Life at Croft Cottage B&B, Hope Bagot

Autumn in the garden

2011-11-13T20:32:00.001Z

After a very busy summer and the sad demise of the hard drive on my computer, I've finally got back to putting some pictures up showing how lovely a Shropshire garden can be in Autumn. Sadly most of these colours have now gone as the winter descends.

Summer in the Meadow

2011-06-26T21:46:00.000+01:00

Tess in the Wildflower meadow which is at it's best now. I found several different bumblebees, honeybees, butterflies and moths on the flowers.

A honeybee on Red Clover -

A six-spot Burnet Moth on Horseshoe Vetch

A Small Copper just soaking up the sun

A garden bumblebee on white clover and a pair of Common Blue butterflies flirting (no photo of these which were fluttering around the sky and quite impossible to get a photo).

A Swarm of Bees in May is Worth a Load of Hay!

2011-05-27T12:41:00.000+01:00

What a lovely sight! Although I thought I'd controlled my bees to stop them swarming, they obviously thought better!

This amazing sight greeted me when I went to strim the grass from around the beehives. They are now safely gathered into a new home and I await to find eggs which proves the new queen is laying - and another colony of bees is born.

In the meantime, the garden is blooming with Spring flowers.

Amazingly the pink gladiolus italicus loves it here so much, it happily self-seeds all over the garden.

Don't you just love flowers to self-seed? Volunteers my mother called them.

Happy Event!

2011-05-10T20:18:00.000+01:00

A bit of a shock when I found Mrs Mallard's nest like this, but it was as I hoped - they'd hatched!

A little later on, Bentley, Tess and I found her sitting by the pond and then the next time we looked we found this:

I counted - and counted again and finally decided there were 13 of them - as you can see, 12 were little Mallards but no. 13 is bright yellow!

Time will tell just how many of them she manages to raise to maturity. We haven't seen the earlier clutch for some days now and after - finally - getting some rain, we haven't seen this brood either.

However, more than an inch of rain has cheered the garden up, added water to the brook and we fully expect to see baby ducks again soon.

Galloping Spring

2011-04-28T20:53:00.000+01:00

It's just amazing how everything is flowering at once - and at least two weeks early in many cases. The bluebells were just coming out last week and now they're nearly finished - presumably because of the drought.

Yesterday I took a photo in the bluebell spinney of a mallard duck on her well camouflaged nest - can you see her?

She's right in the middle of this photo - here's a close-up - and she's still difficult to spot! We just hope that the local foxes, stoats and badgers don't find her before the eggs hatch.

However, today another mallard mum appeared in the brook with her 10 - or maybe more -ducklings, so one hatching has survived this far.

Clematis and flowering cherries

2011-04-12T19:44:00.000+01:00

This clematis macropetala is just coming into flower - this photo was taken five years ago on 5th May 2006 and if anything, it is even better today. It's amazing how much earlier it has flowered this year: I think it will be over by 5th May, along with the pink flowering cherry behind.

I'd love to know what it is called now. I bought it about 10 or more years ago when it was being developed at Burford House and was sold as 'Burford form'. I know since then it has acquired another name, but I don't know what!

For the record, only the lighter pink cherry is out today, the darker one still in bud. But, nevertheless, three weeks earlier than usual.

Spring has come to South Shropshire

2011-04-07T13:10:00.000+01:00

Suddenly all the flowers and trees are coming out together and Cumberley Lane is covered in Wood Anemones, Violets and Primroses.

The blackthorn, damson and wild cherry are all in blossom. I don't remember a year like it and we've been here fifteen now.

Granola re-stocking

2011-03-15T12:59:00.000Z

Just made another batch of special Croft Cottage Granola with nuts to restock after visitors over the weekend. It always goes down so well with natural yoghurt from the Dairy House or Yeo Valley.

Suddenly the diary is booking up with enquiries daily, but still have new curtains to make for the bedrooms!

The pond wakes up . . .

2011-03-09T10:59:00.009Z

The mallards are nesting again and the plants are beginning to grow. This flowering plant has just re-appeared. The flowers grow up by themselves and then the leaves come afterwards.

They are like a large rhubarb - not as large as our gunnera though - and also like the wild butterbur, but although I couldn't remember the name, some research through Twitter tells me that it is probably the Japanese Butterbur, not a native plant as I thought.

The rest of the garden is beginning to stir - it will soon be Spring.

Mallards are back!

2011-03-01T13:22:00.000Z

Last year a mother mallard duck raised seven ducklings on our pond and used to bring them down the brook to forage under the bird feeders opposite the kitchen window.

This morning, the first day of March, two drakes and a duck appeared outside the kitchen window. They are completely unfazed by all of us, dogs, cats and humans, so obviously some of last year's young. It's good to see they survived the winter.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Muffin and Whiskers decided to share a chair.

Belinda Goose is sitting

2011-02-28T12:29:00.000Z

Our youngest goose, Belinda, has been laying eggs since before Christmas, which is quite ridiculously early! By removing them, and eating them - quite delicious - we've kept her laying until now. About a week ago she decided to sit on four eggs which we hope is a sensible amount. Last year she sat far too early on far too many and none of them hatched. Her mother, Lucy, did much better and managed to raise four. The eggs are due to hatch about 20th March, so watch this space.

The winter garden is at its best, with the snowdrops, crocuses and the hellebores all flowering together - by the summer, our visitors mostly see a rather untidy mess here! The yellow stemmed willow is such a bonus in the winter but as soon as the daffodils are flowering we shall have to cut it back. This year a basket maker in Ludlow is going to take them all for his craft.

Sunshine at last!

2011-02-24T17:53:00.000Z

Today the sun has shined! After a trip to Ludlow Farmers' Market this morning for some provisions we both managed several hours in the garden. David is repairing an arch which was collapsing under a honeysuckle and I got a quick look at my bees. So far they seem to be fine - a relief - and were also enjoying the sun.
The weather also pleased the pets and I caught this picture of our new fluffy Whiskers sitting next to Tess who doesn't look quite so happy!

New arrivals at Croft Cottage B&B

2011-02-21T21:17:00.002Z

Whiskers in David's lap

Muffin

Whiskers and his sister Muffin arrived here in the New Year - from a cage at the Cats Protection League in Ludlow. They are extremely friendly and took no time at all in making friends with Bentley (who took it quite in his stride) and Tess (who was terrified at first!). These pictures were taken a few days after their arrival but shortly I hope to have some photos of them outside, where they have finally ventured. We have bought a water pistol to discourage them from the bird feeders too . . .

The snowdrops are still in flower and the hellebores just coming out. Spring, although a little late, cannot be far away.

Not long till Spring!

2011-02-15T11:55:00.004Z

Despite the cold and wet, the garden is full of snowdrops, hellebores unfolding and ... pride of place my Witch Hazel Hamamelis × intermedia 'Arnold Promise'.

This has been in flower for a month now and never fails to enthrall us. Look at its autumn colours too . . .

Badgers in Shropshire, thanks to The Guardian

2011-02-10T18:57:00.002Z

17 months ago Kieran Falconer came to see our badgers and wrote it up in The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/enjoy-england/badger-watching-shropshire Amazingly we are still getting enquiries for B&B - we can't be the only people to keep old newspapers!