5th February
John has made the most splendid nesting box for tree sparrows. They like communal living so he has produced a Tree Sparrow Terraced Living Facility. It's fixed to the back of the very first shed we put up.
6th February
Blog followers will know that Clare is rather fond of the OED Word of the Day. Today is not only special because it marks 100 years since women began to get the vote, but because she has coined her own new word. Today's OED word is 'godwottery', and can be used to describe an over-effected or elaborate style of gardening, and it comes from the line ‘A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!’, in T. E. Brown's poem My Garden (1876). So, what happens at Liddells is now officially 'godwotterynot'.
7th February
John saw a deer in the Pit Wood and a woodcock in the Scrub. Great excitement at home as the saddle for Eilidh to use with Paul arrived and with scarcely a pause, here she is setting off sitting on it and Paul. He seems to have made tyre tracks in the snow.
9th February
We're getting ready for February 14th, not with hearts and flowers but by making new nest boxes as 14th - 21st is National Nest Box Week. (Put it in your diary now and maybe put up a box next year.) John is planning two more speciality boxes for a tawny owl and for a kestrel.
Kissing fashionable in February
See saw
Tempting the local tawny owl population
17th February
Two delights: we were given a bag of snowdrops by our land neighbour Monica and planted them in the newly cleared area of the Pit Wood; Mathilda shared The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry with us.
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
22nd February
Shoulder tendon damage (John), sore hip (Clare) and miscellaneous bugs (John and Clare) meant that we didn't quite manage to put up bird boxes by 21st as planned, however we're presuming the birds will be forgiving and grateful for new accommodation. We decided to put up the tawny owl box today and happily Tim happened along at just the right time and helped the job go really smoothly. Clare also had the treat of seeing a barn owl flying within the Pit Wood. We'd heard there was one around and are delighted it's using Liddells as part of its territory. We also planted 8 hazels in the north-east corner of the Pit Wood.
Note obedience to Health and Safety requirements - ladder tied to tree
What is it with John and levels?
Note obedience to Clare's insistence on straightening the box
Desirable residence to let. And yes, we do know the birds can fly into the box, the ladder was for construction purposes on;y
In goes a hazel
23rd February
After the tawny owl box success, we chose a site for the kestrel box. It needed to be at a height of at least 15ft, so we first had to work out how to get it up that high. Attempt 1 - haul up with a rope. Moderate success. Attempt 2 - haul up with two ropes. Better, though then the fixing panels came off. We called it a day.
If at first you don't succeed...
...try...
25th February
We stiffened our sinews and went back for a third go. Bingo! Having seen the state of the Wildflower Meadow, we also engaged the 13 year old son of a local neighbour who has started a business called Molebusters.
...try again...
...and eventually, you make it! Over to you kestrels...
Yesterday we forgot to take an illustrative photo of the extent of the molehills, so here are a few in the newly fallen snow on 27th. Clare has been told that it is the male mole that moves in a straight line, while the female is more creative in her travels. Sounds believable.