Birdie and Boy

I haven,t actually given her a name as such ,I dont think wild animals or birds should be given names , but I do usually say " Hello Birdie ! "

                                                    She loves grapes .

 This was her nesting place last year in our woodshed ....this year she is in a bush on the front wall of our neighbour's garden . I hope its going to be O.K .there .

                Here is dad , the male Blackbird  , to whom I say " Hello my Boy  ! "
 He has been coming to me for grapes for several years now. Actually they both fly down to me as soon as I take out my garden fork , for slugs , snails , grubs and worms . As I lift and move my flowerpots and tubs , they dive in to take any woodlice hiding there .

I think my Birdie much prefers grapes .....and will come in and help herself if the door is left open .

Earth Day 2016 - An Earth Day Meditation

                                I wish everyone a more thoughtful Earth Day .
This is a picture that I took a couple of years ago of one of my veg garden beds which  had layered up with veg peelings , horse manure , a mixture of green leafy stuff, grass cuttings and brown sticks and Autumn leaves and cardboard .
    The weeds are deprived of light, so no weeding and no digging , other than just lightly stirring it all together in the Spring .
 The worms , wriggled and munched their way through it , all through the rainy Autumn and Winter , creating a beautiful , rich and warm compost in which to sow and plant .
   I had the best veg harvest ever after doing this .

 Note to self ....." I must work harder to eliminate plastic from my life " .
 So I have a horrible orange plastic wheelbarrow and nasty plastic bean net . I have to think  of alternatives .
                                     IT ALL ENDS UP IN THE SEA !

                                                           Shameful !

                                         Where on Earth has that come from  ? !

   It all eventually breaks up and is ground down in to tiny granules in the same way that the sand is made .  Here is a line of this " plastic sand " washed up in a line on the beach .

 Here's a close up of it .....and in time it gets ground down even finer still and the fish and creatures of the sea digest it as they feed from the seabed ....and we in turn eat the fish .

                     The Sea vomits this vile mess up onto the beaches for us to see !
                                    We cant go on ignoring Mother Earth !

                                I wish everyone a more thoughtful Earth Day  .

Monkshood aconite

                                   Good morning and it's all go out in the garden !
 

 Out of the greenhouse and into the beautiful Cornish sunshine go my seedlings.
                    Kale and Purple Sprouting Broccoli sown on April 5th                    

 These teeny tiny seedlings will be growing away all year under a cloche and will give us their lovely purple bunches of broccoli buds early next spring .  I missed out on sowing them last year , being in hospital  ......and I refuse to buy it from the supermarket...it just doesn't taste the same !
                         That little Wren was there to greet me again this morning .

 I am so glad I went to church yesterday,  with my husband away on a trip , and having to make the effort to walk there , the church bell , really playing on my conscience ....but it is a short walk to our little St Michaels Church in Mullion .....and we have had this really lovely visiting priest while our Father John is having a rest .
     ANYWAY........my dear friend Jessica had brought me a whole bucket full of Monkshood aconites for me ! : )  Thankyou Jessica !

 I haven't got a picture of it's flower to show you , but it is just the most awesome thing !

 Yes , it is known for being deadly poisonous , every part of it , leaves , flowers and roots .
 So are Foxgloves... and alot of other things . They are actually related to Delphiniums .
   So it is going into my fern garden , where it will enjoy the shade and the damp and occasional  pool of sunlight .....and I have put on the rubber gloves .

                                         ....and my little helper has arrived  ....

                                         I have never seen this plant up so close ....

                                             They look like bulbs of Fennel .

They are beginning to pass out , so I get then planted at the very back of the fern garden and water them in with rain water .

 The Woodpeckers are drumming up in the pine tree and also on the metal work on a near by telegraph pole .  They are nesting somewhere up in the ivy on the pine tree .
 

I occasionally buy  peanuts for them...but what they really like to eat are the grubs , which they pull out of the lawn .  I always have fresh water out for the wildbirds .

 So today, another lovely day here in Mullion with sun shining and blue sky ..the Monkshood aconites are beginning to revive again  . Cant wait to see their flowers !
       Meanwhile the star of the show in my garden today is this little Violet which has come up through the crushed rock in the middle of the drive .

      " Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it "
                                 Mark Twain 
 Have a lovely day !