The Grounds

I became distracted in January as we were away for 10 days and none of the usual views of the lake were taken. Looking back through my collection of photos for this month I realise that it was not until Sunday 19 February that I took my first picture of the year. The photo was taken at arou... read more

This is the third year in the cycle and it was turn for the lake banks behind Ruston House to be cleared. Part of the objective is to ensure that there are no alder and other saplings growing that, if left unchecked, will eventually fill the lake with the leaves that they drop each autumn and pa... read more

Having seen the geese inspecting the duck house on Wednesday, now we have a pair of swans on the lake. Unlike the geese, there was no sign of interest in the duck house. They were content preening themselves for the period they were on the bank. When looking back at these posts, I ofte... read more

Having the geese back on the lake means that spring is on its way which is always a good feeling, but it's tinged with concern for the cottage owners for whom the geese create a big problem especially for bookings during the school holidays when children are likely to run into the... read more

Sometimes you become particularly aware of a "Shepherd's Delight" sunset and today was one of those occasions. Getting the exposure right is always a problem as you don't want a completely dark foreground, yet if you take a slow enough exposure to get some light into the foreground the... read more

It turns out that I only managed to take two photos of the standard lake view this month. The first was on 3 April... It shows the willow well into leaf and the lawn on which the banana bench stands looking well. The remaining trees around the grounds still show no sign of life. ... read more

Back in January , when snow as on the ground, I had completed shifting our wood chippings from the front garden to the path near the reed bed. But we knew that more needed to be done after the first winter the Green Team had been helping us. The path beside the lake had developed a groove due to... read more

It's been Nearly A Month since I last did any work on the main path around the lake, but this morning I finally got round to improving the section behind the Ruston Bench. The plan was to use the boards recovered from the fishing stands that the Green Team had removed to produce an edging on... read more

There are four of the standard view of the lake this month, but three were taken on consecutive days and at rather different times, so the impression you get of the weather could be a little misleading. On Friday 15 January the photo was tkaen at 11:58 and you get the distinct impression of... read more

As, in spite of the cold, it was almost pleasant outside, having taken photos of the Frozen Lake and of the Board Walk on the island, time was spent moving more of The Chippings that had been created in the front garden last November. It was too cold to spend too much time outside... ... read more

It had been a chilly Sunday morning and things were still frozen just before 13:15, but the sun was out and almost welcoming you outside, so it was time for some photographs... It was hardly worth calling snow on the decking, as it looked more like very deep frost, but it did make a pretty ... read more

It has been becoming apparent that weed levels in the lake behind the cottages were unusually high this winter. In previous seasons, I had come to expect all weed to disappear from the surface of the lake. Last summer, because of staffing issues, very little had been done to keep weed growth under... read more

At around midday I took this photograph, which you might take to be snow. However, what you see is the result of a sudden hail storm. It didn't last long so where the hail fell on our neighbour's field the stones got lost between the blades of grass, but on harder surfaces it remained visib... read more

After many months of collecting any wood that we might be able to use to surface our paths we have enough to justify hiring a chipper. The machine is due to arrive before the end of the week. Experience taught us that trying to drag a petrol driven chipper along our paths to where the piles... read more

After finding a damselfly in the kitchen earlier this month , today I was surprised to see a cricket on the kitchen window frame. It was just after 17:25 that I spotted it, as I had come in to prepare our meal. At first I tried searching for images of "grasshopper" but my example ... read more

Having found our inspiration for our Viewing Platform back in June, things had moved on. With the work on the decking around the house completed Roger was waiting for me to lay the foundations for the the platform he is to build. Sand and paving slabs had been delivered and I had been busy t... read more

Close to the house the path round the grounds has a topping of wood chippings which are prevented from spreading with logs placed on each side of the path. It was the first time that I recall ever seeing a lizards, but that is clearly what they were, sunbathing on the logs. read more

In front of the house work continued on the construction of our "cart shed" or garage to those of a less rural persuasion! As the time for an afternoon tea break arrived I brough the drinks out to the side of the house near the newly constructed decking and spotted perhaps the biggest ... read more

In my excitement of posting about the Small Emerald Moth yesterday, I forgot to mention that at just after 08:00 yesterday morning I took a photo of the apparently injured juvenile moorhen seen seen four days ago . This time it was in the dinghy moored by the step in the new decking, holdin... read more

This afternoon just before 16:00 I was talking with David, our builder, when he drew my attention to what at first I took to be a butterfly resting on the gravel beside us, but not a variety I recognised. As ever, I had to research this one and it seems it is a Small Emerald Moth . It appea... read more

This morning, just after 09:20, I wandered out to the "lawn" - it's still a patch of mud beside the new decking - to take a photo of a young bird that was not behaving normally. It seems to have an injured leg and allowed me to get quite close. read more

This evening, just after 19:00 a damselfly flew into our kitchen through the open door. That's not quite "the grounds" which is where this post appears, but it did seem right to post it here as it's where all the other wildlife pictures appear. I call it a damselfly, as I understa... read more

If you've been following the Lake Views for July you'll have seen that the work on the decking had been completed by 27 July. However, it was not until today that we might have called the work complete. It's not just that the timber is all in place, but extra soil has been brought in to fi... read more

Apart from the vegetation, on which my comments normally concentrate, there are other changes to note this month. You'll see that the first photo, taken on the 3 July, is the last I took with the pergola under the bedroom window still in place. Looking back I realise that it is strange that... read more

Just one image today, taken at close of work. The basic quay heading is complete, although the step is still to be constructed. The tie rods are also sunk into the ground, and the first of the boards to form the inner rail for the decking is in place. read more