In my garden

With all the heavy rain we've been getting, I've been itching to get back into my garden. New plants have sprung up everywhere, with many others flowering... enticing me with their multi-colour perfumed displays!

The rain also brought a heap of frogs with it, and the sounds of their croaking filled the air. It's a sound I find rather comforting because I know if there are frogs around, it means that my tiny part of the world is ecologically healthy.

While mosaicing away in my studio this morning, I decided to investigate a louder than usual frog whose echoing calls seemed very close. I found the little green tree frog pictured here, trapped in an urn on my balcony and then 'rescued' it so that it wouldn't drown in the next downpour which would most likely have filled the urn. Frogs can drown if the water is too deep and there is nothing for them to use to climb out. If you have a frog pond, you should include things such as rocks and pebbles or even a fallen log for your little green friends to disembark

Free, at last!

I love frogs, and seeing that they're one of the most vulnerable species here, I looked up information about local frogs and decided to build a frog pond where the water always sits in my yard. Now that it's built, I just have to add a few more water plants and wait for the frogs to come.

Ribbit!

The next downpour brought more of those ugly poisonous cane toads than I've ever seen in my life. I really wish they would go back to where they came from! I also saw a wallaby (a small kangaroo species, in case you're not familiar with them) grazing in my front yard... so far not the 'hoppers' I am trying to attract to the pond, however the wallaby was also a very welcome visitor. To help discourage those vile toads, you can use plantings of tall water grasses and other dense plantings which provide cool damp places for your welcome visitors to hide, but are too tall for Mr Toad to jump over.

After breaking the window pane which was originally destined to be the base for a wall fountain, I was left wondering what to do with the window frame. With a quick sand down, and a couple of coats of paint, it has found a temporary home in the garden until I decide what to do with it. I wasn't too sure about it, but I have seen three leprechauns hanging around it ever since!

The McShortee brothers, Seamus, Eoin and Oisin (pronunced Shay-mus, O-in and Uh-sheen).

 Well, it's that time of year again! ...so here's wishing you all peace and happiness, and a very Merry Christmas.