Mutterings of a Big Teddy

Friday, July 28, 2006

American Goldfinch; Stay away from Me-hee...

These are photos of a female American Goldfinch. Isn't she beautiful? Unfortunately, she has adopted an annoying habit of fluttering against the upper and lower windows of the front of the house and tapping on them with her beak.
I googled this behaviour and found very little. One entry I did find referred to a female cardinal (also a seed-eater) attacking her own reflection. I can only conclude that this what the tiny madam is doing. According to other sources, Goldfinches don't nest until July (!!); something to do with their moulting patterns.
The male and female both scavenge for nesting materials, but the female does the actual nest building.
"Just leave it over there darling, thank you" sort of thing. "Oo, and some more wood shavings, if you can get them. Lovely."
In theory, once she has laid her eggs, she should stop this tap-tap-tapping as she should be engaged in full-time sitting. We shall see...

p.s.- To reply to a comment on the last blog, a psycho-squirrel is merely a squirrel who is psychopathic. Anything can be prefixed with "psycho-" (in my opinion). For instance, if your food processor got a bit out of control (falls off the counter, lid flies off etc.) you could refer to it as a psycho-food processor...












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Sunday, July 23, 2006

Death of a Spider Plant

I put a Spider Plant outside because it was looking a bit depressed. Big mistake. After a couple of days, I noticed that the pot had been dug into and that the plant itself was flattened. I assumed a squirrel had buried something in the roots. I left it where it was, thinking that the burial was an isolated incident. Well! Turns out that our very own psycho-squirrel has been taking some kind of earth bath in the pot. Half-amused and half-outraged, I took these photos this morning. Sorry they are blurred.
Since the plant is now a lost cause, I will leave the pot there and hopefully contain psycho-squirrel's wash and brush-ups.













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Friday, July 21, 2006

Bzzzzzzzzz....

An unexpected and highly welcome side-effect of the Sunflower planting is that bees seem to love them. I took photos; see below.
(BTW, it's the only subject of this blog 'cos I just liked all the yellow.)

















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Monday, July 17, 2006

More Garden stuff

It's really hot here now; late 20s early 30s every day. Humidity is not bad really for the time of year but it's pretty muggy all the same. Some heavy rain though, every now and then, which is a relief.
Best news is that the first sunflower has come out; Ta-Da!
Other photos show various visitors. A couple of squirrels are hanging around, determined to terrorise the neighbour's tomatoes. Unfortunately, they are too hasty and keep sampling them hard and green. Why dont they wait?? They decide anyway, that the tomatoes are inedible (no way!) and then they leave them lying around our garden. Humph!
Next, we caught the picture of a gorgeous dragon fly, who sat on Alan's Financial Times for about 10 minutes. He must have dealings on Wall Street..
Then, an industrious ant, who climbed up the tree until he was out of sight, carrying a huge (relatively speaking) piece of bread. Herculean!
Finally then, an unusual looking spider, eating something......














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Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Vive La France!!

France beat Portugal 1-0 yesterday, to secure themselves a place in the 18th World Cup Final against Ital, on Saturday. Lot of information in that sentence, eh?! Anyway, all the local french went crazy and spilled out, once again, to St-Denis to party. Alan and I went down to have a goo and I took these photos. Weirdly, no-one was drinking, they were all just jumping up and down excitedly. Vive la difference, I suppose....I am sure they will have a glass of wine later, with some food. How sensible.













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International Flower Show at The Old Port

Went down to the Old Port where there is an international flower show running until Spetember. A great day out. First of all, these photos give you an idea of the environs. The organisers have put great effort into the surroundings. Orange furniture and great swags of annuals with some nice touches like the oh-so-pink rhubarb (?). The bottom two photos illustrate the non-harbour side of the scene; the old flour mill (or some factory anyway), just rusting away to itself. A magnificent back drop, really adds to it.












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Interesting Entries

These are just some entries that caught my eye. This first didn't look like much from a distance; too showy/brash. Up close though it was stunning. The lines, the colours, the waterlillies out front- superb. Nearly took my vote, but not quite. Photo only shows about a third of it, I'm afraid.












This was garden Number 2, though I didnt catch the name. Quirky, as you can see. Something spooky about it too, especially on the veggie garden side.

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Finally a nice 60s looking entry though less gardeny and more architecturey.
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My Favourite Entry- The Blue Stick Garden

This was my topmost favourite garden. Naturally, it was the one I voted for. The reflection of the garden on the water was amazing. The sticks were painted orange on one side and pale blue and dark blue the other sides. Great effect when you walked inside.











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