Recently the weather has been wild, wet and windy and this looks set to continue for a while. There are so many jobs that need doing in the garden….sigh…and I have NO idea where to start! Today I was considering clearing a few leaves, but, a friend is dropping in with ….erm….a couple of bottles of mulled wine! So, I very much doubt any leaves will be cleared today!!!!
I do love the big trees in the back garden, they are lovely in all seasons and now’s the time to spot all the different nests and find out what birds are breeding where.
My veggie patch needs digging over and a few root veggies need to go in. Strangely I am now harvesting carrots and beetroot! Only a few months late, but better late than never eh? Not to be sniffed at!
Bar a few sad looking chilies, there is little left to harvest from the greenhouse. It URGENTLY needs clearing now though, it even has brambles growing in it! And a resident mouse or three.
On a positive note, I have my log pile in place for the overwintering butterflies and moths…..says I smugly giving myself a pat on the back!
The log pile is in front of the shed where our poor stray cat, Curly sleeps. I’m really sorry for Curly, as she HATES the cold. Her shed is full of cushions and quilts and the door is jammed with a brick to allow only enough space for her to get in and out. I would happily let the cat come in but she is afraid of the dogs.
Talking of Curly, I’m always amazed at how trusting she is for a cat. She desperately wants to be-friend the dogs and I can take them right up to her when they are on leads. She knows I won’t let them harm her. She’ll even lie on her back, purring in front of them, yet she skidaddles off if they’re off their leads. Whenever we go away the neighbours feed her and all they get in return is hissing and spitting. An enigma she is!
This is her dog kennel where she eats, she sits here waiting for her two feeds a day, I always make sure she has dried cat biscuits in here in case she gets peckish during the night.
Autumn provides us with lots of wood for our chiminea but we haven’t had one in WEEKS as it never stops raining. I do love to sit out around the chimmy, especially on the dark evenings during autumn and winter. I love listening to the owls calling, their calls sound so spooky around this time of year.
I’m amazed that I still have flowers in the hanging baskets on the old stump in the courtyard, usually everything is dead by now.
The ivy hanging down from the garage needs cutting back but I like to leave it over winter as it provides great cover for the birds and is a brilliant source of winter food when the seedheads develop. One less job then!
And finally…Herbie, my special needs hedgehog has had to leave his rabbit hutch in the garden now as he can’t curl up properly, so when he’s hibernating parts of his tummy and paralysed back legs are exposed. Now he’s indoors he’s out of hibernation and eating like a horse. He’ll stay here under the piano until spring…..so no more tinkling of the old ivory for me for a while!
Hahahaha….you have me remembering when I had a robin chick flying free in the piano room, every time I played the piano it st on my head and chirped! xxx
What an excuse not to play the piano. I’d find another place for the hog… maybe in the laundry room…
Thanks Arose, I do love autumn, I even like to see the leaves on the ground. It is cold here too but dry now and when the sun is out as you say the days are simply stunning.
The mulled wine was smashin!!! And Herbie is still doing great, I have to clean his back feet each day as they get dirty being dragged along, it’s amazing how long their claws are and how cute their little feet are.
Hoping for a chimmy tonight!xxxxx
what a lovely post. I can just imagine how it feels in that damp autumnal way and yes how many jobs need to be done and WHERE to begin!
I hope you enjoyed the mulled wine most thoroughly and tickled the hogs belly… awww…!!! and it is dry here now the last few days though cold but very bright and beautiful…. perfect for a chimmy fire??? xxxx
You’ve got an amazing space, even this time of year!
Thanks Debi, it does need a fair bit of work doing at the moment!xxxxx
Oh yes. we need to see Herbie! Fantastic post and tour of your garden etc. I’d love to have a garden to potter around in. Suzy ♥
Lol, thanks Suzie. I’ll post a pic of Herbie in my next post.xxxxx
My garden has similar work needed, but the birds seem to appreciate things just left as they are…that’s my excuse anyway 🙂 I’m wondering what piano book that is on the piano? Cute that hedgie has a haven for the winter, with a piano bench roof and everything 🙂
That’s as good a reason as any Glo, I do let the leaves stay on the borders as they protect all the cocoons from frost and the young shoots in spring. Nature has worked it all out……and as you say the wildlife prefers an untidy garden.
The book on the piano is the music from the film “Space jam”, it has that song, “I believe I can fly” in it……a nice little tune.
Lol…..Herbie is probably the only hog to live under a piano stool. He seems happy there as he is eeating well and gaining weight which he needed to do. He’ll be fit as a fiddle when he goes back in the garden.xxxxx
What a great place you have. And what a lot of wo rk you have. Curlly looks a little like my Sassy xx
Thanks Free, it’s still wild, wet and windy here so still nothing done. Curly is quite a big tabby, loves her grub she does.xxxxx
What a wonderful tour, Dina, and such a beautiful “Tasha Tudor” environment you’ve created. Goodness, your love and art are everywhere apparent! Peace and warmth to all your 4-leggeds! We just finished cutting back and clearing the gardens last weekend…it’s certainly a chore, but blessed, to circle round and put to bed all of them before the snow flies…joy in the journey!
Thanks Catherine, I love the “Tasha Tudor” comment!
I’m a little envious that you have cracked on with your gardening jobs while I lolled around drinking mulled wine. It will all get done in the end though, the dark nights mean there is so little time to do anything. Hope your new kitty is doing well, I’m looking forward to hearing how putting them all together goes.xxxxx
Goodness me, that is certainly a carpet of leaves.
The hedgehog under the piano is a first for me too. Nice piano btw.
Lol, thanks Dessie, I do have a small copse of trees in the back and front. About 30 tall trees in all so when the leaves come down they do form a carpet and as fast as you clear them they blow about again and form new mounds.xxxxx
Oh, dear, mulled wine! That sounds delicious! As Gill said: More power to your elbow! Good luck with the busy day. :)xxxxxxx
Thanks Vadid, I haven’t brushed a single leaf up yet but the mulled wine….SMASHIN it was SMASHIN! Lol xxxxxxxxx
So many animals, so many jobs, so many leaves! So little time! I love the garden in Autumn, so many golden colours! xx
Lol, that’s almost a poem!!!! I love the autumn leaves, especially when walking the dogs, I love to crunch through the huge dry mounds!xxxxx
Ahhh how lovely bringing herbie inside – I’d love to see more pics of him! x
Thanks Leigh-Anne, he is a wonderful little survivor.xxxxx
A hedgehog eating like a horse is a rare mix of species, and quite difficult to imagine.
Lots of stuff to think about getting into there in your garden.
Hahahaha….yes a tricksy image! He makes a right racket when he’s eating, and he really is growing fast.
There always seems to be something needing doing in the garden but It’s also such a pleasure.xxxxx
A lovely post again Dina. I smiled when I read about your trees revealing which nests are in them due to lack of leaves. I think I have a squirrel’s drey in my tree as I have seen 2 lively squirrels descending from the tree to raid the bird feeders from time to time.
You really do have a way with animals and Curly the stray clearly realises this. That’s why you are able to feed her but the neighbours can’t.
Lots of jobs to be done as in my garden. But it’s too cold and windy to get out there at the moment (well that’s my excuse !) LOL xxx
Ah thanks Kegs. It’s wonderful to suddenly see the nests isn’t it? How lovely that you have a breeding pair of squirrels
They are such fun to watch tearing up and around tree trunks, I’m always captivated, especially when they run off burying peanuts, and the crows come in and dig them up!
Poor Curly cat, I hate to see her so forlorn in the autumn and winter…..
Lol….yes best to be tucked up indoors with a glass of mulled wine!!! xxxxx
Yikes! You’ve got one ‘HUGE’ task in that garden…so much to do…:roll:
I’m so glad my days of big gardens are over….ours need no more than a couple of hours a week to sort out…
Stil…..you cleearly enjoy the ‘outdoor life’….unless mulled wine intercedes….;) Enjoy! Hugs! xxxx
I do have a lot of work in the garden, and it seems to go on all year. I do like it wild though as we do have a diverse range of wildlife. You can’t have it all I suppose and it is great for the dogs to gallop in. My neighbour has a beautiful small garden which at times I envy….xxxxx
What an enjoyable post, and wonderful pictures.
You’re lucky to have big trees like that in the garden as they are havens for all sorts of wildlife.
I’ve known a few cats like Curly, one of which was named Oddball, and
reading about a hedgehog under the piano is definitely a first! xx
Thanks Flighty. The big trees are great for wildlife, I think we have a red squirrel breeding in one and a flock of crows have taken over another.
Lol….yes I suppose it does seem odd to have a hedgehog under the piano, it’s the quietest place in the house do Herbie only gets disturbed once a day when I clean his crate.xxxxx
Wow, what a lot of jobs to do … more strength to your arm, Snowbird! I do love the twisted trunks of the ivy.
Thanks Gilly……yes….more strength to my arm. I think it’s going to take a few months to sort, and I have lots of weeding and cutting back to do. At least we don’t have to bother mowing the back lawn as it’s nonexistent! xxxxx