As a Tribble (well, Mill readers get called Millers!) I have read your reason for being a little late with your post. 100% sympathy to you - you’re a wonderful person, and any child would be lucky to have you as a dad, even if temporarily.
Those Chatsworth desert fields were a very strange place to be, I agree. Lots of pasture in Loxley where I live, but it's mostly for cattle, so it's walled and stiled and interspersed with odd bits of stream and lane. Much more human in scale, which is maybe not the right thing to be thinking about "nature".
I think cattle are a better fit for the British environment from what I've heard Matt, they churn up the ground in a different way and their ancestors were native to the area. And thanks so much again for your support on those hills!
When we moved to Sheffield in 2021, we finally had a garden big enough for a pond, so we dug one. I never wanted to fill it with tap water, but as luck would have it, there was a hosepipe ban at the time because of drought. (People may wish to look up the word “drought”.) So it’s only ever had rainwater in. Much to my surprise and utter delight, within a few months, a couple of newts had moved in! 😀. Goodness knows where they came from, but they’ve bred, and we now have some tiny newts. I saw a toad when we first moved in, but since then, the only similar chap I’ve seen was a red(!!!) frog. It had somehow got into a large unused pot in the greenhouse, and was almost certainly stuck there. I carried it to the pond and put it in a shallow area, but even though it was alive, it didn’t move a muscle for ages, and I got quite worried. However, the next day it had gone, so I’m hoping I did the right thing. We have plenty of bits of old logs, twigs, piles of leaves etc., so I expect it found its way there. It’s such a privilege to share a bit of land with wildlife!
As a Tribble (well, Mill readers get called Millers!) I have read your reason for being a little late with your post. 100% sympathy to you - you’re a wonderful person, and any child would be lucky to have you as a dad, even if temporarily.
Many thanks for the kind words Susan! Tribble - I wonder what Dan thinks of that?! I like it!
Those Chatsworth desert fields were a very strange place to be, I agree. Lots of pasture in Loxley where I live, but it's mostly for cattle, so it's walled and stiled and interspersed with odd bits of stream and lane. Much more human in scale, which is maybe not the right thing to be thinking about "nature".
I think cattle are a better fit for the British environment from what I've heard Matt, they churn up the ground in a different way and their ancestors were native to the area. And thanks so much again for your support on those hills!
I pay for Bill’s Mother’s because I value your work and want to support you, not because I’m expecting a certain number of posts. :)
Many thanks Sarah! That's great to hear.
When we moved to Sheffield in 2021, we finally had a garden big enough for a pond, so we dug one. I never wanted to fill it with tap water, but as luck would have it, there was a hosepipe ban at the time because of drought. (People may wish to look up the word “drought”.) So it’s only ever had rainwater in. Much to my surprise and utter delight, within a few months, a couple of newts had moved in! 😀. Goodness knows where they came from, but they’ve bred, and we now have some tiny newts. I saw a toad when we first moved in, but since then, the only similar chap I’ve seen was a red(!!!) frog. It had somehow got into a large unused pot in the greenhouse, and was almost certainly stuck there. I carried it to the pond and put it in a shallow area, but even though it was alive, it didn’t move a muscle for ages, and I got quite worried. However, the next day it had gone, so I’m hoping I did the right thing. We have plenty of bits of old logs, twigs, piles of leaves etc., so I expect it found its way there. It’s such a privilege to share a bit of land with wildlife!
Thanks for that Susan - I'm sure you did do the right thing, it either benefited the frog, or a passing heron!
Lovely read as usual. Thanks.
Many thanks Bridget!