Broad Beans

I've been asked why there was a picture of a nightjar in yesterday's post, and no mention there-of. Well, we put the nightjar in fully intending to talk about nightjars, but then got all carried away with tales of heroic battles with bay trees and jasmine arbours.

Dad had done his annual leading of a guided walk with the Friends of Kingswood, this one the Nightjar walk. It was a good one. They'd had a good turn out and not lost anyone in the dark, and the nightjars had done their stuff churring and flapping about. They also saw and heard (via the bat-box) plenty of bats but there was no sign of deer, glow worms or woodcock, which are usually seen on this walk)

Ah well, the jasmine is now all gone, bagged up and lugged up to the tip in 5 car journeys, all in Mum's little Fiat because Dad picked up his brand new car yesterday and didn't want to be filling it with skanky old jasmine.

Up at the allotment, Dad gets a good cut of spinach, a couple of artichokes and the first broad beans. Back at home he pods these out into a bucket and is that a tear I see come to his eye? He's welling up a bit missing Megan. Megan used to love a broad bean straight out of the pod (the gnarlier and older, grey skinned the bean, the better) and used to sit at Dad's feet every time they podded hoping for Dad to occasionally give her a bean, or accidentally ping one out across the terrace. Haggis and I hate beans, so we're no use to him here, and I think it brought it all back.

Poor ol' Dad
Deefski

In disgrace

Remember old Denis? Dad to Rags, and frequent visitor along with Diamond? Well, he's passed away now, but 10 years ago he gave Mum and Dad a small bay tree about 4 feet high. My third pic today shows that this is now more like 15 feet and badly shades the "sun terrace", the kitchen window and even the upstairs bathroom window. It had to go. Coming originally as a gift from Denis it was jokingly known round here as the Denis N Memorial Bay Tree.

This was a job for Saturday afternoon, Dad manning the pruning saw and secateurs, Mum moving load after load of cut-up bay to the tip in her car. We had also booked JW, partner of Diamond, and his chain saw to come and finish off the job with a neat horizontal cut just over two feet from the ground. The plan is to buy a sun-dial here after known as the Denis N Memorial Sundial. JW also sawed the bigger bits into logs, which was handy - these are now stacked in the "log-wall" down by the gravel garden.

Today's main emtertainment was the Friends of Kingswood "bluebell walk" which Dad was due to lead. Unfortunately with the cold winter and slow spring, the bluebells are barely out. Even in the known "best places" you are looking across a blanket of the dark green foliage with maybe half a dozen open flowers spotted about. It will be a good 2 weeks (even if it's as warm as this) before there's a good show, but of course, FoKW can't predict this last October when they are putting together their walks programme.

No matter - we have a good walk in the warm forest and everybody has a good time. We are accompanied by 14 humans and a large ancient shaggy black Alsatian. I am in disgrace now though because at one point I spot a group of 5 sheep in a paddock and I'm gone and under the gate before anyone can stop me. Farmers are allowed shoot any dog worrying their sheep and ask questions afterwards, so my charge (which is admittedly not full-hearted, and only makes the sheep collect together and move a few yards up the field) has Dad bellowing anxiously and grabbing to open the gate and get on my tail.

Unkind spectators have suggested that the farmer, alarmed by seeing his sheep suddenly group and trot up the paddock might have then fallen about laughing at the sight of a rabbit-sized fluffy white westie racing up the grass, and then got more worried by the roaring human risking heart attack in hot pursuit. Dad shouted enough to make me crouch in fear of my life and he grabbed me up and trotted back down to the gate not daring to look behind him at the farmhouse in case he made eye contact with the farmer.

Ooops.

Deefski

ps - my other pic here is another bit of old junk now owned by Dad, a rotovator, now back in working order, dating from 1967.

Committee Special

As well as the proper guided walks Dad does for the public on behalf of the Friends of Kingswood (like last weekend's Deer Walk), Dad volunteered to take the Committee on an invitation-only special, starting into the forest at 06:30.

He came home positively bubbling over with excitement. Not only had the 9 of them heard and seen all sorts of normal deer stuff, but as they crept up towards the main rutting stand as a tightly packed group, Dad suddenly saw a movement and crouched. The rest of them saw this and froze, peering into the trees, thinking he'd seen something at a distance. Dad mimed "keep still, and very quiet", pointing to some bushes not 30 feet away.

Suddenly there was a "Crack" and thump and loud scrabbling noises - 2 bucks were fighting just behind the bushes, oblivious of the presence of 9 humans so close. As the photo shows, this was not a photo-opportunity, but nobody cared - they were all frozen with excitement to the spot, all the time thinking one or other of the combatants would look up and see them.

But no, these boys were too focussed, lifting their heads just to size up the opponent's next move before, crack!, their heads and antlers clashed again, thump as their forefeet hit the ground, and scrabbling as they pushed and shoved each other, battling to gain ground. Antlers rattled against each other as each deer wrestled his neck into more advantageous positions. This went on for what seemed like ages, but was probably only 5 minutes, before very suddenly, the buck on Dad's left turned and fled, hotly pursued by the other, crashing through the scrubby birch at full speed, missing the humans by only yards, still apparently unaware of the spectators.

It doesn't get much better than that, said Dad and suddenly everyone was chattering excitedly at once. Brilliant, they all agreed! After that they went back to normal stalking and creeping about but everyone knew they'd probably seen the best view of the day, and didn't really mind if they never saw another deer!

Deefski

New Pond in the Forest

The 25th - Burns Night - a day for the "H" to feel a bit nervous as all these humans talk of eating haggis. No matter how many times you tell Haggis that this is a foodstuff beloved of Scots, and is spelt with a small "h" he never looks that convinced till it's bedtime and he has survived again.

Our lie-in with the humans reading the papers, is interupted by convincing squirrel scampering noises in the roof space above our heads. We've had starlings nesting up there every year for the last few, but lately there's been scamperings and rummagings too big and heavy (and too keen to venture away from the nest-hole, into the roof itself) to be starlings.

Dad and I are sent up to explore while Mum, in the bedroom is put on listening watch. The theory is that as soon as Dad pops the hatch open "it" will be heard scurrying for the entrance, and may be seen by Mum exiting the hole above the bedroom window and doing its acrobat-bit round the soffit and gutters, up onto the roof. That proves to be the case. I am carried up the ladder and let llose for a fantastic explore among the boxes and junk - it's an Alladin's cave up there! The have a devil's own job persuading me back out once the exploratory investigate is done.

Dad is despatched to B+Q for expanding filler, which he will frame with 3/4 inch weld-mesh into an effective block on the hole.

It rains all day. We do a short walk with Meggie in the Rec but later, despite the rain, we are off to the forest for a voyage of discovery. The "Friends of Kingswood" (of which Dad used to be Treasurer) have had a 4th pond constructed all the way down on the north side of the forest in the bit called "Cutler's Valley" (O.S. savvy readers might prefer "TR041521").

The forest is mainly on chalk, although bits have glacial deposits of "clay with flints", so there is little standing water for the Fallow Deer, and the FoKW have had 3 ponds built over the years to help out, now with a 4th. Previous ponds have been made with a puddled 2 feet deep layer of local clay, but now, since foot and mouth etc, there are big hoops to jump through moving soil and substrate about, so it was cheaper to embed an artificial liner - like industrial strength butyl rubber sheet.

Meanwhile, poor ol' Mum is struggling through the weekend with an OU assessment involving producing a profit and loss for a "case study" business. It's not going smoothly and she occasionally emerges muttering "Gah" and dark swearings to any dog foolish enough to cross her path. Sums is Hard, she opines.

Being a dog is sometimes the easier option ...... zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Deefski