Welsh Wabbit Twouble

Where has all the sunshine gone? It feels such a shame to be given a glimpse of nice weather only to have the cold winds of our usual British weather come back – not just for us but for the plants too! My fruit trees don’t know whether they are coming or going!

But even with the odd, topsy turvy weather, I have a few things growing happily, both indoors and out. (And the rocket is slowly growing. Might be ready by September!) And it is not the frost I am worried about – nor slugs or snails. Nope, we have our very own Peter Rabbit situation going on here, and I am becoming more and more sympathetic with Mr MacGregor – not a sentence I ever thought I’d say. It isn’t just the hole-filled lawns, or even the chicken wire around EVERYTHING because otherwise there are bite marks out of my veg, but the sheer audacity of the bunnies. I opened my back door to find one mocking me right outside of my door. The indolent cat barely raised his head – clearly no help coming from that quarter.

I have mocked my husband’s Elmer Fudd tendencies in the past, but I was tempted, I will admit, to go and find the air rifle. (Only for a moment. Stomping my feet made me feel a bit better, especially as the lettuce leaves seemed untouched.) Apparently I am the sharp shooter of the family (lockdown boredom set in so we had a family shooting competition- 4 bullseyes for me!) but only with paper targets, thank you very much! Along with the netting for keeping the birds off my redcurrants and strawberries, I have invested in more chicken wire and mesh. Protection all the way.

Although a new menace is the pheasant that is becoming more and more bold – he trampled all over my seedlings I had out to catch the sun (back when we had any) with his clumsy feet. I think it is a wild life conspiracy to drive me up the wall. The cat doesn’t do anything about him, either. I might have to trade him up. Maybe a Lynx?