Fruitlets, soft fruit and veggies are romping away. As fast as the berries and currants ripen, the birds eat them, which is fine by me as I’m not that precious about them, and there’s always plenty left for us.
The mixture of sunshine and showers has meant that I haven’t had to water anything so far, with the exception of the greenhouse plants. That sure saves time!
The beech nuts are abundant this year, the wood pigeons will be delighted as they’ll eventually get to devour them. I’ve heard that people can eat them in small doses after they’ve been soaked in water overnight, please don’t take my word for it though!
On the wildlife front, we have a seven week old lamb, that was rejected by its mother. He has to be kept separate from the adult sheep on the farm as they may rough him up a little.
A twelve year old girl visited the rescue recently and named him Josh. The little girl has terminal cancer and loves animals, so wanted to visit the rescue to see as many animals as she possibly could….she came to the right place, given the variety we have….one of the managers showed her around and was so moved by her stoical courage.
Talk about putting things into perspective!
There has now been a run on herring gull chicks, they are adorable and friendly when small, but vicious if they arrive as adults.
This guy below fell off a fourty foot building in Liverpool and injured a wing and leg, but thankfully is doing well now.
In other news, chimineas have been enjoyed, as it’s always lovely sitting out with the dogs around a blazing fire and enjoying watching the bats….
and we recently visited the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool to see Gaia, an installation by Luke Jerram.
It’s truly enormous and is intended to inspire a new found feeling of awe and respect for our planet, and a renewed responsibility for taking care of the earth. It certainly makes those points!
The features of the earth are provided by NASA, and are accurate and detailed. The installation constantly rotates, so you get to see how the earth, in all it’s detail, looks from space.
A visit to the Philharmonic pub was also enjoyed, an old and incredibly ornate public house.
Nothing has changed here since it was built.
Of course we had to go to Mowgli’s for the famous chip butty and Indian street food. Utterly delicious, and, all these dishes are vegan.
And Finally…
I released ten ducklings last weekend, that arrived as teeny tiny chicks, and two adult ducks that had been in RTA accidents, click on the link below if you’d like to see more.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC62-MVSeG0
It’s utterly marvelous and thrilling seeing how a duck takes to the water in the wild!! Here they all are after being released.
Of course, as fast as the water bird aviary empties, another brood takes up residency, and there’s another batch waiting in the wings, all the same age! How we all wish we had more water bird aviaries.
Thanks Peter, hope all is well with you and yours, and that you get some better weather soon.xxx
Great post and images. Nature alive and well in the north. Cold and wet down south.
So many happy and productive plants are there in your garden!
And so many interesting and happy news on the rescue and wildlife part.
Those vegan food really makes my mouth water! Look so yummy!
Thanks Jade, I’m sure you’d enjoy the food in Mowgli’s!xxx
Looking at the installation in the Cathedral and watching the burning wood in the stove must be mesmerising. You need some relaxation after work at the animal rescue place so an interesting old pub for a drink and then some delicious-looking food sounds perfect. It sounds as if you could expand and take in more animals in need of care as they keep on coming, but then you’d need more staff to look after them I expect. Enjoy the garden and produce. I’m hoping to pick some broad beans next week when they’re ready. I shall be looking after the veg plot and the tomatoes next week for Mr P. Have a lovely weekend and a good week.
Next time you come to Liverpool I’ll take you around the old pubs, they all vie for who is the oldest though! Oh, we could always expand, but it takes money to do it. You take good care of Mr P’s veggies, you’ll never hear the end of it if they are looking unhappy when he gets home! Thanks Linda.xxx
Those water chicks go like the clappers.
That is a good looking Seven weeks old lamb, growing well too, for one that has been rejected.
Your flora and fauna is really flourishing.
The pub entrance is entrancing, if I may say so. The inside is of the same ilk as a couple of pubs I have been to in Edinburgh. They are definitely of their time. It is nice to see some preservation in the socialising arenas of folk.
Your Indian food feast looks luscious…………good enough for anyone of any food persuasion to munch.
Xxxxx
Ducks do go for it, so lovely to watch, seeing them hit the canal and the pleasure they get from it is just fantastic. Josh is growing well and it will be nice to see him with the other sheep when he’s old enough. I remember seeing ornate pubs when we visited Edinburgh, they never have to be trendy and change! Oh…Indian street food is my latest craving, it is just melt in the mouth gorgeous! Thanks Menhir.xxx
All those fruits look tantalizing, as does the Indian food. Poor lamb, rejected by his own mother. We’ve been having buckets of rain around here but it finally turned warm.
Good to hear you have a little warmth at last! The fruit trees are looking good but the plums are resting this year, which is a shame as I really like plums. I could easily live on Asian and Indian street food! I am a fan of spice! Thanks Jason.xxx
A 12-year-old with a terminal illness slams you in the face with perspective. Thanks for the reminder. It’s so easy to lose sight of what’s important, but you always seem to do a good job of focusing on living things–especially those that need a little extra boost to keep going.
Oh…doesn’t it just. How I pity that child and her family, certainly not the natural order of things. Wildlife is similar, some make it, some don’t. I’ve toughened up over the years but occasionally something still rips the heart right out of me. Thanks Brenda, good to hear from
you.xxx
A little more of that sunshine would be appreciated. Maybe we need some beech trees to keep the wood pigeons occupied and off our allotment – they’ve now developed a fancy to dahlias. Great to watch the bats.
The woodies really do love beech nuts, takes a while for them to grow though, mine must be 60 years old! What? Dahlias are a prized food too??? Who knew! Mine are ok so far…touching wood! I could watch bats forever, it’s so relaxing. Thanks Sue.xxx
Your garden is doing so well. I’m convinced your plants know that you have special empathy with them! And that pub – how amazing to see it as it always used to be. It’s very smart! Love the ducklings. I do wish gulls wouldn’t build on rooftops … and yes, they are very aggressive. We’re always walking past surprised-looking visitors on the sea front who have just had their lunch stolen from out of their hands!
If you saw my garden now you wouldn’t say that..now the rain has stopped all my poor plants and veggies are wilting and getting a hosepipe to some parts is impossible! The Phil is a lovely step back in time, such an opulent pub! It was a place that was frequented by classical music lovers who went to the Philharmonic to watch the orchestra. It’s strange how the gulls have changed their nesting habits, I think climate change is responsible, the sea is also unpredictable now so they are moving inland to nest. Thanks Gill.xxx
Here no need of an outdoor fireplace! The warm (too warm for my perspective) raised to 40° Celsius. I’m feeling weird, sweat dripping down my neck and the hands are slippery on the PC keyboard… It has nothing to do with the warm itself but is the strange changing of the weather from 15° to 40° in a few days. Animals are for sure suffering more than humans, and that is my real concern! At home, we don’t have AC, and at night the air isn’t “moving” and the heat remains above 20°. A cold shower is the only good solution… so you may sleep a couple of hours, before awakening again in a “sweat bed”.
These poor ducklings… as “shoreacres” said, the food-chain it is a reason/justification that we must accept. (But actually, the seagull chicks are really cute!) Hugs :-)claudine
Oh….40 is far too hot for me! We have hit the high 20’s and I can’t even cope with that! That change of temperature is weird! Climate change is a reality for all of us now, I wonder what plants can cope here. Like you I worry about wildlife, they must struggle, the rescues are a testament to that, we are flooded with hedgehogs this year, usually they come in in the autumn, the staff are totally overwhelmed. Seagull chicks are gorgeous, but when they turn they turn which is great when it comes to releasing them. Hope you get some cooler days and nights. Thanks Claudine.xxxx
I was interested to see you mentioned Beech nuts … apparently you can eat them, have a look at this article here
https://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-beechnuts.htm
I so agree when you see a young person struggle with a serious illness, it does put things into perspective.
Lovely to see the ducks being released,
I enjoyed reading your post and seeing your photographs 🙂
All the best Jan
Well, you live and learn!! Thanks for the info Jan…..those nuts will be handy if Armageddon strikes…lol. Yes, seeing children suffer is the absolute worst thing imaginable, how their parent cope is beyond me. Thanks Jan.xxx
I was interested in the herring gull chicks. I see them only as adults, and you can bet they’re terror-on-the-wing. They’re a significant predator of new ducklings. I’ve watched them pluck one right off the water. It’s an awful sight, but on the other hand, it’s a reminder that “food chain’ is more than a phrase!
I’m pondering your chiminea. Is it still so cool there in evenings? That would be wonderful. We’ve been staying in the 80sF/27C, which makes the evenings less than refreshing, especially with our humidity. But, it’s summer, and that’s what summer does — just as it ripens your fruit and brings blooms to your flowers!
Adult herring gulls are fearsome, how quickly they learn how to exploit us…..but then we do the same to their environment, they are nesting more and more in urban areas which is a problem for them. I know herons snatch ducklings but didn’t know gulls did! Goodness!
We keep the chiminea low on warm nights, the glow and warmth is lovely as the temperature drops. Oh…your temperatures would be the death of me! Thanks Linda.xxx
It must be about 40 yrs since we went to the Philharmonic Pub, we always used to go to a Greek restaurant afterwards, lovely to see it again!
Thanks for another really interesting post, love all your fruit and veg, you’re not going to go hungry!
Well, the Phil hasn’t changed, it’s just as you left it! I bet that Greek restaurant has gone, Liverpool has so many new ones opening up these days, I wonder how long they will last. All my veggies are wilting now as we haven’t had rain for a while….I’ll have to drag the hosepipe out and water the front. Thanks Pauline.xxx
Your garden is looking fabulous, especially since we are in the middle of winter here, and everything is brown and dry! The gull herring chicks are very cute.
How true that life is put in perspective when you see a young person struggle with such serious illness, it makes you realise every day is a joy ..in some way.
Thanks Gerrie, your botanical gardens are certainly not brown! Yes, we do have to make the most of what we have and enjoy life, I can’t get my head around young people with terminal illnesses. Utter nightmare.xxx
Oh, PS: Loved the YouTube release video, too…brief, but joyful!
Thanks Kitty, it’s so hard trying to get them out and video the release, everything always happens so fast and inevitably somebody walking by stops to chat.xxx
Jeez, I shouldn’t have read this when I was hungry; would like to hop a plane for Mowgli’s, and off to the Philharmonic for a lovely ale…
The gardens look and sound fabulous. We share a lot of berries with the birds and bunnies, too, and still fill the freezer, so yay! The beech nuts are new and interesting to me.
Is that you holding the earth in your arms at the Gaia installation, Dina?! 🙂 Looks wonderful!
Well, I’m in love with Josh and hope he finds the perfect home when he’s ready. The gull herring chicks are beautiful! I’m so happy the wee one who fell 40 ft. is doing well! Are you fundraising for another water bird aviary? Maybe a gofundme? Let me know!
Glad you’re able to enjoy the chimineas; is that Buddy looking so mellow??! Hooray for bats; we’ve seen a few about and are so happy when they appear.
What a lovely post: thank you! Loved it, and love you!
One fine day I’ll take you to Mowgli’s and the Phil, both right up your street! Goodness, you share with all the wildlife and still have a freezer full? You must have an acre of soft fruit growing! We could do with another water bird aviary, so I may try and fund-raise for it one day, costs a fortune though, think it was about eight grand at the last pricing. Yes, that’s Buddy, he likes to sit on my knee and watch the fire. Lovely that you have bats, we don’t have many but the same ones come out each night at the same time, always lovely to see them. Yes, that was me in front of the earth, it took hubs ages to get me in position to look like I was holding it. It’s enormous! Thanks Kitty, love and hugs to all of you.xxxx
A most enjoyable read and lovely pictures. Like you I don’t mind much about my soft fruit apart from the raspberries which, thankfully, they don’t seem to touch.
That food looks delicious so little wonder you enjoyed it. It must be a delight to release the ducks like that and watching them take to the water. xx
Funnily enough the birds leave my raspberries alone as well. It’s always fantastic seeing ducks go back to the wild, how they love the water. Thanks Flighty.xxx
Mowgli’s looks heavenly! That lamb is adorable and I think my heart would have broken too. I was watching my blackcurrants ripen – I had one and thought I’d leave them another couple of days……………and then I caught the pigeons red-beaked! Not a single one is left. I really have to put a chiminea on my Christmas list! xx
Thanks Veggiemummy. Mowgli’s food is utterly delicious. It’s utterly horrendous hearing of children with terminal illnesses, how on earth does a parent cope with such a thing?Pigeons!!! They never miss a trick, all my strawberries are being devoured now. Oh, do get yourself a chiminea, the terracotta ones are best, they are wonderful in autumn and winter, even on spring and summer nights.
The fruit and veg is certainly enjoying the weather this year, sunshine mixed with plenty of rain, everywhere is so lush, I think we’ll get a good harvest this year. Awww, the little lamb is so cute, I think Josh is the perfect name. Isn’t the pub fabulous? It must be like stepping back in time when you enter, and the food at Mowgli’s looks absolutely delicious. Lovely to see the ducks being released, fingers crossed that they enjoy a good life now.
We’ve had some very dry weather now so everything is wilting. Wouldn’t it be great if we had sun by day and rain each night? I’ve had to get the hosepipe out, I do hope the plants bounce back! The Phil is like stepping back in time, each room is opulent and decorative. Thanks Jo.xxx