March and April news

Towards the end of March I finished chopping up and shredding the smaller branches of the fallen eucalyptus tree. We have burned some of it in the stove and it burns well, though we wonder how sootily. Most of it we will leave to season for a while.

There have been a few warm sunny days during April when it was pleasant to sit on the euc trunk 'bench' with one's mug of tea. The supporting log that we put underneath is not actually necessary. When the weight of the rest of the tree was removed the end of the sawn trunk actually rose slightly rather than falling.

Looking up the garden in a pause from compost shovelling.

The photinia Pieris has looked particularly good this year:

 I am filling a very large builder's bag in layers from three compost heaps, removing ground elder roots (there are not too many) and Teapigs corn starch polymer – to all intents and purposes, 'plastic' – teabags (any is too many!). I have had words with the Teapigs company. They say the bags are completely biodegradable but they fail to inform people that this is only in hot industrial composting arrangements. In short the bags are not biodegradable in small domestic, garden compost heaps, at least not within a reasonable time frame, like a couple of years. Everything else I compost is biodegradable in that time so I'm seriously unimpressed with Teapigs' claims. I shall not be buying any more of their bags, though I might buy some of their loose tea especially if they make an effort to improve either their bags' biodegradability or the quality of their information, i.e. if they inform people of the whole truth rather than only part of it. Both would be preferable. It annoys me when companies only make a show of being "green" and it annoys me even more when they make unwarranted assumptions about my composting abilities, which they did in some of their replies. I'd hazard a bet that I have made more compost than all of the Teapigs company's employees put together. And good compost it has been too!

Teapigs 'might as well be plastic' teabags.
They are sitting on the compost I found them in.
Humph!

The big bagged heap will be left to cook for a little longer. It will be lovely when fully cooked as it has plenty of chicken manure in it and the wood shavings we used as chicken bedding.

The first of the plum blossom against a blue April sky and a view of how steep the front bank is.

During a wander to ascertain progress in the April garden, I spotted a caterpillar that I'd never seen before. It turned out to be that of a Drinker Moth (Euthrix potatoria):

My fellow Cub Leader organised a sponsored walk for the scouts and cubs and as many of their parents as wanted to come. We walked along the coast as much as possible around the end of the peninsula. I liked this beach art that someone had left.

And sea-washed tree roots.

Little She Bear also arganised a group visit to Arrochar Mountain Rescue station for the Cubs and Scouts. The kids especially liked the rescuers' vehicles but they also enjoyed learning how to strap someone into a stretcher either for carrying down a mountain or for lifting off to a helicopter. The visit was very informative and enjoyable. Thank you Arrochar Mountain Rescue Team!

I've continued my training to become a Level 1 Archery Coach. The final assessment will happen in June. I've been along to Largs Archery Club a few times and learned a lot from my mentor as well as enjoying meeting other archers. Toad came along too during the last week of April. It's a nice drive (in decent weather) along the Old Largs Road over the hills and through Inverclyde Muirshiel Regional Park. 

The last evening in April brought a strong easterly wind which made flurries and drifts of the cherry blossom – both the wild white and the ornamental pink – that it brought down.