First Cucumber on the way !

                                        First Cucumber on the way !

Little Jenny Wren

 As I walked past the wood shed , I happened to notice a bundle of leaves caught at the top of the windbreak mesh .

 I reached up and nearly went to pull it down , before I realised that it was a bird's nest !
 I,m sure it wasn't there yesterday , I always draw the two panels of windbreak mesh together and tie them up to protect the plants that I have in there from the gales .
 It is a very odd place for a bird to make a nest , we are constantly  going in and  out of there .

 Even more strange , that it turned out to be a tiny Jenny Wren . I thought that wrens usually made their nests low down in bushes ?

 There is no ledge at all up there , she has pushed long fern leaves in-between the curtain wire and that is all that's holding it up there !

     I hid around the corner inside the woodshed to watch her , bringing in some nice soft moss with which to line her nest .

     
       We are going to have to be very careful as we go in and out of there now .

                       A work in progress as they say ! Watch this space !

One man came to mow , he came to mow a meadow ......

 A quick catch up for you , it's been a very busy time here .
 Colin came to "mow the meadow "in his little red tractor .
We have worked hard throughout the year , digging out the more undesirable thugs , which in our case are Docks and Thistles and a small area of Bracken . We have also not allowed any dogs to come in and romp about or do anything else undesirable  in it .
  He got a really good harvest , of excellent quality hay bales , despite having a bit of trouble with the baling machine  !

It got me thinking of the old nursery rhyme ..go on ..sing  ....
        🌺🌸🍀🌸🌺
One man went to mow ,
Went to mow a meadow,
One man and his dog ,  woof woof !
Went to mow a meadow !

Two men went to mow ,
 Went to mow a meadow,
Two men , One man and his dog ,woof woof !
Went to mow a meadow !
         🌺🌸🍀🌸🌺
Just two men came to mow our meadow and no dog , so I,ll stop there. lol !
I used to  love singing the really old nursery rhymes to the children in the nursery where I worked many years ago . I think it is a wonderful thing to teach  children these old traditional rhymes that have been loved and passed down through generations . Nice to learn new ones too , but the old ones are so special .
The children always loved this one .

                               Look at that blue sky ! It was so hot !

Here the picnic table has been tipped up for the tractor to pass through .
  It was a very hot couple of days , the men worked so hard . Rain had been forecast !

The baler was not working properly , but he came back and went round again the next day and got even more bales .

              All ready for the Winter , who knows what Winter will bring ?

Then all the bales were carried away on the trailer and got under cover before the rain came .  Which turned out not to be very much after all and I had been praying for rain for my vegetable garden .

We have been visited  by five beautiful Red  Kites , people seeing them in various places around Mullion . I never seem to have my camera to hand when they come , but I did manage to snap a photo of this one .

So there we are ,the meadow is cut and bone dry . It will soon be green again .

            Sure enough , last night we had some very heavy rainfall .

The puddle where I stamp about to wash the mud from my boots has been replenished and my two wheelbarrows are full of lovely rain water to water my rain-forest Epiphyllums , Clivia miniata  , carnivorous plants and a few other special things . Most plants prefer fresh rain-water , but these , my more precious ones really suffer if given tap water .

  I was so happy to have collected two wheel barrows full and my water-buts are also full again .

 I have only recently given Carnivorous plants another try . In the past  I have bought them only to watch them slowly shrivel up and die .
    In fact I have usually bought them , when they have been reduced in price , thinking that I could revive them .
Alas ! Too late ! They had already been given tap water , or no water and were on their way out already !

 This time , I have read up about them and managed to keep them alive over the whole of the Winter . Yes , sad looking , but alive !
 I am about to re-pot them and tidy them up . They also have to be fed , yes fed ! They naturally attract and catch their own prey or you can feed them occasionally with small insects .
 I have a little tub of dried bloodworms with which to feed them and fatten them up !
 I,ll give you an update on these when I,ve re-potted them . The Venus Fly Trap on the right has a flower coming , but I,m being advised to cut it off to make the young plant grow stronger .
    I,m presently growing them outside but any advice would be most welcome .
I,m just pleased with myself for getting them through the Winter !

Other news - the Blue Tit family have fledged and I will miss all the little squeakings and peepings beside my back door .
  So that's all for now folks !
Keep on staying safe , it is still out there !