The veggie patch is coming along nicely, with veggies, wind-sown wildflowers and weeds, all thriving. The garlic, potatoes and broad beans are romping away.
As are the shallots, hidden here behind the broad beans, potatoes and weeds.
Fruit bushes are being contained here, until a new border is cleared for them. I have another thirty in pots…just waiting!
Climbing beans are germinating under the wrought iron canes in the far right of this picture and the strawberries, onions and seed grown spinach are all doing well.
Among these weeds are seed sown carrot and leek seedlings. I’m sure going to have my work cut out weeding those!
Now,
I don’t know if I’ve told you how badly Buddy behaves when he’s out walking with Sam and Annie. Whenever he sees another dog he screams and squeals like a banshee, upsetting our dogs and every dog in the immediate vicinity. It became so horrendous and stressful that we decided to walk him on his own.
Suddenly Buddy became the model dog. No more squealing, just a balanced, happy dog.
Result!
How delighted we were, as now, all dogs could enjoy walking to interesting places, rather than boring ones trying to avoid other dogs. Yes, it’s far more time consuming walking them separately but more beneficial for them all.
Did I tell you Buddy is also an escape artist? We are forever fortifying the property as he constantly finds weak spots. Fences have been built in front of railings, and repairs continually carried out, as he’ll spot a weak point in a heartbeat.
I’m sure I’ve also told you he’s a killer; he’s constantly hunting rodents, birds and my poor Curly cat.
So, a week last Sunday, Buddy got his hour walk, then it was time to take Sam and Annie out. After about forty minutes, my mobile rang. A guy asked me if I had a dog called Buddy as he had found him in Formby. I was pretty shocked hearing this, as he was left in a secure, locked house. Hubs immediately ran home, leaving me with Sam and Annie, well, when I say ran, he kind of jogged, clutched his chest, gasped for breath, then jogged some more and repeated the process until he was out of sight.
As hubs disappeared into the distance I began to worry about Curly cat. Buddy loose boded badly for Curly, as anywhere the cat went Buddy could also go, and that poor cat is ancient and arthritic, and certainly couldn’t out-run a young Jack Russell.
Long story short. Turns out a skylight window on the upstairs landing had been left open, and Buddy had jumped through it, and either jumped, or fell off the roof. He appeared to be uninjured, although I was watching him like a hawk, waiting to rush him to an out of hours vet. His face, however, was a mass of cat scratches.
Buddy wasn’t stiff, sore, swollen or bruised????? How he didn’t break his neck or something else is beyond me. Not only did he fall off the roof and hunt the cat, he even demolished all of his food!!!!
Of course there was no sign of Curly cat. I was utterly tormented. I was petrified that Curly had been killed, or was dying in agony somewhere. What a horrible end…my imagination had no limits…..we searched everywhere, alerted all the neighbours, and then I put my wildlife camera out, next to his food.
OH WHAT JOY!
The camera picked him up all night furtively eating his food, the finest, most enticing edibles I could find, AND he appeared unscathed. What a relief!
It took three days for him to appear in the morning, and sit out, openly, on his bench in the front garden. He has taken to hiding elsewhere during the day as he’s still nervous, but I could see his trust returning…..UNTIL….hubs came in one day and found a loose dog in our garden, Curlys’ territory, while he was actually sitting there.
A dachshund had escaped, and was, fortunately, friendly towards cats. Hubs caught it and returned it to its frantic owner, but that has put the fear of God back into Curly cat.
Why oh why do they all end up here!!!
So, Curly is back to being nervous, but is still hanging out in the garden in the mornings. Hopefully he will feel secure again soon, and hang out there all day, it’s strange not having a cat hanging out with me when I garden. Lightening striking twice! Sighs…..
Here’s Curly cat, caught on the wildlife camera.
Goodness, I had no idea how many birds and hedgehogs I’m feeding.
And finally….
a few pics from my greenhouse. It’s such a pleasure not having to weed in there!
Damn it! Who knows why dogs and cats have dislikes… a bit like cats and mice, don’t they?
Of course, I’d be scared to death myself, and that’s the reason I didn’t get a dog. I think about it when I retire and I’ll be home 24/24 hours to check that everything is “quiet”. You won’t believe it, but already several times our hamster has escaped from her cage and has gone around the house with the 5 cats… luckily nothing has ever happened, but it is better not to force your luck. Maily is a skilled “brooder” and was able to saw with her teeth two iron bars of her cage!
Nice to see how much you are already advanced with gardening work, here we wait for the temperature to rise to 15-20 degrees before planting tomatoes and more. Have you done a synergistic vegetable garden? We are trying… then I’ll tell you. Kisses and hugs 🙂 claudine
Some dogs and cats get along famously, growing up we always had both. You may be lucky, if the cats are there first there doesn’t tend to be a problem. Hope you get yourself a dog one day. Oh my goodness, Maily sure is lucky, fancy her chewing herslf out of the cage!!! I do try re companion planting and no digging but often need to dig to get rid of the long-rooted weeds. I never use pesticides or chemicals though….look forward to hearing how you get on. Thanks Claudine, love and hugs to you all.xxxx
That dog looks as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth snoozing on the chair. I used to have a killer Jack Russell. I also had an Irish Wolfhound and a schnauzer who would look on in pained embarrassment as he growled, barked and theatened any passing dog. Taking him for walks was a nightmare. He once escaped from the garden and bit a very inoffensive lab on the nose. And my goodness what escape artists they are. Never a dull moment in your house.
Your veg are coming on well but I see you have the dreaded Mare’ s tails, good luck with that.
Oh lordy….sounds like you’ve had your hands full over the years! What is it with Jacks….nightmares all of them, adorable or not! Buddy isn’t dog aggressive, thankfully, but Annie is….sighs…our dogs look horrified when Buddy kicks off too. Yes, mare’s tail is everywhere in the garden, I’ve tried to dig it up but it always returns, it’s even coming through the new flags….darn and drat it, someone suggested white vinegar, have you tried that? Any other tips? Thanks Chloris.xxx
The only solution for mare’s tails is to move house. And that is a bit extreme. They have found roots of it in coal mines.
I suspected as much. I just keep pulling the tops off. It’s horrible!xxx
My goodness me, there is never a dull moment in your house … and garden!
Isn’t your wildlife camera amazing, so nice to see all who visit your garden.
Talking of garden, that’s an amazing variety of vegetables, they should be delicious 🙂
Hope the rest of the week is a little bit more un-eventful.
Take Care
All the best Jan
Thanks Jan, I have to admit to enjoying dull moments around here. That wildlife camera is great, you simply never know what you’ll see. It looks like it may be a good year for the veggies, fingers crossed, hopefully we don’t get a drought again.xxx
Luscious garden growth.
1 Do you have any hair left?
2 If you have, has it changed colour over night?
The animals’ antics are astounding and they leave me breathless. I am not sure if my hair would stay rooted to my head.
The wildlife camera is inordinately vital in your example here. Xxx
Hahahaha…yes, my hair turned several shades whiter for sure! Buddy is a nightmare at times….he likes to keep us on the edge! That wildlife camera is worth it’s weight in gold, I was sooo relieved to see Curly unharmed. Thanks Menhir.xxx
Wow, you’ve got a lot of animal drama going on! The events in your house could be the basis for a dog-and-cat soap opera. Plus, that’s a lot of fruit bushes you are going to plant! Currants? Raspberries?
It’s certainly a soap opera around here at times! I have all types of berries and currants, the plants are small at the moment but should be so much better next year. Thanks Jason.xxx
Curly evidently put up a good fight with Buddy! What an adventurous life you all lead ! xx
I am so pleased that Curly fought back, hopefully Buddy has learnt his lesson but I doubt it. Often it’s the wrong sort of excitement around here! Thanks Gill.xxx
Buddy sure does keep everyone on their toes! I wonder how he managed to spot the skylight window, and even more amazing, he didn’t break any bones in the fall! Poor Curly, it must be hard being a cat in an all dog household.
Lovely to see all your wildlife coming for food during the night, especially the hedgehog…so cute!
Buddy was left in the kitchen but opened the door. I was astonished that he didn’t injure himself! Unbelievable! Yes, poor old Curly, I hope he recovers his confidence soon. Wildlife cameras are wonderful things, you never know what you are going to capture. Thanks Gerrie.xxx
Crikey, I know Jack Russell’s can be ‘difficult’ when out walking. We have met lots of them but jumping from am upstairs window!!!!
I know, you just wouldn’t expect a dog to jump out of a window and off the roof! Thanks Sue.xxx
Never a dull moment in your household, I’m so glad that everyone is ok at the end of it all. You are going to have a wonderful summer with all your veggies.
I’m relieved that Buddy and Curly are both fine, just hoping Curly comes round soon. Everything is growing beautifully this year, fingers crossed we get plenty of rain, overnight of course. Thanks Pauline.xxx
Poor Curly! I do hope he will get over those bad experiences he have had and feel safe again. I believe Buddy is just either over-excited or wanting attention when he behave like that. You house is always full of very challenging and exciting happenings.
Your veggie patches do look wonderful now with abundance of growths now!
I hope Curly gets his confidence back too, it’s a shame thinking he’s sleeping rough, hopefully he’ll come around soon. Buddy is such a live wire, terriers are such intelligent active dogs that unfortunately have a strong prey drive. Thanks Jade.xxx
The excitement never ends at your house! I now share an outdoor cat with my neighbor and she’s become fat and glossy from all the extra food I put out. My dogs are horrified that I’m spending time with a cat but they’re just secretly jealous. Buddy is such a smart dog. Too bad he couldn’t figure how to hold down a paying job to help out a bit.
Oh, how lovely that you have taken a cat under your wing. Lucky cat, sounds like she has landed on her feet. Buddy is far too bright for his own good, we have to keep two eyes on him at all times! Hope all is well in your world. Missing your posts!xxx
Sigh. Are you and Hubs well trained or what? When my Sammy was on special food, we did the hokey-pokey with our lot as well (put food outside, shove Sam out, feed the other cats, hope Sam hasn’t wandered off). Poor Curly Cat — what a scare and twice!
My aunt’s previous dog (come to think of it, he looked a lot like Buddy) was an escape artist, too. He would sometimes be found at the church about 1/2 a mile away and someone would call my aunt. He’d apparently gone there looking for her! So, my sympathies to you!
I’m sorry — that description of Hubs jogging had me grinning. I’d look rather a lot like that myself.
Your garden seems to be bursting out all over. So wonderful to see all that green, thriving and soon providing food for you.
It’s a pain constantly juggling animals at feeding time, glad Sammy can now be fed with the others. Argh! Your aunt’s previous dog sounds just like Buddy, you just can’t take your eyes off dogs like that for a second!
Watching hubs jogging had me smiling too, although I’m no better. The pair of us were just plain baffled given he was in a locked house. Thanks Anne.xxx
Good God, a story fraught with anxiety: for Buddy, Curly, and poor hubs clutching his chest. Sent me to the chocolate jar, it did.
Happy, then, to read all survived and are adjusting to their adventures. 🙂 Poor Curly, though! Our younger 3 pups tend to terrorize Fiona, so she has learned when crate-time occurs and knows that’s her time to partay upstairs (i.e., sleep on the back of the sofa). But Lord help her if she dawdles getting through the cat door before the pups emerge from their slumber and walks. Yikes!
We also have to accommodate dog weirdness in getting walks accomplished. I hope your solution continues to work well for you. 🙂
And as for those ABUNDANT gardens, Dina: Holy Cow! You’re like the Veggie Market of England! Glorious! I wish I knew how you find 40 hours in a day when the rest of us mortals only get 24… Everything looks so Garden of Eden-like!
Thank you for the exciting and beautiful post. Love you to bits and pieces.
Sent you to the chocolate jar….that has me smiling. Tell you what, my nerves were totally shredded! I’m so glad Buddy and Curly were uninjured. Ahhhh, poor, poor Fiona! It’s a nightmare jiggling animals at times isn’t it? Why can’t things be more straightforward!
Sorry to hear you have dog walking issues too. Buddy is an angel on his own, but horrific with Sam and Annie. It is far more time consuming having to walk them separately though, especially in bad weather. Hope all settles down for you. Hahaha….just wait for a few weeks when the bugs devour the veggies! Thanks Kitty, love you too.xxx
It’s good to see that everything is growing well. As for Buddy and poor Curly what can I say…
Lovely to see the hedgehog feeding. xx
Thanks Flighty, the whole thing was nightmarish! It’s good to know that we have so many hedgehogs visiting.xxx
As usual lots going on in your home and garden 24/7! I’m glad Buddy landed safely and there were no broken bones and I hope Curly gets his confidence back. There’s quite a lot of psychology involved in looking after the pets in your household. Each one has to be managed so that you all live in harmony. You’re well experienced to cope with it, but I should think some time to relax in an evening is welcome.
I couldn’t believe it when Buddy was found totally unharmed, astonishing! Buddy certainly needs watching like a hawk, he’s so intelligent and never misses a trick! Thanks Linda.xxx
What a little monkey. How on earth did he manage to get through a skylight? I do hope that Curly Cat gets his confidence back, I remember it took a lot to get him to that stage. How lovely having the wildlife camera, it’s nice to see who’s coming in the garden.
Stupidly, we left a window open! Curly is gradually becoming more confident. I do hope he sleeps in his shed or kennel soon. It’s always exciting anticipating what’s on the wildlife camera, I’m always surprised at how many cats visit the garden. Thanks Jo.xxx
Poor Curly cat! I’m glad he was unscathed by the experience and hope he’s back to normal soon. Buddy is quite a character isn’t he! Interesting psychology behind all that walk business, was he defending the other 2 do you think? He must have found it quite exhausting. Your veggie patch and greenhouse are looking fantastic – all that yummy veg. I’m envious of your carrots; I’ve never managed to grow them in my clay soil. Happy gardening. xx
I’m so relieved that Curly is unharmed, he must have had a terrifying experience.Buddy thinks he’s the pack leader, he’s so excitable around the other two, but vulnerable on his own. Thanks Veggiemummy.xxx