Heather

@heatherewing

Gardening by the sea, slow living, macramé and mindful crafting, watching the birds.

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Heather@heatherewing· 20d

Got it! Screen grab from a shaky video but how beautiful! Today's small joy. 🦋🌱 Now I can put away my black belt in procrastination and get back to what I should be doing...

$A Jersey Tiger moth with its wings open. The top half is brown with a cream kind-of-tiger-stripe and the lower half is a warm orange with three brown dots on each side. It's sitting on a long buddleia leaf (not really sitting, it touched down there for a fraction of a second) with a purple buddleia flower to the left and the background is a close-board wooden fence.$

Heather@heatherewing· 20d

There are two! In full-on feasting mode and in no mood to show me their beautiful lower wings. Little bit giddy - it's the first time I've seen one! 🦋🌱

TWO Jersey Tiger moths feasting on the buddleia in my garden, one in the foreground and one on the flower, out of focus, in the background.

Heather@heatherewing· 20d

🌱Jersey Tiger moth on my buddleia. 🦋 Burnt my toast getting this snap. It's still there, so I'm going back to see if I can catch it with wings open.

A stunning Jersey Tiger moth on a lilac-coloured buddleia flower. The moth - wings folded - is a triangle shape with cream coloured veining on a deep brown background. Very striking.

Heather@heatherewing· 22d

The water these things use is astronomical. The numbers are terrifying. The headline ought to be, "Too many data centres planned for UK's available water supply."

The UK’s highest concentration of datacentres is in Slough, which is served by Affinity Water. About 125 datacentres are proposed or under construction in Affinity’s region, much of which is subject to a hosepipe ban.

In May, the company told MPs that some of these datacentres were requesting up to 3m litres of water a day, equivalent to the peak water demand of 3,500 homes.

Heather@heatherewing· 26d

Although hanging out with this little fella is fairly high on my list of priorities! So brave and inquisitive! 🪶🌱 #gardenersworld

A young robin, still in juvenile speckled plumage, perching on the edge of a plant pot. It's been following me around watching me water the garden and getting closer every day while I have my morning coffee.

Heather@heatherewing· Jun 29

I've fallen down a Good Life rabbit hole. Penelope Keith really was magnificent. Can't imagine anyone else as Margo or Audrey fforbes-Hamilton.

The late Dame Penelope Keith as Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life. She's wearing a floaty turquoise dress with a matching headscarf and is on the phone to Barbara and Tom while Gerry tries to fix their generator.

The late Dame Penelope Keith as Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life. So glam, even getting ready to hold the fort for Tom and Barbara for a few days.

Heather@heatherewing· Jun 27

From Science Now magazine in 1982. We knew this was coming 45 years ago, that burning fossil fuels was a recipe for disaster both for the climate and world food security, and yet we've done so little to stop it. And now we're upping the ante, adding destructive data centres to the mix. Insanity.

An article from Science Now magazine from 1982. The image is an aerial of a harvester in a dry, dusty field. The headline reads The Desert Effect. Text: The destruction of forests and the burning of fossil fuels could herald the dawning of a new climatic age, with a devastating effect on world farming.

Heather@heatherewing· Jun 20

Hoping the heat doesn't get to the callicarpa blossom which is just coming out. It's absolutely loaded this year. Last winter a pair of blackcaps snaffled all the berries in about a week. There should be at least twice as many for them this year! 🤞🏼🌱

A clump of tiny purple blossoms on a callicarpa 'profusion' shrub. Zoom in to see the tiny spider hiding underneath!

Heather@heatherewing· Jun 5

Evening primrose popping out while the Cali poppies close up for the night. Plant shift workers! 🌱

In the foreground the egg-yolk-yellow evening primrose flowers are opening. They start out a pale yellow, getting darker and in the morning they'll fade to a lovely peachy orange. The California poppies in the background are a mix of summer sorbet, a pale raspberry, and the traditional orange flowers.

Heather@heatherewing· Jun 5

Just in from the garden. 🌱 Breakfast for dinner this evening! Jeez I'm ready for some #GardenersWorld sanity tonight after the week it's been.

A bowl of granola, English strawberries and blueberries with a big dollop of natural yoghurt, with the garden in the background through the kitchen window.

Heather@heatherewing· Jun 4

Er, Flash... I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be in there. 🪶

A grey squirrel upside down with his head in a bird feeder full of sunflower seeds, eyes closed in bliss. He's worked out how to lift the lid and wedge himself underneath it. Normally he hangs upside down and eats from the normal holes at the bottom but the neighbour whose feeder it is has omitted to tape down the lid and Flash was in like a shot! Little opportunist!

Heather@heatherewing· May 27

While I'm on the topic of birdbaths, is there anything more joyful than a fresh-out-of-the-box starling having its first bath? Fledge in the morning, bath in the afternoon. Perfect day. It's the demand for bath snacks that does it for me! 🌱🪶

Heather@heatherewing· May 27

Bath time! It's the first time I've seen a greenfinch use the birdbath for an actual bath. They always drop in for a drink. A blue tit started off swim fest but the great tit chased him off. The greenies are big enough to hold their own! Sorry for the shaky camera work - zoom & no tripod. 🌱🪶

Heather@heatherewing· Apr 18

The unfurling. And the glory of borrowed landscape! Neither of these beauties is mine - in fact they're in two different neighbours' gardens - but they're a perfect foil for each other & the glimpse of them over the fence adds another layer of depth to mine. Also - the light! What a joy! 🌱

Tree fern fronds unfurling in front of a beautiful pink magnolia. The fern fronds bring to mind the kind of big round lollipops you get at funfairs!

Heather@heatherewing· Apr 18

Queen of the Night has joined the chat.🌱#bloomscrolling

Tulips. Queen of the Night at the top - a deep, deep, rich purple with a classic tulip shape. The flower is just opening so still quite small compared to Jimmy in the foreground, who's been partying for at least a week. Jimmy is shades of pinks, apricots and yellows which gives an overall warm peach tone. The flowers are lit by evening sunlight bouncing off the window.

Heather@heatherewing· Mar 29

Magpie making the most of the bits of roots left after digging out some tree stumps. They're building their second nest in the last 2 months. I've had to draw the line when it tried to rip chunks off my lovely acer! 🌱🪶

A magie with small pieces of muddy tree roots in its beak. Pretty sure this is the male. They've been building their second nest for the last couple of weeks.

Heather@heatherewing· Mar 27

🪶This just makes me chuckle. This crow found the alpaca wool feeder the other day & couldn't quite reach it. Sure enough, yesterday she'd unhooked it & dropped it on the ground to get to the fluff. I hung it up again & here she is this morning. Clever bird! Her babies will be toasty warm & comfy! 🦉

Heather@heatherewing· Mar 23

Oooh I have one of those, too. This was when I planted it October 21. Looks a bit more 'lived in' now! 🌱 #gardenshour

A broken terracotta pot filled with succulents.

Heather@heatherewing· Mar 17

I've just been to Asda and they're also selling it. Makes me so mad. Nothing on the front of the bag, either - you have to read the back to check. 🌱

Heather@heatherewing· Mar 2

Part of my 🌱garden renovation is to make it more wildlife friendly as well as productive for fruit & veg. I've been looking out for bargains so new additions include a Victoria plum, guelder roses and a clearance section crab apple. It's a small garden so growing fruit trees in pots. #GardensHour

The robin has claimed the plum tree as his.

Heather@heatherewing· Mar 2

Hi #GardensHour! Isn't it lovely to see the sun? Having moved last Feb I spent last yr watching to see what came up in the garden (so much good stuff, like this bergenia buried under sedge) while trying to keep the bindweed at bay. This wk I started a major chop back - first step in making it mine!🌱

Dark pink bergenia flowers against the glossy green 'elephant ears' leaves

Heather@heatherewing· Feb 24

A much needed day in the garden 🌱 in the... SUNSHINE! So good for the soul. The garden renovation has officially begun. There are loads of great plants but a lot of concrete, too, so aiming to make it much more wildlife friendly. Hoping the bees will like the crab apple I potted up today!

Two tête à tête narcissi seen from behind with the sun glowing through their petals. There's a pot of muscari in the background.

Heather@heatherewing· Feb 16

Shake a tail feather! 🪶 He wiggles them so fast after a bath they're just a blur! Bitter wind today so Charlie Dunnock was in borb mode, but it was sunny so he had a bath - twice - and settled in for a sploot in his favourite cosy place to dry his floof, only for the sun to go in. Poor lad.

A little dunnock, floofed up after a bath, shaking his tail feathers so quickly they're just a blur.

A dunnock (Charlie to his friends) floofed up to the size of a tennis ball because the wind is so cold. He's sitting on top of a black water butt - his favourite perch to watch the garden goings on

Charlie Dunnock hunkered down for a sploot on the top of a black plastic water butt to dry off in the sun after his bath. The sun disappeared behind a cloud moments later.

Heather@heatherewing· Feb 9

When you've had a bath, the sun's heating up your favourite spot on top of the water butt & you're the warmest you've been in 3 months. Charlie Dunnock's a happy birdie! I stayed indoors so as not to disturb his self-care sesh. He's got a girlfriend, too. Life's pretty good for Charlie rn. 🪶

A little dunnock warms himself in the sun on top of a black plastic water butt. It's his favourite perch, under a buddleia, to watch the world go by. He's floofed out because he's just had a bath.

Heather@heatherewing· Feb 4

A day of sunshine before the rain returns tomorrow called for a spin around the garden to see what's popping its head out. The first snowdrops and muscari are here, with masses more to come. And there's a tiny little lupin leaf that I hope the slugs and snails will leave alone!

Pots of snowdrops and muscari against a weathered wood background.

A tiny, bright green lupin shoot emerges from dark brown soil.

Heather@heatherewing· Feb 1

The magpies that started building a nest last Saturday have been working at it all week & going all out today. Some twigs/small branches almost 1m long! They've been literally ripping them off this dead tree 3 gardens away. Birds on an absolute mission! 🪶

Heather@heatherewing· Jan 30

Walked to the beach in the sunshine this morning. It was cold in the wind! But lots of signs that spring's not so far away, like this gorse starting to bloom. 🌱 #FlowersOnFriday

A few egg-yolk-yellow flowers on a gorse bush next to a muddy path leading to a pebble beach and sea beyond. The sky is partly cloudy with sun breaking through.

Heather@heatherewing· Jan 30

Feel like I need a little timeline cleanse... Some of the spring flowers starting to appear in my garden.🌱 The camelias are later this year - they were in full bloom when I moved in a year ago - but there are some big, fat buds waiting to pop! 💛 the crocuses. #bloomscrolling #flowersonfriday

A rustic, stylised metal frog in the foreground with half a dozen buttery yellow crocuses opening up in the spring sunshine.

Buds about to open on a camelia shrub. They're just very slightly smaller than a golf ball! The flowers when they open are variegated red and white and you can just see that on the tips of the buds.
Some of the waxy green leaves are yellowing around the edge, I suspect because it was so dry last summer.

A vibrant pink camelia flower against the waxy bottle-green leaves of the tree. There are raindrops reflecting the sun on the top of the flower and three more buds next to it, waiting to open.

Heather@heatherewing· Jan 25

Final #biggardenbirdwatch tally... I started with a list of all the birds I've seen in the nearly-a-year since I moved here. The finch numbers are low but they normally turn up around lunchtime. 🪶

A list of the birds I've seen in the last 12 months and this morning's numbers
Wood pigeon 2
Robin 1
Dunnock 1
Bluetit 2
Great tit 1
Goldfinch 2
Greenfinch 3
Coal tit
Magpie 2
Collared dove 3
Wren
Greater spotted woodpecker
Green woodpecker
Long tailed tit
Feral pigeon
Black cap 1
Redwing
Blackbird 1
Jay

Heather@heatherewing· Jan 25

She's not mucking about! The bluetits that normally nest in the box under this tree might be looking for alternative lodgings this year. 🪶 Alt text: a magpie with a big stick in a tree with bare branches. She flies off with it to the neighbouring eucalyptus tree where she's building a nest.