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A Suffolk Lane

~ A diary of my life in rural north Suffolk.

A Suffolk Lane

Tag Archives: ice

A Walk Round the Garden

21 Wed Feb 2018

Posted by Clare Pooley in Rural Diary

≈ 85 Comments

Tags

bee hive, bee orchids, cornelian cherry, crocus, discs of ice, February, garden, hazel catkins, ice, ivy, Jelly Ear fungus, landscaping, lichens, moss, pond, scrub clearance, seedheads, snowdrops, Suffolk, tree surgery, Viburnum, wild cherry, willow, witch-hazel

We had a bright but chilly day recently, so I took the opportunity to photograph a few interesting things I saw on a stroll round our garden.

Wild Cherry (Prunus avium)

We have two wild cherry trees and I noticed the buds beginning to swell on this one.

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis)

There is a rough patch of land beyond our compost heaps, in-between us and one of our neighbours which has patches of snowdrops.

Hazel catkins (Corylus avellana)

The catkins were blowing about in the strong breeze and I gave up trying to focus on them.  The female flowers were just beginning to show as well but again, my camera wouldn’t take a clear picture of them.

I liked the look of the Ivy (Hedera helix) growing up this Horse Chestnut (Aesculus Hippocastenaceae ) tree trunk

I like the colours on the ivy leaves and the pattern of the veins.

As you might be able to see, there are any number of lichens growing on this tree trunk.  I couldn’t get a clear shot of any of them so I copied the photograph above and then cropped it.  The result wasn’t too bad though not good enough to identify the lichens.  This was only a very small area of the original photo.

Lichens and green algae on a tree trunk

Jelly Ear fungus ( Auricularia auricula-judae)

A few dead trees have been blown down in recent storms and I found this fungus growing on one of them.

More fungus.

This moss was shining in the bright sunlight

One of our neighbours has started keeping bees.

Just after Christmas we had a landscape gardener come and cut back this willow which had grown lots of suckers and had spread too much.

The little island in the pond was given a haircut too.

This is the island where the Greylags have always nested.  Last year the nest was abandoned after it was attacked by something.  We had hoped that by clearing the island the geese would have better visibility and would have earlier warning of danger from otter or mink.  They have usually visited by mid February but there has been no sign of them yet this year.  After a very wet winter the pond has re-filled and the reeds that were threatening to take over have been swamped.  They will survive under water so we will have to dig them out eventually if we wish to retain the pond as it is.

Discs of ice

The pond had been frozen but the sun had melted most of the ice.  Just these tiny discs of ice remained.  Out of focus again, I’m afraid.

Ice disc  

These papery seedheads belong to the Bee Orchids (Ophrys apifera) that grow in our garden.

I was pleased to see the green rosettes of new leaves at the base of the old flower stalks.

Another view of the pond. Richard has been working hard clearing most of the brambles and other scrub plants from around the pond during the last week. The dead grass and brambles in the foreground of this photo are no longer there!

Our corner pond still has plenty of ice on it.

Not many days before this photo was taken I had seen newts swimming in this pond.   The water is cleaner here than in the other larger pond as there is no chemical run-off from the agricultural fields.

The Witch-hazel I have growing in a tub near the front door is blooming.

As are the crocus…..

Yellow crocus
Yellow crocus
Yellow crocus
Yellow crocus

The pink Viburnum flowers look good against a blue sky. They smell wonderful too!

Cornelian Cherry ( Cornus mas)

This tree is awaiting the right time to plant it out into the garden – it is in a large pot.  Meanwhile, it has decided to flower in a small way!

We have been told to expect some more cold weather during the next week or two so many of these flowers will suffer, no doubt.

I leave you with a favourite song from Enzo Enzo – ‘Juste Quelqu’un De Bien’.

Thanks for visiting!

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A Week of Winter

22 Fri Jan 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, plants, Rural Diary, trees, weather

≈ 58 Comments

Tags

Aram Khachaturian, buds, flowers, frost, hoarfrost, ice, Masquerade Suite, moss, music, snow, winter

After the warmest December on record and a mild New Year we have, at last, had a little cold winter weather.  Some of the flowers that were blooming in the mild weather have been frosted and turned brown. Others don’t seem to have been bothered by the frost and ice and have continued to flower.

IMG_2547Big pond

The first ice starting to form on the big pond

We have snowdrops in the garden that don’t look anywhere near being ready to flower but some in tubs have buds that may open in a couple of days.  Strangely, a golden crocus which usually flowers in March has appeared in the grass near the end of the drive.   The garden is unusually colourful for this time of year.

IMG_2544Hyacinths

Slightly stunted pink Hyacinths.

IMG_2543Grape hyacinths-001

Grape Hyacinths.

IMG_2545Miniature iris

Miniature iris

IMG_2550Horse chestnut

The ‘sticky-buds’ are swelling on the Horse Chestnut tree.

Those four photos were taken the morning after a severe gale when lots of rain, then sleet and wet snow fell.  The snow settled for a while but most of it disappeared the next day when the sun came out.  The wind had blown the snow almost horizontally and when I went out the following morning I saw walls and tree trunks with snow and ice stuck to them but hardly any snow on the ground.

IMG_2557Snow on tree

Small amount of ice on an apple tree.

IMG_2546Ice

Melting ice on a window sill

IMG_2549Big pond

It was a beautiful day

IMG_2552Big pond

The water-level in the pond has risen quite a lot recently but not as much as we’d expected. Probably ditch clearing and drainage works done locally have meant less water entering our garden. The reeds and brambles need to be cut back here!

IMG_2555Fungi

Colourful fungi on a dead log.

IMG_2558Corner pond

Even the pond at the front of the house had some ice on it

We continued to get hard frosts at night and then a light sprinkling of beautiful powdery snow on Saturday night.

IMG_2559Big pond

The big pond

IMG_2560Big pond

I like the patterns the snow made on the icy pond

IMG_2567Hoar frost and crabapple tree

We had a hoarfrost yesterday morning but the sun soon came out and the frost melted.  I wish I could have got outside earlier!

IMG_2570Pyracantha

Pyracantha leaves

IMG_2571Cherry

Cherry tree buds

IMG_2572Winter honeysuckle

Winter-flowering Honeysuckle

IMG_2574Thyme

Thyme

IMG_2576Origano/marjoram

Marjoram/Oregano

IMG_2580Moss and lichen

The moss and lichen garden on top of the brick pillar at the end of the drive

IMG_2581Moss and lichen

A close-up of the moss with its frosted capsules

IMG_2582Crabapples

Crabapples.

I am pleased we have had a few frosts because the birds will only eat the crabapples once they have been frosted.

Richard went to a PCC (Parochial Church Council) meeting on Wednesday evening and came home with two pieces of good news.  The first is that we are a stage nearer to getting the screen put in between the Tower Room and the main body of the church at Rumburgh and the second is that when our Rector retires in 2017 we will (eventually) be getting a replacement for him.  For some time now, we have thought that we would have to do without a priest when Richard (the Rector) goes.  We have a large but sparsely populated benefice and even though we would have tried to keep things going on our own and with the help of retired clergy and the priest from our neighbouring benefice, it would have been very difficult and might have meant that some, at least, of the churches would have had to close.  We will have to put up with at least a year’s interregnum before the replacement priest arrives but if we know that we will get a Rector eventually we will cope better.

The piece of music today is a great favourite of mine and very romantic in style.  It is quite long (just over 16 minutes) but is in five short movements so you don’t have to listen to it all in one go!  This music makes me happy – I really don’t think anyone could help being cheered by it!  It goes from a fast ‘Waltz’ to a very romantic interlude – ‘Nocturne’; then to another fast movement – ‘Mazurka’ followed by a slower ‘Romance’.  The piece ends with a ‘Galop’.  It was originally written in 1941 by Aram Khachaturian as incidental music for a new production of a play called ‘Masquerade’ by the Russian poet and playwright Michail Lermontov.  The satirical-romantic play was written in 1835  and has a similar storyline to ‘Othello’.  The run in 1941 had to be cut short because of the invasion of the USSR by Germany.  Khachaturian later (in 1944) turned the incidental music into a Suite.

 

Thanks for visiting!

 

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In My Garden

14 Sat Feb 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, wild birds

≈ 31 Comments

Tags

Ash, birds, blackthorn, catkins, Christmas box, crocus, flying mallards, garden plants, goldfinch, hazel, hazel gall, horse chestnut, ice, iris reticulata, lichen, Mahonia, moon, pond, reflections, silver birch, song thrush, Suffolk, trees, winter-flowering honeysuckle, witch-hazel

This is a post featuring a few of the things I have noticed in our garden recently.  A large part of the garden is exposed to the prevailing south-westerly wind and we find plants here are slower to grow and flower than those in other gardens near us.  I have seen large carpets of Winter Aconites in other peoples gardens but there is no sign of them here at all.   The beds around the house and near the hedge are more sheltered and this is where we see the first signs of spring.

IMG_1868Ash buds (640x427)

Buds on the Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior)

I like the Ash’s black, conical buds – they look a little like deer hooves.  So far, we haven’t found any sign of ‘Ash die-back’ in our garden yet.  This is caused by the Hymenoscyphus fraxineus fungus.  East Anglia is badly affected and has lost many of its Ash trees already.

IMG_1849Horse Chestnut leaf buds (640x427)

Horse-chestnut sticky buds (Aesculus hippocastanum)

IMG_1854Buds on Blackthorn in hedge (640x427)

Little red buds on the Blackthorn in the hedge (Prunus spinosa)

While I was photographing these I looked up and found a Barn Owl was flying straight towards me.  I don’t know who was more surprised, the owl or me!  I tried to photograph it before it veered away from me but I couldn’t focus in time.

IMG_1855Lichen in the hedge (640x427)

Lichen in the hedge

IMG_1847Hazel catkins (640x427)

 Hazel male catkins (Corylus avellana)

 

IMG_1848Female flowers of Hazel (640x427)

Hazel female catkins with their tiny red petals

IMG_1865Catkin 'bud' (640x427)

Hazel bud

 

 

IMG_1864Catkin starting to emerge (640x427)

Hazel buds.

I wondered what these were on our hazel trees as I had never noticed them before.  None of my books mentioned buds looking like this so I googled for information and discovered a photograph that looked like mine on ramblingsofanaturalist.blogspot.com.  The author says that these are bud galls made by the mite Phytoptus avellanae.  He also talks about unopened brown catkins which have been attacked by either the mite Phyllocoptes coryli or the Cedidomyid midge Contarinia coryli.   I had also seen distorted brown catkins and had wondered about them too but had been unable to get a clear photo of them.

IMG_1861Reflection in pond (640x427)

Reflection of sky and cloud in our big pond

IMG_1862Flying ducks (640x440)

Flying ducks

IMG_1853Birch catkins (640x427)

Our Silver Birch tree (Betula pendula) is also growing its catkins.

IMG_3948Ice on the pond (640x480)

Thin ice on the pond. Hail has got frozen onto the ice that was already there.

IMG_3947Icy pond (640x480)

The icy pond

IMG_3953Witch Hazel (640x480)
IMG_3954Witch-hazel (640x480)

The Witch-hazel (Hamamelis) is flowering in its large pot next to the front door and on mild days fills the porch with scent.

IMG_3955Christmas Box (640x480)

The Christmas Box (Sarcococca) is also scenting the garden.

IMG_3956Winter-flowering Honeysuckle (640x480)

Another scented shrub – the Winter-flowering Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima)

This shrub Honeysuckle is a real favourite of mine.  Its small flowers are powerfully scented and it flowers from mid-winter until well into spring hardly stopping except in the harshest of weathers.  It is virtually evergreen and the flowers are followed by bright red heart-shaped berries loved by Blackbirds.

IMG_3958Mahonia (640x480)

The Mahonia (Mahonia x media ‘Charity’) with its Lily-of-the-Valley scent has been flowering since the end of October.

IMG_4027Miniature iris (640x480)

The first of my miniature Iris Reticulata bloomed today

IMG_1858Crocus (640x427)

A tiny crocus has appeared in the rough grass under one of the crabapple trees.

IMG_1859Crocuses (640x427)

I found some more – paler ones this time. I hope the birds don’t rip them up and the mole doesn’t dig them up.

 

 

IMG_1842Goldfinch (640x424)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

IMG_1843Song Thrush (640x427)

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

Finally, here is the setting full moon seen on the morning of 4th February.

IMG_3967Setting moon (640x480)
IMG_3971Setting moon (640x480)
IMG_3973Setting moon (640x480)
IMG_3975Setting moon (640x480)
IMG_3976Setting moon (640x480)

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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January’s End

31 Sat Jan 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, weather

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

art work, catkins, ice, January, reflections, signs of spring, snow, sunrise, sunset

The last day of the first month of the year.  There are plenty of signs of spring about.

IMG_3925Snowdrops (640x480)

Snowdrops in the garden

IMG_3922Hazel catkins (640x480)

Hazel catkins

 

IMG_3868Gorse at Minsmere (640x480)

Gorse at Minsmere. Though gorse is in flower through most of the year!

 

 

But there were signs of spring about in the autumn too.

010Cowslip (640x427)

Cowslip in the garden at the end of August.  We had a strange summer!

 

We have had rain and hail and sleet and even snow this month.  High winds, fog, thunder and lightening and even some sunshine!

IMG_3917Snowfall (640x480)

Snowfall on Thursday afternoon.

IMG_3919Snowfall (472x640)

It was quite heavy while it lasted!

 

The snow hasn’t lingered.  By lunchtime on Friday it had all gone again.  Despite the frosts, the ground is still fairly warm; especially the roads and paths.  We had a wet year last year and a very mild autumn and early winter.  The grass continues to grow and grow and we have no opportunity for cutting it.  The garden is very, very untidy.  The best days for gardening are the days we cannot get out there.  Such is life!

We have had some glorious sunsets.

IMG_3883Sunset (640x480)

A fiery furnace!

IMG_3906Sunset (640x480)

Reflected glory!

We have had some exceptional sunrises too.

IMG_3914Sunrise (640x480)

I admired the colour scheme here.

When I have been able to get outside there has been plenty to see, though the light has not often been good enough for photography.

IMG_3921Ice on pond (640x480)

Reflections (and the remnants of the ice) on the big pond

IMG_3923Thistle (640x480)

The whorl of a new thistle.

IMG_3929Reflection in pond (640x480)

Reflection of the moon and trees in the corner pond.

I woke to snow fall this morning and we got a dusting that settled everywhere as the frost had been hard last night.  The ponds were all covered in ice and snow.  By the time Elinor came downstairs (at midday!) it had all (except the pond ice) gone.  It is snowing again now as I type this.

Elinor has not had a very good week as she has been very anxious again.  She was unable to go into college on Tuesday and Friday.  She has produced some good art work though.

Richard is in Manchester this weekend visiting his mother in her nursing home and staying with his brother.  He took his brother a gift of a barrel of local Adnam’s beer which last night, so I heard, was being left to settle in my brother-in-law’s cellar.  I doubt whether it will be left to settle long!

I must now go outside quickly to top up the bird-feeders before it gets dark.  The snow has changed to sleet unfortunately.  I dislike sleet very much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I talk about what it's like living in a quiet part of Suffolk. I am a wife, mother and daughter, a practising Christian and love the natural world that surrounds me. I enjoy my life - most of the time!

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