This morning we received our three logs of Barley Straw to sort out the murkiness of the pond. It’s an mad looking thing isn’t it? Very Patrick McGoohan! We won’t be worrying about any Rover type shenanigans as that netting we have to keep the Ladywell Heron out will stop it coming out of the water.
It was lovely today, a bit hot at times but a good day to be out in the garden. We did something a little different, we went out there with no plans, just a broom, a hoe and pair of secateurs and see what jobs hit us at the time.
The pond is teeming with life at the moment, there’s hundreds of tadpoles and as you can see in the pic above there was something going on at the side as loads of them were flocking to that area, even the goldfish wanted to join in! A few water lily leaves and a couple of oxygenating plants were thinned out (and left on top of the netting for a while so if anything living was still on them, they wouldn’t have far to travel home.)
And we ripped off the polythene, cloches and bricks around the raised beds and stuck some bamboo canes in for that “established veg garden” look (even though it weren’t like that earlier today.) Everything is coming on nicely and some of the potato plants have even flower buds! Fingers crossed no more frost alerts as the protective polythene and old bed sheets have now been put out for the binmen!
By the way we have a new enemy at the moment, a crafty magpie who swoops in on a evening to rob the cat’s food just by the kitchen door. Who’d have thought it, the cheeky so and so! #gardeninginlockdown
And to accompany the writing of this gardening post the latest (64) This is a music show is playing with a great load of stuff as per mostly off CD but quality music all the same!
https://soundcloud.com/thisisamusicshow/this-is-a-music-show-064
We’ve got a small pond at the bottom of the garden and as there’s no electricity supply down there, there’s no pump, so the quality of the water can be something to be desired at the best of times but there are a few goldfish in there (bought years ago from lewisham’s “premier” pet shop) and they don’t seem to mind.
Yesterday around lunchtime looking out of the kitchen window, I saw our cat frantically fly down the garden path towards the pond where I was sure I saw something bobbing about on the top of the water. On closer inspection it turns out it was a duck, how mad is that? 
I originally thought to shoo it out as I reckoned it would probably half-inch the fish that’s in there but as the picture (below) shows it weren’t bothered, but rather preferred their food which was floating on the top of the pond.
The cat wasn’t too keen on it being in the garden but the duck didn’t seem to care, as at one point went to sleep with his neck resting on his back in the middle of the pond while our feline friend was on the side, fuming!
The duck stayed in there for over two hours before flying off in the direction of Catford to the relief of our cat who for a long while later, stood guard at the side of the water waiting for it’s return.
I tell you what, the water looked a great deal cleaner after the duck’s departure. Big up the South London duck!
Weeds up to me knees 