Stakkels Uglemor fik helt røde ører over den svada og gik rundt i haven for lige at køle af.
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GardenOwl is grumpy, very grumpy. When MotherOwl passed by yesterday she was in for an old-fashioned scolding: "Have you seen how my nest is looking? You promised me flowers and pretty thin, now look at it! Dry lumps of horse manure, and withered weeds! And the paths between your raised beds. They're a disgrace, filled with weeds. Were you not supposed to walk there? Ant all those ugly plastic containers everywhere, The bottom half of an old chicken waterer over at that tree for instance. Clean the garden already! And your lavender bed ... there's not a single lavender left, and now weeds are growing there. You're a sloppy gardener, MotherOwl!"
MotherOwl went for a little walk in the garden to cool off her blistered ears.
Haveuglen står i sin stenrede med afsvedent ukrudt og pinde.
GardenOwl in his nest built of stone with empty sticks and withering weeds.
Lavendebedet et groet til i ukrudt.
The "lavender bed" - now weeds.
Og gangene mellem bedene ligeså.
Garden paths ... with weeds.
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🦉 Da Uglemor vendte tilbage var hun kølet nok af til at fortælle Haveuglen, hvorfor haven så sådan ud. "Ja, du har ret," svarede Uglemor. "Din rede ser rædsomt ud, men det eneste, jeg kan og vil gøre noget ved, er dine pinde. Kan du huske forleden, da jeg klippede alle de stikkende og kedelige gule hindbær ned? Da tog jeg de kulørte flasker af pindene for at Skribenten ikke skulle smadre dem, når han flyttede grenene væk. Nu skal jeg nok sætte dem op igen. Det afsvedne kan jeg altså ikke gøre noget ved, det regner jo ikke, så blomster og græsplæner må lide i tørken. Jeg vander kun det, vi spiser.
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As MotherOwl returned, she had cooled off enough to give GardenOwl a coherent answer: "You're right about your nest, GardenOwl. It looks horrid. But the only thing I can do about it, is the empty sticks. You remember me cutting down all those yellow strawberries. You know those stinging ones that did not even taste good. I put away the bottles, so that the Writer would not accidentally push them off to shatter on the stones, as he carried away all the stems. I'll be putting the coloured bottles back up in a jiffy.
The dry look is not for me to change. It has not rained for almost two months ow, and my watering cans are only for edibles and newly planted plants. Lawns and flowers have to survive or not.
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🦉 Lavendelbedet ... jo ser du, lavendlerne kunne ikke lide den fugtige sommer sidste år, og vinterens frost - den oplevede du heldigvis ikke, Haveugle - tog helt livet af dem. Og jeg er sikker på at de salamandrer, der bor langs med muren, sætter pris på at der nu ikke bliver luget hele tiden. Både bier, humlebier og sommerfugle sætter i hvert fald pris på det, der gror der nu. Tidsler - jo tidselkugler er også tidsler, eller i hvert fald i familie - og kardeboller er også god vinterfoder for småfugle. Kan du huske stillidserne, de plejede at komme forbi og spise af kardebollerne?
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The lavenders ... well last summers eternal rain did not agree with them, and the frost this winter killed off the last of them. I'm sure the newts living close to the wall enjoy not being disturbed by my eternal weeding. Furthermore the weeds growing there now are food for the bees in summer and for the small birds in winter, not a bad trade-off. I grow lavenders in a large pot now, but they are at the other side of the house.
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🦉 Plastikbøtterne står der for at give vand til smådyr. Vores lille vandhul er jo tørret helt ud. Husk den lille frø, der kom og drak, og snogen, der sad fast i nettet, da den ville spise jordbærrene. Det er altså ikke kun din rede, der er tør, det er hele haven, ja faktisk meget mere end det.
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And those plastic containers, they hold water for all the animals in the garden. My pond is dry now, but frogs, newts and so on still need a drink of water. Remember that grass snake getting caught in the netting trying to get to the strawberries, or the small frog visiting as soon as I had poured the water? It's not only your nest being dry, it's the whole garden, the whole country, and even more. Those containers are here to stay!
Lille frø i hønsevandingstårnets underdel. Small frog visiting the repurposed chicken waterer. |
🦉 Gangene er ubehagelige for mig at gå i, det har du ret i, Haveugle. De er fulde af hjulkroner der kradser mig på benene, når jeg går forbi, og så dild. Begge dele er god mad for bier og svirrefluer, og jeg er helt bange for at få en bi op under skørterne, når jeg har travlt. Sommerfuglene kan også lide dem, men jeg har kun set kålsommerfugle det sidste stykke tid."
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The garden paths are unpleasant, yes. Borage plants are growing there, scratching my legs every time I pass, and dill as well, bees are happily drinking nectar, I often fear that one of them should get up under my shirts, when I'm passing by. The butterflies like it too, but lately I've only seen cabbage butterflies"
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😠 Haveuglen blev tavs et øjeblik: "Ja, jeg savner også sommerfuglene," indrømmede Haveuglen. "De var så smukke at se på. Nu ser jeg kun kålsommerfugle og randøjer, de ser så triste ud. Men hov! Forleden dag var der faktisk en admiral og et par påfugleøjer. Det er derimod længe siden jeg har set tidselfugle, citronsommerfugle, auroraer og hvidvinger. Hvor er nu din sommerfuglebusk, du havde da sådan en fin én, Uglemor?"
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I miss the butterflies as well, Garden Owl admitted. They werw so beautiful, now all I see are Cabbage butterflies and the Browns. That's quite boring. But wait! Some days ago I actually saw an Admiral and a couple of Peacock butterflies. But I haven't seen Brimstones, Orange tips, or any of the more colourful Whites. Talking of butterflies, what happened to your Butterfly-bush. It was always filled with butterflies.
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🦉 "Ja, jeg havde en sommerfuglebusk. Den kunne heller ikke tåle frosten. Men det var nu også deprimerende at se på. Jeg kom bare til at tænke på alle de sommerfugle, der ikke længere var der."
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Oh, yes I had a wonderful butterfly-bush. It could not survive the wet summers and freezing winters either. And I'm kind of happy to see it go. It was depressing to look at it and remember how it used to look with all the different butterflies and bumblebees.
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😠 "Hvad skal vi gøre, Uglemor?" sukkede Haveuglen.
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What are we to do, MotherOwl? GardenOwl asked gloomily.
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🦉 "Det ved jeg heller ikke, Haveugle. Men jeg ved at bar jord, fine bede og forædlede planeter ikke er vejen frem. Heller ikke haver dækket af sten og fliser. Her i haven får græsset lov til at blomstre, og ukrudtet lov til at gro - ikke over alt, men alligevel."
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I don't know, GardenOwl. But I know that pretty gardens and gardens paved with stone is not the rigth path. In my garden weeds are left to flower, even nettles and thistles. Not everywhere of course, but what can one owl do?
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😠 "Jo, Uglemor, jeg har lagt mærke til dine bede, der er jo ikke noget - eller i hvert fald ikke nær så meget ukrudt. eller skal jeg måske snarere kalde det insektfoder.
JEG HAR EN IDÉ! Du står jo på det der marked, ikke? Fyld du nogle små poser med frø fra alle dine ikke-ukrudtsplanter, og del ud af dem på markederne. Du kan jo skrive "Blandet insektfoder" på poserne, og så mal nogle fine billeder af farvestrålende sommerfugle og fine blomster."
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Oh yes MotherOwl, Ive noticed your beds, there's not nearly as many weeds there, or should I say insect feed.
I'VE GOT IT!You are on those markets, aren't you. And if you pick seeds from all the plants, that bees and butterflies like, and the hand them out to everybody at the markets. You could write Mixed insect feed on top of the bags and then draw some pretty flowers and butterflies on tthem.
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🦉 "Ja, det kan jeg i hvert fald gøre. Egentlig ville jeg hive de fleste hjulkroner op snart, de er næsten afblomstrede, og som sagt kradser de. Men mon ikke de fleste haver har et hjørne, hvor kradsende og stikkende planter kan gro og give plads til sommerfule og insekter? Vi prøver!"
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I could totally do that. I was goint to pull out all the borage, it has stopped flowering, and as I said they're, well not stinging really, rather scratchy, but I could leave them be.
I wonder. Don't most gardens have a corner where prickly and scratchy, but still pretty flowers could grow for the insects to eat. Maybe people just don't know what to grow, and where to get the seed? Let's try.
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