Allotment Joy

This year I have spent many happy hours on the plot. I have enjoyed the landscaping bit which included a lot of digging and weeding, filling the compost bins and moving and sifting a lot of soil.

We have divided the plot, transplanted the donated plants, repaired and re-positioned the cold frame, brought and planted my own plants and finally sown some more. Because of the really odd weather (heat waves and two loads of snow in April and as low as five degrees earlier this week) some plants suffered. My climbing beans did not make it. Surprisingly the tomatoes and peppers in the cold frame are still going, even if they look a little bit sad. The nasturtiums are well and the broad beans got nibbled but are setting flowers.

With the sun out everything has accelerated. The insects, the spiders, the crops and of course - the weeds. However, that is good news for Rocket who is very eager to help with thistles, dandelions and dead nettles :) I even created a little weed bed for her on my plot and tried out a pet run for the first time.

We now have flowering blueberries and strawberries and even tiny little gooseberries! And it's only the beginning of May!

I don't usually visit the plot on weekdays but on Thursday the weather was so nice that I was drawn outside. I checked a charity shop on my way and found this - an antibug mug! I don't have problems with bugs in my tea, but I often end up throwing soil into my drink by accident so this is a perfect solution. Funny how sometimes things work out, isn't it? This chunk of land really is my happy place.

Hope you had a joyful Saturday, too.

Our Domestic Reptile Celebrates Her Second Birthday

Our little Rocket has turned two on 25th August. I could not believe that it has only been a year and a day since we brought her home.

We had a lot of fun in the past year – watching her „surf“ her food bowl every morning, run perimeter checks of her tortoise table, climb her house and rocket down to face plant into the substrate, growing her food and letting her explore the lawns in front of our building, introducing her to our little niece and of course worrying about her when something doesn´t look quite right, because she is our little baby.

I am also very proud and happy that she is growing, slowly but surely. At least once a month I weigh her on kitchen scales and use digital calipers to measure the straight length of her carapace (the top half of the shell).

As you can see in the picture above, the difference is not huge, but it is there! The box is a smallest one of a set from Paperchase and is added there for visual reference.

August 2016:   • Weight: 94g

                         • Straight length of carapace: 76.3mm

August 2017:   • Weight: 151g

                         • Straight length of carapace: 88.56 mm

Legging It

This week Rocket has been proving that not only she doesn't need me on our walks outdoors, but also that if she wanted, she could disappear really easily. For some reason running was more important than eating and she kept on trying hard to get lost in the little neglected jungle of ivy, bindweed and brambles next to our building.

People imagine tortoises as these slow, heavy and stupid creatures, but they couldn't be further from the truth. A healthy tortoise is incredibly agile and can cover quite a distance before you realise it is missing.

As a child I had a Horsfield tortoise called Puťa. We used to take her to the cottage. My Gran has been watching her, but seeing that she was preoccupied by digging a hole next to a gazebo leg, she went in to do the dishes. Mistake! After fifteen minutes of frantic searching we finally found the tortoise - eating a fallen apple under a tree about twenty metres away (she had a sweet tooth)! Lesson learned : tortoises are fast!

Making a run for it.

Digging in.

Exploring the Lawns - Rocket's First Walks Outside

In the last week I have turned into a tortoise shepherd! Yes, you are reading correctly. There are many differing opinions on whether or not young tortoises should be out in the garden or not with regards to foraging on weeds, exposure to natural UV light,but also possible exposure to parasites, predators, chemicals etc. Rocket is by no means a hatchling, but she is still tiny! (weighs 132 grams and is 8.3 cm long precisely -  I just checked!) 

However, based on Tortoise Trust and their online booklet "Taking Care of Pet Tortoises" young tortoises can go out in suitable weather and should not be kept exclusively indoors for the first four years (which is what I was told). 

Once I got her out onto the lawn (where no chemicals or fertilisers are being used to help it grow - I checked with the site manager), I realised how much happier she is when she is outside. She immediately went for it and started eating, walking, eating, exploring, then some more walking and eating, simply foraging, which is something she cannot really do in the tortoise table, even though we try and spread the food out for her as much as possible. She really looked content.

One thing that I was worried was the temperature - tortoises cannot regulate their body temperature and when in full sun for too long without any opportunity to hide in the shade they can overheat. That is why I took my non-contact digital infrared thermometer with me. The recommended basking temperature is 90F. When Rocket's body temperature got to 96F she retreated into the shade as a good girl.

Being out and watching her makes me happy and also reminds me of all the times I have done this back at home when I was a kid with my Horsfield tortoise. It is simply a time to sit back and enjoy being outside whilst watching the little amazing creature (and you have to watch her because no matter how content she looks munching on that little patch of plantain, she will leg it and disappear when you least expect it). Life slows down for a moment and that it exactly what I need.

Eventually my aim is to build Rocket an all-day enclosure in the garden which will be planted with all sorts of weeds she can eat. However, that step would involve some serious moving up the property ladder and so for now whilst we live in rented flat, these little walks will be making sure that she doesn't get bored or unhealthy.

Saturday Weedwalk

The town side of Willow reach. It doesn't look like much, but the further in you go, the more magnificent it gets.

I love Saturdays. They are the only day of the week that we don't set an alarm. Waking up is something that happens rather than someing an alarm tells you to do. It feels nice, even though we usually wake up barely an hour after we would during a weekday, it still feels like a treat. It is a lie in. Followed by breakfast and whatever else we want to or have to do, but the mornings are always slow.

Last weekend my husband needed to work on a piano he is rebuilding, so I was at home on my own. After briefly considering going for a park run I eventually decided to go for a weed walk instead. What is a weed walk? Well, it's this thing that many tortoise owners do - going out and picking weeds to feed their tortoises.

There are many weeds in the UK that a mediterranean tortoise like our Hermann's tortoise can eat and I am learning how to recognise them one by one. One of them ribwort plantain can be fed to tortoises every day and is very easy to recognise.

And I knew just the place to find them. Willow reach, a new development quite close to where we live. It sits on the stream in the amazing Hoe Valley wetlands.

One of the ponds/wetlands. An amazing piece of nature and yet you are still within the dight of houses.

I have forgotten how nice it is to just go somewhere into the unknown with almost no people around and just discover the secret trails and little hiding places. I felt like being in the wild, yet always within sight of the buildings. The fresh air and playful wind, the smell of earth and water was gentle but somewhat overwhelming to the senses. Such a refreshing walk!

Rocket's daily meals were enriched by ribwort plantain and dandelion leaves for a whole week and I can't wait for the next opportunity to go and take the hubby round as well.

This bumblebee was just getting out of the wet grass
after a quick summer shower of rain.

I found myself a little place to sit down and eat my biscuit snack.
This duck couple was particularly friendly, maybe because I kept
"accidentally" dropping crumbs.

The Surprising Tortoise

Our wedding day was full of happy moments, beautiful presents and lovely surprises. The biggest one of them was my kidnapping. It is a tradition in Slovakia that the bride gets "kidnapped" during the wedding - by the best man or someone from the family - into a nearby pub and the groom has to go and find her. I have agreed with my friend that she can take me for a glass of wine - simply for the kick of being in a pub wearing a wedding dress - when else do you get a chance to do that, eh? :)

So when my friend has taken me by the arm and starting pulling me away from the village hall, I went with her. But when we passed one pub, another pub and went down the hill where there were no more pubs, I got a bit confused. Instead of for a drink, she took me to a pet shop and there at the cash desk the guy handed me an envelope with a card inside that started "To my wife..." My husband has gotten us a baby Hermann's tortoise!

In spite of what it sounds like, this was not an impulse buy. We have been talking about getting a pet for ages and ever time we went to a pet shop, we spent ages watching the tortoises (although they are quite a rare animal to see in a pet shop around here). He had the whole thing arranged months in advance, researched the housing and built our very own tortoise table, bought the heat lamp and UV light which he hid from me in his workshop and bought the tortoise as well but he paid her a boarding fee in the shop so that she could stay there until our honeymoon was over.

We brought her home and named her Rocket (because of her speediness, although the first thing she ate at our place was a rocket leaf which just made me think that the name is right for her in more than one way). Every night she digs herself into the substrate in her little house and she sleeps there, moving her little legs up and down as she breathes. In the mornings she looks around confusedly for a while and if I wait long enough, sometimes she presents me with a massive yawn before she shuffles herself under the heat lamp to warm up so that she is ready for breakfast.

She is a very eager climber. I still find that a bit weird, but very cute and amusing. She puts so much effort into it and I sometimes put a bit of food on the house as enrichment activit to prevent her from getting bored (She also has a ping pong ball and a toilet paper roll that she pushes around).

It is funny how something so small can bring so man changes into life. Ever day we decide who "does the tortoise breakfast" depending on who needs to have a lie in. On weekends when we naturally wake up a bit later, I often find myself feeling guilty tthat I am letting her wait and it gets me out of bed.

She has also completely redefined the way I see plants. Tortoises can eat so many common weeds - Rocket loves ribwort plantain and dandelions - that I look for them wherever I go. I even ordered some seeds and can't wait for spring to start. Yes, I am going to have a plantain/dandelion/deadnettle patch in the garden. My friends made fun of me, sayng that everyone is trying to get rid of the weeds and I plant them.

She is our little baby and I still cannot believe how lucky I am. One of the things I love the most is when I am still just opening m eyes in the morning and I can hear my husband in the other room talking to the tortoise as he brings her food. It makes me feel that life is pretty great and I am thankful.

Our Day at Surrey County Show

Bank holiday Monday has been the day when Stoke Park in Guildford hosted the Surrey County Show. The only one I have been to so far was Devon County Show back in 2005 and I was totally thrilled, so I was really excited to go to a similar event in a different county.

The venue itself was quite well organised and full of tents, shops, rings and arenas. One of the first ones I wandered into was the pygmy goat tent. Being there really reminded me of working with goats at the petting zoo. The smell of hay and straw, the intelligent looks of the goats as they quietly munch on their hay and the overall calm atmosphere really made me feel like being on a farm. 

Apart from the cheese that was on site for tasting, there were also angora goats from "New Forest Mohair", fleece of which is dyed spun into lovely yarns. I adored their cute little display of all stages of the yarn making process and of course the real goat and her cute kid. There were several weaving stands at the show as well and many lady weavers were very nice and talkative. For example, the Women's Institute weavers have explained the difference between 1 ply and 2 ply wool and how they are made.

My next trip was to the poultry tent. I do like the idea of having a little flock of hens one day, just like my family had at our cottage when I was little, so seeing all the varied breeds of chickens just really got me daydreaming.

Even more thrilling was the egg competition! I actually got to see some real judging - a thing that I have only seen on TV until now. The variety of eggs was stunning: white, brown, blue, green and sort of a cappuccino-coloured. All were carefully examined by judges in white cloaks, then cracked and examined again until they were sure which one deserves the prize the most. I would really like to know the judging criteria for eggs.

Overall, in spite of the cold, wind and constant threat of rain it was a very successful day. There was hog roast, cups of hot tea and coffee that warmed us up and many show events that kept us busy until it was time to go home.

Coming Home and Happy Snails

One of the worst things about travelling for me (other than all the waiting at railway stations and bus stops and airports and the stress related to it) is leaving my animals and plants in other people's hands. Luckily, snails do not need that much care and can withstnd some pretty long periods without food or moisture, but I am still happy to come back home and see that they are well. Hence one of the first things that I did was  run to the garden and get
them some nice and juicy dandelion leaves.
Happy snails, happy me.

A Hundred Little Apple Snails (Pomacea sp.)

Another super spontaneous purchase, a golden apple snail, has been inhabiting my aquarium lately. A few days later, I noticed it going out of water repeatedly and spending unusual amounts of time there. And when I lifted the lid - a mass of round and slightly shiny pink eggs!

I didn't do anything special, I did not try to maintain the humidity or temperature and yet - a lot of little yellow snails started appearing in the tank! There is about hundres of them right now and I definitely do not want to keep them but keeping some and watching them grow rapidly is really tempting.

However, I am supplying them to a friend who will use them to feed his terrapins.

What is it?

Year 6 science curriculum includes invertebrate phyla, so in order to keep them curious, I presented them with a challenge right at the beginning of the schoolyear. I showed them the following objects and told them that whoever guesses what this is, will get an extra A mark, which can help them with their final mark at the end of the year. Five months have passed since then and so far nobody answered correctly. I guess it is too hard for twelve year olds, but out of curiosity, whoud you know? Comment on the post of you think so.

Note: The winner (the one who guesses correctly) gets one FREE beaded Christmas decoration. Keep guessing!!
----------------------------
UPDATE: These are the egg cases of a praying mantis.

Simply Happy Snail Time of a Teacher

I couldn't find any other words to describe this evening. Half of the schoolyear is gone, we are giving the kids their reports with marks tomorrow, I got home early and had a cup of tea with chocolate biscuits from a friend, hung the washing, fed my snails and now I am watching them as they eat their apple pieces and listening to the sounds of their radullae scraping against cuttlefish bones, feeling very contented that they look happy.

Adela, one of my Lissachatina reticulata, has been exposing her/his/its (still confused when talking of the "gender" of a hermaphrodite) penis for a few days now. Given the fact that she is not the only one of that species in the tank, I might be expecting eggs and babies some time soon :) It's been a while since there were newborn (newhatched?) babies in the house, so the thought of them sliming towards their first slice of cucumber (see the picture below) is quite exciting. I am a nutter and a geek, but a very happy geek.

Snail News

My snails and I are having happy times right now. I took advantage of my parents, who brought me their old juicer on the graduation visit and even though, as my boyfriend described it, "it is a bastard one to clean", I undertake this task after every juicing and I found that the snails absolutely love the leftovers - especially carrot, beetroot and apple mash with some water to make it more moist. Thanks to this, I began feeding my snails more often, spraying them more often and, of course, giving them a source of calcium more often and it has already brought pretty impressive results. My younger snails that have seemed to stop growing have grown visibly in the past few weeks. There is still no change in my biggest (Jedi) or secong biggest (Adéla), but maybe it is too late for them and they have reached their terminal size. After all, Jedi's size is quite impressive.

Two of my "little" snails. The lip of the shell is where the snails grow. Mine were
clearly a bit damaged, but they managed to repair themselves - see the lighter
stripe on the edge? That is new and healthy shell.

As for my aquatic snails, I have some bad news. My apple snail died last week, I am not sure why, but I guess that low temperature was a big factor - it was doing greatly in summer and then from autumn on it started looking bad, stopped growing and so on. I am feeling sorry for it, but I am keeping the shell and the operculum and I composted the body on the school compost. On the other hand, there are many smaller snails that are doing well and breeding like crazy. They were stowaways on some plants that a friend gave me - and they survive almost everything. So far, I have not found a thing that would harm them. I keep many little ones in an aquarium at home (pictures below) and many bigger ones in a five-litre pickle jar from the school canteen in our staff room (and I already have a pending reservation for other jars from the school kitchen when they come - more snails and Daphnia keeping is planned).

The aquatic snails that hatched recently. They are still very small, but crawling around the tank happily

Pre-Christmas Snail Feeding and Cleaning

One of my missions during the pre-Christmas cleanup was to clean the snail tank and change the soil in it.

Positioning a 130 l tank in the bath tub is not easy, but I managed to clean it. Mission two - cleaning the bath tub :)

The snails were all asleep, because I forgot to sprinkle them with water for quite some time (pre-Christmas business and other excuses too).

It gave me a change to observe the size of the snils without really disturbing them. Jedi is so huge now - he looks pretty impressive in my hand, even though, I do have tiny hands.

Here are some details of the epiphragm.

The snails woke up and had a meal of fresh lettuce and cucumber. However, most of them snacked on the epiphragms first.

❄ Lettuce or epiphragm? ❄ 

❄ Little break in the middle of all that eating ❄

❄ Last bits - om nom nom - and a curious expression ❄

May all your snails have enough lettuce and epiphragms to chew on during the Christmas time and all the way through the following year!! x