Get well soon

How sad. I hear Monty Don has had a minor stroke and will be quitting his role as lead presenter of Gardeners' World. I like Monty. Get well soon - your garden needs you.

Err...what's going on here?
They look ok, but what did these little Abbeygate Street beauties cost?
I know, let's also:
- put speed bumps on the water meadows;
- sell advertising hoardings for the Abbey Gate;
- introduce car parking in the Abbey gardens, and:
- convert the cathedral into a Starbucks.

Oh, baby

Flying the nest

In she goes

Looking for some food

And found some...

Annoying (see earlier post) Cleverclogs has just shown me up with a number of pictures

We have Great Tits (we'll call them GTs) nesting and with young in the garden.

I have tried to capture the fast little fliers all week - to no avail. I've tried hiding in the undergrowth, crawling Army-style up the grass and all has failed.

Along he comes, stands right in front of the bird house and hey presto. Pictures.

Grrrr...

And just for good measure, he also caught the baby thrush.

Blackie the Blackbird...

And a rip-off of my bark shot from earlier on in my blogging career. Copy-cat.

Blank canvas

And here it is.

Waiting for plants.

A feast is gonna come...(hopefully).

That's an azalea in the foreground, apparently.

Ouch, that hurts

Mmmm...radishes

Carrots...ok.

I'm a farmer's son.
I have webbed feet from growing up in the Fens.
Now is my time to shine...
My back is aching from digging - but the raised vegetable beds are ready for business.
I'm aiming to produce the above.
I have this vision of BBC's The Good Life, where I'm Tom Good and Mrs Bean is Felicity Kendall.
We already have Margo and Jerry next door (names have been changed to protect the innocent).
I want to grow carrots that taste like carrots used to taste.
All I need now is a pair of Wellies...and a goat.

Damn and the ants

Annoying red ant

I'm in a stress. These blinking red ants are now burrowing all over my lawn.

I don't want to spray them - but I don't want to be bitten when I'm relaxing on my new Marlows chairs. Anyone know a humane/green way of suggesting they move on (to next door's garden)?

I can't even encourage Blackie the Blackbird to eat them.

Blackie the Blackbird (picture posed by a model)

He's more interested in the 26p Sainsburys Basics digestive biscuits which we feed him.

McVitie's Digestives (other digestive biscuits are available from outlets)

Help please.

Angel Hill

Ok, I understand the medieval beauty of Angel Hill.
However, the safety of young children should come first.
Trying to drive past there in the mornings is an accident waiting to happen - let's either see a lollipop person or a crossing point. The studs are all well and good but there ain't much definition for motorists and pedestrians as to who should go where.
Rant over.
We read about accident figures and the like needing to reach a certain level before work can be deemed necessary - what price a young life?
Sort it.

It's festival time

I love Bury Festival - especially the street theatre.

Tonight, I'll be at the Beating the Retreat ceremony - and then enjoying the Weapons of Sound performance in the Abbey Gardens.

Might even have my first Mr Whippy ice cream of the summer...I've saved up.

SITB of course

Sir Ian Terrence Botham.

He's doing a 7-mile walk there as part of his 2008 charity walk.

Details here:

http://www.bothamwalk.com/en/1/wwbick.html

He's coming...

Wahey! My hero is coming to Bury - well Ickworth.
Can't wait and now need to get training so I can meet him.

Phew, what a scorcher

...has got his hat on today in Bury.
Cycled in to work and swallowed lots of flies.
Sun, cheap breakfast...it's downhill from here.