Continuing To Cater

This was another fine, but cool, day.

As usual when Jackie stepped out of the stable door to fill the robin family’s breakfast tray

Nugget appeared in the wisteria before she had opened the cereal jar.

Soon after the Head Gardener had attended to her ever-multiplying avian infants we set out on what was planned as a garden centre crawl. In fact there was such a dearth of bedding plants which were all we could possibly make room for, that we stopped at two.

Ferndene Farm Shop presented its usual, smoothly moving, orderly queues, masked ย members maintaining mandatory distance. I loaded bags of compost while Jackie paid for it and added a considerable quantity of bird food.

The next stop was Redcliffe, where there was no queue

and Jackie acquired a few flowers. Needless to say, like all other eating places, the Tea Room was closed.

This afternoon I dead-headed a number of roses.

The climber on the front trellis isn’t quite ready for the treatment, neither is

Perennial Blush along the back drive.

Also in the front garden we have calendula Orange Flush and deep red sweet William. The Euphorbia Mellifera in the background is just one of those we have whose honeyed scent lives up to its name.

The large blousy orange poppy, now past her bloom of youth nurtures a bud to take her place, while

the fully mature rose Margaret Merrill shares her bed with crisp offspring, with younger buds, and with an older relative whose time is done.

This was past siskin siesta time, so greenfinches were up and about drawing upon verdant leaves for camouflage. The clamour of a host of birds and their young filled the air around me.

The owls in this view of the Weeping Birch Bed looking northwards remain silent.

The peach rose beside the patio is pretty prolific.

If this is a bee on an erigeron

what is this?

Nugget Junior now fends for himself

while his Dad continues

to cater for his younger brothers and sisters.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s wholesome chicken, bacon, and vegetable soup with crusty bread from the freezer, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I finished the El Zumbido.

 

67 comments

  1. You, Jackie and Nugget all know exactly how to stay busy – no matter what the weather or quarantine situation!!

  2. So happy to see how well your garden is doing. We can only now safely plant anything in our gardens. Many people are happy that the garden centres are open as of today but I’m a little worried about the crowds. I think I’ll wait a few days.

  3. It’s a tough life being a fledgling robin. Nugget Jnr doesn’t look at all confident in his chances of getting a free breakfast. One starts to realise how very well Nugget Snr planned his life when he first started flirting with your missus! Is that a May Fly? I will have to pop back to see what the learned have to say.

  4. Our village nursery opens tomorrow but we will give it a few days to calm down. Meanwhile we split garden plants to fill new spaces. Very hot again here today and no rain.

    1. Sensible to give it a day or two, Andrew, but Jackie reports that even Ferndene, which was well stocked, has run out of bedding plants. Thanks very much.

      1. We are in competition with all of the people who with time on their hands have discovered the joy of gardening. Even my own children (35 and 33) who have previously shown zero interest are now avid enthusiasts in their gardens!

  5. So good to see the owls on duty! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Nugget is such a good Dad! And I’m sure Mrs. Nugget has been a good mom! And they are all lucky to have a safe, beautiful, food-provided place with you and Jackie! ๐Ÿ™‚

    All the plants and flowers look beautiful…bright, cheery, colorful, thriving! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Good joy you did on the dead-heading of the roses!
    HUGS to you and Jackie!!! ๐Ÿ™‚
    PS…”What is that?”… Did you mean who? His name is Iggy. ๐Ÿ˜€

  6. Your not-bee looks like a fly of some sort, but that’s the best I can do. We had quite a blow, a lot of rain, and a power loss this afternoon, but it seems as though most of the flock is present and accounted for. The rain stopped very late, so I’ll have to wait until morning to see if they all did well. Nugget’s progency is looking quite spiffy.

  7. The wonderfully picturesque photo through the archway to the view of the Weeping Birch Bed, is picture perfect Derrick……

  8. The image of Nugget in the wisteria is like a watercolour painting. Glad I am to meet his wards further below. I am excited by the fresh procurements by the Head Gardener.

  9. The photo of nugget in the wisteria is enchanting. I’m glad his family is going well and that you and Jackie got out for some fun.

  10. As our garden – not fully recovered from the prolonged drought – eases its way into winter, it is delightful to see the variety of flowers in yours – and Nugget, of course!

  11. I still cannot get used to climate difference. Our roses are not out yet and neither are the rhododendrons.
    Yesterday Daughter Sophie went to the large garden centre near her house. She said she didn’t put on her mask because everything and everyone was well spread out and it wasn’t busy. One of her first tasks will be to redo the plant pots next to my husband’s grave.

    Despite having a good supply of gloves and masks I shall remain at home until the three months are up and reassess the situation then.

      1. We live in concerning times! The odd thing is I don’t mind staying home, though I would welcome a restaurant cooked meal!

        Realistically, the virus is likely with us for a long time to come and I think we’ll all need to learn to live our lives differently, I cannot see any of us returning to what was our normality.

      1. Your welcome. We have a pick-up bed load of landscape timbers, rock, potting soil, weed barrier. The backseat floor of the pick-up is loaded down with plants.

  12. Aw, lovely to see Nugget Junior. Glad you managed to get a few plants – we came across a community shop today which had some plants but nothing that grabbed my attention.

  13. Your garden is a sensory delight of sight, scent, sound, and color. I can tell that you had fun, once again, with writing your descriptions of the flowers. All those family members sharing a bed!
    The photo of Nugget in the wisteria is enchanting.

  14. It is good to see all the flowers, especially the roses, on such a grey day here, rain imminent. It will be June before we see any rose blooms.

    That is a lovely photo of Nugget in the wisteria! Nugget Junior looks a bit forlorn, no one to attend him. Nugget is busy hot-footing it, or rather hot-beaking it, at the feeder with all those hungry siblings. ๐Ÿ™‚

Leave a Reply