy little things aren’t they as they go snuffling about looking for slugs or worms. This one more or less made a beeline to see what the dog had left in her dish, but the wife always leaves a clean plate, and so poor old Mrs Tiggywinkle had to make do with the leftovers from my pet lurchers dinner.
Suddenly from the corner of me eye, I caught site of a tray full of Petunia seedlings in the greenhouse. Praise be the Lord, my Guardian Angel must be looking over me tonight, as if she were saying seek and destroy. A dash of weed killer in the watering can should do the trick; let wifeus destructus do her own dirty work. I shall take great pleasure in watching her water her beloved Petunias.
Nothing quite like a nice quite evening in the garden, with the thoughts of a job well done.

 

[Baz]

I worked on this wild life garden today, one of the best I have seen. The chap himself had done it over the years and I was just extending it for him as he has just had an operation.
I was building some rocks along side the pond when I noticed one of them was a good enough replica of Napes Needle on Great Gable in the Lake District. I pointed it out to him and he was good enough to let me keep it.
It stands about two foot tall and ten inches square at the bottom tapering nicely to the top.
The story I told him was that I had been wanting to do a pencil sketch of the Needle for a couple of years, so one year I went up Gable to do just that.
To cut a long story short, I got to the base of Great Gable and for some reason decided to go into one of the gulleys just to have a look. It was a bit of a shock as I came across the body of a chap who had obviousely fell from the top. He had been missing for three days and was very dead.
I went into shock but eventually made my way down to a farmhouse where I asked the lady? If she would phone the rescue services, which she agreed to do. When she came back to me she said, would you like a cup of tea love? You look as if you need it.
I thanked her and said I would love one. Off she went, and when she came back with the brew, she said here you are love drink this. I couldn’t believe it as I took the cup of tea from her, the bandy legged bitch said, that will be forty pence please.

 

[The Monk]

put some small tench in my pond three years ago, saw one on sunday for the first time hiding under a lily pad

 

[Deck Monkey]

The phenomenon of wildlife finding a new habitat is not restricted to fresh water either. At university I was part of a study into the creation of artificial reefs in coastal waters around the UK (part of the European Artifical Reef Research Network). It was found that within one month of creating a new reef from blocks which were made of power station fly ash cement, the reef was colonised by seaweed and algae. Withing two months, the reef was holding pelagic and benthic fish fauna. Within three months, the European clawed lobster (Hommarus gammarus) had moved in despite the nearest natural reefs being just over 10 nautical miles away.

I don't know how they do it, but somehow they always find new habitats made for them. Lets keep making them and maybe together we'll all make a difference.

 

[Wolfman Woody]

Last week I bought a couple of small koi carp, one orange tinted grey and the other absolutely all grey. I also bought 6 orfe which will quickly grow. ?27 the lot (never paid more than a tenner for a fish in my life).

Didn't tell the missus though and at the weekend she saw one of the carp and said "We've got babies!" Then she saw the orfe and "More. Well I wonder where they came from?"

'Mum's' the word!

 

[Baz]

Nice one Monkey.
It's right though how quickly wildlife will find any habitat that we can make for them. Even a log pile has its uses.
I have a friend who has four different birds nesting in her small garden, doesn't it make you sick. The conditions must be ideal for them.
I worked late tonight and got the wildlife garden finished I was working on, I'm just waiting for a phone call now to go back in about a month or so to see how it is getting on.

 

[Baz]

I had been thinking recently that I hadn't seen any blackbirds or anything else nesting in my garden this year. But to be honest I haven't really looked for them.
I saw a magpie this afternoon perched in the silver birch tree, and wondered what was attracting it.
It was looking directly at one of these woven bird basket things that the wife had put up. Later this evening I saw five young wrens leaving the nest box and continually flying back and to. They had been there all this time obviousely, but the wren is so secretive they can be easilly missed. Thank god they came to no harm. Another small success in my small garden this year.

 

[Baz]

A great evening this evening, there is a blackbird in full song on top of my shed, and the Swift's are flying in and out of the houses catching insects and flys. Later on tonight I will be watching the bats continually swooping at moths and such that gather around my outside light. Life isn't so bad after all.