A visitor

Today a resident frog moved into our pond.
We don't know where he came from, but this morning he was just there!

I hope he'll stay for a while ...

Pond update

At the weekend we treated ourselves to a few pond plants, which have reformed our little pond.
There is now also a little water feature, which helps to airate the water.


As you can see the water - which had turned very green for a while - is starting to clear quite nicely.


Our two pond snails are helping in that process. Here is one of them in action
It is a Great Pond Snail (Lymnea Stagnalis), and it looks strangely like Yoda from Star Wars. Teehee!

Jam making

Working only part-time may mean that we are not very rich in financial terms - but we are rich in time!

Today was my day off, and I made some rhubarb (or should that be roobarb) jam.
I life rhubarb jam, because it keeps its tart flavour very well.

Here is the preparation:



And here the finished result. Yum!
Jam sandwich, anybody?

Today we made ...

... a pond!
So, it is only a very little pond, but we are hoping it will attract some wildlife into our garden.
Somewhere for the birds to drink.
And perhaps even a resident frog.

Slowing down

Over the last week or two I have had trouble with my wrist, leading to weakness and shooting pain in my thumb.
As a result I haven't been able to spend much time at the computer or do any knitting or crocheting.

At the same time my right knee has been playing up, so I will have to give running a rest for a bit too.

It seems like I cannot do the things I most enjoy.
It's as if somebody is telling me to slow down and look around me! So I am trying to be a bit philosophical about it, and make the most of my enforced slowing down period.

Still, it does feel strange ...
Any ideas how I could be spending my time?

The bluetits have flown ...

Following the departure of the bluetit babies I opened the nestbox.
It was packed with wonderful nesting material ... moss, grass, fleece and feathers.

I removed the contents to prevent parasites settling in.
Now I will leave it to dry out for a while ... with all the recent rain it was quite damp inside!


You get a better look at the nesting material here. Looks nice and snug, doesn't it?

Cuddles

I just finished another three blankets for Cuddles.

"We are a volunteer, non-profit organisation based in the UK. We attempt to support the families dealing with the loss of their baby through miscarriage or stillbirth. We supply gowns, blankets and wraps to maternity units all over the UK."

I always enjoy knitting those delicate little items in 3-ply or 4-ply, and only ever knit them when I have peace of mind and nothing else going on.
I particularly like to knit blankets, because I know that parents often take them home as keep-sakes ... and that there are one of the few things to remind them of the little time they had with their son or daughter.

Here are some comments which were made by parents who lost their baby. I am sure they speak for themselves:

"We would like to thank you for your donation of a
beautiful blanket which we were able to use to wrap
our baby who was stillborn. Our little Hero passed
away last 26th April 2007. He looked peaceful and warm
wrapped in your knitted blanket."

"The midwives were fantastic and supportive. This is an extremelyhard and sad time. Knowing that there are people like you that care, makes it that little bit bearable."

"We kept the clothes that S... was dressed in. We will keep themsafe and cherish them."

"Thank you so much."