Nearly a farmer
Jun. 29th, 2006 02:41 pmThose of you who have visited Chez Hansen and Tan will know that we have a small patch of garden (=US backyard). I bought a lawnmower earlier this year so that I wouldn't have to depend on the Rector being able to find his in his garage (it's usually buried) and lend it to me. So yesterday I decided to mow the lawn. The mower is one of those that has no wheels; it glides on a column of air pushed down from the motor, and it's a real gem. While mowing, I discovered a bird's nest under our largest shrub, and took another look at the vine that's trailing across the trellis on top of our wall. For the first time, it's begun to flower this year. And what flowers! They are white with a purple band, with a "cup" in the middle holding stamen and pistil. Here's a picture:

I am told by my former workmate John that this is a passion flower. It grows on a vine, and very fast, too. Here's another picture showing several of the flowers. There are literally hundreds of buds on the vine that have yet to open; I anticipate a few days of wild colour when they do.

Also yesterday, one of our squirrels paid us a visit, and I managed to get a little picture of him eating a peanut on our windowsill.

I even got a little movie, but can't embed that here.
But the neighbourhood must be a hotbed of strange activity. This morning I looked out the back door and saw something under our clothesline that looked from that vantage point like a very large fungus. As I'd just mowed last night, I thought it improbable that a fungus that large had grown in the space of 12 hours or so. I took a closer look, and it was a bagel.

I looked over to the fence, and there was another one:

I looked over the fence, and a third was in my neighbour's garden. Leaving that one for the birds, I picked the other two up and threw them away. Someone must have thrown them over our wall. As to why, I have no idea. Perhaps some surreal game of horseshoes?? If so, they missed.

I am told by my former workmate John that this is a passion flower. It grows on a vine, and very fast, too. Here's another picture showing several of the flowers. There are literally hundreds of buds on the vine that have yet to open; I anticipate a few days of wild colour when they do.

Also yesterday, one of our squirrels paid us a visit, and I managed to get a little picture of him eating a peanut on our windowsill.

I even got a little movie, but can't embed that here.
But the neighbourhood must be a hotbed of strange activity. This morning I looked out the back door and saw something under our clothesline that looked from that vantage point like a very large fungus. As I'd just mowed last night, I thought it improbable that a fungus that large had grown in the space of 12 hours or so. I took a closer look, and it was a bagel.

I looked over to the fence, and there was another one:

I looked over the fence, and a third was in my neighbour's garden. Leaving that one for the birds, I picked the other two up and threw them away. Someone must have thrown them over our wall. As to why, I have no idea. Perhaps some surreal game of horseshoes?? If so, they missed.
Urban foxes
Nov. 16th, 2005 09:02 amI got up this morning later than usual as I hadn't slept well in the middle of the night. I looked out the back door onto our rather unmowed back garden (=yard for the UK-challenged). There had been an orange candle in the garden and I had put it on the windowsill rather than throwing it out (you never know when you'll need a candle, I guess). It was on the patio this morning. I thought "Wind's blown it off the windowsill" and put it out of my mind as I started to make breakfast.
HWMBO came downstairs, we ate breakfast, and then as I began my morning trawl through the emails he called me to the back door and asked what had happened to the candle. I told him that I thought it had blown off the windowsill. He said, "And there's something else in the garden. Get the key and take a look." So I did. As I opened the door, what should we see but a fox, streaking out from under a shrub. We only saw his tail in our garden, but then he climbed over the fence between the next garden and the one next to that, and we saw all of him. He was about as big as a largeish cat (overfed cat) or a smallish dog (underfed dog). I picked up the candle and it had toothmarks all over it. So the wind hadn't blown it off the windowsill; the fox had jumped up thinking the candle was edible and been disappointed.
I hear about urban foxes quite often, but have never, until this morning, seen one.
HWMBO hopes that the fox hasn't eaten our squirrels, as they've been scarce lately.
HWMBO came downstairs, we ate breakfast, and then as I began my morning trawl through the emails he called me to the back door and asked what had happened to the candle. I told him that I thought it had blown off the windowsill. He said, "And there's something else in the garden. Get the key and take a look." So I did. As I opened the door, what should we see but a fox, streaking out from under a shrub. We only saw his tail in our garden, but then he climbed over the fence between the next garden and the one next to that, and we saw all of him. He was about as big as a largeish cat (overfed cat) or a smallish dog (underfed dog). I picked up the candle and it had toothmarks all over it. So the wind hadn't blown it off the windowsill; the fox had jumped up thinking the candle was edible and been disappointed.
I hear about urban foxes quite often, but have never, until this morning, seen one.
HWMBO hopes that the fox hasn't eaten our squirrels, as they've been scarce lately.
A few weeks ago we started having a visitor in the backyard. It was a squirrel. HWMBO is one of the kindest people I know (thank goodness) so he began feeding peanuts to the squirrel. He'd put a few out on the pavingstones in front of our back door, and the squirrel would come and pick each one up and carry it away. Sometimes s/he would run along our back wall; other times s/he'd jump from the wall to the roof of the church, then run to the roofpeak, down the other side, and then probably to the Rector's garden to bury or eat the peanut.
We ran out of peanuts, bought another bag, and then the squirrel disappeared. HWMBO would get up each morning when breakfast was ready, come down, and look for his "little squirrel". Privately I thought it might have been picked off by a cat, or by the very large wood pigeons that have discovered that if they're quick they can pick up a peanut or two. HWMBO was very sad indeed.
So I was really happy this evening when we looked out the window and saw the squirrel coming around looking for a peanut. So, we're joyfully feeding him/her again. I sit on the back stoop and put one peanut down on the paving. The squirrel sees it and kind of crawls over to me and picks up the peanut. Then he runs away, avoiding any marauding woodpigeons, and either hides it or eats it. I've discovered that cracking the peanut a bit tends to get the squirrel to eat the peanut directly, rather than taking it away.
I'm certain that some people aren't in favour of feeding squirrels. However, watching HWMBO's face light up when we see the squirrel drop into the back garden for his meal is worth whatever it takes.
We ran out of peanuts, bought another bag, and then the squirrel disappeared. HWMBO would get up each morning when breakfast was ready, come down, and look for his "little squirrel". Privately I thought it might have been picked off by a cat, or by the very large wood pigeons that have discovered that if they're quick they can pick up a peanut or two. HWMBO was very sad indeed.
So I was really happy this evening when we looked out the window and saw the squirrel coming around looking for a peanut. So, we're joyfully feeding him/her again. I sit on the back stoop and put one peanut down on the paving. The squirrel sees it and kind of crawls over to me and picks up the peanut. Then he runs away, avoiding any marauding woodpigeons, and either hides it or eats it. I've discovered that cracking the peanut a bit tends to get the squirrel to eat the peanut directly, rather than taking it away.
I'm certain that some people aren't in favour of feeding squirrels. However, watching HWMBO's face light up when we see the squirrel drop into the back garden for his meal is worth whatever it takes.