Few events can herald the arrival of spring like the appearance of frog spawn. Our pond received its first clump of wild frog spawn last year but we’ve yet to see any adult frogs (Rana temporaria) in our garden despite being in our house for almost four years. It’s not through lack of looking either. However, see them or not, adult frogs obviously do visit our garden as, within the last 24hrs, we’ve had a... Read on
Over the last two nights V and I have really enjoyed going out into the garden and watching the Space Shuttle Atlantis fly past. I must admit I was surprised when I found out that the Space Shuttle would be visible from our back garden. Yesterday night we had a clear night and got a superb view as the Shuttle (currently docked with the International Space Station – ISS) arced across the sky. The Space... Read on
An exciting day in the garden today. We’ve now got five crocuses in bloom (four yellow and one purple) and they’re really cheering up our view of the garden. Also, for the first time, I saw a robin (Erithacus rubecula) in our garden. I’m a huge fan of robins as they don’t seem that bothered by people, eat loads of slugs and they have a fantastic song. Seeing one in our garden for the first... Read on
I cleaned out the bird’s peanut feeder this weekend and also replenished the seed feeders. We still don’t have a vast number of birds visiting the garden but the numbers are increasing. Regular visitors now include wood pigeons (Columba palumbus), collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto) a male blackbird (Turdus merula) and most recently we’ve been visited by a wren (Troglodytes troglodytes). Apparently wrens are the commonest breeding bird in the UK but due to their size... Read on
The Camelia outside the front of our house puts on a great display every year. On cold February mornings it’s a really cheerful sight. It’s also a fabulous plant to have around for the insects since, at this time of year, very few other plants are in flower. Our Camelia (which came with the house) has masses of pink flowers. Read on
By the time I’d finished soldering up my temperature switch last Sunday it was too late to install it in the greenhouse, or even test it. This weekend it was time to test the switch. Imagine my surprise when the red LED on the switch came on when I connected the battery to it for the first time! It’s hard to see in this photograph but the red LED really is on… However, the next... Read on
