Bubbles and Snowballs

 

There is a chance we might get some more snow overnight, which would be very exciting.  We had a fall of snow this time last week and it looked very pretty, though it was quite soft and soon started to melt.

When the sun came out, we put our woolly hats on and went out into the garden.  Hanley Bear wanted to try an experiment based on something he saw on 'Winterwatch', but first, we were going to have a game of snowballs!

We were very careful not to get any snow on little Waverley, who was tucked up in his thermal sock again, but Hanley, Endon and I got very snowy indeed!

Then it was time for Hanley to try his science project.  We climbed up onto the old garden table and Polar brought us out a straw and a plastic pot containing some soapy water.

Hanley had been fascinated by a film on Winterwatch where a bubble that landed on snow had turned into a little frosty globe.  So he tried blowing some bubbles onto the snow, hoping they would freeze.

But none of them did.  Some of them settled on the snow as domes until they burst.  Others sat on the snow for a little while, getting smaller and smaller as the air inside shrank as it got cold, until they disappeared.  Some just seemed to get absorbed into the snow, but none of them turned into icy globes.

Endon and Waverley were very sad for him, but Hanley said he didn't mind, as he had done some interesting science.

'I think it would work better if the air was freezing,' he said.  'And if we could fill the bubble with cold air too, rather than warm bear-breath.  I'm going to borrow Polar's camera-cleaning puffer blower to make cold-air bubbles.'  

'I don't think that's a good idea, Hanley,' said Endon.  'Polar will be really cross if she puffs it and soapy water squirts all over the mirror in her camera!' 

Just then, we saw Polar coming down the path to collect us.  'Goodness me, bears!' she cried.  'Your back paws have got ice on them.  You had better come in and sit by the radiator, to get them warm and dry, then stay indoors for the rest of today as it's getting very cold now.'

She picked us all up and carried us back to the living room, to thaw our paws out and enjoy some hot chocolate, and we had home-made rice pudding for our tea.  But Hanley kept looking at Polar's camera bag, so I think he's keen to retry his bubble experiment as soon as it's cold enough.

Garden Bear's World - Sowing our first Seeds of 2021

 

Last week, Polar and I decided to sow some seeds.  We don't usually start things so early, but this is an experiment.  Polar wants to start her leeks early, to try to beat the allium leaf miner bug, and would like earlier home-grown tomatoes, if possible.

However, the first thing we needed was some seed compost.  Polar's home-made compost is fine for bigger plants but not for seed-sowing, as there are already some weed seeds in it, and it might be hard to separate the seedlings we want from the ones we don't.  

 Because of the nasty virus, she didn't want to go shopping for some, but she didn't want a delivery person to have to carry a big sack of compost down the path either.  So she ordered some coir bricks.  These were nice and light for the postie to carry, but I didn't think they would give us very much compost.

'I think you'll be surprised, Endon,' said Polar.

We put one of the bricks in a big plastic trug and Polar poured a whole pint of water over it.  Soon, it had soaked up all the water, so Polar poured another pint of water over it.

This time, I could see the brick starting to swell up.  Polar prodded it with her hand fork and started breaking it into pieces, adding even more water but gradually, so the coir didn't get saturated.  Eventually, all the dry lumps had been broken up and we had lots of lovely, fluffy coir compost, which smells really nice too.

Polar brought some packets of seed into the kitchen and I fetched a mushroom box and the packaging from some veggie mince to make a seed tray and propagator lid.

We put a sheet of kitchen paper inside the mushroom box to help keep the light out, then filled it with our coir compost.  Polar pressed it down nice and firmly, then we put six seeds each of our tomatoes on top.

Then we sprinkled a thin layer of vermiculite over the top and made some labels, to remind us which seeds were which and when we had sowed them.  Then we watered them gently and put them on a sunny window sill in the warm living-room.

After we sowed the tomatoes, we filled another tray and sowed some basil seeds, hoping we can get an early crop of this delicious herb.

Finally, we sowed some leeks and some rocket, again using our recycled trays.  After we had put the vermiculite on them and watered them, Polar took these out to the greenhouse.

Despite filling four mushroom trays, I was amazed to see that we still had a big tub of compost left.

There was just one job left to do - it was time to clean up the kitchen!  Oh dear...

Checking on Uppie

 Hello everyone!  Here I am, in the Bear Bag, having arrived on board Polar and Grizzly's narrowboat, Uplander II or 'Uppie'.

You probably know that humans aren't allowed to have holidays on their boats, or to make unnecessary journeys while the nasty virus is still very widespread, but they are allowed to visit to do essential maintenance and checks.

So, when we had a sunny day earlier this week and all the snow and ice had melted, Polar and Grizzly decided to check on Uppie and do some important winter jobs.

'We'll take one bear with us to help,' said Polar, 'As this isn't a holiday or a day out.  Who wants to come?'

The other bears said I could go, as I was the original Boat Bear, so I put my warm hat over my ears and jumped into the Bear Bag for the short drive to Uppie's wharf.

Polar had an indoors job to do, which she said would stop Uppie getting damp while nobody was on board.  This involved putting some white crystals into strange little plastic boxes.  She said I must be careful not to get them on my paws.

'They are made from a mineral called calcium chloride, which absorbs water,' she explained.  'We put them in this little plastic cage, which sits on top of a tray.  The crystals attract water from the air and the water then collects in the little tray underneath.  It will stop the seats and mattress from getting mouldy, and protect the little books in your Libeary, but we'll take the pillowcases and duvet home again.'

I watched what Polar did carefully, so I could tell Hanley, our Science Bear, all about it.  We put one by the stove, as there always seems to be dampness there.  Polar isn't sure whether there is a small leak around the chimney or whether it is condensation, so she has also put a different cover over the chimney pot, which is plastic, not metal, and has more air vents in it.

The other one went on the shelf above the bed.

Then I checked on what Grizzly was doing outside.  He was tacking some chicken wire onto the wooden boards alongside Uppie, which get very, very slimy and slippery in cold, wet weather.

When the planks were safe to walk on, Polar chopped back some brambles growing from the wharf too, so now it looks nice and neat.  Polar and Grizzly both wore their masks in case anyone needed to come past, as the path is not very wide.

I was sad when it was time to leave Uppie but hopefully, thanks to the little jobs we did, it will stay cosy and dry on board.  

Polar says that when it is safe, we will bring some spare pots down and make a little garden beside the boat that we can enjoy and so can our boat neighbours.  I'm sure Endon would love to help with that!  

In the meantime, Polar says she wants to make Uppie some new curtains, which sounds like a job small bears can help with too.

Garden Bears' World - A Visit to the Allotment

 Hello Everyone!  It's me, Endon Bear, with another Garden Bears' World episode for you. 

Actually, all the snow has gone (for now...) but it was so foggy and cold today that instead of sowing seeds in the greenhouse with Polar, we both decided to stay indoors.  Perhaps we can do our gardening on Sunday instead.

During the snowy weather, we called in to the allotment site on the way back from one of our walks.  Polar and Grizzly had to knock some snow off of the nets over the smaller broccoli plants but left it on the other beds as it does no harm.

I decided to check on the beans drying in the greenhouse and was thrilled to find that there were some more different-looking ones.  These were white with paler brown markings than the few we saved from the back garden.  I am looking forward to seeing what is inside all the others when we go back again.

Back in the garden, I have a new project to work on with Polar.  After Christmas, she took down the net curtains in the living room, as they were looking rather dull and dusty, so now we have a much better view of the front garden.  We want to plant some more things that are interesting to look at in winter in the bottom bed, but it is very shady and damp.  

Most of it is full of Astilbe and Japanese anemone, which disappear in the winter, although there are some snowdrops.  Polar and I want to find some small evergreen shrubs to give it some structure for the winter, and plant some nice bright Cornus further up the garden, where they will get some sunshine.  We might put a bird feeder in the front too.  

The bird feeders in the back garden have been very busy, with daily visits from loads of sparrows, blue tits, goldfinches, starlings, blackbirds and wood pigeons, and we often see a coal tit, great tits, a wren and a pair of chaffinches.

The little robin is getting quite tame and gets very close when Polar or Grizzly is working in the garden.

You can see where the pigeons have been running about in the snow!

There are even some flowers open!  This is the Witch-hazel (Hamamellis x intermedia) which has lots of flowers this year.  I'm going to go into the garden again soon, now the snow has gone, to see what other flowers I can find, and I'll share my discoveries with you in the next Garden Bears' World!