Each day the light is fading earlier
as the moon takes over
Swallows are planning their departure
and bees busy filling up
Down at the lake
dragonflies are still active
and above Goldfinches chatter
excited about the seeding thistles
Other fruits spread their seeds
and spores
some come our way
As the season slips into the impending darkness that is due to arrive over the next few months we keep our focus on the patches of light
Word is getting around
that our rabbits have good dinners
and don’t have to nibble old grass
as they are supplied with a wide range of fresh salad
and can then choose to chill
or play
or even spend time with aliens
in their pleasant summer quarters
safe in the knowledge that come winter
their indoor accommodation will welcome them
to a world of indoor high-rise living
currently being fitted out with heat and light
So, we have applicants knocking on the door
Francis blew through leaving our old Ash tree
short of a bough
and doing some early apple picking for us
Today has been rather dark and damp so here are some recent spots of colour..
A few recent small Gribin Isaf residents…
Is this one of the inconspicuous ladybirds or another type of beetle? We have not been able to identify it yet. It has a lovely iridescent green head.
The purple buddleia has not attracted much this year but the white one by the lake has been busier. This is one of our bees…
…and on this recent day there was quite a sprinkling of tortoiseshells.
The lake attracts a range of dragonflies and damselflies
This plant – which is a mystery to us even though we planted it – is also by the lake and is attractive to insects
Here is the plant when it was in bud
We think this is the caterpillar of one of the hawkmoths. (Don’t confuse six true legs with extra prolegs)
Some bees which aren’t ours
And now this millipede
count the legs
definitely more than six.
A lot of sun over the last few days
and some appropriate flowers
A few late summer blooms
Ducks are social creatures so when, earlier this year, out of a dozen bought in hatching eggs
only one actually hatched
we had to find her a couple of friends from up the road
She is a Cayuga and her adoptive siblings are Muscovies but they have got on ok together
although she has preferred to watch
at bath time
When Cagney, our dependable Muscovy, went broody
we installed her in a safe house and had another go, this time with our own eggs.
First to hatch was indeed a Cayuga
but because Cayney was also sitting on Muscovy eggs, which take longer to hatch, she has to be taken into temporary custody
from which she immediately tried to escape
successfully
earning the name Houdini.
No other eggs did hatch so for the second time we had a solitary duckling. At least this time he had a foster mother
as long as Cagney would accept a seven day old reintroduction.
Which she did
They set up home together
Soon they were given a bit more space
from which Houdini immediately escaped
and went off to fraternise with the flock
Spying some fellow Cayugas
she tried to introduce herself
but they weren’t interested
Life would be easier if all our ducks were like this one
Our Red House, named in homage to the design history that inspires our ornamentation of its interior, is part of our overflow accommodation/places we can hide in:
Gribin Isaf 