Hospitality

A couple of nights ago a rather disoriented homing pigeon ambled into the sitooterie, after having spent a while getting its breath back on the grass over by the summer house.  We provided it with food and water (it scoffed the seed, but preferred to drink from the pond...).  It spent much of the evening on the gutter of the conservatory, leaving only after it had left a few generous visiting cards on the glass roof.  Yesterday it was back a few times, leaving similar tribute on the window ledge.  Having now named it 'shitehawk', we shoo it away on sight, particularly since it deigned to decorate the dining room carpet just now.  As for the more house-trained tenants, I've just seen a blue tit flying into and out of the box on the west side of the house.  We have another box over the back door, but I think the traffic to the bins, the herb bed and the garage laundry kit, plus of course the nearby boiler chimney, make it a less attractive property.  In any case, they are very territorial, and it's unlikely we'd ever get both boxes in use. 

Fine day here, so we have gardened a little.  We bought some bedding plants the other day with a view to re-planting the containers, and picked up a few more bags of gravel which Martyn has applied to the beds round  the pond.  This morning, while he tidied up the bed between the front grass and the public footpath, I tackled some of the brambles and buttercups in one of the beds at the back, givivng up when the cramp in the hips and the sore hands dictated.  As the late and much lamented Isla used to say, it's a bugger getting auld.  Still, preferable to the alternative.

At least it's not only the weeds that are flourishing.  Old friends are making their first appearances of the year: cistus varieties pulverulens and purpureus, eschcholzia and aquilegia have started flowering, and the iris sibirica and oriental poppies aren't far behind.  The roses are growing almost as fast as the weeds, and are budding up.  Greenfly and black spot are also back, of course, so I'll have to do a bit of spraying when the sun goes down.  The potatoes are growing like mad, so we'll need to get more compost at the weekend (our new-found shop only opens for an hour each on Saturdays and Sundays).  The second sowing of beans is coming along well, and I'll harden this lot off better than I did the first dozen before planting them out. 

Despite quite a cold winter, practically all the half-hardy fuchsias in the garden are coming into leaf, including four that I'd grown in a tub and tipped out when we were looking for a vessel for other bedding subjects.  I've stuck them back in a pot with fresh compost and shall use them as cutting stock.  There is much to be said for benign neglect when it comes to gardening, eh?