First bat(s) of the season!
It's been a lovely day. I slept in, then wandered off to the post office to mail off the manuscript. Dropped into the Hospice shop and found a three-candle table-top hot-plate (been wanting one for a while) and bought it, so that when we eat out of doors I can put the dishes in the middle of the table for Kai to help himself while the food still stays warm. Then diverted to the cats' charity shop - where the first thing I saw as I walked in were stacks and stacks of Focus
Freedom paints...
Not sure if I said, but after finding that Focus had exactly the colour I wanted for my room on a BOGOF offer, when I finally managed to get over there to buy the four tins I needed I found they'd sold out, they weren't getting any more, and in any case the line had been discontinued. I was peeved, I was.
So it was wonderful to find it in the cats' charity shop. They had the green that we used in our bedroom, so I have a tin of that (our wall will need repainting in a year or so), three tins of a gorgeous royal blue and one of the rich turquoise I originally wanted (they only had one) which will do very nicely for this room - all at £1.50 each. Five tins for a little less than the price of one! It was a bargain!
Back home Ken had mown front and back (it's supposed to rain tonight - believe it when I see it). I trimmed around all the planters and little shrubs, and we dismantled the old growbag - and I found this gorgeous little scarab, actually a native rosechafer. So pretty...
We sat for a while before clearing up, watching our hen blackbird hunting for grubs, presumably for nestlings: it's amazing how many they can get in their beaks at one time. The pair are both really quite tame now, happy to hunt in the garden even when we're out there and really close. (They're also very territorial: a strange male landed while she was hunting and she saw him off in no uncertain terms). One of our robins came to visit too - looked very thin, puir wee thing, so I assume it's feeding chicks too.
And the bats? I took a walk up to the top of the garden at twilight, and stood for a little while just enjoying the evening. One of the bats from Arnos Vale regularly visits the garden in the warmer weather: tonight it did several circuits then flew circles - about eight or nine of them! - around my head, only a couple of feet above me.
Kai came out to see - and our bat, which kindly did a few more circles over our heads to prove I hadn't imagined it, was then joined by a second flitty beast! Such lovely little creatures.
The purple plant is a
lunaria (honesty, a native wildflower). It's one of my favourites, and I had a lot in the garden in the early years. I thought I'd lost it all, so I'm delighted that it's still here. I shall try to establish it in other parts of the garden once it's set seed.
So all in all a great day - but Friday 13th usually is for us. Tomorrow I'm taking Kai on the
Avon Valley Railway (using the Easter 'child goes free' special offer): Kai loves it , but I've never been, and I promised him a day out this weekend after being so good and patient while I was finishing
Celtic Symbols. The weather is supposed to be really hot and sunny: I shall make chicken tortillas and we'll take drinks and bars too, and enjoy the rides. Then on Sunday Kai's been invited round to a friend's for the afternoon, which he'll enjoy I think!
For now though, I need to code the BCP minutes - then I think I'll watch some anime. It feels quite strange not having to write tonight!
This is fun -
Are there purple palm trees on alien worlds?Labels: garden
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Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor
pontificated this at 11:26 pm
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