Monday 10 May 2010

An ' at home ' day ...and a GIVEWAY!! ;-)


It's Monday and it's the most beautiful day here in South Devon!

How do you see your day panning out?
I'm spending the day at home.


My day started at 7am, when I woke to the sound of our NEW resident Pheasant!!
Remember Miguel?
Well it seems that we now have 'son of' and also 'daughter of'!!


Not a good photo, as I had to take this from the lounge..but tis good to see that 'Miguel' did the business'... and that he lives on...!

Whether we will tame this Pheasant, is another matter. At the mo we are just letting him get used to being in the garden.


And talking of gardens, I was out in mine, earlier, at 7.30am, pottering about!

This is not normal I hasten to add... but it was such a lovely sunny morning, the birds were singing away and .. well there's just no better place to be, is there? Apart from bed!

I have a lot to do in my garden!


But isn't it cold for May?

I've sown seeds in the greenhouse but they've taken an age to show...and I still have some to sow. I've never been as late as this with my seed sowing!


Last year, I bought all of my seeds at around 10p per packet when a local garden centre had a sale!! A bargain or what?!



So, I grabbed a good selection.



Driving back from the station just now, I noticed that the Swallows and House Martins have arrived in abundance, in the village. They were having a ball, practising their swooping to perfection!

Actually, I spotted a lone House Martin 2 weeks ago...what a shock that must have been for the poor little thing!

I always write down things such as this in my special little book,which I bought in 1977 when I had my first ever garden!


For instance, in 1977, when I lived at Blackwater, near Camberley, we had a House Martin over the garden on March 28th!

The earliest I have seen one in Devon, is April 7th, in 1980.
I love to see the birds in the garden. They seem to come in phases...
At the moment we have Nuthatches and Bullfinches. The Bullfinches don't come too near but you can't fail to spot them in the trees.
Anyway, enough of that rambling on...my giveaway is this:
What's your favourite bird ?
AND what's your favourite garden flower?
Hope your day is as sunny as mine!
;-)

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32 comments:

  1. Tina10 May 2010 at 10:56

    Hi Sal,

    your garden is looking amazing!! Really pretty. I love watching birds too when I have sone time. Answering your questions my favourite garden flower are sweet peas and my favourite bird is Robin. In fact I have three in my kitchen... Not real ones I must say. ;)
    xxxx

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  2. Hen10 May 2010 at 11:32

    I echo your sentiments, Sal, We have SO much to do in the garden. We were working away most of yesterday so I can hardly move today! My favourite bird, hmm, well I think goldfinches are lovely but a bit elusive so I love blackbirds, their chirpy song and willingness to come and feed close by. Robins too (sorry, no such thing as one favourite with me!)
    Flower is a hard one too. Rose, lupin, peony? Oh don't make me choose, please!
    Happy gardening.
    Hen x

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  3. LissyLou10 May 2010 at 12:43

    i like at home days :)

    I'm mot a big bird person, they are actually one of my fears....but robins always make me smile...and fave flowers..i have lots.. Poppys and daisys (hence my shop name) lily of the valley, bluebells, roses....

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  4. Tilly Rose10 May 2010 at 12:49

    Hi Sal! Happy Monday....
    I love watching any bird...so calming
    Last week I saw a red kite fly round above for several mins...I was so mesmerisd.
    I do love to see the cheeky blackbird..they come on our dooorstep and eat the cat food!

    Hugs
    Karen x x x

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  5. Twiggy10 May 2010 at 13:17

    Hi Sal
    Everything is sooo late this year. I have some lovely arum lilies that are usually flowering at the end of May. They are only about 4 inches above the ground so far !!
    I love Robins and we have a very cheeky one in our garden, he likes to look through the kitchen window at me! I love lots of flowers, but my favourites for fragrance and colour have got to be sweet peas.
    Twiggy x

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  6. Jen Walshaw10 May 2010 at 13:27

    Robin is my fav bird and that is saying something as I am not keen on them at all, birds just make me go all arggggg

    Flowers, well it has to be sweetpeas for me

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  7. Susie's country cottage10 May 2010 at 15:28

    I love that photo of your greenhouse. Yes, it is far too cold for May, especially up in Shropshire. My favourite bird is the blackbird because I love to hear it's song and I like the watch them hopping about on the lawn looking for worms. My favourite flower would have to be the rose.
    Susie

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  8. menopausalmusing10 May 2010 at 15:52

    I am loving watching the bluetits nesting...... and REALLY looking forward to cornflowers, just love the colours. I spotted your cowslips in your photos.... my, but they are lovely.........

    :O)

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  9. KC'sCourt!10 May 2010 at 16:14

    I my favourite bird would have to be the Blackbird with its distinctive song, and my favourite flower well all flowers.
    Julie xxxxxx

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  10. Anonymous10 May 2010 at 16:23

    These are two really difficult questions! I love all birds, but especially wrens, bullfinches and blackbirds. I'm very lucky as I have three pairs of bullfinches that come to a feeder just outside my window numerous times a day. I have a blackbird that knocks on the French door for more sultanas and a couple of years ago I had a wren nest in the trellis by the French doors and she raised 6 little ones in a little bird house. As to flowers, well I think I have a favourite in each month, but I do love roses, sweetpeas and lily of the valley.

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  11. Vintage from the Village10 May 2010 at 16:46

    Hi I planted lots of seeds ages ago, but hardly anything came up. I have the same lovely seed tin as you but it was in the shed all winter along with the seeds and I wonder if the cold killed the seeds?
    I have just taken delivery of some dahlia tubers from the lovely Sarah Raven catalogue so they are in pots ready to sprout.
    Enjoy your lovely garden
    Sue x

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  12. Anonymous10 May 2010 at 17:09

    I just adore poppies - big blousy oriental ones, wild ones in a field and anything in-between! My orientals are in bud but were out this time last year.

    I think woodpeckers are great - we have lots of green ones that dig for grubs in the grass - very colourful. And the greater spotted ones that make that marvellous vibrating sound when pecking in the trees!

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  13. Donna -Little Tiny Stitches10 May 2010 at 17:56

    I like your greenhouse Sal..and the pretty little area around it..
    My favorite birds are blackbirds, robins, and the cheely jay we have visiting at the moment...
    And my favorite flowers roses, lavender and dahlias...just to name a few ;)
    Have a great week,
    Donna

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  14. ginny10 May 2010 at 18:34

    hope your day in the garden has been good Sal. I have too much work to do this week but am desperate to get on with some more sowing. i love birds and flowers so it is hard to choose favourites though i do particularly love blackbirds and echinacea. (also called coneflower).
    Happy week ahead
    ginny x

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  15. galant10 May 2010 at 19:24

    If I am to go for scent, then old garden pinks; if I'm to go for looks, then stately lupins in a myriad of colours.
    As for the bird, well it must be the blackbird for his lovely song!
    Margaret P

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  16. All things nice...10 May 2010 at 19:27

    Wow
    U are an excellent gardener, your garden looks beautiful. My favourite garden bird is the blue tit and blue is my favourite colour too. My favourite garden flowers have to be hydrangeas, they are so pretty, blue, pink or white, love them all :) Thanks for sharing your garden with us

    All things nice...

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  17. Anonymous10 May 2010 at 20:35

    Your garden is going to be riot of colour thanks to all those bargain seeds. My favourite flowers are lilies but I struggle to grow them due to the lily beetle. We have a pair of blackbirds who nest in our clematis montana each year (I assume it's the same pair), and the children love to watch them through our French doors whilst they sit in the kitchen.xx

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  18. Anonymous10 May 2010 at 21:31

    I'm an old fashioned girl at heart, and like my lovely grandmother I love lily of the valley and, although big wild clumps of forget me nots are pretty too. Song thrush are my favorite birds, hands down for their pretty trills!

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  19. Josie-Mary11 May 2010 at 06:39

    I love your garden, it looks even better in real life!
    I'm not a great fan of birds but I do like a Robin red breast!
    Fav flowers....that's harder...I think Foxgloves....or maybe Roses!
    :)

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  20. Pixiedust11 May 2010 at 11:59

    What a gorgeous garden you have. Ours is quite small, but i still have some pretties out there and my bird feeding station. Now ummm this is a difficult one....I would say a rose is my fav flower (pale pink and smelly lol) and my fav bird, I love them all, but I love the blackbirds song and watching them dig worms from the grass. Have a lovely week. xxx Pixie xxx

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  21. Guenievre11 May 2010 at 13:52

    Hello Sal,
    lovely garden !
    Oh, oh, I love a lot of flowers ...
    I like renonculus, delphiniums, pink carnations, hollyhocks and peonies.
    I don't know which chosing ... perhaps "pink carnations" because they remember me my grandmother I loved so much.
    Have a nice day !

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  22. Guenievre11 May 2010 at 13:53

    I forgot the bird, lol !!!
    I love blue tit and robin !

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  23. Country Cottage Chic11 May 2010 at 14:00

    I also have a lot to do - I sowed my seeds late this year & I'm glad I did or they'd probably all have died on frostbite!

    My favourite birs has to be the Robin & I do have a number of favourite flowers - daffodils for spring & roses in summer.

    Jayne

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  24. Louise11 May 2010 at 21:57

    How fantastic to have Nuthatches, Bullfinches, and Pheasants, in your garden. It is nice to have a garden for nature as well as yourself, isn't it. Crikey, you've a bit of seed sowing to do there! I was late in starting mine this year too, and panic when I see the size of other plantlets on the blogs! I have too many favourites to name when it comes to plants and birds, so how about a least favourite? Starlings and Fuchsias! x

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  25. A time to dance12 May 2010 at 06:21

    Hi Sal, favourite bird has to be the robin, always reminds me of secret garden....and my dad who had a little robin pal to keep him company...favourite flower...oooh very difficult, anenomies...have a good week...H

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  26. Cowboys and Custard Mercantile12 May 2010 at 07:52

    Ah yes.. early morning in the garden is the best time of day.. discovering all the new arrivals that came in the night.. and we are not talking snails!

    Did I know you lived near Camberley? I spent a lot of my childhood going to the town where my parents both worked..
    Small world innit!

    Michele x

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  27. Ticking stripes12 May 2010 at 20:08

    Bullfinches - I've only seen them once up here but it was a fabulous few moments! Delphiniums are my faves - very country, so many shades of blue and so stately while wafting in the breeze...

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  28. Andi's English Attic12 May 2010 at 21:22

    There's nothing like the garden in the early morning before the neighbourhood has woken up.
    My favourite garden flower is the Shasta Daisy (don't ask me the latin). These used to grow in abundance in our garden when I was very little and they remind me of those days.
    The favourite bird - does it have to be a garden bird? - because I have a great passion for the toucan. In fact my husband bought me a three foot toucan for my birthday this year. As we got him in Lyme Regis I called him Regis. He now sits on our fireplace.

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  29. WinnibriggsHouse13 May 2010 at 21:39

    Hi Sal
    Your garden looks lovely. Lets hope with everything going in late it all lasts longer!
    My favourite flower has to be foxgloves with the rose a very close second and bird! well beinga Jenny it has to be the wren, unlike me shy and retiring, but like me always busy.

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  30. THISNTHAT14 May 2010 at 22:38

    Hi, Good to see "Miguel - the sequel"! Also pleased to have another virtual visit to Ashburton. Last time you featured the Vintage Emporium we went up there to check it out - what a lovely space, filled with great things. Well done Sara!
    Lesley XX

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  31. barb's creations16 May 2010 at 09:40

    Love your garden.Have just had a huge tree cut down in our front garden and hope to re-do it over the spring/summer months later in the year.My all time favourite flower would have to be the purple iris and my special bird is the willy ag tail.If you haven't already guessed I'm from Australia and we are heading into our winter at the moment.Don't worry about entering me in your giveaway as I just wanted to leave a comment about your lovely garden as your garden is so inspiring to me :) Barb.

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  32. Unknown16 May 2010 at 19:52

    I'm sure I've missed the giveaway but I'll still answer your questions - my favourite bird is the nuthatch, I once lived in a cottage in Strid Woods in the Yorkshire Dales and used to watch them from my kitchen window as I washed up - my favourite garden flower has to be the Clematis - not fussed on the variety, I have almost twenty different ones dotted around my front and back garden and I love 'em all

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