Morel Fourman's garden blog

2011-04-11T10:02:00.001Z

And a full album.

https://picasaweb.google.com/106259324635312936877/2011SpringGardenGardenPhotosAnIPhone?authkey=Gv1sRgCIz875j2kquo3wE#5594077802969018594

Spring in the garden

2011-04-10T22:41:00.001Z

2011 Spring Garden: Garden photos an iPhone

Today in the garden for Masa

2011-04-05T10:14:00.001Z

Spring forest carpet

2011-04-05T09:55:00.001Z

Nearby woodland

2011-04-05T09:51:00.001Z

A spring frog

2011-04-05T09:50:00.001Z

Repeat of Autumn Mists

2011-02-07T00:16:00.000Z

A sheep who I met this weekend in the Lake District

2011-02-07T00:05:00.000Z

Sheep and mist

2011-02-06T23:49:00.000Z

Winter light

2011-02-06T23:48:00.000Z

Bringing the shopping in by wheel barrow - December 23rd 2010 - Saida and Neferti in the distance

2011-02-06T23:45:00.000Z

Clouds rolling into the valley below my office window

2011-02-06T23:44:00.000Z

Snowed in by December 4th!

2011-02-06T23:41:00.001Z

Snow scenes

2011-02-06T23:38:00.000Z

First snow

2011-02-06T23:35:00.000Z

Autumn Mists

2011-02-06T23:26:00.000Z

Late summer, evening sun and a mouse on the window sill

2011-02-06T23:16:00.003Z

More Summer 2010

2011-02-06T23:13:00.000Z

Summer 2010

2011-02-06T23:07:00.000Z

June in the garden

2010-06-19T21:36:00.000Z

- Post From My iPhone

A hill on my morning run

2010-06-19T21:17:00.001Z

A beautiful run and this hill is quite a climb.

-- Post From My iPhone

Spring flowers

2010-06-19T21:10:00.001Z

-- Post From My iPhone

Pheasant's nest in the garden

2010-04-23T08:06:00.001Z

-- Post From My iPhone

Owl in the garden

2010-04-23T00:18:00.001Z

Photo by Gina

-- Post From My iPhone

Snowdrops in spring

2010-04-17T13:58:00.000Z

-- Post From My iPhone

Cold outside with warm sunshine through the windows

2010-01-10T10:32:00.000Z

The sledge is helpful for getting shopping from the road

2010-01-10T10:23:00.000Z

2010-01-10T10:21:00.000Z

The track has been covered in snow since late December

2010-01-10T10:18:00.000Z

Snowed comes to the Dales

2010-01-10T10:05:00.000Z

Summer flowers, nest and pond

2009-06-11T06:35:00.000Z

I normally just share nature on this blog, but I'm feeling to share something more here.

Last week, I saw from my Yorkshire office a field full of yellow flowers. Walking through the field, I'd seen the many different plants within the grass, so I went to take a look. Here is what I found. Unlike ploughed and fertilised fields, this one has beautiful biodiversity.

From memory, in a presentation by Pavan Sukhdev of the UN's Green Economy Initiative, I saw that each 1% loss in biodiversity costs the global economy, in net present value between 1 and 4 trillion dollars. In the emerging world where people, businesses and governments will be accountable for stewarding ecosystems, perhaps we can begin to value farmers for the biodiversity of their fields.

At one point while walking in the field we saw a lapwing (tewit or green plover) rising from the field five meters away. Lapwings typically run before they fly to hide the location of their nests. Looking down in front of us there was the nest with four beautiful eggs. (If you look way back on this blog, you will see a photo of a lapwing chick.)

Below is the developing ecosystem of the pond in the garden. We dug the pond in 2004. It is now full of many frogs, thousands of tadpoles and many other plants andcreatures including a newt that I saw for the first time a few days ago.

There are so many learnings from how the pond has developed and from all of the wildlife that makes use of it. One is how ecosystems develop and flourish given the right conditions. Another is the reminder of the invaluable and timeless beauty of nature.

Bluebells in the evening sunshine in the woods

2009-05-27T12:24:00.000Z

May sunlight

2009-05-27T12:23:00.000Z

Trees behind the house, planted in 1979

Lambs in the field, born in 2009

A tiny violet in the grass - momentary perfection.

Bluebells, pond view and my office behind the broom tree

2009-05-27T12:18:00.000Z

April and daffodils, Kingcups, and apple blossom from the window

2009-05-27T12:16:00.000Z

April in the garden

2009-04-21T21:12:00.001Z

Autumn views

2009-01-01T21:39:00.000Z

The field below Tewit Cote

The garden with leaves fallen

And Hermes who I brought out to enjoy the autumn sunshine.
All posted from Nairobi on January 1st 2009.

A summer bumble bee

2009-01-01T21:32:00.000Z

Bumble bee on buddleia

2008-11-09T18:20:00.000Z

Tiny baby wren who came into the house

2008-07-28T22:49:00.000Z

This year we have had every kind of babies: baby ducks, rabbits, blackbirds, wagtails, bluetits, chaffinches, tree creepers, pheasants, the sparrow hawk and now a baby wren.

Wren's are already tiny birds, but this baby is very tiny - little bigger than my thumb.

He came into the house, then flitted to every corner to hide.

Eventually, I managed to catch him in a napkin in the fire place.

I held him carefully and took him outside.

As soon as I opened my hands he flew off into the field.

Lovely.

Reading Ayman and Rowan's book in the hammock

2008-07-27T06:29:00.000Z

Sparrow Hawk chick - beautiful and sad story

2008-07-26T21:46:00.000Z

I was so happy to see this beautiful sparrow hawk chick come to sit outside my window.
The mother came back to feed the chick and they cried out to oneanother.

I was so sorry a few days later to find the lifeless chick in the field above the house.
Every feather was so perfect and so new.
Seems so sad. All the care and feeding that has gone into growing this beautiful creature.

The next day on my run, I watched as the mother searched the fields, crying out for her chick and listening for a reply.
I hope she tries again next year. It was a priviledge to have the company of the chick even if briefly.

Reminds me how precious and fragile life is.

A frog in the hand...

2008-07-26T21:39:00.000Z

I'm very happy to see frogs of all ages. The lawn is full of this years hatchlings who are tiny, but perfectly formed.

This one must be one two years old I guess.

Cows smell the grass and come for a summer snack

2008-07-26T21:33:00.000Z

The white calf of last year is now a fine cow

2008-07-20T21:21:00.002Z

Here she is in the evening sun light of July 20th.

And here she is last December:

http://tewitcote.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html

July Garden

2008-07-14T12:41:00.000Z

Grass in flower.

Wild mint, lillies and bullrushes.

Bullocks coming to see what is happening...

July gardenning

2008-07-14T12:37:00.000Z

Mowing the lawns.

Vegetables from the polytunnel.

Unfolding rose.

Releasing the mole I found in the polytunnel

2008-06-17T20:53:00.003Z

I began to release him on the lawn, then I changed my mind when he began to dig into the grass... so I caught him again and released him somewhere a bit more wild...

Everything in the polytunnel has grown...

2008-06-17T20:49:00.001Z

June Garden - after a two weeks away

2008-06-17T20:41:00.001Z

I got back from Africa to find everything overgrown.
So here are photos from a day of clean-up.

The mole I caught in the polytunnel

2008-06-17T20:38:00.000Z

I found this mole in the polytunnel.

I caught him in a plant pot and took him out.

Look how strong and hard his claws are...

I let him go elsewhere in the garden, then when I went back to the polytunnel I found another mole in the same place. I think the second mole was looking for the first. So I caught the second one and released him/her in the same place as the first.

Today in the polytunnel

2008-05-18T20:43:00.000Z

Parsley on the far left. Spinach on the left with a runnaway potato in the foreground. Red onions on the right with tomatoes behind.
Broad beans in the corner with a couple of cabbages and a lone lettuce on the right.

Poppy enjoys the garden!

2008-05-18T12:52:00.000Z

Garden Views

2008-05-18T10:55:00.001Z

View onto a beautiful summer day

2008-05-18T10:48:00.001Z

Views into the garden from the dining room.

The paved couryard outside the dining room. The apple tree on the left and pear tree on the right.
Verbena and sage under the pear tree.

LIght flooding into the meeting room in the new building

2008-05-11T22:40:00.000Z

I do not normally include internal photos, but today the light and colour flooding in was fabulous, so here are two photos.

Full light in the conservatory.

A bright sunny May day

2008-05-11T22:36:00.000Z

The purple honesty flowers are bi-annual. Last year we cleared the bed and many self-seeded.

This pheasant has become a resident and comes to the front door step and crows.

View along the top of the lawn.

The conservatory and one of my office windows.

Apple Blossom!

2008-05-11T22:33:00.000Z

First ducklings ever at Tewit Cote

2008-05-11T22:29:00.000Z

This photo fills me with joy.

In 1989 I painted a painting imagining a larger garden with a pond and ducklings.
In 2004 we made the pond.
In 2006 we had the first visits from a duck.
In 2008 these ducklings must have hatched in the garden.
(I'd even placed twigs in the bull rushes to encourage the ducks to nest, but they must have chosen to nest somewhere else in the garden.)
Thank you Gina for taking the Duck photos!

Ducks move in on May 7th while I am in California

2008-05-11T22:24:00.000Z

Pheasnt on the door step looking for a snack

2008-05-11T22:22:00.000Z

Wren's nest by the door

2008-04-27T20:37:00.000Z

I've been watching from my window as the wren stripped moss from the cherry tree in the foreground to build a nest beside the door in the background.

Here is a close-up of the nest.

I took the photo below out of focus and I love the colours, so here it is!

The newly cleaned polytunnel and spring planting

2008-04-27T20:34:00.001Z

Here is the newly cleaned polytunnel.

And here is the blackbird who watched silently as I scrubbed and washed. In a week, she'll be hidden by the hawthorn in full leaf.

Cleaning the polytunnel in time for summer

2008-04-27T20:30:00.000Z

The polytunnel with onions, tomatos, spinanch and broad beans on the left.
Note the green algae that has formed during the cool damp Yorkshire winter.

Scrubbing off the algae.

And washing.

Blossom from my office window

2008-04-27T20:26:00.000Z

The blossoms are beautiful seen through the window as rain falls.

Poppy the cat contemplates the transience of spring as she examines the daffodills.

Now with the blossoms in focus.

And just the blossoms with droplets of falling rain.

Snow on April 6th

2008-04-06T14:31:00.000Z

A willow with leaf buds covered in snow.

Daffodills in the woods.

And on the bank.

April 6th starts with bright sunshine then snow!

2008-04-06T14:28:00.000Z

This is the front lawn after a flurry of snow.

Daffodills in the snow.

The flowering currant is already in bloom.
I've never seen it snowed on before.

And here is the house with signs of spring and snow still falling.

Lambs on April 1st-4th 2008

2008-04-06T14:23:00.000Z

Today, every message was of the springing forth of new life.

These two lambs were sitting alone in the middle of the field.

These two were having a nap.

Then they woke up.

And started causing trouble for mum.

The first lambs of the year on April 1st

2008-04-02T22:11:00.000Z

In the morning, I looked over wall from the garden and saw the sheep, thinking, we'll have lambs soon.

Later in the day on the way over to the farm, I saw these two new born lambs.

Snow on Easter Morning

2008-03-29T12:18:00.000Z

Snow on an early hawthorn leaf

The trees along the back drive leading up to the gate.

The snow covered house from behind.

Sentinel trees at the top of the drive.
The sycamore on the left and oak on the right were the only two trees here in 1969 when we came.

Snow on Easter Morning

2008-03-29T12:14:00.000Z

The conservatory surrounded by snow.

View over the pond and down into the valley.

Sun breaks through the clouds, with the snow laden holly on the right.

See the snow angel hugging the Buddha as we hear news from Tibet.

Spring in Yorkshire

2008-03-29T09:02:00.000Z

Looking down on the mist in the valley

Beautiful Tom Thumb daffodills

A little snow still in the grass and on the hill tops.

This pair of ducks has been visiting regularly.

Winter Scenes

2008-03-04T17:04:00.000Z

Mending the deck - February

Snowdrops in the snow - March 4th

Tom Thumb Daffodill in the snow - March 4th

Mist in the valley in early February

2008-03-04T16:56:00.000Z

View of morning mists

2007-12-23T11:49:00.000Z

Our hill from the distance

2007-12-15T20:18:00.000Z

The house is just below the copse which shows as a dark line on the skyline to the far left.

Frost in the garden

2007-12-15T20:04:00.000Z

The white calf who I have watched grow through the year on the other side of the garden wall

2007-12-15T19:39:00.000Z

Morning sunshine in my office

2007-12-15T19:37:00.000Z

Unlike the curlew chick, pheasant chicks run and run...

2007-12-15T19:35:00.000Z

Rainy day textures

2007-12-15T19:33:00.000Z

A curlew chick perfectly still in the grass

2007-12-15T19:30:00.000Z

A very relaxed red-legged partridge

2007-12-15T19:28:00.000Z

Tiny baby frogs who have to be shooed into the pond before I mow the lawn

2007-12-15T19:26:00.000Z

These little rabbits have just come out today!

2007-08-20T08:30:00.000Z

View from my desk

2007-08-19T18:17:00.000Z

Rainy flowers

2007-08-19T18:15:00.000Z

Rainy day collage

2007-08-19T17:54:00.000Z

No summer is complete without summer fruits

2007-08-19T17:47:00.000Z

Rising moon from my window

2007-08-19T16:28:00.000Z

Flowers in the garden rain

2007-08-19T16:09:00.000Z

Lotus and Buddha on a summer evening

2007-08-12T21:25:00.000Z

Lotus on a summer evening

2007-08-12T21:21:00.000Z

Evening view from the front garden

2007-08-02T06:53:00.000Z

Outdoor indoor pigeon

2007-08-02T06:52:00.000Z

Can you see the visiting pigeon?

2007-08-02T06:46:00.000Z

If you've come across my www.mindofmany.com blog, then you may have seen the article "Soul Family and the New Civilisation". Well, given that doves are so symbolic, it is nice that this pigeon seems to have moved in and is enjoying the corn.

Why is it so green in the Yorkshire Dales?

2007-08-02T06:44:00.000Z

Enjoying the rain!

Dappled sunlight in the woods

2007-07-29T17:19:00.000Z

Sky Dragon

2007-07-29T11:46:00.000Z

Digging new potatoes (planted by Gina)

2007-07-29T07:43:00.000Z