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The sun stayed away today until it was time for it to go to bed.
My share of the garden clearance, under the necessary direction from the Head Gardener, was eradicating or truncating dead stalks from last year’s plants, such as nicotiana sylvestris.
Jackie continued such work that required more specialist knowledge, and completed her work on bringing the Waterboy’s pool back to life.
We have a number if different snowball shaped viburnums that we can’t specifically identify. They are all in bloom.
I wonder if our little roof bound sparrow was guarding nest building this morning. He certainly seemed to be casting an eye in the direction of a piece of straw that had no business being up there.
Some of the earlier camellias are turning their beautiful golden brown, giving us the impression that we have varicoloured flowers.
As usual, the beech will be the last to clothe its skeletal framework.
Leaves and catkins have begun to appear on the weeping birch, although it is still possible to view Elizabeth’s Bed through the slender branches.
A ladybird appears to have taken up residence in the fruit of the tree. As there was no response when I recited the popular nursery rhyme, I can only assume this is intended to be permanent.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s beef, peppers, mushrooms and onions cooked in a rich red wine sauce and served with sauteed potatoes, spinach, leeks, carrots, and cauliflower. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Chateau Plessis grand vin de Bordeaux 2014.
Oh, that camellia!
Glad you like it Laurie. Thanks
Again you make me hunger for all the wrong food at 5:43 a.m.! How well you eat.
Your changes of seasons are so much more dramatic than ours. I’ve had to chop back all my aquatic plants to make room for my goldfish. The plants do die back in winter but though it’s autumn it will be 31ºC today so I have to to ruthless.
Many thanks, Mary. Finally you are getting a bit of warmth
Yes, just as we are adding blankets to our beds:)
Your adjectives and verbs are always right on target–thought to finally note this! That ladybird is a lovely one. It is a pleasure to watch your garden become more colorfully lively again. Brings me peace.
Many thanks, Cynthia. You would know about the words
I say ladybug. 😉
You say ladybug, I say ladybird….. 🙂 Thanks. Leslie
I say ladybug, too. And do you know they smell? Give one a sniff sometime. AND they bite! I had one under my shirt one time & it was not a devastating experience, but it let me know it wanted out of there. It had to go home and find out how many of it’s children had been lost in the fire.
We teased my youngest brother who claimed he’d been bitten by a ladybug. I guess I need to apologize!
Apologize away. It’s true. : )
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2oEmPP5dTM&w=560&h=315%5D We definitely won’t call the whole thing off 🙂
Great song, Derrick!
Beautiful Post!!!
Thanks very much, Nilda
The sun stayed away here, too, today. We even had thunderstorms.
Another lovely post, Derrick.
Very many thanks, Merril
I’ve always loved ladybugs. It’s interesting, during the winter months, the side of our house that gets the most direct sun will have ladybugs hanging out. The camellia looks beautiful, Derrick.
It’s good to have the ladybird on watch for aphids and such like – handy little creatures as well as pretty! I think the Americans are more sensible in calling it a bug, I don’t know why we UK English speakers call it a bird – or even a lady come to that. Maybe it’s a boy…… Oh man, there goes that inconsequential train of thought thing again 🙂
The name “ladybird” originated in Britain where the insects became known as “Our Lady’s bird” or the Lady beetle. Mary (Our Lady) was often depicted wearing a red cloak in early paintings, and the spots of the seven-spot ladybird (the most common in Europe) were said to symbolise her seven joys and seven sorrows.
Coccinellidae – Wikipedia Trains of thought is what Ramblings is all about 🙂
Thank you Derrick. I think I knew that about the name, the information must have got left behind as the train moved out of the station. If my trains moved faster they’d have time to do their own research 🙂
Get Siddy onto it 🙂
You’re funny. Loved the train-leaving-the-station analogy. : )
Thank you Jodi 🙂
: )
Pauline, someone else had your idea when the Disney movie Bugs was written. The ladybug character in the story is a particularly masculine personality with a gruff voice and a bit of a chip on his shoulder because people always think of him as female, because he’s a ladybug. ha ha!
There you go, I knew it had to be a ‘thing’! 😀
Wow lovely meal derrick! Gorgeous photos
Thanks a lot, Lynn
most welcome
More gorgeous pictures. I bet the ladybug doesn’t know how to back up.
Many thanks, Lisa
We say ladybird. The other way bugs me.
🙂 Thanks Bruce.
All is right in the garden by the looks of things here Derrick . I was coastal this past weekend with a quick trip to Vancouver, Canada. Everything is green there and trees are blossoming. Since I was in a downtown hotel, I didn’t have the privilege of a visit to the gardens in town so I’m not sure if flowers are blooming as grande as yours. None-the-less, there’s plenty here and there to envy. Are the catskins on your weeping birch sticky when they fall off? We had Birch trees in the forest where we used to live and the skins (we call them sticky buds) were a real pill to pull of our dog. He’d get full of them on our daily walks, LOL. Your Ladybird seems far bigger than our Ladybug and our little Ladybugs are more of an orange than red. I will try and get a photo of some this summer. I’d fancy a nest with a view of your garden too, good choice little sweet sparrow. Cheers Boomdee
Very many thanks for such an entertaining response, Boomdee. The closeup ladybug picture is quite enlarged. The intermediate one shows it more like normal size. I’m not sure, but I don’t think the catkins are sticky. I’ll check when they begin to fall.
Your beautiful garden is ready for spring! Love the ladybug shot. 🙂
Thanks very much, Amy
Great photos. It looks like it’s going to be a colourful year for the two of you. 🙂
Many thanks, Quercus
I was amused at your reciting the part about “ladybird ladybird, fly away home. . .” And still no response! 🙂 The camellia is gorgeous, as is the snowball flower!
The tree silhouettes of the bare beech tree and on the next post, the tree with clouds behind it are both moody and evocative, Derrick. Your summary of the lovely views is told well. 🙂
Very many thanks, Robin
Ha ha, I thought the same thing about Derrick’s attempts to move the ladybug, Robin. When I was a kid, I used to try it myself. Did you?
Oh, I sure did, Crystal. It is funny but I remember when you moved out to the country house. . . (I think this was you!) We lost our connection or paths veered off. Hugs, Robin 🙂
Yes, Robin, your memory is excellent! I have not had much of a blog presence for about a year, and I’ve lost my close connection to many of you. But I remember each one of you fondly and hope to reconnect eventually.
🙂
Lovely camellias. I will have to enjoy yours this year because over the winter, my deer ate all the leaves off mine and now all I have are sticks thrusting from the dirt. Grr. Deer. Luckily, they are still alive. I know now to protect them this winter from hungry foragers.
Thanks a lot, Crystal. Good luck with the deer.