I’ve been concerned by the absence of butterflies this year, so when they finally, arrived en-masse, I drew a breath of relief. Maybe the heat and the buddleia drew them in. They have arrived late though as the buddleia and honeysuckle are almost going over.
I simply lose time watching them fluttering about their daily business.
The begonias are thriving as apposed to last year when they barely turned up.
I absolutely love this hollyhock, that I grew from seed last year, it’s almost like a David Austin rose. Not much rust either which is unheard of around these parts.
In other news…
I lost a beloved cousin recently; he was a well known boxer, a real softy, with a heart of gold. Sadly, dementia took him early, due to him being “punch drunk”.
A few of my cousins and I, celebrating our Joe’s life.
How I loathe boxing, to me it’s just a blood sport, plain and simple, exploiting working class men, who are often brainwashed and pushed into it at an early age. Anything to keep them off the streets.
Josh, our lamb, who was named by the young girl suffering from cancer, has now been integrated into our flock of sheep. How he’s grown, and how he’s enjoying the farm, with the sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks and geese.
Hopefully, that courageous girl, will thrive along with him, and recover too.
Breaking news….
Peanut is now a mother!
Here’s Peanut, with her two peachicks, look out for the tiny one in the middle, she’s very protective and skittish, so it’s difficult to get a good photo.
So…..I’d heard from Paul that Peanut had been seen with four peachicks and I’ve been looking out for them ever since, but, Peanut and her brood have remained elusive.
It seems that nature took two of her chicks, but two are still thriving. Currently, she has a large chick and a smaller one, and is a really protective mother.
It’s fantastic seeing her with her chicks, and living a more natural life. Goodness, who knew it would all turn out so beautifully???
Now….do you remember the ducks I released, that were decimated by unknown predators in the water?
Well, that scenario has played on my mind, so hubs and I took ourselves back to that stretch of canal with some sliced, processed meat to see what we could tempt out of the water. When we arrived at the disaster zone we saw a couple of guys fishing under the bridge where several of the ducks were pulled under.
I asked if they had caught anything big and they waxed lyrical about gigantic pike, and seeing an even bigger fish leaping out of the water.
Apparently, pike are a part of the eco/canal system, news to me, but to date they have only snatched ducklings, never fully grown ducks!
After hearing what the fishermen had to say, and given that nothing was taking our bait, hubs and I strolled into the nearby canal pub, where I was immediately leapt upon by an adorable, off the lead, rottweiler, who could obviously smell the sliced meat I was still holding. No matter what threats her owners issued, that dog didn’t leave our side, even after polishing off the meat, until we left the pub. Soooo cute, how she reminded me of Emmi, my former foster dog!
And Finally…..
Littl’urchin… utterly adorable.
I hate boxing, too, and think someone needs to go pike fishing! Very cute baby!!
I have to agree re pike fishing, they certainly need moving at the very least or there won’t be a duck left! xxx
I loved seeing your photographs and great news about Peanut.
Your grand-daughter is utterly adorable 🙂
All the best Jan
Thanks Jan. It is lovely being a nana, as you well know.xxx
What a sweet Peanut with her chicks… it’s a pity that there are only two of them and that most likely the others have been predated.
This is the hardness of life, even for these creatures.
We also have pikes in our lakes, I didn’t know that there were even in the rivers.
Over here butterflies are missing! I think there are so many factors of change… I remember that as a child there were hundreds of them, not far from here, among the wild fields. Now, the wild fields no longer exist and in their place, there are houses or two-storey buildings. We have planted flowering plants on purpose to attract butterflies, we have grown grass among the azaleas hoping to be able to have a little more bees and insects… unfortunately, there are only thousands of mosquitoes (and also the tiger’ ones)! They do not give you peace, 24 hours a day and even if you spray yourself with a repellent product, it is useless.
A disaster.
Embrace everyone, even the wonderful sweet granddaughter! :-)c
It’s a shame two of Peanuts chick were predated, but good she still has two. What a shame about your butterflies and pollinators, that is grim news. Hopefully they will return given you are planting for them. I find mosquito repellent useless too, I am always eaten alive by the little blighters! Thanks Claudine. Love and hugs to all.xxx
You’ve got very beautiful pictures of the butterflies on the beautiful flowers! Oh, how I wish they would come to my small backyard in big number!. I love watching them fluttering around a lot. So lucky you!
Sorry to hear about your beloved cousin. Hope he is having a good start elsewhere now! A brand new life!
And let’s hope that courageous girl regain her health!
Always happy to read good news about Peanut.
That’s a most adorable and beautiful picture of your grandbaby!
Thanks Jade, hoping you get more butterflies soon! I too hope that little girl makes a recovery, bless her. xxx
Adorable indeed! And congratulations to Peanut! As for pike, I have heard they can be pretty fierce. But could be worse, here in Chicago we had a runaway alligator lurking in the lagoons of a local park! https://www.npr.org/2019/07/16/742215100/chance-the-snapper-is-snared-alligator-caught-after-a-wild-week-in-chicago-park
Thanks Jason. Goodness, what an incredible story!!!! I would prefer the pike to alligators! Yikes!xxx
Lovely to see the butterflies isn’t ‘t It. Lovely news on the peanut front too. I guess you,won’t be releasing any more ducks in the canal.
It’s always a pleasure seeing butterflies! I’m thrilled seeing Peanut enjoying her days, especially now she has her own family. Goodness, I certainly won’t be releasing ducks anywhere unless there are lots of ducks around. Thanks Sue.xxx
So glad that Peanut and co are thriving….and Little Urchin is bloody well gorgeous.:)
So hard to believe that summer is showing signs of change! I can always feel and sense the changes at this time.
Sending you and the family tons of love
Janet xxxx
Thanks Janet, I am besotted with littl’urchin. She is adorable! I can feel autumn creeping in too, one of my favourite seasons! Hope you are getting stronger by the day. Love and hugs.xxx
So good to read Peanut made it in the natural world .. enough to have natural offspring… and with a lot of help and care from you. Your garden and butterflies are looking wonderful .. always a relief to see butterflies these days. Your Grandbaby looks absolutely gorgeous .. I bet she keeps you busy.
Thanks Gerrie, I’m so pleased to see how things worked out for Peanut, she’s certainly a lot happier now and living a more natural life with other peacocks. Littl’un will certainly be a handful….I don’t know how I’m going to keep up with her.xxx
I wish the buddleja in my garden would attract those beautiful butterflies; we tend to get cabbage whites although I’ve seen some tiny blue butterflies and evening moths recently. Your story of the pike is alarming, not a nice thought about what lurks beneath in the murky waters! Lovely news about Peanuts and her chicks, and Josh the lamb; so good to hear that they’re thriving. I thought of you a couple of days ago when our caretaker knocked on my door early one morning. He’d found an injured bird and asked me to help. Our local vet advised to take it to them in a box so it wouldn’t be too alarmed and they would care for it. Sadly, the bird was a swift that they’d released the day before but now had puncture wounds so the vet wasn’t hopeful of its chances and rang to let me know that they’d euthanised it. A sad day, and one that I know you would have empathised with.
And on a much brighter note, your grand-baby is just plumptious!! xx
I am surprised to hear that your buddleia isn’t pulling the butterflies in!
Oh goodness, what a sad story re the swift, to think it had been rescued and released only to be got by something. Heartbreaking!! I’ve had to take two woodpigeons to the vets lately, they were in a horrible state and neither make it. It’s so sad to see them like that. Still being euthanized is better than dying a slow death. Thanks caro.xxx
Oops typo 3rd para ‘river’ . Not sure what a rivet is doing there….
Smiling here!xxx
Wow, I thought that was Emmi! A Lovely dog and a great picture of it. Amazing what friendships can be made of. Moral of tale, always carry a lump or two of edibles in your bag.
Babe has really come on, not long now till she chases around with the pets.
It is difficult to know if learning of the existence of a Pike or two in the rivet is a comfort. It is certainly a forewarning as to what they might be able to do.
Well I never, Peanut a caring and protective mum. That’s so good to hear. She must be a lot happier. What a confused and lonely bird she was till you helped her on her way. Nice one! Looking forward to another update in the fullness of time. Xxx
She does look like Emmi doesn’t she, I had to look twice when I saw her. Yes, a few treats to make for doggie friendships, I usually always have a pocket full of dog biscuits. Yes, littl’un will be running around in no time. At least I can have all three dogs in the room with her now, Buddy is good around her, he’s more interested in her toys and food than her!
Those pike must be enormous to take fully grown ducks like that, they must be able to snap at a hand or foot! I have really gone off them! I am thrilled to see Peanut happy and fulfilled, I never expected things to work out as well as they have! Thanks Menhir.xxx
Great post and images. Autumn is heading your way, eh?
Thanks Peter, oh yes, there is a chill suddenly creeping in but apparently we are due another heatwave over the next few weeks, summer’s final fling.xxx
I’m not surprised to hear about the pike. Our gar will do the same thing, although, as you say, they generally go after the ducklings. I wondered if the two fish were related, but they’re not in the same family. They just have some of the same habits.
It’s so great to see Peanut with her chicks! I’ve wondered about her from time to time, and hoped there would be an update. I hope her two survive and thrive. They look large enough now that it seems likely.
Like others, I have no taste at all for boxing, even in the schools, where things are far more regulated and less violent. I don’t think it’s part of curriucula here now, although wrestling is still around. I do think at the turn of the century it was considered an outlet for street kids, especially in urban areas.
What’s most delightful here is that darling little grand of yours. It’s such fun to see them grow, and they do grow fast. Don’t you wonder what’s going on in that little head of hers? Such a funny and darling expression!
I do shudder imagining how big those pike must be to take fully grown birds! I’ve gone right off them!!! How lovely that you think of Peanut! I’m so happy things have worked out for her and that she has a more natural life. It’s lovely being able to cross the road and check up on her. I didn’t know kids boxed in schools in America. As far as I know that hasn’t ever happened here, but I may be wrong. Oh, littl’urchin is a delight, she seems to do something new each day. How quickly they grow, she’s already six months old. Where on earth did that go??? Thanks Linda.xxx
Oh, goodness, the flowers and butterflies only enhance your paradise all the more, Dina. Just glorious!
So happy to read all the good news about Joshua, and that fascinating heroine, Peanut! Think of all the lives you saved by saving hers, and all the joy her tale has given us all. Hope she continues to be so blessed.
As for Miss H., now she is a cuddle bug, if ever there were one. I can only guess how much joy holding and playing with her must give you, Dina. Hope your lovely daughter is doing well, too.
Love you and joy to all,
Kitty
I was so happy to see those butterflies finally arriving, why on earth are they turning up so late though, the way things are going, they’ll have nothing to feed on when they do turn up.
Ahhhh, so pleased that you have enjoyed Peanut’s story, I’m just thrilled to see that poor bird in a more natural environment with her own kind. God bless Paul!
Oh, littl’urchin just spreads the sunshine, everyone adores her, poor daughter doesn’t get a look in, although we adore her too. Thanks, as always for your lovely comments, they too spread the sunshine. Love and hugs to one and all. xxxx
We have cabbage white butterflies and sometimes gatekeepers and skippers in our garden. It’s nice to see the more colourful ones. Perhaps we should grow a buddleia bush? I’m sorry to hear about your Uncle Joe. The mystery about the disappearance of the released ducks that must have been pulled down into the water by a predator may have been solved. Your granddaughter is so cute! 🙂 Have a lovely week!
We have gatekeepers too, but only the odd one. The cabbage whites have devoured the cauli’s and broccoli, they always find a way, good luck to them though, butterflies need all the help they can get! I’m pretty sure that gigantic pike took those poor birds, who knew? Thanks Linda.xxx
Love post and pictures. Lucky you seeing butterflies en masse like that, I’ve only seen a few on the allotments. I’ve never been one for boxing, and sadly seen what it can do to people.
That rottweiller looks to be a big softie. xx
We are seeing less species of butterflies sadly, but the ones that show are more than welcome, however late they are. There are a lot of casualties as a result of boxing, the industry certainly plays down the damage it does. That rottweiler was just gorgeous, I would have happily taken her home! Thanks Flighty.xxx
I have been worried about the lack of butterflies but they have arrived at last. Mainly peacocks here. And talking about peacocks, how lovely that Peanut is a mother.
Pike grow old and enormous don’t they. Do you know the Ted Hughes poem ‘Pike’? I just remember the words: ‘Killers from the egg; the molevolent aged grin’.
Dina, my sweet, that is not a begonia, it is a dahlia. But a very nice one and I am impressed by your powder puff hollyhock.
As for your granddaughter, she’s just the cutest.
It’s odd how late the butterflies are across the UK, I must look into it! We have lots of peacocks, painted ladies, and cabbage whites but the other species aren’t turning up in usual numbers sadly. I’m thrilled that Peanut finally has peachicks, she has a far better life now. Oh…I haven’t read that poem but it certainly chills me,the very thought of that release still horrifies me, I have gone right off pike! I think I must have dyslexia, I am forever muddling the names of plants up, that or dementia’s kicking in! Thank goodness for our head gardener! I do love that hollyhock, so it’s a powder puff? What an apt name! Oh, I am enjoying littl’urchin! Thanks Chloris.xxx
Oh, those chubby cheeks, such a little cutie. I’m sorry to hear about your cousin, I feel exactly the same about boxing, I can’t understand what enjoyment people get out of watching two people throwing punches at each other until one knocks the other out. Wonderful news about Peanut, who would have guessed things would turn out like they have when you used to watch her roost in your tree, ha ha.
Thanks Jo, bonny babies are simply adorable for sure! Totally agree with your comments re boxing, it’s certainly not something I could ever enjoy. Oh….those halcyon days when that bird ruled the roost, so to speak. I’m so happy she is in a more rural environment, with her own kind, even though it’s only across the road.xxx
So sorry about your cousin, I agree with what you say about boxing. Lovely that Peanut has peachicks, I hope they do well.
Thanks CJ. I am thrilled to finally see Peanut with peachicks, fingers crossed they make it.xxx
Look at those adorable little toes! Littl’urchin is adorable and I love that hat! Mummy Peanut is such good news. I’ll cross everything that her 2 peachicks survive. I’m so sorry to hear about your cousin. I don’t understand the attraction of boxing either. I’d also noticed that the butterflies were late arriving but it’s lovely to see them – even if they have managed to get through my netting to my cavolo nero! xx
Oh….I agree re little toes and dimpled everything on a baby. How adorable they are! I do hope Peanut manages to raise those peachicks, she seems to be a really good mother and given she is in fox territory two out of four aint at all bad! It seems that quite a few of us are noticing the late arrival of butterflies, I wonder why that is? You and me both re the brassicas,the cabbage white have decimated my cauli’s and broccoli! Thanks Veggiemummy.xxx
I am enchanted by that photo of the butterflies on the buddleia. So glad they’ve arrived! I’m sorry you all lost a loved one. Looks like it was a good gathering to remember Joe. Also lovely to see how your grand baby is thriving. So alert and curious she looks as she surveys her surroundings.
Thanks Anne, it was bittersweet celebrating our Joe’s life. Such a gentleman. The butterflies seem to arrive later each year, the buddleia had almost gone over. Oh, littl’urchin is adorable. How quickly they grow.xxx