Penguins in Windermere?

13 December

The Lake District is aptly named of course but this latest rain infested period is beyond a joke. Every garden is brim full of water, and mini tarns fill every hollow. We are drowning in nature’s generosity.

Air temperatures are still acceptable and soil is still warm, but I can’t imagine many air pockets left. It has been bucketing down in the area for weeks, Windermere lake has very few piers left visible and the cannon at the end of the Low Wood jetty has water bobbling around the base.

Loads of trees are submerged and with gale force winds battering us today the beaches will be changing shape as the rocks are swished around.

Weeding is very uncomfortable despite wearing waterproofs and knee pads. Lawns can’t be walked on because we leave incredible dints, just a thought...what happens to the moles and mice who live underground?They must be up to their claws in the slush. Perhaps they will develop flippers and become penguins.

Ubiquitous Daisy - Friend or Foe?
14 December

Amazingly I visited a small garden yesterday and counted (on purpose) 8 daisy flowers in a lawn! When I pointed this out to Mrs Bun (pun intended) she wondered how I had missed the aubretia flowers nearby in a rockery, and there were several lovely mauve aubretia flowers also.

Thinking about this today I am not sure if I have seen so many daisy flowers in mid-December before, because I have never bothered to look.

All of our gardens have flowers showing in dribs and drabs. Are they out of season or merely doing what they would in any year with a mild early winter?

The talk is now of the warmest year on record. So how hot was it when the dinosaur became a Dodo? Was it hotter than this, and if so, how much hotter

I suppose we are capable of sheltering ourselves from the searing sun and cooling our homes, but what about us gardeners? If ‘global warming’ proceeds at this rate and the wet warm winters become warmer and wetter...how long before we join the dinosaurs?

Bring on the frosts...sooooon.

The Woodentops

27 December

Are you called ...

Barker - people who removed tree bark for use in tanning and matting.
Turner - person who used a pole lathe to make turned items.
Woodburn/Ashburner - people who produced ash for making soap.
Cowper/Cooper/Tubman - person who made wooden barrels.
Collier - person who made charcoal.
Tanner - people who tanned leather using oak bark.
Bloomer/Blumer - they smelted iron.
Hooper - makers of hoops for barrels.

Wood properties:-

Ash is tough, long grained, flexible and resilient.
Alder is tough, light, withstands water.
Birch is easily bent.
Hazel is slender and pliant.
Oak is strong and durable.
Holly is dense and close grained.