Sue

I am wondering whether it was a Bank Vole as it looked more this colour .....

Hey yes it looked just like that, that's amazing! Thanks, Minkey! I looked in a garden wildlife book I have earlier today, and I did think it looked like a dormouse, but the only one there was a pic of was what they called a garden dormouse, and it said they weren't found in the British Isles, so I assumed it couldn't be that. And by a weird coincidence, I just went up the road, and going down a hole in the pavement (Ulverscroft Road - sorry to break the news, folks) was the back end of a rat - and the thing on my birdfeeder was very definitely not a rat :)) I also have a tiny mouse living in my garden which seems to come and eat the bits dropped off the birdfeeder, from the ground. Haven't got close enough to see if it's a wood mouse or a house mouse, but I think it might be a baby, as it's light enough to run over leaves without bending them too much.

I'll contact him and tell him to pick up his PMs !!!

I've just seen drop off my birdfeeder (fat balls) a small animal which was bigger than a mouse but smaller than a squirrel, about hamster sized and a sort of tan-brown colour. Couldn't see a tail. Didn't look like a rat. It disappeared into ground cover. Any ideas what it might be? Anyone lost a hamster?

Quote from the Aquarius Festival thread (see link above) "There will be a big craft fayre on site, with about 20 traders already signed up" So if you want a stall at a local festival/craft fair, get in touch with Brian now!

maxtedc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I happened to notice there were a lot of orange > butterflies around on Sunday. By orange they > weren't gatekeepers, more like tortoiseshell. I've > never seen them before (alas I don't have a > garden) so when I saw half a dozen in various, > distant corners of ED and Peckham on the same day > it stood out. xxxxxxx I think they might have been these, maxtedc? There's loads of them around at the moment. They are orange when they fly, but when they come to rest they are black and white. See these pictures: Tiger Moth

ClareC Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > I had my phone snatched from me in Camberwell a > few years back, I said to the police at the time I > was silly to use it, to which they told me in no > uncertain terms why shouldn't I, people should be > able to use their phones in public otherwise why > have them in the first place! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx That's interesting, because I know of somebody who got mugged near the Elephant and was told by the police that they shouldn't have been using their phone there, the implication being that it was their own fault that they were mugged.

aalisam Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes please!!! xxxxxx As I say, you will need to contact Brian Towell (posting on the EDF as Brian Tee), I suggest by a PM as he is highly unlikely to see this thread ..... I know there will be stalls, including I understand craft stalls, at the Aquarius Festival (link above). :)-D

You could always have a stall at the Aquarius Festival in East Dulwich on 20 August, craft stalls would be excellent :) The Aquarius Festival thread Contact Brian Towell (originator of the thread) for details!

stephent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > FYI The Dulwich Society also organise garden > visits, in case you weren't aware. xxxxxxxx Thanks, no I wasn't aware, but as I've never seen that society mentioned on here, I presume it's not for East Dulwich?

Mine is somewhat wild as well - I had fallen-down trellis replaced with fencing earlier in the year, and the garden looked like a mass of bare earth due to collateral trampling damage. I sowed loads of annual stuff to fill in the gaps as a temporary measure, and now everything has run totally riot. Unfortunately I misjudged the height of some of it, and now I have vast (but very picturesque) milk thistles hiding plants beneath and attacking me every time I go near, and some very beautiful poppies completely collapsed and lying on the ground :-S

Not sure whether this is the appropriate place to put this, but not sure where else to put it! It struck me that discussing our gardens and related issues didn't really fit into either the existing nature thread or the vegetable swap thread. So I'm starting this one. First, I wonder whether people would be interested (next year maybe) in sharing car space/petrol costs to visit gardens eg Sissinghurst, Great Dixter, Beth Chatto's garden? Second. I wonder whether people would be interested in meeting up to talk about their gardens? Third, I just wanted to share that I sowed a load of very old seeds in the Spring, including some twenty year old scented leaved pelargonium seeds, and they've virtually all germinated. I had been keeping them all in a sealed box in the fridge, so maybe that was why. Only problem has been trying to find space for all the plants! To those of you who had a load of seeds from me last year (I think it was) I do hope you had similar success!

This afternoon - two froglets on a stone, one on the rim of the tub and another in the water. They seem to be sticking out their tongues - do they do that when they're so tiny? It's so quick I can't quite see exactly what they're doing ......

Mockney, really, is that true? Not an early April Fools joke? I thought night flights were only allowed during certain hours? How can they possibly fit them all in? But if true, hooray, pleasant days sitting in the garden with no plane noise, and earplugs at night :)

The Minkey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I heard it too. Reminded me of living in Brixton > where we used to hear it on a semi-regular basis > :-) I once did a 72hr journey on a steam train > from Delhi down south. I'm so glad I was in India > during the time they were still running. It was > not the cleanest way to travel though. xxxxxxxxx We took the steam train to Dorset when I was a child, before we had a car. You could stick your head out of the window and get covered in black smudges. :))

Ridgley Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- The other lady gave me such a sticking > look for interfering and said to me you should > support your own kind I politely told her black or > white the other lady was here first fair is fair xxxxxxxx I would have said to her, what kind is that then, the kind who push past other people who were in the queue before them? Actually I probably wouldn't, but you know what I mean. Gobsmacked by her remark.

Alec John Moore Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Tree pit corner Tyrrell and Oakhurst. Gaudy. > xxxxxxxxx Well, not sure what you mean by gaudy, but we can't all share your impeccable taste :)) I like bright flowers in the Summer.

vicki08 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > are you thinking about the one in underhill the > guy who had the taxi used to plant around 3 trees > from the corner of upland going towards barry road xxxxxxxxx Yes that's probably it, there was more than one tree planted round. They were lovely.

Alec John Moore Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Tree pit corner of Tyrrell Road and Oakhurst > Grove. xxxxxxx Thanks, but it wasn't down there, must be another one! ETA: Would be great to get this spreading around East Dulwich - whole roads were getting involved in Islington, it was brilliant.

RosieH Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > God knows how the owner navigates a shop. xxxxxxx Having had to get on and off buses and around very small shops with a double buggy (thank God one of them is now mostly walking :)) ) I have every sympathy with people who have to do it all the time (though not if the buggies are oversized). Off topic but bee in my bonnet, what I really can't stand are those buggies which have one child in front of the other so the poor child at the back, who always looks bloody miserable, can hardly see out and just stares ahead at the dark, blank back of the seat of the lucky child at the front.

Unfortunately, you may see it decorated with flowers covered by tins and glasses ..... There was somebody near me who planted up their tree pit a year or so back, but I can't remember what road it was, it might have been the bottom end of Upland Road. It looked really lovely. I can't do the one outside my house yet because the tree is too young.

I went outside just now to see if it was still there, and it's gone - so let's hope it keeps safe during its adventures. How is it going to climb back into a tub which has an outward-facing rim? Unless it finds the magical sloping slate .... What is it going to eat when it doesn't have lovely freeze-dried bloodworms dropped into its tub every morning??? Suppose a hungry bird finds it? Hope I can sleep tonight :)) :-S

Oh no, potential disaster. I went out in the garden and one of my froglets was perched on top of the pile of stones I had thoughtfully provided as an escape route out of the tub. I went to get my camera, and when I came back it was hopping along the side of the tub. Then suddenly it made a great leap off the tub. Sadly, not into the water, and not into the nice green sanctuary I had provided on the side of the tub near the pile of stones, but into a dusty abyss on the other side, landing on a ledge on a wall. Last I saw it was cowering (sorry, anthropomorphic) near the dust. OMG will it ever be able to reach safety? I didn't want to try to rescue it in case I made things worse. :-$ I had netted over the tub but cut a hole in the netting around the escape route, but now I'm worried it is going to get caught on the netting if it tries to get back in. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH I guess I'll never know .... as it is about a centimetre long and indistinguishable from any other froglet as far as I can see ....... :-S

Frankito Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Which key can open every locked door? > > A pikey... >:D< xxxxxx Not funny.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Worst few days of the year, the flying ant days :-S