Now before you nominate me for the 'Neighbour of the Year' award, I have been doing his garden mostly for my benefit and maybe just a bit for his. Ivy, from his garden, has taken over the dividing wall and has started to creep up the front of both houses. I hate ivy, and the creepy crawly things that live in it!
It took me three evenings, a borrowed hedge cutters, a rake, two pair of gloves, several broken nails and enough insect bites to keep me going for a year, to finally get rid of the offending plant. I had to cut my way through very overgrown shrubs to get in at the wall before I could go anywhere near the ivy and it's warren of roots.
But I wasn't alone in my quest, I had this cheeky little fella keeping me company, every night!
But he wasn't there just to keep me company. Like me he had his own interest in being there! The juicy worms and grubs that I uncovered with every drag of the rake were his prey! It took me ages to get a photo of him. Not that he was shy or kept flying away, quite the opposite in fact, he seemed quite comfortable around me. But in most of the photo's, his camouflage is so good, it is impossible to see him.
I'll never win the 'Photographer of the Year' award either, but here's another photo that I took, and you can see what I mean, he is really close to my foot, but impossible to find!
If you look very hard, you can just about make him out.
Anyway, after a lot of hours and hard work, I (and my neighbour) have a lovely clean wall and the front of my house is free from ivy and her clinging fingers.
I'm not sure if my neighbour will be delighted that the ivy is gone from his house and his shrubs are all neatly pruned, or if he will be annoyed at the pile of clippings I have left for him to dispose of. But either way, I'm happy...
I was going to put week killer down on the remaining roots, and give some attention to the flower bed at the front of my house today. But, guess what, it's raining!
So there was nothing for it but to put on my rain gear and bring the dog round the park. It was dismal down there today, nobody but me and Rusty braving the rain. Every thing was grey and dull. Until we got over the bridge and were greeted on the other side by this sea of yellow:
That really brightened up this dull day.
No sign of the Robin today either, he must also be keeping in out of the rain...
