The Reasons for the Delay ......

Six laying hens - two of which have provided the above so far.

The brown eggs are Rosalind's and the white ones are Margot's.

We have had more than a dozen, but have eaten the others! Delicious.
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Two Speckledys. Neither laying yet, but I think one of them will do soon as her comb and wattles are getting more bright red by the day. No names for them yet as we cannot distinguish between them enough.
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This is Sussex (a Sussex Star hen). Was always the first to 'fly'/jump over the electric fence if she got the chance. Hopefully Peter has made this too difficult by taking out a lot of the launching pads - logs! Not laying yet.
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The stately Margot (Fonteyn) so named as she is a white leghorn described as a 'dainty ballerina'. She laid her first egg (pure white) last Sunday. Her second, at about 7.30 this morning was heralded by much noisy and pleased crowing! We hope she doesn't disturb the neighbours, but they may be placated with eggs!
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Rosalind (Red Star) and Blubell (a Bluebelle). Rosalind was the first to lay and has so far given us 11 eggs! She started laying just before grandchildren came to visit and it was their great pleasure to be our 'egg collectors'.

Unfortunately I seem to be noticing that these two are rather pushy to say the least and will jump over or on any of their sisters who might have a tastier morsel, grape, corn, marmite toast (yes, that was recommended as an occasional treat because of the Vitamin B!).
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~ The Girls! ~

They free-range for part of the day. Trying to get them used to differing periods of time in their run. If they expect to be outside all day every day we will never get any time off!!

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'Bluebell' our Bluebelle hen. Her feathers are a most beautiful soft, bluey, lavender colour. I can't wait for her to have her full comb and wattles. She will be very handsome.

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So there you have it. We have been so tied up with tidying up the garden for visitors and building (Peter) accommodation for the girls I have not had time for updating the blog, but hope to continue it from now on.

"Tipula Maxima" !

"Large Crane Fly" to you and me. The largest of the British crane flies. Found in our larger greenhouse this afternoon. He looks really enormous and I don't like the look of that sharp point at the end of his tail!

The larvae are laid in damp mossy ditches (which we have in the garden). This is a 'better' crane fly than the more common one which hatches from 'leather jackets' which attack the root system of grasses and annoy us gardeners and farmers. So all in all, inspite of its terrifying look it is a good thing to have in the garden!

Two Woodpeckers!

Just a written report today as I did not have the camera to hand when two woodpeckers appeared on the bird nuts in the garden! We know that they are the Great Spotted Woodpecker from our bird book. We have seen the adult on several occasions but a couple of days ago realised that the woodpecker on the nuts looked different somehow. It had a very bright red crown on its head and its front appeared much paler than the adult and was a juvenile.

This morning they were both on the nuts together and the difference was obvious. After a while the juvenile left the nuts and flew to a nearby branch to await the adult who then also left the nuts and apparently fed some to the younger one from its beak. Just magic! Will try to photograph them if they appear together again. They are very striking.

Pyramidal Orchid

This appeared in our garden a few days ago, along with another one. I waited until it was in full bloom before photographing it. Isn't it beautiful?

Autumn in Picton Castle Gardens. A trip taken with the head gardener, Roddy Milne

This morning was spent in these lovely gardens with the Garden Club.

I am a novice gardener, so don't know the names of all these wonderful plants and trees.

Bright, cheery berries, just ready for the birds' winter feeding.

These gardens are spectacular, especially now with all the autumn colours. This particular flower looks so exotic I think it should be in an orchid house!