Wildlife, June and July 2017

Some of the wildlife spotted in the cemetery between the beginning of June and the end of July.

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Ringo, the Robin.

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Moth.

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Speckled Wood Butterfly.

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Green Bottle Fly.

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Young Great Spotted Woodpecker. They were nesting on the site again this year.

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Speckled Wood Butterfly.

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Red Admiral butterfly.

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Sparrowhawk.

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Green-veined White butterfly.

 

 

Back where it belongs.

This mysterious number appeared! And one of our piles of debris there vanished. What was this about? Well, there are half a dozen piles of gravestones which have been removed from their original positions. No-one is sure why, happened a long time ago. We’ve been keeping some of the piles clear of foliage so that at least some stones may be read. We were told that a family member came by, on a walk, spotted one of their own family stones. One from the Council’s list of approved masons was instructed to come by, take the stone away to clean it, create a new cement foundation – ensuring it was level! – and re-erect the gravestone in its rightful place. And here it is. Happy ending! Well done, that family member.

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Early May, 2017.

Saturday, May the 6th 2017.

Don’t be fooled into thinking we were all wearing shorts and simmits – there’s been a very chilly easterly breeze for the past few days!

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Revealed.

The following photographs show clearance work over several sessions. Most of the clearing involves clipping ivy and removing dirt. It sounds easy but as the ivy has been left to its own devices for many years much of it has become thick and tough plus it has ‘woven’ itself into matting over and around the stones. It can be painstaking work but we say it’s worth it when we reveal stones hidden from view for far too long.

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Recent photos.

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The following two photographs show a cross before and after cleaning.

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The above cross was found face down. It wasn’t this shade of white! The photograph was taken after some washing and brushing.

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Planting update.

A few weeks ago we planted some teensy winter-flowering shrubs near the grave of James McNab, as part of our “botanical” theme. He was an eminent personage at the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh “across the road” and, amongst other achievements, he had designed the former Winter Garden there. We weren’t expecting any action from those plants for a while, but this one just couldn’t wait! In flower already.

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