New pond fixture

Well finally I have the pond full again ,and blow me down ,look what surfaced !! It felt like the first day of winter today ,perfectly clear morning ,slight frost and lovely day .lorna and David donated a couple of old signs to add to the decor ,much appreciated .For the less imaginative amongst you ,it's a yellow submarine !!! and the second one is a self portrait [I've become a prickly old bugger ]

Global warming

Here are five reasons that I believe in global warming ,or something weird going on in the atmosphere ! All of these plants shouldn't be out until SEPTEMBER !!
Snowdrop leaves ,,,,Voilets ,,,Snowdrop clusters ,,,,japonica blossom ,,,,red yarrow .
We haven't even had a decent frost recently and it's less than 4weeks till mid-winter.

The warm before the cold !

Evening all, sorry that it is so long since the last blog ,it is that strange period between autumn and winter ,nearly all the fruit is picked and what isn't the chooks are getting .The days are lovely and warm ,just made for cutting tracks in the broom and planting elm suckers or any other trees that I can re-locate .It has been so moist this year and so fruitful ,seed-wise that I have gathered up SACK FULLS of acorns and just broadcast them by hand into the rougher spots ,watch that space in about 4yrs .I have also planted a certain number to see how they go .Under Antons trees there is just a carpet of seedlings ,but I never find them very easy to transplant .Look at what I am cooking up tonight ,Big Cone pines ,to get some seeds ,you can see a seed in front of the cone ,they are a beautiful pine tree and I'm keen to get a bunch growing .The pond is my big worry at the moment ,getting it built up before the winter ,but it WILL happen ....Cheers Bob

PS does anyone else find a little irony in the juxtaposition of these two Aussie stamps?

Late Autumn

Hi Folks ,,,,late autumn now ,in fact today it rained all day long ,gentle warm rain mind you ,but it is certainly getting closer to winter now .Lots of firewood in and lots of coal ,so let it come !! I have had a great week with a couple of French WWOOFers ,we cut tracks in the broom and had nice warming bon-fires ,then planted a number of cork elms ,so 20 yrs down the track there should be a nice little elm woods ,hopefully .
I always TRY to get the WWOOFers to make themselves a felt hat .Etienne made himself a black helmet specially for the "Rugby World Commerce" and Aurore made herself a chic little No. for the streets of Paris .
Heres a few photos from the last week ,including the chickens that came on May 1..