Holes

Grandson and I went to the Botanics the other day. We went into the greenhouses for the first time, which he found interesting, especially since one of them has an aquarium section. He particularly liked the little neon fish.

Then we walked round the gardens as usual and looked at the waterfalls and his favourite tree, Number 17 Tree (as he calls it, after his own house, also number 17). We fed the squirrels and the pigeons on sunflower seeds and the ducks on special duck food provided by Son. Oh, what fun it is to wander around with him and have lots of chats.

Can you see where the grass is dug up on the left? That's the work of the badgers which live in the garden and come out at night after all those pesky visitors have gone away. They've made a real mess in various areas. I didn't know about them till there was a recent article about them in the paper. There are about five setts in the gardens and badgers keep digging up the crocus bulbs and eating them. How very trying. We get badgers around here too but they've never done much damage to the garden.

The other evening I looked out of a front window and saw three foxes proceeding across the lawn towards the side of the house. Then I looked out of the back and there they were in the back garden, having presumably squeezed through the rather small cat-hole we cut in the side gate. The temptation to feed them is quite strong - it was cold and they were no doubt looking for food - but it wouldn't be sensible. I always think how strange it is that we invite certain animals into our houses and pamper them, while outside, most of wildlife just gets on with things with little assistance from anyone.

We're still missing our cats a lot. We were fine before we had them but now we've had them and lost them, there seems like a big hole in our lives. A bit like having children. Ah well. There are snowdrops and crocuses in the garden. Spring is on the way. Slowly.