Polar Bear Week

was a TV series that I mentioned in my entry Favourite animals that was shown during the week before Christmas.

I don’t normally do reviews afterwards but fellow Lawn Lounger Louise asked if I would for this one.

Just about everything that I could say, and more, is to found in this excellent Daily Record article.

I found Nigel Marven to be a very affable presenter and his commentary, and occasional antics, added to my overall enjoyment.

I really did like these programmes, and if you missed them then do watch out for the repeats when they get shown.

From my garden

A few days ago a box, about 4″x9″x12″, arrived on my doorstep.

Opening it up I found a handmade Christmas card, three packets of Sweet Pea seeds, a container with various scrumptious looking home-baked cookies and a rather special personalised calendar.

The cookies certainly proved to be every bit as delicious as they looked, and I even managed not to eat them all at once!

The calendar is titled From my garden and is full of wonderful looking flowers, mostly roses not surprisingly since they’re all photos taken by my lovely friend Nikki in her beautiful garden. It will take pride of place and looking at it will brighten up many a dreary day, and definitely have my nose twitching throughout next year.

Thank you Nikki for such a lovely, thoughtful gift.

[I did try to take some photos but they weren’t very good…sorry folks. Have a look at Nikki’s blog and you’ll see lots of superb photos of roses, cookies and her cat.]

Mostly big cats!

A new series of Big Cat Diary is on BBC1 all next week starting Monday at 5.40pm, and the rest of the week at 5.30pm.

Simon King, and others, report on the lives of lions, cheetahs and leopards in Kenya’s Masai Mara game reserve.

If, like me, you like big cats then this new series should be enjoyable viewing throughout the week.

However for me the programme not to be missed is the first in a new series of Natural World next Friday on BBC2 at 8.00pm. It is all about my favourite big cat, the magnificent snow leopard.

No doubt Snow Leopard:Beyond the myth will show some great footage including the breathtaking landscape which is this animals habitat.

There won’t be any big cats to be seen in the Springwatch Christmas Special which is on BBC2 Monday, New Year’s Eve, at 6.10pm. Bill, Kate and Simon take a look back at 2007 which saw floods, storms and memorable encounters with wildlife. They’ll also be advising us what we need to keep us going until Springwatch 2008!

Have a good weekend!

Log pile

I want to have a log pile as part of the wild garden area on the plot but it’s taken to now, or rather last week, to find some suitable logs to start it off.

Over the coming months I shall keep an eye out for more to add to these few dscn0211.jpg so that come next autumn it will hopefully provide a haven for any wildlife who want to make use of it.

Yesterday, Christmas Day, was grey and wet but thankfully today is dry and sunny. It was nice to go to the allotment and stroll round this morning.

Whilst there I added the accumulated kitchen waste, mostly vegetable peelings, orange peel, egg shells and tea bags to the compost heap.

A site that I’ve added to Plot People is we-love-sheds_top.gif which I came across the other evening tinysmiley.gif. An event that I shall mention again nearer the time is Shed Week 2008 which starts on 8th July.

The Phantom

The Phantom by Margaret Ingall

The morning mist is silver,

The air is crisp and cold,

The sun is slowly rising

And turning grey to gold.

The landscape makes a picture

Becalmed within a frame.

Till comes a shift – a tremor

A hiss of gas and flame,

And there, beyond the treetops,

Like some phantasmal moon,

Upon the dawn comes riding

A giant air balloon.

Adrift upon an upstream,

It floats with cobweb grace,

Unhurried as the dawning,

At one with sky and space.

And far below, still dreaming

The sleeping village lies,

And no-one sees the voyager

That moves across the skies.

This time of year

Today is cold and sunny, but not windy, which is the sort of day that I really like at this time of year.

This morning I went to the Horticultural Society hut to buy some bird seed and peanuts as it will be closed the next two Sundays. I wished all who were there all the best for Christmas and the New Year.

This is the view of the allotment site from the main roaddscn0207.jpg

with my shed visible on the right hand side and the spire of St. Mary’s, Harrow-on-the-Hill just visible above the tree-line on the left, about one and a half miles away, which I mentioned in this entry back in October.

My plot neighbour Joe, who has the first two plots on the right before mine, was there. We chatted for a while and admired the mimosa tree dscn0197.jpg

that he planted during National Tree Week.

I then cleared the ice from my pond and filled both the seed and peanut bird feedersdscn0203.jpg which they are now using, as I’ve been lucky enough to see during my recent visits.

The roses that I planted recently don’t look much now,

dscn0206.jpg dscn0205.jpg dscn0204.jpg

but just you wait until next summer!

Favourite animals

I would be very surprised if otters and polar bears weren’t on just about everybody’s list of favourite animals.

Luckily for all of us in the UK there are TV programmes about both next week.

An Otter in the Family is on BBC2 Sunday at 6.30pm, concluding the following Sunday at 3.45pm. It tells the tale of Grace, an orphan otter cub, rescued and raised by TV presenter Philippa Forrester.

Polar Bear Week with Nigel Marven is on Five Monday to Wednesday and Friday at 7.15pm. The programme also shows artic foxes, beluga whales, harp seal cubs and caribou.

Have a good weekend!

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