A wildlife garden?

Many years ago does anyone remember my announcing grandly that I wanted to create a wildlife garden?

Be careful what you wish for - there is now more wildlife in this garden than I could have ever dreamed of creating a home for. There are the billions of tiny unseen life forms in the soil. There are tiny little insects, bugs and worms which provide food for so many birds. There are loads of slugs and snails providing food for birds, frogs and toads. There are mice which feed the owls I hear screeching outside the bedroom window at night. Occasionally I still see a sparrowhawk take a small bird and now and again a large female hawk has a big lunch of wood pigeon.

That might be distressing to some but I have to accept it is part of a wonderful food chain which nature designed so beautifully and mankind is busy destroying as fast as he can.

And my latest visitor is not exactly the most welcome because their food is in the pond, and I do so love all those little creatures who have made my ponds their home.



I have a sneaky feeling we actually have two heron because this one looks a lot smaller than the usual suspect who visits in the afternoon at this time of year. I know they are taking frogs and newts and I wish they wouldn't . . . but they do (shrugs shoulders), it is the way of the natural world.



As I am no longer using my big Canon camera pictures through the window with an iPhone is best you are going to get, sorry.

Not giving up blogging - but . . .

Thank you so much Rambler, for kicking me up the bottom and asking if I was still blogging.

Err, yes I am blogging, sort of, but only in my head, nothing has got as far as the screen. I do not really want to stop because over the years blogging has been a balm, a joy and a mostly wonderful experience. I really miss the interaction and companionship. So why have I not published a new post since December ? (YIKES, I truly did not realise it had been that long 😡 🤯 😱)

There are so many reasons, none of which can really be explained. Firstly I guess I stopped feeling I've anything useful, new or relevant to say. I know I am not the only blogger to feel like this, 'Bag End' began in March 2008 and in the intervening 16 years a great deal has changed online and I seemed to be repeating myself with not much new to add to the never-ending stream of internet pages. Not helped by it starting to rain last October and barely feels as if it has stopped yet so there have been very few outings in Blue Bus.

And then there is privacy: something else I cannot discuss is the reason why the Bag End blog has been hidden from view. I think I shared too much - too much house, garden, Daisy, quilts. That metaphorical cat has been out of its bag for too long but I am now nervous about sharing anything very personal.

And then there is: a health issue in Himself's family which I cannot discuss. I am OK (in fact, probably now free from long-Covid side-effects and stronger than I have been in years), but this situation is one which will not go away quickly and lurks at the back of one's mind, constantly, and will affect us more in the coming years. It is tiring & wearing and not something which can be blogged about.

So there you are - a blog post about why I cannot blog?

Last week Blue Bus had a very expensive service and is now pronounced fit and well to travel in the coming months. Evidence of how ghastly the weather has been is that it took until yesterday to find a dry spell during which I could take all the camping paraphenalia back to the van and reload. Psychologically it does feel marvellous to be ready to go, even if I currently have no trips booked. I definitely will not be leaving home over the Easter weekend when the already limited parking in the Lake District will be filled with visitors.



I had hoped to spend the Bank Holiday giving my dear Bus a thorough clean and pre-season detail & polish but (once again) I suspect the weather forecast will not be co-operating with that idea. So instead I'll leave you with a couple of garden photos from the last week when it DID stop raining long enough to do a little weeding.