Gone potty? Plants gardens and lawns .

[Auriel]

Jay, you need to contact an ornithologist. Serial killer sparrowhawk needs to be caught and put in a bird jail! (I don't know if even the squirrels gonna be safe!) Also, your gardens, a crime scene

 

[JayCS]

Jay, you need to contact an ornithologist. Serial killer sparrowhawk needs to be caught and put in a bird jail! (I don't know if even the squirrels gonna be safe!) Also, your gardens, a crime scene

Yep, you're right, we have one locally who I'd asked about the blackbirds last year. Nice, but a bit strange person, maybe that's why they're ornithologists. He'll be delighted about the turn of things...
You're right about having to worry about our 2 squirrels - only the red one comes to the balcony, the dark one doesn't. Both are still little, probably born last year and not much experience yet. They can live for over 10 years, but most don't even make the first, of course.... My wife was scared as sh... with them leaping around close to the sparrowhawk feasting - but I calmed her not to worry, they're safer than ever right now...
Yeah, this is giving our garden a whole new quality. It used to be a place of peace and quiet, now the Midsomer Murders are happening and instead of just tending to the village I've also become Barnaby.... - and you like the best sergeant possible are not only pointing out clues, you're identifying the murderer, I only have to... ehm... watch him carry on killing... otherwise we'd be missing out on "another episode ooooooof......... M. M." (here called "Inspector Barnaby").

 

[JayCS]

the best sergeant possible are not only pointing out clues, you're identifying the murderer

sergeant #2 remains adamant in pointing out that she saw a hungry carrion crow fly an attack at Jacob a few days beforehand. Looking it up, crows and magpies often harrass each other and even take each others young, someone says on birdforum.
She also reminded me the dunnock will have been our little red footed balcony dunnock. Explaining why it's got so unearthy quiet on our balcony. Good to hear our red-breast still whistling away then.
She doesn't think the blackbirds last year will have been the sparrowhawk.
But it appears she saw the attack on the dunnock, I again didn't ask for details.
A friend of hers as a sparrowhawk in the garden, so will ask her.
And starting to talk about it with her showed that wound is still gaping, altho she was then able to talk.
But she like "have you found him?" 2x. That gripped her more than my apparent health progress tonight. Maybe more certainty would help. Same as her aunt still probably "missing" after the Turkey earthquake... All intertwined....

 

[Auriel]

Ooh, interesting going's on,
, oh my goodness, I hope they find her aunty safe I didn't know there were two squirrels! Playmates
🐿 🐿

 

[JayCS]

Ooh, interesting going's on, , oh my goodness, I hope they find her aunty safe I didn't know there were two squirrels! Playmates

Definitely playmates, it's treble fun to see 2 squirrels playing and quadruple when they're flirting!
So now I'm apparently staying better.... apart from not eating.. and.. oh well... now I can actually use some energy again...:
I made use of the sun outside to first prepare all my wife's coffee grounds as fertilizer that I've been drying all winter, then taking pics and continue pruning all leaves that needed it, and seeing stuff is gonna really gonna get going soon.
Whilst doing it I clearly heard and taped our new ... friend... in the background ... and am sure I heard our dannock calling: I'm OK, I'm fine, don't worry, this is how it needs to be, I'm not in a serial killer, it's life, and it goes on, I'm giving him new energy. Then I looked up if I can see him, but instead saw two I think kestrels (cos we usually have some in the nearest church tower not far away) - definitely bigger than the sparrowhawk - circling high - playmates... out to make new playmates and a jay was screeching. I don't know where they get the idea from that that is a nice sound to make: they didn't get if off of me, I don't think. ;-) I totally get how jackdaw's talk and chatter, but jays?

 

[Auriel]

we only get mostly seagulls and a heck of a lot of pigeons in wales, though I don't know if I'd want to see all the quirky big birds after the little ones where you are , maybe the dannock was letting you know that's it's ok (just in a different form) I'm gonna think that.

 

[JayCS]

maybe the dannock was letting you know that's it's ok (just in a different form) I'm gonna think that.

Exactly what I though and am gonna think!

 

[JayCS]

Sparrowhawk's somewhere else, but today 3 kestrels circling high above our house. As if we were in the countryside. Well OK, "my" garden is mini-countryside, maybe they know that.
Got 5 big buckets of moss today, 1 from a mate, 4 from a deserted house, and out to get more.
Mostly fairly bright green. The house had 4 medium natural stones, 3 with bright moss on them.
Couldn't carry them, but I placed them where I can get them easily another time.
Putting stone growing moss all around the house, especially all the places where neighbour had been (illegally here) pouring vinegar on to. And under the buxus to give a Japanese flair.
So that's all well on it's way.

Then wondering about some bare ugly stone walls I realized I was throwing new branches I'd cut off next to them, and I'd been wondering anyway where I can put dead wood fences in such a small garden. In front of the walls! Save me waiting for ivy (which'd put more cracks in the walls) or wine (beautiful in autumn, more boring than ivy in the winter). Can't find anyone having tried this, maybe something new. Costs nothing. Saves me cutting up the branches and sticks. And I love the flexibility. I can take it down and move it somewhere else inside of "half an hour". Ha!

A video I watched showed 3 elegant deadwood modules: a deadwood wall so solid you can walk on it, a deadwood fence, and a deadwood pyramid with a "beetle cellar" (big hole under the pyramid, filled with more deadwood)....

Just read up on ivy: It does create and increase crevices in walls, but not in trees, unless it gets too big. So instead of what my gardner mate said (and started doing) today, I'm go to let it grow on our cherry, just keep it in check.

Thought today I can leave food and stuff in the lower part of the planting table for a bit, what with the good weather. But needed a much longer break than expected, actually forever. My wife called me to come and see our squirrel feating on the rest of my muesli. Also saw it near the soy flakes I can't stand any more, which have recently found someone or vice versa....

 

[Auriel]

Jaycs, I'm a fan of your brain

 

[JayCS]

Jaycs, I'm a fan of your brain

- me too, it's a world - worlds - of its own... - me always hobbling behind it to catch (up with) it. An uncouth, naughty, naughty child, always coming up with something unexpected, a subversive element to screw other people's minds after it's screwed up itself....

Started with the ugliest bit, a cellar window of next door's house, first thing you see coming out of our doorstep, with a slip-shod brick and concrete rain-protection. So I squeezed lots of flexible hazel twigs till that was invisible, much better. But some colour missing in the shady alleyway. For that I have 2-3 cachepots as giant vases, getting prettier with more and more pruned off blooming twigs (occasionally accidentally). Everything I cut off finds its use. Chose a rose, of course no blossom yet, but red-green leaves. But over night I forgot it needs to be in water. So I found a nice small redbrown clay pot saucer for it to drink from, another colour in itself. Then added some yellow forsythia (accident?).
Also I'm just laying all the biggest branches anywhere I feel is boring and seeing what effect that has. Altho I also need them as posts for the "fences".

Starting to think where I can find some natural stones, there might be some around a nearby quarry near actually. The people before put the cheapest plasterstones as partitioning of flower beds from the so-called lawn - grey ugly concrete, only nice with moss on. For me ugly, I've never liked grey. If other people like grey concrete that's fine.... (But I do very much understand (and love good) tags as long as the underground is ugly.)
Saturday I got more crevices between concrete slabs etc. mossed up. And a larger shady patch of a big patio of slightly less cheap plasterstones. With another 3 buckets of bright moss I got from a natural stone wall.

It's getting time to put my wife's coffee and banana skins and piglets' droppings to work.

So no mystery to me this time, but where do you think this forest is?

 

[Auriel]

Where did the piglets come from??? or are there droppings available in shops over there?

 

[JayCS]

piglets

guinea piglets... perfect ready made, quickly dried and almost odourless pellets. Rewarded with lots of cuddling from my wife. I like watching them & whistling / smacking/kissing noises.

 

[Harpy]

Guinea pigs are just too cute. I had them all my life and when I had kids I got them some and they decided to let them run our property. Was beautiful seeing them come out in the sun and eat.

 

[Harpy]

It’s been rain here the last 3 days. I noticed something on the lawn next to a large old gumtree stump. It was beautiful.

They must have come up at night. I have never seen this kind of fungi before.

 

[cookiebaker]

They must have come up at night. I have never seen this kind of fungi before.

those look like what we call ink caps - pretty common around rotting wood, and yes, they do like moist conditions, so the rain is a big part of them coming up