JULY - "Once there was a wild rose gay..."
Once there was a wild rose gay,
On the moorland growing.
But a careless boy at play
Chanced to see the tempting spray
Which the wind was blowing.
Goethe
Epworth County Primary School late 19th century
Susan Temperton (Crow), Epworth school photo about 1963
School’s Out! In Scotland we are over half way through our summer holiday and in many parts of England the holidays have just begun.
I liked school and it felt a bit sad to say goodbye to everyone until September. Before school closed, we took our lessons out of doors on dry and warm summer days. I loved the school garden but I really couldn’t concentrate on anything there - except the scent of the roses, the flitting of the insects and the songs of the birds.
Many years on from that and over five hundred miles away, I still suffer from the same thing! If I try to read or write out of doors, I just can’t concentrate. There is too much going on around me. And they are the same distractions! The bees buzzing in and out of flowers, butterflies dancing up and down in search of a prime spot, and the birds singing from every tree. The scents which drift through the garden make me curious. Sweet pea? Rose? Iris?
We get many butterflies here. Their colours and patterns amaze me but, on the first day of the month, we were visited by a male Large White butterfly. It was quite different from the others and was very confident in our company. It just rested a while. And, on the same day, Ginny’s bees came. She seems very pleased with them, but a little anxious because the loss of her 2025 bees hit her harder than she thought it would. She did everything right and was quite bewildered to find some had gone but many had died - not too long after she’d checked in on them at the end of winter and found no obvious problem. So far her Buckfast bees have settled in very well and happily move in and out of the hive - they seem to be quite at home here. Nature has its secrets and perhaps it will never give up the mystery of the 2025 Culloden bees.
On the day Calum came to complete the irrigation system in the garden, the swallows were very busy. I watched three swallows on the wire: one adult opening its wings, then another. The middle one couldn’t. It was sandwiched tightly between the other two. Swallows kept going and coming. There were never more than five at a time. It’s good to watch bird behaviour. Early this morning I watched a family of sparrows drinking from the birdbath outside the French windows. There seemed to be some sort of conversation going on between them - but they kept their secrets from me. A week into July and the oyster catcher family were noisy overhead for much of the day. They weren’t being very secretive but I’ve no idea what that was all about! We humans think we’re clever but we’re really not!!
The new taps and pipes in the garden are of particular use when the weather is dry and warm. Clemency added another two stand pipes - one in the cottage garden and one close to the shrubbery. They’re going to be so useful with our hot summers. They don’t seem to be cooling down at all.
On Saturday, 4th, we went to the Open Garden at Tongue House. We had a lovely day. The garden is wonderful, so natural and in tune with nature, no pesticides or herbicides. We enjoyed wandering around all over the place. So relaxing. I loved the roses best. It was clear it had been a more formal garden once upon a time but I like it as it is now. It can’t have been easy to start a garden so close to the Atlantic. When we lived in Orkney, I soon learned that creating shelter was the first thing needed when planning a garden in an exposed spot - and the best thing initially seemed to be a hedge of rosa rugosa. It's a tough shrub and will withstand most weathers.There was no point in spending lots of money on wooden fences because they blew down the first winter! Tongue House has shelter from stone walls as we do now in West Caithness. The house itself creates shelter too.
If you read these blogs regularly you’ll know that I love wild roses. I brought one with us, in 2021, from our little garden in Wick. It hadn’t been a great success here. They will grow furiously as long as you let them grow where THEY will and I decided where my wild rose would go. But it had other ideas! It was extra special because it was one of three given to me one Mothering Sunday by my daughter, Lydia. It just kept ticking over with no intention of flowering - and sadly I accidentally broke the only stem left on it as I was tidying up the wild edge of the cottage garden after winter. I stuck the stem into a pot of compost and it seemed to develop fresh green leaves. I was very optimistic but, after a few hopeful weeks, it gave up the ghost. I accepted defeat. Then one day a couple of weeks ago I saw a straight and healthy shoot coming up from the wild edge. I looked at it and wondered what it was. It wasn’t anything I expected to be growing there and I had completely given up on the rose. Silly me! It was growing up from where I had planted the wild rose five years ago and a closer look told me it was my Mothers’ Day present from Lydia. Nature likes to keep her secrets. I’m convinced wild roses have minds of their own!
Another little anecdote about wild roses - Ginny and Judith go down to Suffolk each summer to tend the graves of our Suffolk branch of ancestors. They tidy up the graves, cutting back unwanted growth and generally giving the graves a trim. When they’ve finished, they put down flowers and scatter seeds. This year they were very excited to see a wild rose had taken up residence by the graves. We are all thrilled that this dainty, modest yet extremely beautiful little summer flower will stay with our ancestors for as long as it chooses to. Magic! Another of nature’s secret plans.
We have frogs and toads, and I always thought there was at least one newt too. I was sure I’d seen one. When Clem was weeding the edge of the pond at the beginning of the holiday, she found the cutest newt. It was so tiny so it wasn't the one I thought I saw a couple of years ago but it was so cute - a cute newt in fact!! They’re quite secretive so it wasn't a thing of wonder that it took two years to prove my point!!
While Clemency was working by the pond she made another discovery - she found that the water lily which we thought we’d lost, is still in the pond. So much to discover! So many secrets!
One of the wonders of the natural world is the annual migration of birds and some mammals. We think we know why they come but it is still a wonder they can travel the huge distances across land and sea. The diminutive little willow warbler visits us each year. It comes from sub-Saharan Africa. No short trip!
I watched our little chap on the angelica - which has grown up into the Swedish Whitebeam - never expected that! There were dozens and dozens of flying insects feeding from the large flower heads and our willow warbler was feasting on them. I was fascinated - and also by a delicate little day flying moth in the same border but closer to where I stood. Feeling so thankful for all this, I watched as the willow warbler flew to within a couple of metres and settled on a wooden support I’d given the sweet peas - with something in its beak. I looked for the moth. It had gone! I felt sad and had to remind myself that this is the natural world I love.
A few days later, on a misty but dry morning, I watched the willow warbler clean the Poet’s Wife (yellow rose) of her tickle! The aphids provided the little bird with a good meal. I’m sure the rose thought “Well, good riddance to those little blighters!”
We have another three hens. They are Silver Sussexes, to join our Light Sussexes and Marans. They’ve been with us for over a week now and things are settling down very nicely. It wasn’t easy for Clem at first. The hens all dislike change!
The hens joining Daisy, Drusilla, Gwynne, Winnie and Saldoni are Arabella, Florina and Ophelia. Little Ailsa chose “Florina” but, because she's French, it’s probably meant to be Fleurina!
New Hens
The quail have gone down to four after another death (one female attacked another female) and Clem gave away a pair to some other quail breeders.
We like that the fox visits but it’s important to secure the poultry at night. The quail stay in roomy cages but the chickens need guiding into their bedrooms. Sometimes with difficulty!
Ginny, Alex and Ailsa saw a very dark coloured fox when they were returning from Wick one night this month. It was at the turn-off for the A9 so not one of our local foxes.
On the same day, we were driving up our hill with Lydia, Auri and Elfi, having met them off the train, when one of our Stempster hares decided to be their guard of honour and lolloped ahead of us all the way home. It was a slow journey!
Keith’s tomatoes are producing fruits for us now. My favourite for taste is the tiny, slightly elongated “Tutti Fruitti” but “Burlesque” is massive and still hasn’t ripened. It’s been a great experiment choosing six different varieties. The “Moneymaker” is a good one for cooking.
July is the month of the Caithness County Show. While there are bigger shows further south, it is well thought of across much of Scotland as an agricultural show. There are animals making the journey north to parade in the ring and stand patiently while people admire them and judge them for their quality. There's plenty of competition. I like to watch the grandchildren watching them and hope - and believe - that they will always respect them and be kind to them.
We had family successes in both the Industrial Tent and in the Flower Tent. They included, in the Flower Tent, Judith taking first place for “Best Roses” and, in the Industrial Tent, Auri getting a third place yellow rosette for her photo of “My Favourite Place”. Last year she was so quietly disappointed that she wasn’t placed so we were all over the moon for her this year. Her photo was of her “Dryad Tree” which her mummy had made for her, Ailsa and Elfi at the base of one of their garden trees.
Some of our other results:
Ginny, Lydia and Judith swept the board with “Four Photos On A Theme” -
1st Ginny “Our Hares”
2nd Lydia “Dolphins At Chanonry Point”
3rd Judith “Stempster Skies”
Ginny won “Best Photo Exhibit” for her photo, “The Egg Thief” - a crow stealing a hen’s egg.
Clemency won “Best Dairy” for her salted butter - which I can tell you is the best butter you’ll ever taste!!
We used to take butter home with us after family holidays in the sixties when we stayed each year in Devon. That was good butter - but this is even better!
That’s quite enough of me blowing the family trumpet!!!
The robins go down to the wood to nest each spring and come back into the garden in July with their baby. This year we have two robin babies - and two baby dunnocks. The wren family is back too. It’s difficult to count them as they nip in and out of plant pots and up and down the sweet pea frame.
The hydrangea in a pot by the boiler room (we changed outbuildings for the boiler room as we’ve moved to biomass from oil) is so healthy. Dot gave it to me last year and suggested I kept it in the pot - which I did - and the result is delightful. It's a beautiful shade of pink - I suppose you’d call it baby pink. I love hydrangeas as they were one of my dad’s favourites. We had one growing near the front door at Branscombe Lodge (Belshaw Lane, Belton).
Many people now take the North Coast 500 around the top of Scotland. We live about two miles as the crow flies - but this Crow doesn’t fly - she drives - so it will be four miles. When we went to Tongue and again last weekend when we had a day out west, we drove partway along the NC500. It occurred to me that, although many people like ourselves were enjoying the fabulous scenery, there were a few rogue drivers who must have taken bets on how short a time it would take them to do the drive - could they beat their friends? A couple of cars actually seemed to be racing each other!
Sheep and sometimes cattle are likely to step out in front of us. The roads are exciting but the tour is meant to connect us with the beautiful wildflowers, the birds, the amazing cloud formations over the magnificent mountains...
Why would you speed through this?
On Sunday we saw a White Tailed Eagle - a Flying Barn Door - flying over a hill close to the Atlantic Coast. I’d seen one in repose before - and it was big - but this was stunning!
Eagle touring the NC500
A huge heron did a lap of honour so that Ginny could get a good photo.
We saw ruined settlements and read the information boards.
Water lilies were speckled across little lochans.
We saw Arkle, Foinhaven, Ben Stack (Mount Doom), Ben Hope and Ben Loyal (our late friend, Bernard’s, favourite mountain.)
The North Coast 500 has it all.
Why would you speed through all this?
Each night I look out for the bats which seem to be living in our roofspace. There are so many insects here so bats and birds love it. If you do decide to do the NC500, bring your trusted insect repellant. I find the insects don’t like me so much if I spray liberally with lavender. I offer this information to everyone but I don’t think they believe me!
The garden is taking on its late summer colours now. The mullein is turning yellow at the top, the nasturtiums and the marigolds are orange and the spirea hedge is beginning to flower its soft pink candy floss. They are joining the roses and sweet peas which I’m hoping will keep going well into August. These are punctuated by large white daisies, clarkia and tall yarrow.
A trip to the shell beach at John o’ Groats recently seems a fitting way to end this July blog. The children found a groatie buckie. We always look for groatie buckies when we visit a beach with shells. They’re tiny cowrie shells - so minute you can easily miss them. They are said to bring good fortune to whoever finds one. I think the good fortune is in being able to hold something so small and perfect in my hand.
Today Keith, Clemency and I are off to Forsinard for an overnight stay. Judith used to work there on the “Flows To The Future” project. It's a fascinating peatland with bog beans, sundews, lizards, golden plover and red deer - amongst others. It’s down a road off the NC500. Hope everyone’s driving safely! Happy Summer Holidays!
Forsinard
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;Close to the sun in lonely lands,Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;He watches from his mountain walls,And like a thunderbolt he falls.
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