A sad day...

Feeling rather miserable tonight as unbelievably a Great Spotted Woodpecker has demolished not only the nest box with an almost ready to fly blue tit family by drilling a hole in the bottom of the box but has also managed to do the same with our other nest box containing almost ready to fly Great Tits... all gone I'm wondering with the continued cold weather if perhaps there is so little around for birds to feed their young?

I wonder if anyone else has had any similar experiences?  In the 10 yrs we've been here I've never seen anything like this... two nests demolished in one afternoon...

Celebrating 100 Years of The RHS Chelsea Flower Show

This is a stunning book, which is beautifully written by RHS Historian, Brent Elliott and takes the reader on an insightful journey through the 100 years of The RHS Chelsea Flower Show's existence and also includes the many years which lead up to the very first show.

 

This book could be as easily read cover to cover as it could be "dipped in and out of" being packed with interesting information as well as being beautifully illustrated with a great collection of past and present photos of show gardens, garden designers, growers, plants, famous visitors to the show, ticketing and show posters as just a few of the subjects which I enjoyed. There are far too many to mention them all here.

 

I've tried to pick out just some of my favourite parts of the book to give you a flavour of what to expect... to discover the rest you'll just have to go and buy a copy or give a few unsubtle hints to friends and family to buy it for you for a birthday or Christmas... or even as a surprise gift!

 

The subject of the weather is never far away from the minds of both gardeners and those organising a show like Chelsea! With so much in the news this year about the weather, it was amusing to find this Cartoon from the 1829 "Horticultural Fete" as it was known as then - showing some disastrous wet weather that year - the Morning Post had reported "when the doors were opened, what a rush took place! The standing nearly ankle-deep in water, coming from wet gravel; shrieks were dreadful and the loss of shoes particularly annoying!"  So extremes in weather existed back in 1829 too.

 

I loved this other cartoon - by W K Haselden for the Daily Mirror on 20th May 1936 - "Dreams at Chelsea Show" - it is probably even true today!

 

There were some great pages showing adverts for some of the interwar garden machinery - I was surprised to find that reasonably sophisticated garden tools existed at such an early date - the Little Wonder" hedge clipper caught my eye - I bet the guy ached from head to toe after using that for a day!













The other product so obviously influenced by the tank is the Oxford "Roadless" Barrow shown below - easy to imagine these being useful on early landscaping projects resembling something of the Somme Battlefields! Seeing these helps one to appreciate what we have now although I have little doubt that these products would have done an excellent job!

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

I couldn't leave out the "Bunty House" from my posting... I guess this was an extremely posh version of a Wendy House... being supposedly fireproof, a sporting or fishing bungalow or suitable for open-air treatment - the mind boggles!!

There is plenty more on the early years of Chelsea as well as a great record of everything up to the present day. For the purpose of this review I've concentrated more on the early years... you only need to wait a few more days and I'm sure 2013 at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show will have its own story to tell. 

 

There's only two more things I'd like to add here - firstly I'd like to mention the quality of the actual book - its presentation is fabulous and I can't recommend this enough. Secondly - if you're tempted to buy a copy - they are available at the RHS Online Shop or via Amazon.

 

Do hope you enjoy reading this and if you get a copy do post a quick comment....

Fox Cubs Part 2!

Thought I'd quickly post these photos - taken early evening of a new fox cub family... I can't believe my luck in getting so close - they are unbelievably cute but undoubtedly younger than the family in the other location... I went for an evening stroll after battling with lots of long grass today... and amazed to see these two little cubs curled up in tight balls - separately but within striking distance of the den entrance... enjoy!

 

Foxes & Owl Boxes...

Lots of fun has been had this past few weeks... more recently it's been the local fox cubs that have taken my attention.... I've never seen fox cubs up close like this ever ... literally a few meters away when I've taken the photos.  What has amazed me is that they haven't rushed away when they've seen me - they've almost been inquisitive I think :-)  If other work wasn't keeping me so busy I'd be tempted to camp out at the side of the field all day and watch them coming and going from the den!  This photo was one of the most recent - it was a really windy evening but still warm in the sun.... this little chap was enjoying the last rays ... how cute!  They are v. amusing to watch... here a area a few of my photos...



Hope you've enjoyed these... this wasn't the only excitement - a friend Richard came and has put up a Barn Owl box in our woodland.... if you click on the link you can see it in use (where it was previously) complete with Owl!  Please take a look at Richard's blog.

The box has been put with easy access for the birds to fly in -

Here are a couple more close up views of it... all we need now are two birds to make a home here so watch this space!

 

I found an amazing Emperor Hawk Moth the other day... which appeared to have hatched from the compost in our window boxes!!

 

I also discovered this caterpillar and wonder if some clever person reading this can tell me what it is? 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend... and thanks for visiting my blog.