stream not flowing...

Oh dear.....I hope it gets going again soon Lori. Do you know, I was surprised to find out this week that the Burn that flows beneath the field to the rear of my house is a Salmon stream! At least it used to be. It wouldn't even occur to me to look for fish in it as it just looks like a field drain really, but it does enter the sea just 2 miles from our house.

http://www.miramichisalmon.ca/
I'm sure that the minnows in my little stream are brook trout or maybe just chubb. thought you might like to take a look at something I found about the Atlantic Salmon fishery here in Canada, on the Miramichi River in New Brunswick. It is said that they spawn in late autumn...Is this the case in Scotland? According to other sources the salmon have returned to parts of Connecticut and are spawning in rivers where they haven't been seen in 200 years.

Yes Lori...thats right. They are so amazing. They come back to the streams they were spawned in to lay their own eggs. They come out of the sea in late summer and through the autumn they swim all the way upstream to tiny shallow pools high up in the hills. I can never believe it when I see how strong they are...leaping up waterfalls and white water rapids to get to their home..and then after they spawn they die. Incredible isnt it.

One of the wonders of nature, Karen. In B.C, where the Pacific Coho start their run, the hydro companies have built salmon ladders! ... these are gradual elevations in a swift flowing stream to allow the salmon to circumnavigate the dams that have been built for electricity generation. What is truly a marvel is the fact that they have survived our interventions at all! Dams and agricultural runoff...they have had a very steep challenge. Thank goodness for "conservationists".

Yes! We also have Salmon ladders at Hydro stations. Scotland produces a lot of Hydro electricity and there is a salmon ladder at Pitlochry which is the nearest one to us I think. You can go there and watch the fish progressing from a viewing area.

We received some rain yesterday and last night and things were running and breathing until the sun hit midday and then along with the wind the dryness returned and the wilting. I'm very concerned for my garden and our well. At least the little minnows are safe for now. The long range forecast is not good. If this trend continues through winter we will become a desert! ...a bit of hyperbole, but it's very worrisome. Large cumulus clouds are scudding overhead taking our moisture and dropping it somewhere else... we are so dry. Lake and river levels have dropped.
Many Scots were among the first Europeans to settle here and I'm constantly reminded of the "highlands" and "Highlanders" in our town names and regional names...only difference between our highlands and yours is the fact that ours are still mostly forested. We have "reforestation" too. Hydro and trees...your country and mine are very naturally blessed.

So true Lori. I hope you get some rain. Its falling over us this summer that's for sure. :)

We had a break, Karen. almost 30 mm. of rain over four days and the stream is flowing but the little creek is still dry. Have been digging more beds along the stream and transplanting some of the worst hit shrubs and perennials from the high gardens down closer to the water! I really wish I'd started this garden about 20 years ago...I just don't have the gumption I had back then...and things don't get done in good time. sorry to complain... I'm still getting out of bed each morning, so it's all to the good!

I think you're doing a brilliant job. Making a garden out of a rough field/woodland, what a challenge. But some parts are really starting to come together now. You have a short season too...like us. It makes it harder. But your extremes of temperature ....I wouldn't cope well with the heat, or the cold! Just enjoy it Lori...its the being outside with the bees and the birds that matters, not the 'finished' article. As long as growing brings you joy...what else matters really?

Thanks, Karen. I really must get out there and do some work while it's cooler...they've promised up 39 degrees today! Groan...

Ive got my central heating on!

Really? Is your house like ours? All summer, even in the extreme heat, our basement is like a cold storage!

It is quite cool in the summer. Stone walls.

of course... cold is a relative term in our climate, right? It goes down to 10 degrees C over night in July and that's COLD.... But after a long winter 10 degrees in April is a good day! :-))