pumpkinstrokemarrow

Have now taken the plunge and mown the new daffodil bed, with the plan being to cut it at least once before the end of the season, with the intention being that the grass should be fairly short when the bulbs next want to come up, hopefully some time early in 2013.

Note the extension to the traditional chestnut fence (I assume sweet chestnut rather than horse chestnut, on the grounds that the former seems to throw out straight shoots very readily), intended to keep the neighbouring miniature fox hound out.

Chicken wire hangs down from the extension, not visible in this snap. But it does seem to do the trick and hopefully the bald patch in the corner where dogs and foxes used to jump will now recover. Just visible.

Sadly, we find that the smell of the hound, contrary to contrary report, does not keep the foxes out of its own garden, never mind ours. So there are presently some young foxes which are as tame, say, as the ducks in the park expecting picnic leftovers. Maybe I will get one of those red-neck hi-tech catapults off the internet yet. Or maybe when the hound starts to adolesce and to chuck out lots of the sweet smelling sex hormones, they will scare the foxes off.

PS: I wonder in passing what adolesce might mean in Dutch. Perhaps a real world visit to http://www.adolesce.nl/ is called for.