Cherry blossom under blue skies

Haven’t we had a beautiful few days or even couple of weeks!

The light has been wonderful in the morning and although it gets pretty cold overnight, this particular spring week has been mostly as good as it gets.

The effect of all this sunlight has been to turbo charge the weeds. A couple of weeks ago they were just poking their heads up from the doldrums of winter and now they are positively racing each other to grow up towards the sun.

There are still barely any leaves on the trees and yet the stinging nettles are in full flow. Our vegetable patch is no longer nice rows of winter veg surrounded by brown soil, but more a few leggy cauliflower and cabbages in a sea of multi-coloured weeds.

But despite the frustration of having to de-weed my plots and resist this onslaught, there is something very uplifting about the sight of nature grasping the opportunity and bursting into action. It reminds us that summer is around the corner and it won’t be too long before the frosts dwindle and the longer evenings become warmer and the outdoor chairs get dusted off once again.

Cuckoo flower

The cricket season starts today. Now that really is a sign that summer is not far away!

Cue a song that I always think of at this point in the year!

It's a bit early I hear you say - well our summer is usually wet so the spring incarnation of summer is often the point where you open the windows in the car and enjoy the fresh air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa1qO258MEE

In years gone by, the sight of men clad in their whites standing about in the sunshine waiting for the ball to come in their direction or watching the rain clouds hovering over the horizon was something that attracted many people to the game of cricket, including me. Although, being able to dedicate a whole day or two each weekend to this sport left me the moment I got married and realised that if I continued playing cricket I would actually never see my wife, or latterly garden, at all.

However, cricket is dying in this country. Well the slow version of it is anyway. At least 10 out of 18 county cricket teams now lose money every year and rely on hand-outs from the sport’s governing body or benefactors who like to keep the game going. This is not new news but the decline is worsening.

But there is a move to establish a new order. A short version of the game based on city located teams looks like taking over.  The traditionalists are pushing back but the need for change is great.

The same change in society that has come about with the age of the mobile device and the millennials is coming to cricket. Concentration levels are shortening, the need for instant gratification is taking over. But most importantly, a game needs to be exciting, and not just for the individual who is currently holding the willow.

This has already happened in India. The Premier League there, is not something people associate with football. Cricket is the obsession and superstars are made on the green fields between the stumps rather than goalposts. The west is learning true cricket obsession from the east – where the Indians have always struggled to understand how the country that invented cricket could become so ambivalent about it now.

Maybe cricket will establish itself again fully as the summer sport of choice in the UK. More children of both genders are coming back to the game. But there is now more competition from American Football and other newer sports.

From my point of view, however they protect the game, the sight of a well maintained village cricket square and manicured outfield will always make me think of summer and the thrill of warmer weather and blue skies to come. Even if you hate cricket with a passion, protecting a green space in each town or village is not a bad thing in a world obsessed with paving the ground in tarmac and concrete.

(Sermon over)

Stuffed mouse

Our cats are slowly growing up and some of their younger traits are changing into the acts of a mature animal.

They play less than they did. They fight more than they did. They sleep more than they did – although they have always been good at that.

They suffer things less than they did, the moment something new enters the house they are off. Inquisitiveness has now been overtaken by a lack of patience.

A new toy will typically last all of a few minutes before they have moved on. Their concentration dwindles along with the battery. That is unless the focus of their attention is a vole hole when they will willingly sit for hours and wait for a poor unsuspecting creature to poke its head out of the ground.

But there is one thing that has not changed, and it is something that really touches me whenever it happens.

One of our cats has a stuffed mouse. It was a present from a cousin of mine. It is the best thing that he has ever had. He still plays with it even today and carries it round with him almost like a comfort blanket. Many times he will sit in the hall and call to us to come and see what he has brought us, and often it is his stuffed mouse.

He will even carry it around the garden with him. The sight of him walking up to you with something in his mouth is a regular one, but most of the time the relief of seeing it is his stuffed mouse is felt by both of us.

The picture alongside this text is not remarkable but it is to him. Somehow this slightly mangy stuffed animal has become his friend and a gift to us when he wants to feel loved and petted.

Last weekend I was scrabbling around in the pond, clothed in full wading gear and covered in pond weeds and yet he still brought me his gift and sat by the pond calling to me to come and see what he had for me.

Pond cleared

Clearing the pond is an annual challenge. As much as it is nice to have a pond and see the wildlife that comes from it, it does require looking after.

Mostly a pond will regenerate itself with bit of clearing and cutting back at the right time. But our pond has a reed that not only grows every year, it also spreads like wildfire. And when it spreads it can dominate the whole pond such that you can no longer see across it. It also encourages the moorhens and ducks to make a home there, which nice as it seems, will only encourage the cats to bring young ones into the house and play with them.

Once or twice a year I have to climb into the pond and wallow about cutting the reed down and clearing it out. The bottom of the pond is like treacle and every step is an effort in getting your feet out of the sludge on the bottom and moving them one step forward. It is easy to get stuck or fall over, the consequences of which could be quite exciting as the waders would fill up with water, while I taste the delights of pond water and slime. But the satisfaction of being able to see across the water again is worth the small risk.

I have been trying to reduce the reeds so that they becomes manageable. But they are very hardy and do not die easily, even when I set about them with a large scythe. I looked them up on google and discovered the real way to get rid of them is to drown them. Now I would never have thought that a pond growing plant would drown!

If you cut them under the waterline, then the water can do its thing and they will reduce in numbers. This year I have tried this, although I don’t hold my breath in anticipation that it will work. But the picture opposite is the result of much hard work and the various bites that I have on my arms and back are testament to the shift I put in managing them last weekend.

Cat sharpening its claws ready for the mysterious creature

I never found out what dug a hole in the step and gravel – as featured last week. I feared a rat and it sounded like a rat, but whatever it was seems to have abandoned the hole, because I filled it in and it has stayed like that. 

My other thought was that it was a lost mole, but whatever it was has seemed to stay away. It could of course have found another entrance – but ignorance is bliss in this case.

New neighbours

We've got some new neighbours. They are particularly noisy at this time of year, especially if you wonder out at dusk. They are helping to control the grass but we have already seen the benefit of the ticks they carry!

Final view of the vegetables before the weeds take over

This week we went to see 10cc in concert and the Bristol Colston Hall. The band are now described as a touring band, meaning they don’t make new music any more, and they aren’t all original members. But the quality of the music was good and the show was inventive.

I didn’t realise quite how much of a progressive rock feel they had to some of their music, something that didn’t go down well with my wife, who is not a fan of this genre. But they were very expert in their musicianship and although their grey hairs were reflected in their audience I did come away feeling young in comparison to most of the people watching on.

A timeless classic is linked below.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/video/2012/nov/22/10cc-im-not-in-love-video

Have a great sunny weekend.

There is no blog next weekend as I am travelling a lot and out of the country. So have a good Easter break too!

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