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My garden is beginning to show some spring like life and today I saw my first bumble bee of the year inspecting the crocuses.

Sadly the ring of snowdrops are few and far between. Out of 200 planted barely a handful have survived marauding cats using my garden as a toilet, probably field mice tucking into lunch and certainly the squirrel whom I’ve seen digging up the bulbs and running off with them. Or they could have rotted away in the wet winter. Or a bit of everything.

Spring has sprung, de grass has riz
And I know where de boidy is.
De boid is on de wing but dats absoid,
I always toit de wing was on de boid.
Anon.

Just as a small aside

“Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May be out” does not refer to the month of May. It refers to the hawthorn (commonly known as the May tree) that blooms when it’s warm enough and that is usually spring.

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I know what you mean about the critters .... but hey, they have to make a living too:D ... and, believe it or not, I did know about the proverb .... maybe you should explain "clout", or is that maybe something that all Lancashire folk should know:confused:

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woo hooo! no housework today.... weatherman says it could hit 14 degrees.. thats good enough for me get in that garden

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I’ve just asked my friend I N Ternet for a definition of clout.

There seems to be two different definitions – one where it refers to a clod of soil and one where it refers to winter clothing.

“Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May be out” is an old English proverb. The earliest citation is this version of the rhyme from Dr. Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732, although it probably existed in word-of-mouth form well before that.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/till-may-is-out.html

However like most old proverbs there is a difference of opinion about their meaning.

In the case of “Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May be out” some people read it as the month of May whilst others read it as when the Hawthorn blossoms.

In the south of England the Hawthorn will blossom in early April or even late March but in the north of Scotland it could be as late as June.

I think that “Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May be out” refers to the Hawthorns as that would make it applicable to the whole of the UK.

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I think that "clout" is an old English word which is the root of "cloth" and "clothes":confused: ... I assumed that you knew ... sorry if I came across as a pedant; t'weren't my intention .... :D ... and good luck with your garden this year; I hope the hungry little critters don't do too much damage.

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It is interesting to find out the origin of things and how words of yesteryear have changed to what we use today.

The only critter that I don’t like is the feral cat who comes around every evening/night. But I’ve spiked his guns by laying some chicken wire over the patches that are loose earth so he can’t scratch up the soil.

The next war is going to be versus the slugs. It won’t be long before they come a calling.

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Fortunately we don't have much of a slug problem ... probably because we have a drier climate, and the soil around here, although not bad, doesn't get waterlogged, (the underlying rock around here is limestone) unlike the clayey soils you probably have ... thing about slugs is that they move slowly ... but squirrels:eek: You mentioned seeing "a" squirell ... I presume you mean "one";) Right now, (3:30 pm) there are ... hang on while I eyeball my yard (garden, for you Brits) ..... four on the lawn (which looks rough at this time of year), a couple on my bbq, and about half a dozen in the maple by my garage, and another bunch running along the power lines. Maybe about 20 all told. Hungry little buggers they are too. What the heck, if gardening were too easy, it wouldn't be any fun.:D

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Mine is a grey squirrel and there is only one. But then there could be more but we only see one at a time. They all look alike. It must be well educated because I often see it dashing across the road towards the school.

Which are yours? Grey or Red?

Maybe you would consider giving us the coordinates of your place so that we can have a look using Google Earth or Google Maps. If you haven’t got Google Earth on your computer you can download and install it for free from http://earth.google.com/ or use Google Maps at http://maps.google.com/

My coordinates (of my car in front of my flat) are: 53° 42’ 12.82” N and 2° 27’ 32.11” W

It’s the blue one in the middle of three, just underneath the words Holden Fold.

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Squirrels are mainly blacks, with a few greys, and some mongrels ... a couple are black with grey tails ... don't find too many of the reds around here. They don't compete well:mad: A ways north of here, about an hour's drive, around the village of Arden, there are quite a few of the reds, and lots of chipmunks.

You can find my area of town by going to "fly to" on Google Earth, and entering my address at 9 North Bartlett St., Kingston, ON .... my place is the corner lot .... (corner of North Bartlett and Victoria (that sounds British:D)) Co-ordinates: 44degrees, 14', 22.99'' N. --- 76 degrees, 30', 14.49'' W. And our elevation is only 104m.

And anyone is welcome to drop by, shoot the breeze, and have a brewskie.:D

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well i'm freezing, just put the heating on

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Spring is certainly on the way...me tulips are growing quick, me roses are starting to grow leaves and me mophead is also growing.....oh and i had to mow the lawn yesterday!!...so roll on summer here i come!

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Oh spring is here alright!
The gardens a mess and i was attacked by a giant queen bee yesterday!
Its brilliant though everything seems so much better when spring kicks in!

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I was saying that to the missus last week, Accy does`nt look as much of a dump when the sun is out............:rolleyes:

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So much for spring being here, it is snowing now

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Snowing hard here also nice to see the gritters out doing the main roads