The Elusive Cuckoo

A delightful June afternoon at Freshwinds, hot, no wind and so peaceful.

In the distance the gentle hum of the tractor cutting the hay in the lower field near the camping field,

the very welcome sound of the cuckoo at long last....the first one I have heard this year.... and the occasional braying of Rosie and Alice.

Some campers came through with a tandem bicycle and a small carriage on the back.

The couple with 20 month old Fleur, had been to Rye and Winchelsea for a visit.

 They were from Switzerland.

We had a lovely chat in the sunshine whilst Fleur enjoyed the animals and explored the cob shed.

They are staying in the shepherd`s hut.

The mad rush of planting is over but I still had a large tray of odd plants to put in.

These included parsley, thyme, coriander, two fuchsias, some cucumbers, melons and peppers.

Steve put in more climbing beans and purple sprouting brocolli.

 I set to and weeded the leeks and later the carrots and beetroot.

We had a yellow carrot in our salad this evening.

From the leek bed I had good views on all sides.

 I noticed the sweetpeas are budding up.

Can`t wait for the first bunches.

Think they grow a few inches every day.

The willow arch is in dire need....Paula usually weaves this for us.

It doesn`t even look like an arch.

The two new gooseberries are doing well.

If only I could grow gooseberries like my Granny Magan!!

The asparagus bed is romping away. We noticed asparagus beetles on it recently.

We have underplanted with pennyroyal. It is a companion plant and we hope

 it will keep these pesky insects away.

This bed is literally packed with bedding and remaining intact due to the new fencing which is not quite so obvious as the curtain nets.

Flash Harry has a pot of geraniums of his own now, thanks to Anne.

The little nursery is packed.

Two views of the mown field looking west.

Gandalf in his cob corner is watching over the mimulus growing on the edge of the pond.

And Hollie the scarecrow, is watching over the alstromeria which is just about to burst open.

We were home quite late but not too late for a very welcome Pimms

 (with home-grown strawberry)

in the garden.

A celebration for my 300th blog entry.

Fairy Bunting

Well I had to laugh when I saw Flash Harry in his own little house when we visited the garden today.

He had all those different options but chose his first house.

Later on I did see him exploring a bit.

After going round once he disappeared into his own house once more.

The foxgloves are lovely....such a magical flower.

But the rabbits got under the net curtains and have decapitated some sunflowers.

Anne has 84 geranium plugs for the garden. They need to be planted soon.

Back at home the little fairy house is in situ.

 It is a joint effort between me and Steve.

We added the log steps and the tiny arch.

 

A tiny scarecrow.

And some fairy bunting using the tiny samples from Joanne.

(I knew I would use them one day.)

Here is the fairy garden in its hidden corner.

Flash Harry`s Adventure Playground

Flash Harry is the latest addition to our "zoo."

He is forty years old. That is quite incredible.

He is very popular with campers.

Sometimes he is hiding in his little house and people are disappointed not to see him.

But at other times he is trundling round his compound.

At the weekend I noticed that there was a kind of path flattened around

 the perimeter of the cage and that led me to wonder if he was bored.

How does a tortoise show boredom?

Since doing some research on the internet, I have found that it is quite usual for a tortoise to pace his enclosure. However I also found out that long grass is not so good as it can cause disease and sometimes long pieces of grass can get stuck in the throat and cause choking.

It is also quite wearing for a tortoise to walk on long grass continually.

Today my first job was to cut the grass with shears. Flash Harry was out and about and I gave him a 

strawberry which he really enjoyed. Here he is with juice dribbling down his chin.

When I started to cut the grass, I think the noise, vibrations or movement caused him to go indoors.

And I didn`t see him again this afternoon.

My first idea was to create two covered areas, well away from the wire fence.

(I think Flash Harry is quite adventurous)

One is a cool area with open sides. I used eight bricks with a paving slab on top.

I cut away the turf as I`d read that they like to scrabble around in the soil. I had to make sure he could get in and out easily.

The next was a warm area. Tortoises are cold-blooded, so when he wants to warm up he can go under his open-sided greenhouse.

I scooped out the turf and left soil underneath, then I used bricks and rested a piece of plastic roofing, with some extra greenhouse shading on the undersides.

Now he has a choice....

a little house for complete privacy

a greenhouse to warm himself up

a cool area to chill out

Next I decided to make the perimeter path more interesting with different surfaces.

At home we had a ridged tile which we bought years ago to allow frogs to get in and out of our pond.

(It had steep sides.) I sank it into the soil after removing the turf.

I washed pebbles to remove sand ( not good for tortoise)

I found old broken tiles in the farm yard, still covered in moss.

I also found some off-cuts of decking.

Now, as Flash Harry scouts his perimeter, he will encounter different surfaces which I hope will make life more interesting. I look forward to seeing which one he will enjoy the most.

Oh and as you can see, he has a little paddling pool. It is a plant saucer, sunk into the ground, shallow enough for him to get in and out easily and held down by four metal tent pegs.

Jenny Wrens and Exciting Plans

Yesterday evening, after a lovely summer`s day, we met up at the garden to discuss the Pickham Farm Open Garden which will be in August. 

We wandered through the garden, deciding where everything would be set up and ended up at the little house for a barbeque. 

There were views to the shepherd`s hut and beyond.

It was delightful and we sat there til gone ten, watching the sun set across the fields.

We got on very well with the planning.

The open garden will be for Farm Africa.

Today has been very busy but we spent the afternoon at the garden.

I found myself with enough sweetpeas to make another two wigwams.

I planted them because I was worried I would run out, after the mice got nearly 

half my plants back in the spring.

Tim was about to saw some old fencing up for firewood but he has let us have some for the more permanent wire fence round the beds. Steve began with the lavender bed today.

I set to and weeded the hornbeam hedge then spread chipped bark underneath. 

I was ably assisted by two year old Tuuli who had arrived in the afternoon with her mum and dad.

They are yurting for the weekend with friends.

They were all excited to see the animals, watch for frogs and explore the garden and farmyard.

The elderflowers are at their best. Paula picked some last night to make her delicious elderflower champagne. We had some last year for our anniversary celebration.

Ian and Tracey have been growing sunflowers .....lovely plants.

They will be making money for the opening.

Anne was very excited to show us what she found under the old yurt cover.

It was a nest of Jenny Wrens. There are four babies in the nest just about to fledge.

They are so cute.

I was remembering how the robin had two sets of babies in Gandalf`s hair last year.

Altogether a lovely afternoon.