A cloud of gatekeepers

We can certainly sense a change in the weather these days. World heat maps show it vividly with the majority of the world glowing reds and oranges. 

Calving of large glacial fronts, showing their age by their colour, that soft powder blue, are occurring far more frequently and under-glacial rivers pour fresh water into our once salty sea.

Indeed things are changing and I suspect over the next ten years the changes I mention here will be mild by comparison with what will have emerged from around the corner.

I was in my twenties when we had the summer of '76. 

Rivers dried up, water restrictions came into place and some parts of the UK endured stand pipes rather than water from the tap. Grass turned brown and trees died through lack of water.

I was living in London then, Blackheath to be precise, and I watched as Greenwich Park shrivelled in the midday sun. I read about Hyde Park, Kew Gardens and the effects it was having on pets, zoos, people, roads, rails.....and the temperature was in the mid thirties, not the high thirties we've just come through.

Cerrado por la siesta........

Adopting a southern Mediterranean way of living, I rose early, ate breakfast, sat outside and checked my pot plants. 

By eleven the temperature was already climbing so I retreated indoors, closed the windows, the curtains and dropped the blinds and there I stayed until the heat had gone out of the sun.

Life for me began at dusk.  I couldn't imagine having to work through that, let alone work outside.

My greatest pleasure was the garden and that walk up to the far end to the greenhouse which was under heavy shade. 

As I walked past the wild marjoram, which still seemed to flower in the heat, clouds of butterflies rose into the air in front of me. 

On some occasions there would be more than twenty, all drinking their fill before hunkering down somewhere to ride out the midday heat.

Occasionally I'd see a few peacocks and small tortoishell butterflies too along with the ubiquitous whites both large and small. 

Bees buzzed about as well as small bubbles. Hoverflies were out in abundance and grass crickets hopped on my path.

The house sparrows were out collecting spiders and fluttered up and down the walls looking for fat morsels and a pair of magpies hopped about looking for anything to satisfy their hungry offspring. 

A small group of gulls circled noisily and the small dogs in the neighbouring gardens were yapping profusely at all the activity.

I may have a parched garden, but the ecology is certainly settling and I am being rewarded with such life and activity, all the hard work has been worthwhile.

My saving grace as Kent dries out

Thank heavens for my courtyard because the rest of the garden is becoming a brown wilderness of dying plants and wilting trees.

The cracks in the ground are large and we have had our first ant swarming so many a queen will be finding easy passage underground.

Wasps are setting up home under one of my shrubs because it's just so dry. As yet they're not too uptight but they swarm about if I walk along the path. First time they've come into the garden but it seems the extermination companies have been busy.

Biggen Hill is busy with pilots out on their first solo flight and you often see two light aircraft flying over extremely close to one another. The bit I've not quite worked out is two planes leave and only one returns 🤷‍♀️ don't get that but still. 

I've also see gliders being towed up, something I've not seen since I lived in Luton as they lifted off the Downs. Brought back memories that's for sure. 

So what else? The buddhlea is out and the first of the butterflies are finding their nectar. 

Up until this moment I've had the large white, peacock, the small blue holly, small tortoishell, a few admirals and loads of gatekeepers. 

With the plant diversity I have encouraged a wide range of hover flies in too and that coupled with all the centipedes, frogs and other miscellaneous insects, I'm very pleased with how the experiment has gone.

This autumn I anticipate adding loads of farmyard manure and a mulch mix to encourage the soil to continue developing. Eventually I'll get it to the point where much of the work is peripheral and the garden will run itself.

🤞here's hoping anyway.