Happy Earth Day

                                              Every day is Earth Day !

The Cuckoo has arrived ! Mullion Cornwall 19th April 2020

   The dawn chorus was loud this morning as I opened my bedroom window at 6am . What a joyful sound ! 
    I pulled on my boots and went for a walk up into the vegetable garden  ... and there from somewhere across the misty meadow , I could hear the distinctive sound of the Cuckoo . 

I have only managed to take one photo of a Cuckoo and I,m afraid it really wasn't very good .
 So I have  pulled down from my bookshelf a couple of my favourite old books dated 1896 .
                                Allen's Naturalist's Library
 A  Hand-Book to the Birds of Great Britain by R.Bowdler Sharpe,LLD.,
             Zoological Department , British Museum vol.1 and vol.11 .

  I love the illustrations , of which it says " plates which have been coloured from specimens in the British  Museum and several pictures by Mr Keulemans have been added to illustrate certain representative species of  British  Birds"  .
 Each coloured plate has a sheet of tissue to protect it .

This coloured plate has fallen out . A cuckoo's egg is included in this picture .

The author goes into great detail about the Cuckoo , but for me these two snippets are all I need .

   He actually says that , " a whole volume could be written on the life history of this curious  and interesting bird ! "

One plate  has fallen out and one of the covers is a little torn on the spine, but apart from that, the books are in quite good condition . No , they are not for sale , these two books are keepers for sure !

They have been well loved and I am not afraid to turn the pages and enjoy the contents .
                                    Have you heard the Cuckoo yet ?

                                                   
                                     " a curious and interesting bird "

Putting up the Runner-bean Frame

     I was hoping that after the rain , the earth would be nice and soft to push in the Hazel poles for our Runner-bean frame , but in the end it didn't rain all that much . So I had no choice but to dig the holes in which to put up the six main poles .
 It was quite hard work and now I have a headache .

I temporarily tied the poles together with some tarred string . I need to find the wire that I re-use every year .....it's somewhere in the shed .
    Shed needs re-organising . Headache . Elbow hurts . Had enough for today .

                So there we are , not quite finished , but the worst of it done .

I,ve sown a first wave of Runner-bean seeds up in the potting shed and a few of them are beginning to break the surface in their pots .
 It is still too early to sow or plant them outside just yet .
It always makes me happy to see the Runner-bean frame put up !

                 Time to go put my feet up and have a nice cup of tea !