We were back home for work in the early part of the week, without the family, so there was time for me to carry on appreciating the impact of the reduced mowing regime around the science site.  In places the grass has been left completely uncut and tall species such as Ragwort, Ox-eye Daisies, Teasel, Dock and St John’s Wort are thriving, with Ringlet butterflies providing a visible marker of the invertebrates enjoying the new habitat. Where the grass is being mown occasionally, species such as Self-heal, Bird’s-foot Trefoil and hemi-parasitic Red Bartsia are doing very well; the importance of a range of mowing regimes for maximum biodiversity is clear.

The wet weather followed by the warmth we are finally getting has meant some unseasonably large fungi have popped up – a large bolete in the garden and an impressive Dryad’s saddle on the riverbank as we walked into Durham intrigued both Kate and Casper.

Once the family arrived in Durham, of course, there was nature to explore in a different way – we did some pond-dipping with a kitchen sieve (don’t tell…) and found mainly back-swimming water bugs. Their carnivory may be one reason why we’ve not seen so many tadpoles this year. Casper piping, ‘Be careful, Grandma,” as I leaned over the pond was one of the cutest things ever!

 Theother thing I’d forgotten about small toddlers is how long it takes to walk anywhere because there is just so much to stop and look at on the way – it took us an hour to walk the mile or so to the Co-op and back to buy ‘dinosaur eggs’ to make dinosaur biscuits because we had to stop and admire and feed greenery to every set of chickens in the allotments along the way.  A real blast from the past for me!

This week I’m still working my way through Behind the Privet Hedgeby Michael Gilson, a biography of, and tribute to, Richard Sudell (1892-1968); a working-class, Quaker conscientious objector who was imprisoned for his beliefs during the first world war and subsequently trained in horticulture.  Sudell became a leading figure in the ‘Garden City’ movement which seems to be coming back into favour today and was a passionate believer in the power of gardens and gardening for healthy lifestyles and communities. He was instrumental in helping many people moving out from inner-city slums into new estates learn how to garden and was arguably responsible for promoting many of the features we associate, sometimes dismissively, with suburban gardens. Although Sudell sounds a fascinating man, I find the book has more detail than anyone but the most avid social historian would want and it jumps around a lot between various projects with which he was involved, making it difficult to follow at times.  I’ll persist though, for fear of missing some important nugget!

I also read Kate Atkinson’s intriguing book of linked short stories, Normal Rules Don’t Apply, and listened to Western Lane, by Chetna Maroo – a lovely, gentle coming-of-age novella about a Pakistani girl, grieving the death of her mother, and finding solace in playing squash. This comes highly recommended.

The week has had several culinary highlights, all Chinese, from Sichuan-style noodles and Cauliflower cooked with smoked pork, to potato sticks and tofu-skin.  It’s great having family stay who don’t want to eat entirely British food and are happy to cook for us all!  Casper is passionate about food of any sort, refusing to accept that a plantain is not just a large banana – he managed to peel one himself and scoffed the lot, completely refuting the idea that it didn’t taste very nice!

In the allotment I’ve (finally) picked the first broad beans, as well as more fruit, and we’ve enjoyed the beans in a couple of meals as well as a tasty gooseberry crumble cake. The first blackberries of the year were ambushed by Casper before making it as far as the fridge…

In the garden I’ve now got delicate Pale Flax, Linum bienne, flowering under the bird feeder, from whence I suspect the seeds came! A lovely red Scabioushas reappeared in the front gardenand the first Helichrysums I’ve grown more deliberately from seed are just opening.