Happy Returns

I've only been away for a week but if you saw the garden you would think it was more like a month. It is a jungle with weeds growing everywhere and bindweed climbing over everything. The vegetables are coming on well though. This year we have put netting over a lot of things as the pheasants like pecking at the leaves and end up eating more of the vegetables than we do. It seems to have worked and I think we might even manage a decent crop of cauliflowers and cabbages.

When I got back from the Isle of Wight I was pleased to see a female pheasant in the garden but I wasn't sure if it was my friendly one that disappeared a few weeks ago (see post 23rd May). I opened the window and rung my little bell which tells the birds I am about to throw out some goodies and sure enough she came running over. So she hadn't been shot or got by the fox. She must have been sitting on eggs all this time (I think they take around 22 days to hatch). Needless to say she has lost a lot of weight but I'm sure with a bit of a helping hand from me she will soon put that back on and maybe she will bring her babies for a visit to the garden.