Country Rustic or Country clutter?

definitely country rustic. all those wildlife habitats brilliant. too many tidy gardens [well that's my excuse] so it is lovely seeing some wild areas. nature will soon take over the rubble unless you actually want it. how much land do you own? its hard to get a grasp of the actual size.

I have to agree with Seaburngirl, I would say rustic charm!
Lovely blog, I felt like I had a nice tour around just reading your story. Looks like you have a lot of land, lots of interesting things going on! Enjoyed perusing!

Thanks for reading Seaburn and for the vote for country rustic rather than a mess.
We have about 1.5 acres including the land the bungalow sits on, I think the field is the acre.

Thanks Kate, the land is mostly grass, but I am trying to plant it up with more trees. Sadly not to grow to maturity in my lifetime, but hopefully will stay and not get ripped out again later. When we moved here there were very few neighbours, but the land hereabouts is being opened up to development, as everywhere, so it's only a matter of time I expect! Meanwhile it's our haven for wildlife, no haven in the fields these days. We have Pheasants that roost in our trees, hundreds of Pigeons of course, Jackdaws, and we find Owl pellets from the Tawny Owls and the Little Owls are always calling about here. Have to leave some cover, hopefully for nesting Pheasants and Partridges.

What a wonderful variety of shrubs and trees.

How I would have loved that when I was a child! So much to explore and accidentally learn while you play. Boris looks well again now -what a relief. A few years ago some of us showed our "scruffy corners" - maybe you'll have encouraged us to do it again!

Hello Honeysucklegold! Was so happy to see Boris "and his girls" looking well.
Where do you find the energy? You must be on the job all day! I find that I have a similar situation. When posting my pics I always try to give the best impression, and miss the woodpile or the rusty gate! Your garden is so inclusive.. from the stoats to the jackdaws, and the nettles and the honeysuckles run amok, to the oak trees....It's all so entertaining. you have the patience to stand and watch the voles! Will you use the bridge again?

The variety of shrubs and trees Linda are usually ones that other people don't want! Some I bought from the garden centre's ailing plant section, some just got moved. Several came with the nice man who dumps his wood-chip here, he gets jobs to renovate and remove shrubs and trees and anything that might live, he brings to me. That's possibly where the golden shrub came from. It's very congested and probably just got dumped in a hole and told to get on with it! Next year perhaps I might think about splitting a few bits off it, to give it more of a chance.

You are right Stera about it being good for children you would think. My Grandson is a 'town' child and has no interest in bugs, beetles, mud and all the things that my Son adored when he was small, which is sad. My Sister and I were brought up on much the same sort of land (probably what appealed when we bought this!) though part of that was a small-holding. Chickens in the orchard full of nettles and we used to build dens in the nettles, must have been hardy kids! We used to collect bugs off the weeds growing amongst the crops, I'm sure Father would have preferred us to be weeding them all out!

Hi Lori, I have felt so much for you when you have posted blogs about your long lasting winter, hopefully it has broken now and Spring has sprung. Boris is still keeping well, goodness knows how old he is, a bit arthritic like me, but both of us plod on! He is very 'hissy' at the moment as the girls have been laying, not that they have any chance of hatching anything (say it quietly, Boris is impotent!) but they live in hope and Boris is very protective. Also very sneaky and ungrateful. While dragging water from the water-butt to fill his bath, he sneaked up and bit me on the back of the leg! Not enough to bleed, but a graze and lovely black bruise. OH just tells him off if he gets a bit feisty and he rolls his eyes and backs off. If I try that, wag my finger at him and tell him NO, he just has a go at biting my finger - not enough authority I expect. Give him a month and all the egg business will be over and he will be as placid and lazy as ever!
Energy! What's that, all I have is sheer bloody-mindedness, a determination to get it done. As you can tell from the watching the voles bit, I don't slog away all day - do a bit and stop.
The bridge may get used one day if I can persuade OH to get a lake dug on the field, then Boris could have his own bridge to an island of his own!

Love your blog, Honey, definitely rustic charm. And what a treat for all the lucky local wildlife!

I really enjoyed seeing around Honey, I remember in the past you have said how much land you do have but being a townie, somebody stating the size in acreage is beyond me working it out in my mind, gosh it's BIG, fully understand you only doing a bit and a time, if I lived near I would have been round with my barrow begging for some of your stones and bits of wood for my little stumpery, lol,
Definitely Rustic Charm to me as well, it was great seeing where Boris and all his pals live, I'd never have to worry if my dogs hadn't had a walk would I and do envy you all the wildlife, saying that I think I would not appreciate the rabbits and suchlike eating all my flowers, watching them enjoying life otherwise would be a joy, do you know I've never seen a live vole or badger in the whole of my life.. Loved this blog, I do have hidden areas which I'm delighted to say have had a darn good tidy up since hubby retired, I have no doubt we will be doing the same job next springtime as we seem to accumulate what I call rubbish in the winter months..

Thanks Sheila. Some wildlife we could do without quite so many of - like the pigeons which roost in the tall Leylandii and if disturbed will lift off, probably over thirty at a time! Others we would like to encourage to take up residence, like the Partridges which have a really hard time in mono-culture farming, and the Pheasants.

Very nice of you Lincslass as I am sure you are much tidier regarding your garden which always looks pristine. OH has not retired yet, is not a gardener and is really only allowed to pull up nettles, otherwise plants disappear.
The tree and landscape man who brings all his wood-chip here also brings the odd bit which won't go through the chipper to add to my bonfire heap. The other week he brought about ten roots of Laurel he had winched out of the ground, very spidery looking and surreal. I did rescue one which is against the pond to stop the Heron settling in a spot which juts out into the pond, can't stick a stake in there because of the liner. The others sadly got burnt, I was very tempted to keep them but OH was not keen!

I can’t imagine having all that land to care for! I’d love it, but it would probably kill me!

It's wonderful and just as it should be, definitely rustic. I like wild places and places left to their own devices, they are more interesting than somewhere restrained and manicured.
I did a blog on my 'wild' places once but I've deleted it lol and my garden gets wilder and messier every day :D

Imperfection equals relaxation, Hywel, lol. :)

Quite right Sheila ! :)

I'm not sure 'caring for' is really the phrase Karen! Grass gets cut on the field, most of the rest is left to it's own devices, annoyingly I think some rabbits have taken up residence in the bank in the middle. They aren't too bad until the winter when they eat the bark of any young saplings you haven't protected! But it's winter you say and everything needs to survive!

It's definitely rustic Hywel and I often sit somewhere quiet, preferably without chickens in tow who think you are going to dig over some ground for them, and watch insects and anything else that is on the move. We get the Buzzard floating over spying out the land, or sitting on one of the bigger trees - it still looks like and Eagle in comparison to the size of the tree! Barn Owls search along the hedgerow and even the Magpies are fun to watch.

Love your quotation Sheila I shall always bear it in mind. Not that I will ever reach the opposite of perfection!

I really believe it Honey 🙂 Years ago there was some correspondence in a newspaper about striving for perfection: I then wrote a letter saying that I was not the best artist in my painting class, not the best French speaker in my group, and decided to be an imperfectionist. I said I had been more relaxed ever since . . . and the paper published my letter!