Great spotted woodpecker

O.K. So I knew you wouldn,t believe me ! Here is my friend the Woodpecker. I haven,t been putting peanuts out so often ,due to the price now . ...but he is such a splendid character of a bird ....and I do love to see him .

Grandmother's Secrets

So , after all these chores in the garden ,not to mention two fun , but tough belly dance classes this week , I am going to take it easy this afternoon , put my feet up and read my book . " GRANDMOTHER'S SECRETS " " The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing " by ROSINA-FAWZIA AL-RAWI every student of the authentic art of belly dance should read this truely delightful book .

Preparing for French Beans

Time to stop buying bamboo canes and make my own plant supports and climbing structures . I have two Hazel bushes from which I lop out enough straight branches of a suitable size for this ...tidy them up a little bit ,not too much as the young bean shoots appreciate something to grab on to . One of the problems with bamboo is the stems are silky smooth , I will have to put on net to get my sweetpeas going .
These are old bamboo canes and very brittle .They can be very dangerous and sharp if they snap . I find all manner of objects to cover the tops of these , it could be so easy ,on bending down to pull up a weed and poke your eye .
So here is this years bean frame ,all ready to go .I had a very generous bag of seeds ,so have taken a chance and sown two at each station along the frame . I,ve sown some Blue Lake Climbing French Beans in the greenhouse and they are just beginning to hatch and by the time they are big enough ,we shall be well clear of any frosty weather .
I will still use the bamboo to hold the chickenwire to the ground around my veg beds ...I tried with sticks ,but couldn,t push them through the wire ,to keep the bunnies out . I think that the Hazel rods look far more attractive than the bamboo canes though .