A little sunshine among the endless wind and rain

Do you remember the bald hedgehog at the rescue? Well, just look at him now. He’s been successfully treated for ringworm and is now sporting a glistening new set of spikes. The little duckling that arrived over Christmas is all grown up too, she’s the duck in the front of this picture, the one behind …

The great greenhouse cleanup, damson saplings and spring beauties

I have a variety of fruit trees, plum, pear, apple, cherry, fig and apricot. To date I’ve never had figs or apricots but a gal can always hope. I’ve always planned on acquiring a damson and now, thanks to a friend, I have three damson saplings that are the great, great grandchildren of her original …

Garden paraphernalia

I know many of you have seen most of these items, but I thought I’d post about  them anyway. Furnace barrow, groundmans’ barrow, chimney pot, recycled church pews and  watering can. The gardens are littered with all sorts of odd paraphernalia which I tend to notice more in the winter. Recently I’ve been forced to …

A confused garden, among other things

Hubs, Littl’urchin and I drove through the front gates recently, only to find a silver birch tree lying along the entire length of the drive. Given it was dark and raining, hubs valiantly dragged the tree, single handed, into the old wildlife area. This is the second time a silver birch has come down, miraculously …

Curly cat, Heidi hog and an abundance of fallen leaves

This may look like the back of someone’s head, but it’s my pygmy hog, Heidi, all curled up. The problem I have with Heidi at this time of the year, is that she’s not a native hedgehog. Given she’s an African species and is only a quarter of the size of an adult native hedgehog, …

THAT DOG, the veggie patch and the greenhouse

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 …

Littl’uns at the rescue and other bits and bobs

A member of staff hand-feeding a baby bunny. And so it begins, little guys arriving at wildlife. Four baby rabbits were dug up by something or other, and now need hand-feeding. Initially, the staff were taking them home for evening feeds, now, thankfully, they just need feeding during the day. These guys will be released …