Brambles, Frogs, and the Corner Monster!
This morning’s weather was beautiful….bright sunshine, not a cloud to be seen, and barely a breeze. Perfect for tackling the Corner Monster that was taking over part of my ‘Pottery’.
As I was getting ready to go out and do battle, a little Munchkin voice began to pierce my consciousness…followed by the barking of a canine creature…! Oh, no! My full attention was on the noise emanating from the back yard. I had to investigate.
Sure enough there was the little female person running about and whooping…and there was another one! Two little people and a canine!! Typical! They didn’t stay long, thank goodness, so off I went armed with broom, secateurs, trowel, leather gloves and bin bags!
I set to with gusto…then wished I hadn’t! I hacked down the nettles…then started on the brambles. And that is what I have mainly been doing today….hacking down the brambles and lobbing them back over the fence!! (The guy who owns that garden has had a running battle with the council for years…they order him to cut back the brambles and keep it all in check….he more or less thumbs his nose! Last time he was made to cut it back, he got two girls to do it…and he probably told them to chuck all the junk into the car park too!! Anyway, that is another story.)
What a pleasant surprise I got when I started emptying the black recycle box (to left of line post in top picture)…I removed some large plastic pots to find a white tub filled with water, and stones….and two frogs. For years I have had a resident frog, which I thought lived under the big log…but now there are two. Sweet! Of course, because I’d disturbed them, they jumped out and disappeared behind the pots…so I moved the black box against the wall, filled up the tub a bit more, and covered it with a large crock. Now I have decided to have a permanent water tub just for my wee froggie friends.
After tidying up for the day, I gathered my bits together and came in…time for a cuppa! Looking out at my handiwork, I notice that the blackbird and dunnock are now having a feast on all the bugs that I’d exposed….glad to be of service.
All I have to do now is deal with the mound of composted leaves and weeds and nettles and ivy, and find any pots that have been buried….and bag up the good stuff and dispose of all the nasty roots from nettles and blackberry! Another day!!!
I\’ve got a garden behind my house in Walthamstow but I more or less let it grow wild. I love the wild flowers that come out at this time of year!
And I love the wildlife…like birds, bees, butterflies, frogs…and even a weasel! It loped out of the above-mentioned garden and into the car park. When someone went out, it stopped then loped back again. I\’ve never seen any more weasels round here….but it does make me wonder what wildlife is in there.
Aww , cute li froggie!I was ready for a day of quietly recouperatingfrom my latest illness on the couch watching the tv,but for the past two hours have had at least twodarling, screeching, squealing, unsupervised munchkinson the balcony above me, not to mention the " adults"who are playing video games at the highest volume.Did I mention I`m not feeling well? Rant over…
Maybe a weasel is what I saw earlier today,looked like a cross between a groundhog and a fox?
Weasels are small creatures, like stoats/ermines, ferrets and polecats, mink, otters, and pine martens….and all part of the weasel family. Male weasels are about 8" long…and females are slightly smaller.Your description sounds more like a pine marten…red coat, bushy tail, white ears and throat….?
What a difference. Can see you have been busy. Bet you are covered in scratches from those brambles.
No…one nettle sting to my wrist. I guess I came off lightly….thanks to thick leather gardening gloves!I did keep having images of dropping my secateurs over the fence into the prickly jungle!!!
It was a reddish coat, did not see a tail,it wasn`t small, was actually rather fat.
Pine martens are cat-sized…..er…fat cat-sized…?!
I will google it to make sure I wasn`t hallucinating,at first glance I thought it was an oppossum, but they are nocturnal.
K, I googled it, they are cute!!And it was definitely not a fox, they are beautiful.I say it was either a small, pale groundhog, or a big,pregnant opposum.
Yo Sandi! Aaaaw I see uv found my relies! I did tell them ur garden wud be a nice spot! I think it was a weasel that I saw run across my garden & int2 a hole of the outside of the garden wall(coz I had shot after it 2 see where it went!) I stuck my nose in the hole(like u do!!) & it suddenly appeared & screamed at me!! I have never jumped so high in my life!!!! I cud see it\’s little teeth & everything! WellDone with u r garden it looks Fab! Hope u have a lovely day, Luv PF XXX
\’Pottery\’, PF…no garden, so I can\’t be doing gardening….no rocks, so haven\’t got a rockery…loadsa pots, so it\’s a pottery…simples! At the moment, I am trying to work out how to add water with pebbles for the froggies, but keep it protected from birds and the like.Definitely sounds like a weasel…they live in holes in walls. Oooh…sharpe, pointy teeth!! I certainly wouldn\’t want to be bitten by one of those little blighters…they are meat-eating hunters, you know.Pamela….cute? They are if you keep away from the nasty gnashers…or do you mean the groundhogs and \’possums…they are cute.
Aaaah a Pottery, I stand corrected! Aaaw thank u 4 looking after the little froggies! Hope u havea lovely day, Luv PF XXX
The little froggies eat slugs and snails, so of course I will look after them. The funny thing is, I have frogs….my Mum has a garden backing on to lakes, and in the Spring she normally has a garden full of frogs….this year…nothing! They haven\’t even seen any hedgehogs. Very strange!
Just trying to fathom what Princess is refering to when she says "i cud see it\’s little teeth & EVERYTHING!" 🙂 And i\’m gonna think twice about leaving kisses in her guestbook if she eats ickle slugs and snails…..even if they\’re cooked in a massala sauce! 🙂 Don\’t know about everybody else, but we seem to have an awful lot of foxes in Swindon (ermm….thats the animal variety i should add) xxx
I know that there are foxes in Lincoln, because I have seen one….only one. I was walking home from town in the early hours of the morn…when I got to the river, looked along the bank…and there was a fox, not far from me…we stared at eack other for a few seconds, then it just turned and strolled off. Wow! I\’d never seen a fox before…and certainly not that close! It was one of those special moments that you wish you could bottle and keep!
oooh we regularly see foxes our way! Cud be 2 do with the fields & woods behind us!
Aparently, foxes make a lot of noise the during mating season….screecking or screaming noises…? I\’ve never heard anything other than tawny owls hooting (males) and screeching (females) at night…we have a lot of large trees round here, oaks, chestnuts, pine, ash, etc.
That\’s a lovely photo of froggy Sandi. There\’s a resident frog in the pond in the garden but I think he/she\’s lonely cos there\’s only the one. In the spring it\’s full of toads too. I love listening to them all at night.How does matey thumb his nose? I thought most people used their index finger. Ugh, being picky now!Anyhooo, the pottery looks good enough to curl up on a lounger with a good book now. That\’s where I\’ve been all afternoon, on the hammock reading. Hard life innit?Enjoy the rest of your afternoon and put your feet up for a well deserved break. Send \’im indoors out for an ice-cream. xx
Has everyone had nice weather apart from me?! It\’s been dull & grey here all day & keeps intermittently raining! Froggie stomps off…..
Aww Princess…..its been cold and dark here too…………well it was at 2.30am but since the sun came up its been absolutely beautiful! 🙂 xxx
STILL raining here!!! Froggie stick her nose in the air, STOMP, .STOMP, STOMP!!!
It\’s been grey and cloudy here, too, but we have a bit of (very) hazy sun now…oh, whoopee do!! And now it\’s getting bit breezy…oh, well.The froggie pic isn\’t mine. Because I\’d disturbed them, my little green friends hopped off in the direction of the pots to hide. I will definitely try to get a pic of them, though.Oh, he did give me some icecream earlier…chocolate arctic roll….yummy…!
Froggie asks hopefully, "is there any left?!"
Arctic roll? In the freezer…help yourself…!
Hmmmm…fancy some more now!! Maybe I should put the kettle on, instead…..anyone want a cuppa…?!
I\’d love a coffee. We\’re all off to Natalia\’s later for some yummy birthday cake and a few games.Oh and I have it on good authority (mini maid no 2) that there are now two frogs in the pond. fRoger is no longer lonely, yay!!!Have a great day, sun is shining once again down \’ere. xx
Coffee for me too please? I need all the caffeine I can get after reading your blog! I\’m shattered just thinking about all that work!I saw a hedgehog on Saturday happily walking along in the daytime and have yet to check my pond for frogs this year, there was an awful lot of frog spawn earlier in the year.
You call your frog Roger? I never thought of giving them names…how about Wally and Nora…? Phil and Liz…? Stan and Hilda…? I haven\’t seen any hedgehogs yet…they tend to prefer to stay in the grassy gardens over yonder…!Milk? Sugar? Strong? Weak? Kettle going on again…I\’m drinking cold tea at the moment…Robert made it for me before he went out…and I went back to sleep again! Bloomin\’ \’eck! Is that the time!!!Oooh, a birthday party….? Games, like pass th parcel…or don\’t they do that any more…?
Oh black two sugars and definitely strong please! xxx
Robert has his coffee black, these days….he always seems to have a headache! I like strong coffee…now and then…but I couldn\’t drink it black…I\’ll stick with my tea…!
Ah, I don\’t like milk so I even have my tea black 😦
Don\’t like milk…?! I guess I\’ve never really thought about it, as we assume that everyone \’likes\’ milk…we just take the stuff for granted…grow up with milk for drinks and cereals, etc. It\’s funny how we like, or dislike, different things, isn\’t it…?
Yo Sandi! Coffee with milk please!
Milky frothy coffee with cream and cocoa powder sprinkle please.
and coffee walnut cake.
The frog is called fRoger and I guess we\’ll have to come up with a name for the other one now too. Mini maid no 2 calls the toads todger when they\’re around. I haven\’t the heart to tell her what else that means.I don\’t do milk either. A bit lactose intollerant me (that\’s like being a little bit dead, isn\’t it?) Off to put the kettle on now. xx
It\’s more it doesn\’t like me to be honest – I find it hard to breath after drinking it, so I grew up with cereal like shredded wheat cut in half with butter and jam, or wheatabisk with butter and jam on.
Walnut and coffee cake ………………………………… yuuuuuummmmmyyyy.I have wheatabix with soya butter on for breaky.
haven\’t been t Lincoln for donkeys years .Is it worth a weekend or is it a dump !?Milk two sweetners please.
You must at least visit Lincoln if only to see Sandi\’s botanical pottery and wildlife sanctuary! Sure she will lay on cream tea and tour guide. Sandi is all into boosting tourism.
Now Sandi\’s allowed back into the Boardroom without contaminating everything we can actually accomodate a small number (1) of guests who wish to go exploring the local dump…
Great. Who wants to join the coach party.
While I\’m on here, I\’m getting my own computer back later this week so you may find I add you as friends, unless you think I\’m spam…
Oh dear…another Monty Python moment!! Remember the vikings in the cafe singing about \’Spam\’?!!Robert needs a horned helmet now!! Oh, a-rording we will go…!
Actually, Lincoln has a lot to offer the tourist, and although most people head for the Cathederal Quarter, there are many other places of interest around the rest of the city. Over the coming weeks, I will be visiting the places of interest (re-discovering the tourist in me) and blogging about them. I think it\’s time to move on to another blog…if you will follow me….
Oh no!!!Lovely spam, wonderful spa-a-m,Lovely spam, wonderful S Spam,Spa-a-a-a-a-a-a-am,Spa-a-a-a-a-a-a-am,SPA-A-A-A-A-A-A-AM,SPA-A-A-A-A-A-A-AM,LOVELY SPAM, LOVELY SPAM,LOVELY SPAM, LOVELY SPAM,LOVELY SPA-A-A-A-AM…SPA-AM, SPA-AM, SPA-AM, SPA-A-A-AM!;-p
Tea, white no sugar and a big slice of cake for me please Sandi!! well done on getting so much done in your garden, I am still trying to summon up some energy to tackle mine now the rabbit has gone to Bunny Heaven…..I was acting the tourist yesterday the sun, I will get some piccies up later in the week xx
Spam, spam, spam, spam…spam, spam, spam…wonderful spa-a-a-am…!!! Oh, good grief…!!OK, everyone…viking helmets at the ready…time to go a-rording…!!
Spam for me ,I love it !!
Look out here come the lumber jacks.!
You can\’t beat a bit of Monty Python lunacy, can you!!!
Nudge nudge wink wink..know what I mean!
Say no more! Say no more!