Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
What a start to 2010, all this snow and freezing temperatures have made the garden look so beautiful. The animal and bird prints in the snow tell an interesting tale. Apart from the usual small birds we have had visits from flocks of long tailed tits, and groups of moorhens. We have had  frequent visits from a fox and surprisingly deer prints. I am happy to see deer now but later in the year they can be destructive.
The birds would appreciate fresh water each day that their water in the birdbath is frozen.
A birdcake would help them keep warm and well fed. Here is a recipe that is based on one that was recommended by the RSPB one year.
No measurements needed just enough fat to bind the ingredients together.

Birdcake

Bird seed; Raisins; Peanuts; Grated cheese; Suet, lard or dripping. Melt fat and mix in all the ingredients either make into a cake in a tin and serve in slices when set or in clean yoghurt pots.  Make a hole in the base and thread through a length of knotted string long enough to hang from a tree branch so they look like bells. We have switched the pond pump off in this very cold weather and bought a pond heater to keep an area without ice for an exchange of gases. The pond heater was very cheap at £14.99 from Webb’s aquatic department.
I made sure that there was no accumulation of snow on the conifer branches so they didn’t break.  Sadly I forgot the phormium, I forgot to tie the leaves together so they are a bit bent and spoilt.
Checking the greenhouse I found that the penstemon cuttings all doing well, also various seedlings doing well. I fear for the penstemon in the garden and some of the salvias. Luckily all the dahlias and canna lilies have been put somewhere under cover. Do look through the seed catalogues for this year’s seeds and put in an early order.