Gilbert the Good – my weekend

 

Gilbert the Good – my weekend

                        We had a busy day on Saturday and it was fun.

We went out early as usual as it was going to be hot later on and it’s not good for us dogs to be out in the heat, even in the woods.

 We couldn't go in the ponds, though, as there are signs up warning of DANGER from blue-green algae. The humans found out more from AI:

Blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) is extremely toxic to dogs. It grows in stagnant lakes, ponds, and slow-moving rivers during warm weather. Ingesting or swimming in contaminated water can cause rapid liver failure, neurological damage, and death within minutes to hours. There is no antidote.

My humans have spoken to some people whose dogs died because of this, and they were very sad.

When we’d been home for a couple of hours, we had visitors! Bethan came to see us with Charlie and Jack. Robert stayed at home because he had banged his head and felt a bit dizzy. Anyway, he was company for Lolly.

It was Charlie’s birthday earlier in the week - he was eleven years old. That’s the same age as Roxy. He had a birthday party before the end of the school summer term. He’s a keen cricketer so the venue for his party, Lord’s Cricket Ground, was perfect. I don’t understand cricket, but I’m just a dog, so that’s understandable. I like ball games, though.  Roxy and I have a ball each and we chase them for a little at the beginning of our walk and then carry them the rest of the time. 

Jack made lots of fuss of Roxy and me, while Charlie played with Herschel and Jellicoe. Everyone in our house was tired the next day, and we didn’t go out. Bethan and Charlie went to Lord’s again for the finals of ‘the Hundred.’ That was cricket, too, and my humans sat and watched it on the television. They wanted to see if they could see Bethan and Charlie in the crowd. They didn’t!

The women’s match wasn’t very exciting, but the men’s final was gripping – well, that’s what the humans said, anyway.

 We didn’t go out as early on Monday, but we still weren’t allowed anywhere near the ponds.

In the afternoon, Roxy managed to find her way past the fence into the garden pond. There’s no blue-green algae in there, just lots and lots of duck weed. The humans were thinking of removing the fence, but they're thinking again now . . .

She only paddled, but her fur soaked up a lot of water which then dribbled all over the house.

On Friday, Susannah and Frankie and Arthur are coming back from their holiday in Devon. They’re going to stay on Friday night and go back to London on Saturday. It will be nice to see them again. I like playing with Arthur – he’s fun.

TTFN

Gilbert

Steps

 

Steps

There is a steep step (40 cm) down to the patio from both our sitting room and conservatory. Many years ago, Barry built a wooden step to replace the milk crate we were using. Years later, he hammered further planks onto the wooden step, with the grooves of the wood running at a 90˚ angle to the original, as it was proving rather slippery in its old age.

Now it has reached the point of needing to be replaced completely, and we resolved to push the boat out and buy one ready-made. There’s so much more available now, and we’ve gone beyond the Heath Robinson stage of life in most things. (The last thing we built was a garden gate and it’s a solid thing of great character, not quite the height of a house door, but not far off.)

So, we have been measuring and consulting and think we’ve finally found the right thing. In fact, we’ve decided to buy two, as we’re still using a milk crate for the conservatory. Crates are remarkably strong, but with a purpose-built step, we will be more inclined to go in and out of that room more readily. Additionally, it will have a handrail, which is a Good Idea.

The other thing that is becoming increasingly rickety is the wooden bridge over the pond. It’s not a huge pond, but it is too wide to step across, and we need to be able to go over to weed and prune. We used to cross on a plank, but that became hazardous and the bridge we replaced it with has been there for a Very Long Time.

The pond is gradually clearing and looking fresher and cleaner. There is a large community of newts, which has taken the upheaval of the environment quite calmly, as far as one can tell.

 The heat last week brought proceedings to a halt. Will this now be superseded by rain to provide further disruption?

Grey Heron

 

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)

This photograph was taken a few years ago, through glass.

 Twice this afternoon, in the space of twenty minutes, a heron has flown down to land on the fence surrounding the pond. There are a couple of small fish in the pond, survivors, who knows how, of the big deportation of a few years ago. We suspect they proved to be tasty morsels for visiting herons, though some may have fallen prey to our local crows.

Herons eat a varied diet, including fish, rodents, amphibians, reptiles, and birds as large as wood pigeons. They have been observed using their yellow dagger-like beaks to stab large rats before drowning them and then swallowing them.

We have seen a couple of rats on the patio recently, so wonder if they are the current attraction for our visiting heron. Normally, rodents are dispatched by one or other of the cats, but it has been wet and chilly lately, so the cats have foresworn the great outdoors for the comfort of a cosy fire, human lap, or large dog.

Herons are such alert and wary birds that it is difficult to photograph them. The slightest movement causes them to take flight on their enormous wings to escape danger. Until I saw a dead heron stretched out on the grass at a friend’s house, I had not fully appreciated the sheer size of them – the largest are a metre tall, with a wingspan of almost two metres.

Lovely day for a dip

 

Lovely day for a dip

Labradors, particularly of the working variety, love water.

Lakes, ponds, even puddles, attract them like iron filings to a magnet.

We had decided to give Gilbert a gentle introduction to water, remembering Roxy’s first venture. Following her friends, she dashed into a large pond and was soon out of her depth. Probably she would have been alright, but I panicked and hauled her in on the end of her retractable lead, like a furry chocolate fish. I didn’t worry about her after that.

 For many months, she doggy paddled in an upright position, looking for all the world as though she didn’t want to get her hair wet.

 Splash!

Retrieving

 Bertie showing Roxy how to do it

Today was a beautiful day for a walk and we went to an area of the forest very familiar to Barry, who used to run there before the advent of the chrome alloy knees. The well-defined paths had disappeared and we followed an animal trail, probably made by roe deer. to where we thought there was a small pond.

A few minutes beforehand I had commented that I thought Gilbert would be quite cautious, as he seems to be a rather careful puppy. How wrong I was! We were upon it before we realised. There was a loud splash and Roxy and Gilbert were in it immediately.

 They loved it and splashed to their and our great delight, galloping in and out and around in the tussocky grass.

Gilbert's flying pig impression

They are both sleeping soundly now, dreaming sweet dreams of sniffs and sights and sounds – and water!

Spring has sprung 2012

Spring has sprung, the grass has ris’,

I wonder where the birdie is?

There he is up in the sky,

He dropped some whitewash in my eye!

I‘m alright, I won't cry,

I'm just glad that cows can't fly!

Spring is coming on apace and there has been activity in the pond.

In my Easter bonnet . . .

Look into my eye! See the humans' house. 

We have not heard the great chorus of frogs that has been customary in the past and there are certainly not hundreds of them in the water. They started calling later this year and are still croaking now so something has changed in their world. Overall, numbers have been dropping over the last three years and this spring they are sadly depleted.

Nonetheless, they have laid great swathes of spawn which appears to be developing healthily.

One thing that is really flourishing is the duckweed (Lemna minuta) The plant mass can double in size every two to three days during the summer but in our pond it dies away almost completely in the winter. We keep it under control by raking it off the surface and composting it. I don’t object to it – its little leaves are quite pretty and provide some shelter to frogs and fish.

We have daffodils aplenty and strong, bright grape hyacinths (Muscari) Our first early-flowering tulips have appeared and I noticed forget-me-nots this morning. 

 Nectarine (Prunus persica variety nectarina)

The nectarine on the patio will look stunning if all the hundreds of buds open. Two days ago there was one flower; today there are many more bursting.

A week ago it was the woodpeckers that were most audible, drumming on the trees. In the last couple of days the crows have been extremely vocal. Our feeders are well patronised. Long-tailed tits, blue tits, great tits and coal tits flit in, cheeping and cocking their heads, always keeping an eye open for enemies. The starlings continue to squabble and scream at each other in a friendly sort of ‘we love to hate each other’ way. Wood pigeons stumble onto the fat cakes and magpies and robins and nuthatches fly in to sample the feast. Blackbirds search for wriggly meals and sound their alarm calls at the first hint of danger. After a noticeable absence last year, when I saw just one collared dove, I have already seen a pair this year and hope they will return to nest in the garden.

The fur I’ve groomed from the dogs waits to be collected by the tits for their nests, and butterflies – those ‘self-propelled flowers’ (R.A. Heinlein) - dance in the sun and settle occasionally for a photo call.

The Comma (Polygonia c-album) is one of the first butterflies to be seen, appearing from late February. Much of the males’ time is spent looking for a mate – are the females playing hard to get? It’s interesting to reflect that a century ago the Comma was a rare sight but now is common throughout England and Wales and may soon colonise Scotland. A few have been spotted in Ireland in recent years. It’s good to hear of their success.

seven-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)

Cobwebby seven-spot ladybird

We have seen many seven-spot ladybirds, too, the commonest in Europe. Perhaps this means a summer full of aphids . . .

This is such a beautiful time of year when all things are full of life and growth and each day brings more treasures to light. The world becomes brighter and more colourful with every passing day and everything, birds included, looks as if it has been freshly painted.

ABC Wednesday F is for . . .

Another traipse around the garden will lead you to a few things beginning with F.

We have Fish in our pond . . .

golden rudd

silver rudd

. . . Frogs.

In summer there are French marigolds (Tagetes patula) which would speak Spanish, or possibly Portuguese, if they could, rather than French as they are native to South America. Hoverflies love them. They are useful companion plants, the roots producing a substance that deters eelworms (form of nematodes) and repelling whitefly on tomatoes. Medicinally, a liquid concentrate from flowers and leaves is used in eastern cultures to treat nosebleeds.

Yellow dye from the flowers is used in food and textile colouring.

The flowers of Tagetes patula can also be harvested to extract the essential oil which is blended with sandalwood oil to produce ‘attar genda’, a perfume popular in India. In the west research is being conducted to determine the efficacy of the oil as an antifungal remedy, particularly for the treatment of candidiasis (thrush) and fungal diseases in plants.

French marigolds were brought to England by Huguenots (French Protestants) escaping from France after the massacre of St Bartholomew in 1572. Under the influence of the French queen, Catherine de Medici, Roman Catholic mobs killed tens of thousands of Huguenots.

Forget-me-nots (Myositis) bloom in the spring and early summer. They prefer moist growing conditions when they will self-seed readily.

You can find out more about them here.

Also flowering at the same time as Forget-me-nots is Firethorn (Pyracantha) With its strong, sharp thorns this plant can be grown as a very efficient barrier to intruders. In addition, it provides dense cover for roosting and nesting birds. 

The flowers are profuse, attracting myriads of bees, and are a valuable source of nectar in June when there is a dearth of nectar-producing plants. 

The berries are yellow, orange or red and provide a feast for birds during the colder months when there may not be much else for them to feed on.

The first Fuchsias were discovered in Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic and Haiti) by a French monk and botanist called Charles Plumier. He gave them the name Fuchsia in honour of the German botanist Leonhart Fuchs. Fuchsias are an important source of nectar, particularly for bumble bees. 

We plant them in hanging baskets but they can be grown as small shrubs or used for hedging. 

Click here to see more Fabulous Fs.

Camera Critters #160 Six little ducks

We saw six mallards on one of the ponds the other day. They were quacking and reminded me of the song I used to sing with five and six-year-olds.  It’s an odd song, really, because it refers to ‘the one little duck with the feathers on his back’ as though all the other ducks were bald!

Six little ducks that I once knew,

Fat ones, skinny ones they were, too,

But the one little duck with the feathers on his back,

He ruled the others with his quack, quack, quack,

Quack, quack, quack!

He ruled the others with his quack, quack, quack!

Down to the river they would go,

Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble, to and fro,

But the one little duck with the feathers on his back,

He ruled the others with his quack, quack, quack,

Quack, quack, quack!

He ruled the others with his quack, quack, quack!

Home from the river they would come,

Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble, ho hum hum,

But the one little duck with the feathers on his back,

He ruled the others with his quack, quack, quack,

Quack, quack, quack!

He ruled the others with his quack, quack, quack!

I'm linking to Camera Critters with this post.

Camera Critters #116, Shadow Shot Sunday #110

The European Hornet (Vespa crabro) is usually simply called 'hornet'. This one appeared in our garden earlier this month. We see them less frequently than common wasps since they are not attracted to human food . They feed on insects, including bees, and ripening fruit.
I discovered that some people believe that three stings can kill an adult and seven can kill a horse - neither of these beliefs is true! Though their stings are painful they are no more dangerous than any other wasp sting, unless you happen to be allergic to them, in which case, keep your Epipen handy! In fact, hornets are less aggressive than other smaller wasps. If approached they will gradually retreat and then fly off rather than attack. However, a colony will defend its nest if the workers sense danger.
While verifying facts I learnt a new word - 'eusocial'. It describes the highest level of social organisation in hierarchical communities. The hornet is the largest European eusocial wasp.
I also learnt how to differentiate a male from a female but my photograph is not clear enough to count the segments on the the antennae - a male has 13 segments and a female has 12. The male  has seven visible abdominal segments while a female has six. I think the insect in the photo is a female.

Thank you to Misty Dawn of 'Camera Critters' and Tracy from 'Hey Harriet' for 'Shadow Shot Sunday' who organise and host these entertaining memes. To see more posts please click on the appropriate title. 

Camera Critters #102

Jenna and Gus play together much of the time - until we all go for a walk. Then Jenna is interested only in retrieving and ignores Gus. She has realised that he will not follow her into the ponds, so that's where she goes when his attentions become too pressing. That is, until this week when his urge to follow overcame his natural caution. He is beginning to enjoy the water, as all good Labradors do, but is not yet swimming. I'm sure he soon will be, though, as Tia and Foxy are staying with us and they swim as keenly as Jenna. Gus will not be left behind for long!
Gus watches and thinks . . .

 H'mmm, Frodo likes the water - and I like Frodo - so perhaps water is good!

Jenna leaps in every time. Could I do that?

I can step in carefully . . . 

. . . ooh, it feels nice!

Jenna, Jenna, look at me! I can jump in just like you. Look! Look!

Frodo, did you see me? Was it good?

Buddy, Buddy . . . oh, I forgot, Buddy can't hear very well and he certainly doesn't like water.

Here I am, Jenna - I can play with you in the water now!

Misty Dawn organises and hosts this lovely meme. Please click here to see more Critters around the world.

Twelfth Night or What You Will

In our garden

Twelfth Night, 6^th January, marks the Feast of the Epiphany. The Christian church celebrates the arrival of the Wise Men in Bethlehem who had followed the bright star in the east to bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby in the manger.

It is thought unlucky to leave decorations in place after the Twelfth Day of Christmas. Accordingly, though I am not superstitious, I always ensure that all seasonal ornaments are removed and put away. ('Putting away' means that the components are placed in a box and left on the landing beneath the loft, occasionally usually for an entire year!) By the time January 6^th dawns I am more than a little tired of seeing bright cards, decorated greenery, coloured lights and angel chimes and simply want to bring some order normality back into our lives. 'Order' is entirely the wrong noun to use in connection with us!

It is ironic that as we reach the end of the festive season and take one last look at cards depicting robins in wintery scenes and snowmen sporting woolly scarves and hats in deep snow which we did not experience here in the South that now snow is falling! It started yesterday around 6:00 pm and continued throughout the night. It has carried on today and the sky still looks full of it. Schools across our county and neighbouring counties have not opened and the roads are strangely quiet apart from children relishing an extra holiday and discovering how deep the snow fall is. It is approaching 30 centimetres (12 inches or 1 foot)

Now it may seem strange that everything grinds to a halt when bad weather strikes. It is not entirely unheard of for snow to fall in winter, particularly in the northerly parts of these islands. However, the roads cannot be salted if stocks are not readily available. There are only three salt 'mines' in the country so replenishing supplies can involve drivers travelling for several hours to their nearest depot to fill their gritting trucks. Once there they face a wait of six hours or so as the queue is long and then they make a return journey of many more hours. Meanwhile council spokesmen speak in interviews of being 'let down' by their suppliers though they acknowledge that the contractors are doing their best to satisfy everyone's requirements. Why are there only three salt dumps? It seems that contractors and local councils could not agree a price for providing more storage sites which begs the question of what our local councils actually do for their money. No doubt many of our councillors are worthy souls, working hard for the good of the community. The leader of our council earns is paid approximately the same amount as President Barack Obama. Mr Obama represents or answers to over 303 million people from widely differing locations and with complex and sometimes seemingly insurmountable problems and requirements. Our local council serves around 160,000 people in a largely affluent area where employment is high and poverty and crime, though present, very low. Local councils are not responsible for supplying gas, electricity, water or sewage. The services they administer include police, fire, educational institutes, refuse collection, social housing, parks and open spaces and libraries.

Furthermore, 20% of the local council taxes we are obliged to pay go into the pension fund for these civil servants. The councillors may choose to retire on full index-linked pension at the age of 50, ten to fifteen years before the normal retirement age. So, I ponder again what these folks do. I just looked on the website and there is no contact email for 'snow clearance on roads' – that figures!

Happy New Year!

There's a pond under there! Last night Gus practised a little ice-skating out there. I just hope our fish are surviving but the pond has plenty of deep water for them to swim in and there are air holes - I think!

Winston’s June blog

Winston here . . . p'rrrrr, p'rrrrr . . .

It's nearly two months since I last blogged but there's been a lot going on. A cat can hardly turn round without tripping over another human in the house, don'tcha know.

First of all Mr Human's mother came to stay so there was quite a lot of being shut away while she ate. She's not used to having cats and dogs around so hasn't developed the swatting technique to keep me and Monty away – not that we ever get actually swatted. Anyway we don't beg shamelessly like the dogs and really we only climb on laps to get a closer look and a sniff. What's wrong with that?

Then Paul and John came to do a bit more to the Endless Pool. Me and Monty keep hearing the humans talking about that but we don't know what it is. I think it must be like the pond but indoors. They went home and Gillian came with the children to look after the dogs – honestly, dogs are more trouble than cats! - while Mr and Mrs went to look at a school for Gareth's boys. We haven't seen Nina and the children since we were kittens but they're all coming back in August. Mr and Mrs are pleased about that.

That's how it's been – comings and goings. Well, Paul and John were back last week and again yesterday and Mr and Mrs H were very pleased by the end of the day.

Today they both disappeared into what they call the Pool Room and came back a while later with wet hair and smelling strange. I don't think they'd been playing billiards. Going for another snooze now – it's very hot and sticky at the moment so it's best to do as little as possible and save our energy. Monty and me are good at that.

TTFN

Enjoying fresh water . . .

We had some hot days (for the UK) at the end of May and our big goldfish, who is at least ten years old, was enjoying freshly oxygenated water from the pump. He swam around . . . . . . and around . . .

. . . and around . . .

. . . and then he rose out of the water as if trying to find his feet!

He did this several times during the afternoon.

We've noticed fish and frogs congregating round the pump and waterfalls when it's hot - it must be a little like finding breathing easier in the forest on a hot day.