Barrowby Allotments Annual bbq, 20 July 2014

So we are still casting back in time...this time a week yet again to our annual bbq.

It was a good day for us and the weather held out with nice sunshine right until the bitter end...unfortunatley not for the clearing up though!!

It was quite well attended and we saw a few new faces this year. I'll let the pictures tell you a little more (just hover over them for descriptions)!!

Well I hope you enjoyed joining us at the bbq, I will show you what happened at the end next time!!!
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Allotment update and R.S.P.C.A. Dog Show.

Hi All...well it's been a while hasn't it....lets start with a quick allotment update...I've been rubbish and my garden grows terribly unless you count the weeds. That's about all i can comment on that for now.

Now to the good stuff...The Annual R.S.P.C.A. Dog Show at Waddington Village Hall and playing fields, for this i have to transport you back in time to last Saturday, 19/07/14.

Why is this the best event?? Simply because this is where we went to meet Trojan last year. After we had decided to get another dog and that it would be a rescue dog we started looking on line and that's where Trojan first caught our eye but when we rang the kennels to ask to visit they said the he had been taken to the show in the hopes of finding him a home so of we went to meet him.

So of course it was only natural that this year would return with Trojan so that he could go and see all of those people that helped him in his first stages of rehabilitation.

We arrived at about 1pm and the dog show was to start at 1:30. We entered Trojan into a few of the categories. After all any money raised was to go to help out the R.S.P.C.A. in all of the good work that they carry out.

The rain started as the dog show did and was torrential for about 20 mins but after it passed the skies cleared and the sun came out and it was a fantastic day. It was a pity about the weather at the beginning of the event though as I think it put quite a few people off!

Anyway we had a wonderful time catching up with Trojans foster family and meeting many of the other volunteers who know Trojan...then of course there were the few that didn't 'know' him but certainly knew 'of' him and a lot of people approached us that day saying' So this is 'The' Trojan.

Everyone was pleased to see him and how well he is doing and it was a great day.

Entering in the Dog Show

 Trojan won first prize in the 'cutest crossbreed'  had his photo taken and got lots of treats and an ice-cream.

Trojan with his first prize rostette and certificate.

Trojans winnings from the day!!

 Trojan also got some lovely bits for winning and he was also given an extra bag of treats by one of the R.S.P.C.A. volunteers...which by the way he LOVES Amy!!

My Hubby won the biggest teddy ever in the 'name the dog' competition

Trojan and Millie.

On top of all this fun we also had a portrait photo of the three of us...

Photo taken at the dog show.

 

It was a lovely day out and we will certainly attend again next year and pray the weather is a bit kinder. So if you live close enough by why don't you set a date in your diary for next year and come along and support the fantastic work of the R.S.P.C.A.!!

Oh and just because I haven't yet shared it with you here is another picture of Trojan....

pencil sketch of Trojan

This pencil sketch was drawn by my friend Juliette for my Hubby for Christams...you will all know Juliette....she is Annabels Mum and has shown up in a few of the bee plot photos!!

Isn't it great? Juliette is an incredibly talented  artist and I am really pleased with this...Whatdo you think??
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Dog Owners/Parents please be aware.......

OK, this post is literally a SHOUT out to all dog owners and parents out there and all those who read and live in the vicinity or know of anyone who does or visits please pass on what I am about to write.

On Sunday morning I went to take Trojan for a walk around our local field. It is a lovely field In my village of Barrowby. The pre-school is held on the grounds as is a breakfast and after school club.

It also house the football teams and many matches and also the local cricket pavilion.

It was very nice of the Parish council a few years ago now to put up bins place all around the perimeter of the field so that when you clean up after your dog you don't even have to carry it all the way home.

The field is tended well, litter picked and it has wild areas left for the dogs to sniff around in and other wild animals to use for their homes and foraging.

So anyway as we were getting near to the end of our walk on Sunday morning i saw Trojan snuffling quite intently in the grass and when he lifted his head up he had something in his mouth.

I immediately told him to 'Come' and 'Drop' which he did for me and this is what fell out of his mouth....

I don't know whether you can tell from the photo but it is a 2 inch square of roasted meat with a 3 inch nail driven through the middle of it.

I thank my lucky stars that Trojan was good enough to bring it to me and drop it as if he had bitten into it he could quite easily have gone both through the top and bottom of his mouth.

This seems to me deliberate...after all something like this can't be done by accident. I am pretty certain it was placed for a dog to find but i shout out to parent too as it is a play area for children and a nail protruding up as this was could have done serious damage to a child's foot had they stepped on it and i dread to think what damage it could cause if a child fell on it.

The offending item was found in the cut grass at the edge of the field where it is left a little longer than the grass of the football and cricket pitches so was easily concealed and would only be 'sniffed' out by a dog, or found by a child that became injured by it.

I have informed the local police but there isn't really much they can do except try and make people in the area aware and I'm not sure how they will do that so this is why i am telling you about it now and encouraging you to keep other people informed.

Sorry it wasn't the nicest pot in the world but I hate to think of someones child or dog becoming injured because there are those out there that do this sort of thing!!!
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Pretty poppies by Annabel.

Spot the dragon fly.

Remember the dragon fly I made and told you about here well I just wanted to share with you his/her new home!!

Spot the dragon fly.

Do you see him/her?? I never did decide on a gender. Anyway I think it's very happy here!!
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Talking of ponds.....

Guess what I had in my pond on the allotment a couple of weeks ago??

When I ask that question I think there is an obvious answer but apparently not and I really did get some weird answer off people...but that is getting away from what was there.

It didn't actually start off in my pond but I kind of herded it/them there from down near the gate...have you guessed yet??

DUCKS!!!!!! well ok...one duck and 8
ducklings!!

I just glanced up from working on my plot
and there they were nibbling around
other peoples plots.



When I first approached Mum was a little
antsy but soon settled when she realised
I was no threat. I walked them off the
allotments onto the path but they didn't seem
to know where to go.



I gave them some water which the
ducklings jumped into but after mum
had had her fill she started wandering
towards the gate. This worried me a bit as it
leads to a road with a blind corner so the only
thing I could think of doing was 'herding'
them to the bee plot pond which is right
the other side of the allotments.

As you can see they loved it. Mum even jumped
in for a dunk too. how incredibly cute to
have some duckling in my pond and
see them enjoying it!!

I don't know where these ducks came from. If they were from another plot owner then I haven't seen any evidence of them since and they were no longer on the bee plot when I returned. I told Juliette who is working the bee plot with me and now we wonder whether we should secure the plot off and have a couple of resident ducks. The idea is a nice one. Not so much for the eggs but just for the ducks. If we were going to do this I think I would sink another vessel into the ground so there was just more than one body of water.

Any one got any experience with keeping ducks?? I think they can turn over land quite quick and we wouldn't want the plot destroyed but would just a couple do that??

Any knowledge any one has either first hand or from knowing somebody who has ducks would be much appreciated.

Oh and on a last note....aren't the duckling CUTE!!!!
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Bee plot idea in action!!

So whilst we were strimming and mowing the bee plot on Friday evening we had to again move all the ornaments from around the pond in order to be able to cut down what had grown up around it and inevitably this led to debris in the pond yet again.

So the pond area was time consuming and messy yet again which was where my idea came from...after all I am always looking for making things easier to take care of and looking more improved.

So off to homebase I went yesterday morning with Juliette and we bought weed membrane and wood and then set to sorting things out yesterday afternoon.

Juliette helping on the bee plot



sorting out the water feature.



Juliette did as much work as me and then complained
at our resident photographer Annabel (her daughter)
that she only took photos of her when she wasn't actually
doing anything...lol




just a couple of finishing touches taking place....



 

And in goes a post.

So what do you think so far?? It is not finished yet but I do have a picture of the completed project so far...want to see?? Well if you don't just stop reading now as I am going to post a couple anyway!!

 

So here you can see it so far. It isn't totally
finished yet put we are pleased with what
we got done before leaving.

Wood has been put round the edge and membrane put down
to prevent weeds. Stones will go on top of the
membrane and a few plants put in around the pond.

And this is what it looks like at the moment as you approach
plot. A water feature to one side and a bird bath in the top corner
are really starting to make it an attractive main feature
to the bee plot and it is great for attracting wildlife.
The wood edging means no more moving things from
around the pond and will help keep it clean.

 

It is still a work in progress and there are a few things yet to be sorted but once it's complete then I will take some more photos for you to see featuring all the little quirky things we have added to give it a little bit of character.

 

I would just like to say thank you to Annabel and Elysia for providing the photos for this post!!

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