Oatcakes for Waverley

 

Last Friday, when the sun came out, Polar and Grizzly decided we should all go for a walk around Westport Lake.

This is one of our favourite places for a walk.  There are always interesting nature things to observe - especially the great crested grebes - and because the canal runs close by, we often see Mrs Kay there, making her famous oatcakes.  Hanley was the first out of the Bear Bag and wanted to go and see Mrs Kay straight away, but Polar said we were going for our walk first.

As we were getting out of the car, we saw a lady with muddy boats and a spade coming back to the car next to us.  From a safe distance, she told us that she was one of the volunteers from the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust who helps to look after the site.  

 

They had been making more hedges for birds and small mammals to nest in, and clearing more overgrown wetland to make ponds between the big lake and the railway line. 

This was marvellous news, because the hedges are super for small bears to climb on, and we know lots of wild creatures love the ponds.

Polar and Grizzly took us to see where the work had been going on, along some quiet paths where not too many people go.  This makes it a nice area for small bears, as there are always lots of people walking their dogs on the main path, which is scary when you are small and some of the dogs are grumpy or fierce.

Soon we were all climbing the hedges and having lots of fun looking for spring shoots and small creatures.  I watched little Waverley, to make sure he stayed away from the ponds, as we don't think he can swim.

Then we did some proper wild bear-style tree climbing!

Near the railway fence, we found the bug hotels that had been made to look like trains.  Little Waverley thought these were great fun!

 

You can just see a real train in the background of the left-hand picture above!  Unfortunately, this part of the park is very noisy because there is a busy main road - the A500 - on the other side of the railway line, but it is still a good place to watch trains and do climbing.

 

While we were playing, the sky had darkened and, suddenly, there was a heavy shower.  Polar gathered us all back into the Bear bag.

 

'It must be time to go for an oatcake!' she said.  Hanley Bear cheered loudly.

On the way to Mrs Kay's boat, the sun came out again and we saw coots and lots of tufted ducks, and a lovely bright clump of daffodils.

There was quite a long queue for oatcakes, but we were pleased, because that meant Mrs Kay would be earning lots of money and could afford to buy treats for our friend Doris the dog.

Mrs Kay has a new friend helping her on the boat.  He is Freddy the singing frog, who does a little song and dance to keep human cubs amused while their oatcakes are being cooked, and collects money for charity.  Hanley went to say hello and found they were both very keen Stoke City supporters.

Polar and Grizzly took our oatcakes back to the car and shared them with us.  Waverley was very confused when he saw the oatcakes, because they were not at all what he expected.

'Where I come from, oatcakes are round, crunchy biscuits,' he explained.

'These are proper Staffordshire oatcakes,' said Hanley.  'They've got cheese and mushrooms in them, and they are the best food in the whole world for hungry small bears!'

Of course Hanley thinks everything made in the Potteries is the best in the world, but he might just be right about Mrs Kay's oatcakes!

Garden Bears' World - A Spring Day in the Garden

Hello everyone!  It's time for another Garden Bears' World blog from me, Endon Bear, and it's time to see how the spring flowers are blooming.  

A couple of days ago, all four of us went out to enjoy the spring sunshine, including little Waverley.  It was warm enough that he didn't need to snuggle up in his thermal sock, but could run about on the grass with us.

He really loved the bright little snowdrops, which were a good height for him to enjoy.

We've also got some sunny yellow crocus and miniature irises in pots and troughs.  I think the irises are my favourites. 

Sonning's favourite early spring flowers are the hellebores.  In the back garden, we've got white, pink and even slightly greeny ones, while there are some darker pink ones in the front garden.

Waverley liked the greenish hellebore too.  He couldn't get over how many flowers there were on it.  Polar said the plant was probably big enough to split up and replant next autumn.

Hanley and Waverley climbed up to see what was growing in some more of the pots.  Hanley found a heuchera and Waverley found some bright yellow Tete-a-tete daffodils.

Sonning checked on the Daphne Odora, an evergreen, scented shrub Polar has planted in memory of her step-mum, Mrs Pat.  It starts flowering very early in the year, so should be in bloom on Mrs Pat's birthday in January.

Little Waverley thought the scent was very lovely.  He never met Mrs Pat, but we think she would have loved him and given him lots of hugs.

Polar and I had a look at the rose garden patch, which needs some work.  There are a lot of chive seedlings coming up and several of the purple sage plants have died, so we are planning to do some weeding then add some hardy geraniums and other low-growing summer perennials.

I climbed the witch-hazel again to take a closer look at how the flowers have developed.  Although the bright yellow tassels have all gone, there are still some tiny dark pink flowers to enjoy.

While we were all exploring and playing, Polar was busy clearing some of the flag iris out of the pond - definitely not a job for small bears, as it was very muddy work.  

The pond looks so much bigger now, we wondered if Grizzly might make us a little boat so we could row on it!  Polar wants to repair and replant the pond on the other side of the path too, to make it bigger and bring it right up to the edge of the path so it looks like one big pond with a bridge over it and makes a better wildlife habitat.

There won't be much we bears can do to help with the digging and pond lining, or putting the big stones in place around the edge, but we will help with planting around the edges.

There is always lots to do in the garden!