Category: Garden

August 2026 and it is dry. Not as dry as the Australian novel of the above title of course. Thankfully we store most of the water off the house and outbuildings and even the grey water from upstairs sinks, bath etc. With careful watering of the newer and more tender plants the garden is surviving. I even throw washing up water on the lawn.

As it is a little cooler today I’ve been out and around the garden sorting out things like a down pipe off the platform roof down the hill, which had got blocked by nest building in the absence of water in the gutter.

Here are some pause points on the walk round.

During the current heatwave it is pleasant to get out in the garden early. We use rain and grey water most of the year but supply is running low so I thought I’d use a hose for a change to help things along before a likely ban comes in.

A couple of clips here that I am not sure about (nothing new there). The first (ignoring the Tits) is obviously a young bird. At first the second looks the same, not sure how to get at the food then suddenly works out a way. Then all becomes clearer on a new clip of the mother feeding the young one at the feeder.

This is quite long but very entertaining.

And there seem to be strict sitting times for the feed by bird type. A few minutes later.

Between Ruth and I we’ve accidentally ended up with a theme.

We’ve crept into May and the temperatures are swinging with the change of wind direction. Some glorious sunshine but not enough rain. Trees swapping from blossom to leaf and everything looking crisp before it all becomes too overblown.