Our garden is, we hope, a haven for wildlife. We have a big tree near the house which is festooned with bird feeders of all shapes and sizes. My Dear Soul fills up everything every morning without fail, almost always before he has his own breakfast; often before his first cup of tea of the day. He has a tender heart when it comes to wild things (and cat chaps).
Nearer the house is a bird bath cum water bowl. Just now we are having a very cold snap - frost on the rooves, even some snow on the grass, though not enough to trouble us. But of course the birds are used to having access to water, and this morning, having watched a tiny little blue tit try, and fail to take a drink, I realised that the flowing waterfall in our new pond is too brisk for a little bird, though the bigger ones are very grateful for it. So I filled the kettle, boiled it up and poured the hot water into the bird bath to free the liquid. Popping my hand in to remove some debris at the bottom I found it surrounded by a ring of ice, which I pulled out and put to one side so that it didn't encourage the water to freeze again before the birds had their chance.
Later, as the sun moved round the garden, I noticed that nature had created something rather wonderful - a circle of light.
It will of course, disappear now, as the warmth in the sun melts that icy rim
Beauty in small things
Hello Kat, I've been browsing your blog with great enjoyment, and am particularly interested in your memories of your great-grandparents, Howard Colman and Alice Rowe. I'm currently researching Howard's sister, Louisa (Rowe) Coade, who was active in the Irish suffrage movement, to which Howard was also sympathetic. Would you mind getting in touch with me so we can discuss this further? My email is rraughter@eircom.net. Best wishes - Rosemary Raughter
ReplyDeleteHello Rosemary, thank you for your interest and kind comments. I've replied further via e-mail
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