What now?

It's the beginning of summer and everything in the garden is running smoothly - we've had a couple of weeks of a heatwave, but Chrissie and I managed to stay on top of most of the chores - the lawn has had it's first mowing, edges are neat, leaves have been dug in to serve as compost, excess growth has been trimmed, trees have been neatened up and the pond is clean.

Mulched and composted, the Hydrangeas are just starting to recover from the winter

So what is there to do now while the rake and spade are enjoying a well-deserved rest?

Redheaded Finch (Amadina erythrocephala) - watercolour in Moleskine - Maree

It's obvious - watch the birds! They're enjoying everything the garden has to offer - seeds and fruit, bird baths and shelter for nesting. My binoculars, camera and sketch-books have been working overtime - the Redheaded Finches (pictured above) flocked to the Butterfly bush at the pond and for weeks on end there has been constant chattering and fighting over the best vantage and nesting points. Some Bronze Mannikins (Spermestes cucullata) joined them, but the two groups occupied two different bushes, putting up a big show of territorial behaviour should anybody stray from one to the other.

"Red Bishop" - sketch in an old soft-cover book - Maree

The Red Bishops are a beautiful sight, their red flashing from tree to tree and their presence at the bird table is always a joy - they're very tolerant of everybody else, yet don't hesitate to defend their territory if necessary.

I was cleaning up earlier on and came upon some old books, so I carried them to the patio with a cup of tea and was busy going through them to decided which ones to throw out, when the Bishop in all his glory caught my eye. The male's buzzing song alerting the female to the nest he's building for her is always the first to alert me of their return. I was so excited to see them that I grabbed one of the books, opened it and started sketching him sitting on the fence post. I then rushed to get some paints and got his colours while he was flitting around, showing off to the female. So now none of the books are being thrown out - I've found a new use for them!

The Fiscal Shrike is rearing four babies this season and here one of them contentedly takes a nap after feeding.

One of the Fiscal Shrike parents keeping a watchful eye as I move around the garden

 My Cape Robin-chat (Robbie) watching me as I'm watching him!

Once your garden is up-to-date and you are scrounging around for chores to do, take a moment and enjoy the fruits of your labour! Take a seat on a garden bench and let your eyes roam over all your hard work, noticing the beautiful flowers, the insects pollinating and ensuring future generations of blooms and the birds enjoying your gifts to them. That is what makes it all worth-while!



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Coffee, Mollie and frugality

It's a sunny summer's day but there is an icy wind blowing. And yet I'm sitting outside in the garden having coffee. Braving the cold. And the reason, you might ask?

Well, I spotted Mollie, my resident Mole Snake, just as she made her way down a hole against the wall. I haven't seen her for months as she was probably hibernating and I'm very keen to get a couple of photographs and also to see whether she has grown at all. The skin she shed last summer panned out at almost two meters (which means she's about 1.3m-1.5m in length as the shed skin is always longer) and the length that disappeared down the hole looked considerably longer. Maybe it's somebody else, so I'm waiting to see. But I don't think I've got much hope of that, she's probably settled in there for the day now.

While I was waiting, I did a couple of chores - filled the seed house with a new block of seeds, filled the nectar bottle with sugar water and watered a few plants, all the while keeping an eye on the hole in case Mollie surfaced.

I purchased this feeder from a lovely garden shop in Ballito, called "Sage" and they have the most exquisite plants, pots and bird paraphernalia. All I need to do now is buy the blocks of replacements seeds which I can do on-line, no need to drive 600km to the coast!

Replacements seeds ordered on-line

Next on my list - a Nectar feeder

I also filled up my pine cones with fresh peanut butter sprinkled with some wild bird seed. This is a delicacy that the birds really love.

I saw a really cool idea at the nursery the other day - a raffia bag filled with feathers from which your garden birds can easily pluck some ready-made nesting material. I've made one out of an empty orange bag but have not yet managed to collect enough soft feathers from the garden to fill it with. Moulting season for the chickens is finished for the moment. And I really don't know of anywhere where one can buy feathers from. Maybe a hobby shop...? (I'm also just thinking, why didn't I just buy it from the nursery while I was there! But that leaves no space for creativity and frugality, does it? he he!)

My new Seed cage feeder with new block of seeds

I also bought a pottery suet feeder, the birds absolutely love it!

Well, after a couple of hours and several cups of coffee, Mollie still hadn't surfaced so I gave up waiting, will see if I can spot her tomorrow. But at least all the birds feeders are full and all the bird baths clean and fresh...

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You just gotta love garden tools!

I just absolutely love garden tools and garden sheds and watering cans! I have about 17 watering cans and I just cannot by-pass a set of hand tools in the garden shops! I do have my favourites that I use, the rest are displayed on shelves and corners in my house together with baskets and garden gloves, another favourite of mine. Not that I use them often, who can use the hose pipe or dig in a piece of earth with gloves on?!

"Where, but in a garden, do summer hours pass so quickly?"

Some of my favourite garden tools are my Lasher spade and fork (above) - petite and light-weight, they are ideal for the woman-gardener. I have had mine for many years now, and they're certainly showing wear, but they're still as sturdy as ever, taking pride of place in my garden shed. Nobody, not even Chrissie, my garden manager, is allowed to use them, she has her own set. Between the two of us, we make a mean team in the garden!

I prefer hand trowels with a wooden handle, they seem to have a better grip, especially when one's hands are wet. Besides the normal size, I have some very small forks and trowels for easily getting in between potted flowers for removing weeds or lifting a plant to transplant into the garden.

 

Some of my favourite tools ready for use on a potting table on my patio 

Some of the chores awaiting me this week are moving some of my tender succulents into the house for over-wintering, removing the last of the summer weeds and transplanting some potted plants into the garden, like this little Acacia karroo tree (above) that took root in this pot all on its own. I've been pampering it for a couple of months now, and soon it will be ready for its own space in the garden.

Geranium cuttings ready to go into the garden 

A weed growing from a rock on my patio - I'll leave it just where it is!

A watering can sharing space with some terracotta pots on a shelf in my potting shed 

 

 

These Echeverias (E. glauca) should be coming inside for the winter, just wondering where in my flower room I'm going to find space for them...? 

 Cleaning out the chicken coop 

The Nasturtiums are coming to an end and I will be removing dead stalks and creeping vines, but last winter a lot of them saw it fit to flower all winter long, maybe I'm lucky again this year!

Some of my girls helping with bug control...

 

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