1,597 days: pause for reflection

After 1,597 days living on this little plot, a moment’s refection on ways it has changed during that time:

As people who have lived in the West during a time that made us “privileged and lucky human beings” – more so than any generation in the past… or in the future, and then burdened by Barack Obama’s assertion:

while knowing that those efforts to “do something about it” are ultimately doomed does pose the question of how to live in modern times.

“Then what is the answer? Not to be deluded by dreams.
To know that great civilisations have broken down into violence,
and their tyrants come, many times before.
When open violence appears, to avoid it with honor or choose
the least ugly faction; these evils are essential.
To keep one’s own integrity, be merciful and uncorrupted
and not wish for evil; and not be duped
By dreams of universal justice or happiness. These dreams will
not be fulfilled.
To know this, and know that however ugly the parts appear
the whole remains beautiful.”

And so our answer takes the form of a small patch of the Earth and all that lives there. To nurture it while letting it nurture us.

Sunny Bank

Behind The Lake

there is a raised bank

which as well as providing a dog lookout post, as it catches the sun throughout the day, is a place for flowering plants to attract bees and other insects

Seems to be working:

And then there were 16…

Today in Numbers

One gooseberry swelling on the stem

Two frogs warming by the pond

Three petals curling on the Iris

Thirteen chicks hatched this weekend

Seventeen flies trapped by the Sundew

Seventy-two tomato plants potted in the polytunnel

and an Infinite number of May blossoms all around

Watery Worlds

The little pond in the corner of Polytunnel Zenith

is full of life

These two have moved in

basking on the sunny stones

enjoying the insect life in the warm still air

sharing the water

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Meanwhile down at the Meadow Lake the amount of plant cover is growing

but still a lot of clear water to catch the sky

Last year’s Bullrush flowers

are adding to the mixture

making their own floating ecosystems

Lily leaves are surfacing

Round the margins

our honey bees pause for a drink

The damselflies have arrived

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The smallest pond of all

is packed with lilies and newts

Feeling the Glow

The sun kept hidden for most of today but popped out for a quick display before going to bed

The Birds and The Bees

Avian amour is all around.

We think we have three male Pied Flycatchers. That might not be as simple as three pairs as they are known for their polygyny.

This one

has a prime beat for flying insects – over the compost heaps.

House sparrows, on the other hand, are monogamous but are meant to like social nesting sites. In spite of having this box available to supply that facility for many years this is the first time it has been fully utilised

Strange pairings are occurring in the duck run with each of these Muscovy drakes having struck up a relationship with an Aylesbury duck

This pair have mated for life and aren’t going anywhere

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We lost our bee colony to wasps late last summer, which was a sad end particularly as they had survived being buried in snow earlier that year.

A few weeks ago a replacement colony arrived and today we were able to add a second

and at the same time our mentor helped us mark the Queen in the first hive

Perfect May

When May decides to deliver a few perfect days, just like the ones in dreams and the imaginary past, feelings can be mixed.

Having waited six months for days like these there can be anxiety that now they have arrived are we making the most of them. Plus the feeling that what ever the year does from now on it cannot match this heady mix of sun, song and super-growth.

On the whole it is probably better not to think too much and just absorb moments like these:

Still welcome an evening fire though…

Liquid song falls down by moonlight

There was a time when, along with many other “garden” birds, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes seemed ubiquitous, taken for granted, not worthy of remark.

While the Government has a decline of 16% in Blackbirds between 1970 and 2014 it records Song Thrush numbers to have been cut by more than half. The RSPB lists the conservation status of the Song Thrush as Red.

We are overrun with Blackbirds, this year seemingly more than ever as they contest for territory. At twilight today:

the wood is full of the sound of anxious Blackbirds, shrieking at shadows as they sort themselves out for roosting. But above their fretting we can hear a sweeter sound:

as we are proud to share our space with the Song Thrush

In fact, for the first time ever, we have two pairs so they need to sing very loudly to make it clear who owns which bit.

In other bird news today, after dropping in and out for a few days a pair of swallows

seem to be settling in – visiting the inside of the house, the inside of the workshop… soon they will remember that it is the woodshed they want.

Plus, since we have had (nearly) a whole day without rain, the ducks decide they need a good bath

Welcome as the flowers in May…

With a couple of thunder claps and a pelt of hail the recent plague of wetness withdrew this morning allowing May to get on with its mission…