Digging's For Fools

Hello one and all,


Wow!!! Isn't the weather being kind to us? You know, it's difficult to believe that it's almost the end of November, and yet, where I am, the daytime temperatures are still fairly high. All the better to warm and sooth my sleek green blotched skin, my big hypnotizing eyes and my very sexy legs... Aaah! It's great to be a frog.

Well, here in the garden, all of the leaves have finally fallen from the trees, and now, only their spooky skeletal fingers reach almost pleadingly way up into the sky. I bet you can get a great view of the world from way up there, just like the birds do? Still, the buds for next year's leaves are coming through on many of the trees and shrubs. Of course, a lack of all that foliage just means that the rays of the sun are able to reach and therefore warm, a whole lot more of the ground, where little old me lives. Even the odd fly is still buzzing around like some poor lost soul.

Bob is still hard at it, keeping himself busy doing little jobs here and there, although from what I saw today, he appears to have a back problem. Anyway, the work he does ensures that the garden will look its best from one year until the next. Even from where I see it all down here at ground level, I can tell you that it looks pretty good from Spring right through until Autumn again.

Silly me! I'm telling you all about this because I assume that you appreciate gardening? I know, digging isn't everyone's idea of having a fun time, but you see, gardening doesn't have to be all about digging. As Bob once told me, digging is for fools, so let them damn well get on with it. You don't have to go around digging like some demented mole. Weeds can be kept in check by mulching the ground between the flowers and shrubs with the leaves from this year's fall. The worms (I love a juicy worm. Ribbit!) will do everything that is necessary to see that the ground is aerated. Once the leaves have broken down and have been taken into the soil by these worms, all you need do is top it up with bags of those nice bark chippings you lot are able to buy.

There's something else that I've noticed recently here in the garden. Apart from the odd Robin and Wren, not forgetting those quarrelsome Sparrows, there hasn't been many other bird visitors around this place. I'd even go as far as to say that it's getting a bit too quiet for my liking. Yes, I do enjoy the quiet life, but it's nice to have a few friendly feathered friends dropping by each day. Perhaps I've been sleeping too much lately and haven't noticed them? There again, it could be those damned furballs. Yes, those pesky cats are still lurking in the undergrowth waiting to grab at whatever comes in their reach. A frog like me has to keep my wits about me, or just when I think it's safe to be out and about, I'm going to be pounced upon one day... Croak!!!


Well, once again, time has caught up with me, so...

Stay safe and take care, hope to see you all again soon...

Froggy

Froggy. The Return

Hello one and all,

Yes! It's me again, your old green friend, Froggy.

I know what you're all going to say... Why is it that I'm not hibernating like I said I was going to? Well, I am and then again, I'm not! Let me explain... This climate change not only affects all you humans, but it also affects us humble frogs too. The things I feast on are still out there, wriggling and slithering around the garden. So, I says to myself, what's the good of letting all that good grub go to waste? Do you catch my drift? Anyway, there's a lot more to it than how I've just explained to you lot. It's Bob! Yes, believe it or not, I've been keeping an eye on him for the last few weeks. Never did I realise that one human could have such a gripe about what's going on generally in society. Honest!!

With all of Bob's ranting and raving, he's driving me to distraction at times. Not only that, but he's also been letting his work in the garden slip a bit, and truth to tell, we can't be having that, can we? He's a good sort really. From what I personally know about you humans, I find that it's rare that to come across someone who is so concerned for his surroundings and his fellow beings. Bob is one of the best! He'd give you the shirt off his back, he would. Of course, I can assure you that he'd clean it first. Ribbit!!

As I was saying, I am hibernating after a fashion. Every now and again, I poke my head above ground just to keep my eye on things in the garden, and to see that Bob is doing okay. Another thing, and this is a real blessing... I haven't seen much of those pesky moggies lately. The last one I caught snooping around my patch, was... er, let me see now, ah yes, three weeks ago. It was one of those cute (human way to look at them.) little grey and white monsters (my way to see them.). Well, there he was, on the prod and snooping around the garden for who knows what. Anyway, he had just began sniffing around the hole where I was concealed, when I spat right in his eye. I swear that you'd think that cats had legs like springs. Jump, he nearly went into orbit...

Earlier today, I poked my head out just to see what was going on, as you do, when lo and behold, I found that it was snowing slightly. Now, I'm not keen on that white stuff at all. Apart from the fact that it's freezing, it ain't worth getting up of a morning if the weather is going to be nasty like that. As it happens, it turned to rain later, which wasn't quite so bad. This is what brings out all those big fat juicy worms. Ribbit!!

Despite the weather, it's nowhere near as cold as it usually is at this time of the year. Chalk another one up to global warming, I suppose.

Well, that's all the time I have for this week, so...

Stay safe and take care, hope to see you all again soon...


Froggy

Green Taxes, Our Saviour or Just Another Tax?

Hi,

Bob here...


Last Saturday's weather consisted of very high winds and yet, those leaves are hanging on tenaciously to their lofty heights among the trees in my garden. I wouldn't really mind so much, but I'm eager to clear away the relics of this year's bumper crop of flowers, so that I can complete some projects I've already started. Well, I expect that by the time the final week of this month comes around, those leaves will be a thing of the past.

This week I'm going to be giving my ever so humble view of, among other things, green taxes and the link to global warming.

Taxes are never the answer to any of our problems, more so when it concerns global warming. The people of the UK have never been taxed as much as they are today. To create a green tax, and you can label them any way that you want to, ultimately it's still a tax, it will be one that will ultimately be highly unpopular and a vote loser.

Global warming is an issue that doesn't only involve those who live in the UK, but one that involves each and every country in the world. This means that it needs to be tackled globally, and in a manner that doesn't involve raising yet more money that will surely go to waste and do absolutely nothing to rid ourselves of global warming.

Remember, global warming didn't happen over night. It has been the result of human greed, selfishness and downright neglect. When people began clearing those rain forests, they destroyed the means of reducing CO² and the ability to produce oxygen. Although I've said rain forests, this also applies to woodland clearance everywhere. You cannot wipe out thousands of hectares of trees and not accept the consequences of our actions.

We live in a vast consumer driven age, an age where just about everything we buy is wrapped up in a conglomerate of totally useless materials, rubbish destined for the tips that in most cases cannot be recycled. Who is to blame for this? The manufacturers are of course, and they must start to take the responsibility and blame for the billions of tons of harmful waste they produce. They simply cannot keep on passing the buck onto us, the consumer. And further more, neither can the government. To them I say, stop blaming the people for your own mistakes regarding climate change.

Even when we've bought the latest car, PC, television, DVD recorder, etc, etc, etc, each and ever single item has only a finite life span, and yet little is ever thought about the disposal of these things at their life's end. The worse thing, it's that these items rarely last as long as we frequently expect them to. Is this not primarily the fault of the manufacturer? But who gets the blame when these things have to be thrown away? We do, and every time!!! Maybe it's about time that we make what we buy last until it drops dead on us, and ignore those glorified adverts that forever entice us to buy, buy, BUY!!?

Now we learn that Blair wants more nuclear power stations, and yet, we still haven't found an entirely safe means to dispose of the highly toxic waste it produces. The greenest and most obvious way to go, is through solar, wind and wave power. Of course, these things alone will not reduce the greenhouse effect. But if we combined these with planting deciduous trees on a vast scale, instead of hacking them down at every opportunity, along reducing our dependency on fossil fuels, then, and only then, can we can expect to see a significant difference in the quality of our atmosphere. Even so, industry has to stop polluting as much as it does, otherwise, all the work we do will simply go to waste. Our government has to make some harsh decisions, so, go to it.

Now, we are also told by Mr Blair, that we must do something to halt the progress of global warming. Does this mean that everyone will stop driving wherever they go? Does this mean that all those houses that are lit up like Christmas trees, inside and out, will suddenly see the light and use only the lighting they truly need? Will it also mean that everyone will compost their waste, collect their newsprint, bottles, jars and cans for recycling? Will those that make use of cheap flights, suddenly reduce the number of trips they make? Will council planners begin allowing all those who want them, to erect wind turbines on their homes, thus truly reducing CO² emissions and saving on the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity?

If your answer is 'Yes' to any of those questions, then you obviously don't live in the real world. Why? Because none of this is going to happen, that's why. It will take a whole lot more than the threat of global warming to make our government, or any others for that matter, take any real action, except to no doubt tax us all, which is a cop-out. They need to physically get off their backsides and do something constructive and not worry about losing a few votes. If you think otherwise, then I suggest that you keep this message in a folder somewhere. It will serve to remind you that once again, ''I told you so!''

As always around about now, it's time for me to be getting inside.

So, I hope to see you all in the garden next time, bye for now!

Bob (For Froggy)

A Selfish & Greedy Society

Hi,

Bob here...

October has now passed by and with this month came some of the mildest weather on record. Although November has begun in fine form with sunshine and clear skies, the night time temperatures are beginning to drop quite considerably. For me in particular, I am entering a period of particularly painful swollen joints. Usually, a fall on the barometer coupled with damp conditions would cause me to suffer. Now, with the cold creeping in on us again, it appears that I'm going to be in for it once again. When I recall how hot it was for us during July this year, it serves to remind me that I was completely free of pain because of the hot dry weather. Roll on the summer...

The garden is still looking quite lovely, brightened with many tender flowers still blooming happily and making everything looking quite colourful. I planted quite a lot of winter pansies and viola last week, which with a little luck and not too harsh a period of frost, should last right through to next summer. Many trees are still not quite free of their leaves, so until the last has fallen, I have to wait a bit longer before taking my rake to them and using them as a mulch. This will suppress all those weeds that are eager to flood their way into my garden behind my back.

Autumn has barely begun, and yet I'm eager to see the arrival of spring again. It's not like there was no colour in the garden during winter. Far from it, there is plenty of colour derived from planting grasses, sedges and shrubs with evergreen foliage. Things like: Hebe, Euonymus, Ajuga, Box, Holly, Pittosporum, Choisya, Spotty Laurel and Elaeagnus have variegated leaves in cream and green, all of which provide a splash of colour during the frequently dull months of winter.

Alternatively, there are the deciduous shrubs which flower anytime from late November through until March and even early April. These include: Mahonia x media, Viburnum x bodnantense, Hamamelis japonica, Jasminum nudiflorum, Prunus mume, Garrya elliptica, Skimmia japonica and Rhododendron moupinense to name but a few. Needless to say, a great deal will depend upon where you live, as to what you can expect to grow. Winters here, are, or at least were frequently harsh, but now this is all changing dramatically.

The subject of change brings me back to the subject of Global Warming. Recently, Tony Blair announced that we all need to act now, if we are to prevent the harsh results of global warming and emitting too much CO². This is commendable of him, but could we expect less from him as leader of this country of ours? I think not! What I find odd about his words, is that you'd think that global warming was something that has happened only recently. No so! Not only have the world's scientists been saying it for decades, but even a humble person such as myself, who probably unlike Mr Blair, received only a secondary education, is bright enough to have known about global warming for the best part of eighteen years, perhaps more.

I first began to suspect that something was happening, weather wise, when the winters where I live began to lose their severity. At one time, the people living around here could expect snow, the loose dry powdery stuff, to lay on the ground for anything up to three months or so during the winter, with drifts usually blocking the roads and quite often the way out of one's home, too. Ever since this period began, I doubt that we've seen more than two or three weeks of snow in any single given year, and even then, it rarely lays on the ground in one continuous cycle. The seasons of Spring, Summer and Autumn have all become a whole lot more mild, with extreme variations in the weather that have caused the normally late flowering plants of spring, to grow and flower during February. When these unnatural occurrences begin to show up more frequently, I would suggest that this proves that we have long entered a period of dramatic change.

Now, while I'm on the subject of global warming and the release of CO², the first step towards doing something positive, would be to ban bonfire night and the sale of fireworks. Yes, I know that this would be unpopular, but then I can assure you that the catastrophic results of global warming would be unpopular too. The amount of CO² and other noxious gases that are released into our atmosphere, before, during and after November 5th must surely be astronomical?! And what for? We celebrate some antiquated period in our noble history that marks the prevention of the destruction of the houses of parliament. But need we do it in such a destructive way? I say, No! Of course, the government would be reluctant to act on this because of its vested interest, the sales of fireworks and taxes it raises from them.

We do have the choice to do something positive against global warming, and to do it now! Let's face it, making an effort will not be as painful as the resulting effect would be to ignore the issue. Myself? Yes, I started to do my bit a long time ago. I save all of my bottles, newspapers, plastic bottles and tin cans. I'd save even more if my local council would get its damn finger out. And No! I'm not a driver either. I use public transport whenever and wherever I can. I've never flown anywhere to go on holiday. In fact, I haven't had a holiday since I went away with my children in 1986. I don't burn rubbish in my garden, but prefer to compost wherever its practical to do so. I also collect water, including what is in the pond, and use it for watering my garden, but only when it desperately needs it.

Onto another point now. Why, oh why is it that car manufacturers insist on producing engines that run on fossil fuels? They should set an example by designing vehicles that run on alternative fuels. Oh of course, they do! Well, it's not enough. I see the worse thing as being that our government has a vested interest in you lot running around everywhere burning millions of gallons (sorry, Litres.) of diesel and petrol. How come? It's all that fuel tax you pay!! I digress, since drivers are not allowed to exceed the speed limits set on our roads, then why don't manufacturers produce more electric cars? Such vehicles could be just as stylish, and at the same time, they would be a perfect foil for all those people who never go out of the town when they drive. (This must run into millions of you?)

Now, before all you drivers start blowing your tops at such suggestions, the alternative to cutting down on CO² emissions drastically, and I do mean drastically, is far more widespread flooding during our winters, where people will lose their lives and their homes, followed by much longer periods in summer where our reservoirs will dry up more often and water shortages will prevail. The water tables will lower, but because of periods of less rainfall, it will simply not replenish itself. You only have to look at what is happening in India to see what I'm talking about. This is no longer a case and question of "if". Because situations like these and other conditions more terrible to speak of, will rule our lives if we don't put and end to our incredibly greedy, selfish attitudes. In froggy's own words, don't say that I didn't tell you so...


Once again, it's time for me to be getting inside.

So, I hope to see you all in the garden next time, bye for now!


Bob (For Froggy)