The visit from the Lewisham Heron got us all here at Weeds HQ on high alert so on Friday morning some new pea netting was slung over the top of the pond (not forgetting to raise some parts up so frogs and others can gain access), the solar-powered water fountain (procured last year for forty-odd quid) was taken out from “under the stairs” and some fish food administered. Everything now looks swimmingly well! Now all we need is for that blasted Heron to stay away.
It was a lovely day at Weeds HQ today; seeds were sown, pots were moved about and garden furniture was cleaned up for the hopefully forthcoming good weather. And then at 7.30 pm we were visited by the Lewisham Heron (have a look on top of the fence on the left hand side of the picture).
The pond had been netted over after its last visit (post here) so there was no chance it could get his/her beak in there and thanks to a couple of local crows who flew in and shoo-ed the Heron off after it did some sort of pre-dinner routine of bobbing up and down, the event ended with no goldfish being eaten.
This time the bird spared us. Fingers crossed there will be no next time!
It’s been a busy couple of weeks at Weeds HQ; the builders are in doing some work and a fair bit of clearing up has been done in the back during a couple of days dedicated to just gardening. Also after years deliberating, a solar powered pump is now in action in the pond, all for the bargain price of 40 odd quid and what a difference it makes! The new load of fish bought from the Lewisham pet shop now with a net over them (to stop that pesky heron here from murdering this current batch) are looking well happy and so are the frogs and newts too! The bottom of the pond can now be seen, which is a first!
The builders had some stuff delivered on a nice mini-pallet (above) which has now been utilised for the mini herb garden just outside the back door. Apart from a couple of leaves being nibbled in the night everything is doing fine. The first chilli is now showing (below).
The weekly comfrey liquid feed around the garden is turning up trumps what with the giant tomato (below) that is nearly ripened. The comfrey liquid might pong a bit but it don’t half work wonders.
This week the following radio show has been on constant replay. It’s Jah Life‘s excellent Backawall University from July 7th and this episode contains something very special indeed. It features dub plates from King Tubby’s younger brother Stagga (aka “Young Tubbs”) made in Brooklyn, New York in 1970 before King Tubby began his dub experiments in Kingston. There’s some great dubs on here: Phyllis Dillon’s “One life to live” (with the vocal just about audible), The Sensations “Everyday is just a holiday”, The Jamaicans “Baba boom” (retitled “Boom Baba”) and more. More on Stagga Ruddock here. Big shout to Dubby Doo for alerting us to this show which is musical history!
Last week while visiting our garden pond we noticed the absence of the many goldfish that usually frequent it and tonight we discovered why. Look just near the top of the picture left of centre; we reckon that grey bodied, long necked Heron may have something to do with it! R.I.P. the goldfish procured from Lewisham pet shop.
Weeds up to me knees 