A line of golden setae

The sun was sinking as the smoke from my small bonfire drifted up the garden and its rays shone through the  bright setae of the moss growing on the trunk of the fallen wild cherry tree.

It was high winds one night in December 2013 that brought the old wild cherry tree down. We knew it was affected by the parasitic fungus, Laetiporus sulphureu (Chicken of the woods), so its collapse was not totally surprising. One of its offspring is still holding part of it up. The same storm also brought down a tall eucalyptus which added some interest to the climbing frame.

Some of the eucalyptus wood is still in the woodshed. It burns well in the stove. Some day I might shuffle up the old cherry trunk and start sawing branches....

Bluebells, whitebells, cherry blossom and meadow buttercup

Looking across the loch just before sunrise this morning, about 0545 BST

Bluebells among the monbretia leaves

And amongst the brakcen and rushes

and just two white 'bluebells'

Wild cherry blossom is nearly over
especially after three breezy days
but this branch of a fallen tree
is protected by holly and a young yew

same two whites, different angle

the first Meadow Buttercup of the year 

I had a bit of a bonfire today by the south-east fence.
Set the dead hedge on fire.
Had to stand by with a hose to keep it under control.
Pyromaniac!
Fun though.

I noticed that someone across the field lit a fire later too.

Deep Pink rhododendrons

This deep pink rhododendron has been a cheerful March and April sight on the Boggy Brae. Its flowers are just beginning to open today on its sunniest side. In full bloom nine years ago it looked like this. Toadlet and her friend would swing in the hammock beneath it.

As the flowers died they would litter the ground underneath. I hate litter usually, but not this kind.

There were actually three of these bushes but three years ago two of them began to die. The rhododendron trunks looked as if they were strangling those of a holly that was growing with them but the holly is fine and getting bigger by the year. When they didn't flower and the leaves looked poorly, I pruned them and just left the trunks to be used for firewood in due course. The rhodies now have this fungus growing on them.

Today was such a nice day that after some Saturday errands I sat out with a mug of tea under a wild cherry tree near the deep pink rhodie that survives. My feet were among the bluebell shoots that grow there and all around me were the stones of wild cherries, gnawed open by mice or field voles. And the first deep pink flowers are showing.

What could be nicer than early spring sunshine on your face and signs of new growth after a dark and dreich winter?

Stones of wild cherries and a cotton mouse

The plan was to clean the stones of Boggy Brae wild cherries in a hot water solution of sodium percarbonate so that I can make a cherry stone bag to warm up in the microwave oven and stuff into this mouse for a sick child. The photo to the left shows my first experimental batch.

The cotton mouse used to be Toadlet's but I'm going to pass it on to the grandsons.

The cleaning process worked quite well, and inspecting the gnaw marks on the stones where bank voles or wood mice had opened them to take out the kernel was interesting, but some of the stones had a covering of what I think is a black resupinate fungus which I didn't think would be good to have in a warming bag.

I guess my old wild cherry stones from under the soggy dead leaves of monbretia were not quite fresh enough for the purpose. Ah well, I daresay a purchased cherry stone bag, probably made with the stones of cultivated cherries, will work just as well. Or a wheat bag. Or some such.

It's good to see that the wild cherry stones are a useful source of food for some small animals.