DISASTER......and now to drain the pond!

Way back in 2012 I created a little 1/12th scale pond - full of 'water' with a perky frog, some cheerful birds and detailed landscaping around the edge - that I was really pleased with. I hadn't looked at it for ages...and ages....
Then I did.

So here is the pond back in the day.
Click on the pics to enlarge.

And last week I discovered that the 'water', i.e. 'Scenic Water' had shrunk away from the edges and looked like an unpleasant, lumpy, discoloured, gelatinous mess.

I don't mean to rubbish a very popular product, because maybe I missed sealing a tiny spot on the pond lining which was made from air-drying clay....has anyone got any ideas or had the same problem?  Anyway I was not happy. There seemed nothing for it but to dig out the yucky, rubbery mess which wasn't easy, to say the least, together with paper leaves etc. that partially disintegrated as I did so.

So here's the problem. I had a pond with no water, and although I have some more of the product I'm afraid to use it again. I decide I shall fall back on a tried and tested alternative that I introduced in the Nostalgia In Miniature Workshops Celia Thomas and I ran. It looks very effective and is such a simple method that works brilliantly in small water features - not quite so easy when it means trying to put it into an irregularly shaped, fully finished pond.

1. Cut a piece of clear acrylic - used in all sorts of common packaging - that fits just below the rim of your container. It helps to cut a paper template first. (Not that it helped me this time)  If you are adding rushes or plants at the edge, snip away a small portion so that these can be dropped through.

2. Run a thin line of tacky glue around the inside of the container and drop in the plastic. Run a thin line of glue around the edge on the plastic to secure. Leave to dry.

3. Glue in place any plants, stones or creatures, and using a Fine Tip Applicator swirl tacky glue in ripples. Leave to dry. In a day or two the ripples will be clear.

This is what works so well with a simple container!

So I did all that and it was a proper fiddle as I couldn't get the exact shape, and had to push and shove it around the existing plants and twigs and fill in gaps with extra reeds, stones and weeds. What a palaver!

Anyway - it's done - I don't like it as much as the original as the planting is a bit 'busy',  but it's 'O.K'.

Thank you for looking
Robin

Moving into Talskiddy...etc...

If you've popped in and out over the years you'll have seen my miniature round houses, inspired by real ones in the village of Veryan in Cornwall. They've inspired us to create a number in all three scales for around 18 years now - but I did need to keep one! I kept 1/48th 'Talskiddy'. But an empty house is no fun!!

An empty house needs furniture and people.  No problem with the furniture because I made sure that we retained a selection of the fabulous 1/48th handcrafted items made by my husband when we retired.  Sadly I forgot the people bit, so apart from  4 or 5 'skeletons' hiding in a box,  I only have a policeman and Granny.  Hmmm - not quite right for this little house, but they'll do for now, and hopefully when the garden is abandoned for the winter I can create another little house and have fun with that too and maybe dress the 'skeletons' appropriately.

So - let's move them all in........

Sorry about the wobbly roof - must check before photographing in future!

And now to something completely different.

Back in the day - dim and distant - with a Mother who was passionate about wild flowers and was very knowledgeable.  On Good Friday we headed to The Grove, a private wood where everyone was allowed to pick primroses once a year as a local tradition. Then we all headed for the Folly path to find the first violets and finally down The Smeeths (a sunken footpath) to find the only patches of Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum) in the locality.
I suspect these have now all disappeared under the plough.
Then we were off to Badbury Hill, which I've often mentioned in blogs in the past, for the Bluebells.

Star of Bethlehem

Now falling apart, Mum's much loved wild flower book.

Still relevant although it was published in 1908

Wherever I've gardened I've always had primroses and violets - Star of Bethlehem was harder to find and harder to get to survive. Now I've done it and have a healthy group of these lovely bulbs despite the best efforts of the vicious and dreadful weed Ground Elder to wipe it out. I have an ongoing war with it, Mares Tail and Bindweed. I dig them out and confess to chemical 'kill', but they still beat me!

Thank you for looking
Robin