A free weekend - yippee! I think the total time I was able to spend in the garden was about 15 hours, and I have the aching limbs, odd little scratch and general warm, happy glow to show for it.
The warm glow is in contrast to the temperature I was working in, which had quite an autumnal nip to it, so it was interesting to see how nature had responded. Insects in particular were in very short supply, with just one wasp and one bee seen.
Hoorah then for Ivy and Bramble.
On the former, the flush of flowers had drawn in a couple of Red Admiral butterflies.
But it was good to see Bramble being used too. It was quite an odd little wildlife group that had gathered here on this cluster of berries (left). Top left of the trio a fly of some sort (and I'm afraid my fly identification is almost non-existent. Something for 2011, maybe). To its right a coreid bug. And hanging underneath a Comma butterfly showing off its wonderful camoflage when closed. Spot the white comma mark after which it is named.
And here is what happens (right) when it flashes open its wings.
Right, off for a long bath and some time with the nail brush. As fellow gardeners, I know you'll understand.
If you want to drop by my RSPB wildlife gardening blog, it is updated every Friday, and I'd love to see you there - www.rspb.org.uk/community/blogs/hfw
By a strange coincidence, I managed to get out in the garden this weekend. I did some cleaning out of the pond, dying iris and lily leaves etc. Tidied up the patio area and dug over and weeded an empty patch. I don't do much other tidying until spring.
There is an old elder tree, in our newly planted native hedge, which is covered in ivy. The ivy is now covered in berries. One sunny day last week, I saw about 7 or 8 Red Admiral butterflies just sitting on the ivy and soaking up the sun, a wonderful sight in mid-October.
Yes, I sympathise about the nail brush! One tip is to dig your nails into a bar or soap before gardening, make sure plenty of soap is stuck behined your nails. It does work but I tend to forget to do it unfortunately.
Kind regards Jane.