Happy Easter

Sunday, April 12

Whether on diet or not, we always have Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs on the Easter weekend. 

Sara always had a present tucked inside her egg. It was quite a feat getting the paper off in one piece and replacing it. Getting it out of and back into the box wasn't easy either. One year it was a swimsuit.

Our buns were courtesy of Pete next door who shopped in Sainsbury's on Thursday.

Two weeks ago, when I tried to get easter eggs online, I discovered that the Cadbury's site had been inundated and closed. I eventually found a site which would let me have caramel eggs - Pam's favourite - so I ordered 'a box'. Rather discomfited when the delivery date was the end of next week,  Pam asked Justine to get us one each from Waitrose. This is what she got.

 On Thursday, I took delivery of a new keyboard for my PC - the letters had worn off on many keys of my old one and the paper ones stuck on had also given up the ghost - under the keyboard was the 'box' of eggs. 48 Cadbury's caramel eggs, same size as the cream eggs. We think that there were 48 to start with.

Pam played Easter Bunny this morning. She didn't have the ears nor the fluffy tail, just shorts, and a polo shirt. She delivered an egg each to all the neighbours who have been helping us with the shopping. That will help our COVID19 diet (keep the fridge door opening) a little.

After delivery, she decided to do a little pond fishing.

No Cod, just the occasional Newt, and Toadlet.

 

What's This Flower?

Saturday, April 11

Two years ago, Pam bought a plant from a table at a Butterfly Conservation meeting in Norwich. It has grown well, into this clump in a small bed near the kitchen door.

We don't know whether it's an orchid species or something which looks like one. For the first time ever, I have sent a photo in to Radio Norfolk's Saturday lunchtime gardening programme but doubt if they'll get round to it. Alan Grey, co-owner of East Ruston Old Vicarage garden is one of the main consultants for listeners' questions. I haven't listened for years. Until to-day. COVID20 has many of our isolating friends cleaning out sock drawers etc. Don't fancy that at all.

Pam's beloved metal elephant has been released from its winter home (the garage), and put back in place. Adrian gave it a coat of thinned varnish last week. It was made in South Africa, from scrap metal.

 

 Its joints are beginning to look arthritic!

This morning's moth catch was the best this month. 21 moths of 7 species.

Red Chestnut    

Brindled Beauty

Powdered Quaker

Time to have a go at the Daily Telegraph Cryptic Prize crossword. Not showing off. I didn't say complete!
Very frustrating, hearing news of the migrants being found at the coast. Ring Ousels, Willow Warblers, Swallows etc. I shall have to continue enjoying our garden birds.
We now have a Blackbird nesting in both the back garden honeysuckle, and in the Camellia hedge beside the greenhouse. I hear Blue Tits making their nesting noise but not in our boxes. K moots that we don't get them because they have the woods so near. A good notion. Except that next door have Blue Tits nesting in their box. They feed and collect nesting material from ours and then raise their brood next door. So, we have a vested interest.
A Pied Wagtail is nesting locally - and they collect food from our garden too ! Regularly seen titupping around our lawn and pond but I haven't managed a decent photo yet. So active and agitated. One collected a good mouthful yesterday with twiggy looking bits sticking out. Not a clue what it is.....

Lost Fork

Thursday, April 9

Pam's lost her favourite two-pronged weeding fork some time ago. She thinks that she may have inadvertently thrown it away into the brown bin. 
We both worked on my raised alpine bed on Wednesday afternoon. Me working around the edge, and Pam stepped up to take some dandelions and Allium out of the centre. The whole of the centre needs a drastic overhaul. That is: removing the plants which survive, topping up with fresh soil, re-planting and then a layer of alpine grit on the top. The planting medium is necessarily gritty to aid drainage and to attempt a reproduction of the alpine plants' natural medium. Phew, sounds like a big job.

The Allium species is very pretty. 

I planted a single pot of it many years ago, and have been trying to get rid of the flower ever since. They seeded everywhere. In the early stages, they appear as.tiny narrow leaves, only flowering in the second year. At the bottom of each deep-rooted stem is a small bulb that is easy to leave in the soil, as the stems break easily. A two-pronged fork does the job best, sliding through the grit with comparative ease. Pam was struggling without her tool. A daisy weeder is not as good.

This six inches tall miniature narcissus is a favourite.
 

The raised Alpine bed.

Broom about to flower back left - and then destined for the chop. Three miniature conifers - are not any longer. All must go......

The Gentian trough is at its best in the continuing sun.

Moths are still few in both numbers and species. Clear skies and a full moon are not helpful. I missed the so-called 'pink moon' on Tuesday night. It was only vaguely pink when it first rose and at dawn, I'm reliably informed.

Another pristine Early Grey

and a lovely male Muslin (feathered antennae)

the pick of the week so far.

The new bird table is being well used, mainly by tits and robins. The food on the log is being scarfed up by a squirrel, easy pickings.

 

We get daily visits from both Collared Doves

and Stock Doves. 

Buzzards must be nesting in 'our' woods this year, as single birds are seen daily, rising on a thermal before flying away. 

We drove back from my surgery visit (INR again - and next week), via Pygney's Wood car park. Excellent. There was a Blackcap singing from the far bank of flowering Blackthorn. Not seen though.

Back from a walk to the bottom of the garden and..... a Blackcap was singing.

We Need Rain!

Tuesday, April 7

Taking the coast road back from my legal visit to Cromer Hospital eye clinic, via the Runtons and Mundesley, was in hope of seeing a migrant or two. The sea was like a millpond, the sun shone, another lovely day. We added Great Black-backed Gull, a Grey Heron and two very pink Linnets.

I spent an hour at the clinic, most of it waiting for the doctor to arrive. I saw two other patients, one before me and one after and had my temperature taken in the entrance lobby before being allowed in. I did wear a mask for the first time, as well as the disposable gloves. I had to drop the mask to take the eye test as it was causing my glasses to mist up.

Pam's arrived back from having her lunch outside - too hot.

Moth-ing hasn't been great for us. The usual Orthosias plus one Engrailed each day. The latter is so flighty, usually found on the outside of the trap or flying away as soon as the trap is opened. Blossom Underwing has made an appearance in the Dunmore's trap as well as elsewhere in the county. I wish.......

Butterfly numbers are increasing. 

Comma

Peacock, and Red Admiral in the main

The Peacock pictured here has obviously over-wintered from its wing-nibbled and  missing scales appearance.

Pam alerted me to a Great Spotted Woodpecker on one of the feeders not visible to me from my desk. I moved into the sun lounge where my camera was waiting but could not see the bird. I suddenly saw it drinking from the birdbath placed on top of an old pedestal one which belonged to Pam's mother. Excellent. These photos were taken through the closed patio door.

I always have trouble photographing Goldfinches. Blow me if one did not come down to drink as soon as the 'pecker left.

 Grey Squirrels are not welcome - but they are very endearing.

We spent some time tidying up the fruit trees yesterday afternoon. They were not pruned last year resulting in many branches which are too long/cross over/mess up the centre of the trees etc.  Only a little pruning as I don't want to cut off any of this year's incipient fruit. If any remain after the attentions of the Wood Pigeons.

The whole of the time we were there, a Green Woodpecker called from the wood and a Chiffchaff from next door's garden.

We've had to put bamboo canes across the pond to prevent the Mallards from eating the toad spawn and introducing Duckweed to the water..  

Garden Update, Leps and Flowers

Sunday, April 5

Adrian finished screwing the bird table together, it was really hard work and I gave up.

It's very white.

In addition to the Comma and Peacocks seen earlier, we had Small White, Large White and our first Brimstone in the garden yesterday. The first male Brimstone is a harbinger of spring for me and gladdens the heart. 

The cold nights have meant few moths in the trap. We had our first Engrailed yesterday (awful tube pic, it was so flighty) 

another Brindled Pug, two March Tubic (Diurnea fagella) and an Early Thorn. 

The latter is the only UK thorn to hold its wings closed like a butterfly.

There was also a very active beetle that Pam has been unable to identify - so far. They are difficult. 

The parking area at Walcott has been cordoned off - as we discovered when we had to make a visit to the Post Office to post something for a friend in need. I managed a photo of a Buzzard, circling on a thermal, as we drove the back lane and a Turnstone on the sea wall. 

The Post Office, which is in a small Spar shop, has a strict one in one out policy and the statutory queuing distance apart. Pam wore plastic gloves and then used wipes when she returned. My surgery visits are probably more dangerous.
I'm thinking of borrowing next door's Border Terrier to make the car look valid. Not really.

On the way home.....

Could be - or have some genes from - Scottish Blackface.

I posted a photo of a few Erythronium flowers a few days ago. This is what the clump looks like to-day.

One of my Gentian troughs took a beating in last year's dry spell. Starting to look better, still not back to their alpine splendour. This an Autumn flowering variety which seems to be almost year round.

Cornish Pasties

Friday, April 3

Now that a cold, northerly, weather system has returned, we are not getting many moths in the trap. We did have two Diurnea fagella this morning and the previous single figure Twin-spotted Quakers increased to two.

Yesterday we had a second Pale Pinion for the year. It was so dark that we suspected Tawny Pinion, but it wasn't. 

We tend to catch more of the brown satellite version of Satellite than the white. This one was caramel.

The new bird table is very sturdy and in a temporary space. I'm not sure that I like its whiteness. I may have to paint it brown! Not immediately ......... 

It may well make it easier for the Grey Squirrels and Jackdaws to feed but it's needed for the Robins and Dunnocks. Maybe if we put a bone on there we might attract a Vulture. Or a fish for an Osprey.

A local East Ruston pub has started delivering hot meals. Rai and Pam had a shout across the road this morning, the Hargreaves'trying one to-night. 

Last October, I ordered a surprise delivery for Pam. Ann's cornish pasties. She loves them, but they seldom come up to the standard of those cooked by her Cornish mother in law. 

Some years ago, we did an off-island twitch for the first and only time. From Scilly to Penzance for a Little Bustard on the Lizard. Helicopter fares are expensive, we bought a day return. Our helicopter was late. We missed the bird by a few minutes.

After a good area search, I remembered reading that a Lizard pasty shop had won a national competition, beating the Women's Institute winner into second place. We eventually found the 'shop', up a residential side street. It looked like someone's garage. We walked in to see pastry being rolled out on a large table, a huge vat of fillings nearby. The pasties were delicious, with chunks of meat rather than the minced usually found. 
Rick Stein still reckons that they are Cornwall's best pasties.

We returned to Scilly on the last flight of the day. As we landed, my pager informed me that the Little Bustard had been found. Flushed from a cabbage field by a dog walker. Bother. One of our very few failed twitches and we still haven't seen the bird in the UK.

All of the women in my mother’s Cornish family traditionally made pasties.

All of the women in my mother’s Cornish family traditionally made pasties.

I learned to make pasties in an emergency, I was summoned by my mother, Hettie Merrick, a professional pasty-maker, to a Breton agricultural fair, where demand was dramatically and unexpectedly outstripping supply at a stall mother had set up. At the end of a day of pasty-making, I could crimp them as fast as my mother, which was the perfect confidence boost and eye opener into the fact that there was a business to be had producing a good Cornish pasty.

Me and My Mum at the Breton agricultural fair

Soon afterwards I began making pasties for my neighbours, who’d bring gifts of fresh fish they’d caught or vegetables they’d grown, and who treated my living room like a waiting room, sitting around gossiping over cups of tea if the pasties hadn’t come out of the oven yet.
Inspired by the response, mother and I started selling our wares from a stall at the nearby market town of Helston. We soon found business good enough to graduate to a shop in Porthleven. But when juggling family and pasty shop became too much, my husband transformed the garage of our house at the Lizard into a pasty kitchen, where I was able to crimp with one eye on the family.

Day 18 Leps and Tomatoes

Wednesday, April 1

Not a good catch last night. Few in both number and species, although Pam tells me that we have logged 20 species so far this year. 

How could I have forgotten to photograph Clouded Drab! 

After taking a phone call from Cromer Eye Clinic regarding my appointment next Tuesday (the Consultant thought that I should come in but it was up to me), it was time to pot on the tomato and cucumber plants.

Amazon is amazing.

I consulted Which first as to what was the best general purpose compost this year. Getting decent stuff really pays off in the quality of the plants produced. The one they recommended, with many more marks than any others, was a make I'd never heard of. Guess what. Amazon stocked it. Twenty four hours later, this bag was carried round to the greenhouse by the delivery driver, who had received the request through a closed window.

It's also peat free and smells wholesome.

The seeds were planted in a seed tray topped with vermiculite before potting on into 2'' pots and kept in a propagator for ten days. 

Now a good size and well rooted

it was time to pot them on into 6'' pots, their final resting place before being put in the lean-to greenhouse soil.

Sitting on a perching stool with everything to hand, I was perfectly content carrying out my babies' house move. Many more than I need, all the seeds germinated, I'm sure that there will be recipients of the extras. I have grown three varieties, all have their own qualities and are not generally available in garden centres and supermarkets.

Ferline

A thin skinned 'normal' tomato with good flavour

Sungold

A yellow, cherry-type, fruit good for arthritis sufferers - less acidic

Big Daddy

Large fleshy fruit with good flavour. Looks like a continental fruit.

A friend to whom I gave a plant last year, grew one tomato which weighed a pound and a half . Another of a pound was on the same plant plus some smaller.

I always grow for flavour rather than crop size.

The cucumber plants are always slower to grow but, if anything, had an even better root system.

 I suddenly remembered that it was the first of the month and paid more attention to the garden birds. The raucous  call of a Jay was the pick of the bunch. Pam's up to 17 already. Must try harder........
To-morrow's job will be putting together our new bird table. The last one disintegrated.