Musings from the Merse
Monday, September 28, 2009
Pondage
One caller asked if this was a bird hide-another:work in progress on a (military style -not Duns Golf Course) bunker?
Well, actually it is a pond. A very small one, covered up until we can get the right kind of water. We miss our rather larger pond at the Old Manse which was quite a selling point. One potential buyer, a couple from down south, who had sneered their way around the building not finding it up the standards of their neo -Jacobean Mansion in Hertfordshire ( 'Yes we have working shutters' 'And the original servants' bells'' Yes.We live next to an Abbey, actually) looking disparagingly at the Kirk and the graveyard and were surprisingly, seemingly impressed by our very natural and rather overgrown and (almost) kidney shaped concoction. 'Oh' said the female:'That's nice. We also have a pond' 'Well' said the male ' Ours is really a lake' 'Yes, echoed Mrs Distaff ' We have a boat on it'
But they didn't make an offer despite us having a green floating polystyrene frog refuge containing about 6 frogs at any one time which do not, apparently, feature in Herts.
And I hope you will notice the latest just got* (last years must have) in the garden of the small house in Duns. A dry stone wall for the wife's terracing arrangements to show off next years weeds, sorry, shrubs, flowers etc.A local stone waller (dyker in some places) put it together for us and its good to know that these old skills are still around in Berwickshire.
* There was a wall there before but totally destroyed by Builder's scaffolding aided and abetted by small scrambling grandchildren feet.
One caller asked if this was a bird hide-another:work in progress on a (military style -not Duns Golf Course) bunker?
Well, actually it is a pond. A very small one, covered up until we can get the right kind of water. We miss our rather larger pond at the Old Manse which was quite a selling point. One potential buyer, a couple from down south, who had sneered their way around the building not finding it up the standards of their neo -Jacobean Mansion in Hertfordshire ( 'Yes we have working shutters' 'And the original servants' bells'' Yes.We live next to an Abbey, actually) looking disparagingly at the Kirk and the graveyard and were surprisingly, seemingly impressed by our very natural and rather overgrown and (almost) kidney shaped concoction. 'Oh' said the female:'That's nice. We also have a pond' 'Well' said the male ' Ours is really a lake' 'Yes, echoed Mrs Distaff ' We have a boat on it'
But they didn't make an offer despite us having a green floating polystyrene frog refuge containing about 6 frogs at any one time which do not, apparently, feature in Herts.
And I hope you will notice the latest just got* (last years must have) in the garden of the small house in Duns. A dry stone wall for the wife's terracing arrangements to show off next years weeds, sorry, shrubs, flowers etc.A local stone waller (dyker in some places) put it together for us and its good to know that these old skills are still around in Berwickshire.
* There was a wall there before but totally destroyed by Builder's scaffolding aided and abetted by small scrambling grandchildren feet.
Labels: dry stone walls, Small House in Duns, The Pond
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
According to the fascist Times, in one of its neo-con inspired articles on a right wing approach to the environment-'Iran Nuke Research fuels Global Warming' _I may not have the title exactly right-Spring is very advanced in the UK this year with sighting of all kinds of exotica not normally seen until late March or early April. Apparently there have been 5,532 reports of frog spawn this year already. I suspect this applies more to the Home Counties than to the Borders where our pond is entirely spawn free in contrast to the massive ejaculations of this time last March*. What is odd is the group of male Robins hanging around our wood pile-usually, by now, we have a pair, cooing and billing, rather than these group of layabouts, lounging around looking for trouble. Planning a gang bang? Or just an outbreak of gaiety in the absence of enough females to go around. Perhaps we can pin this on the Iranians?
*I was quite wrong: last year the frogs did their thing in very late March : http://huttonian.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_huttonian_archive.html
Strike one for the Iranians.
*I was quite wrong: last year the frogs did their thing in very late March : http://huttonian.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_huttonian_archive.html
Strike one for the Iranians.
Labels: The Pond
