Sunday, April 29, 2007

Lavender/Chamomile Snail








Look, what had found its way onto my washing powder. My old garden adversary the common garden snail..




I thought it was dead, as i could not detect any movement.The shell was filthy with mud.I think he hitched a lift in from Frans compost.It was in her garden and was damp.The snail thought it was a cool, dark place to hang out.Before he got transported to my flat.










I washed the snail shell so I could photograph the markings... when lo and behold he came alive.












He was ALIVE, and wandering whoo put him through a shell wash?His patterning is clear now, he started to slide away...



Snails are not renowned for their lightning pace out of the trap..he eased his way along the washing powder box. to look for somewhere dark and cool to hide untill dusk..








He is quarantined now in a glass jar until nightfall.I will release him then.
Its amazing how he moved from either the compost bag from frans, or on one of the pots from the shed. He moved out from his hiding place out, into the pan cupboard (which also doubles for plant pots, seed trays, compost, and vermiculite), then up to the top left hand corner. He settled on lavender and chamomile washing powder! My Fav smell...
I think snails are cute, when they are not demolishing my Dahlias. Snails are part of gardening, as are slugs, and other pests.
I read KC MO's Blog about the terrible weather he has had, and the damage done to the garden there.
Gardeners cope with all manner of bugs, animals, inclement weather, freak storms, ice, snow, hail, torrential rain, and droughts where the soil bakes to a crisp. We just have to shrug, see whats still growing, and keep on going.
There is much beauty in nature, even the common garden snail with its concentric ringed shell, has lovely colours and stripey patterning. They are some of Natures art forms.
As Britt Arnhild says there is beauty in everything, even the common place things, if we just learn how to look at them with fresh eyes.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cute snail ;-)
Thanks for the link to my blog.

Marc said...

Cool pictures! What fun to have a little garden buddy for the day. It is amazing how he found his way in and then "came to life" with a little washing.

Neat post!

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Gaaaaaa, snails. I don't like them at all, nor slugs! Oh wait, I do like snails, straight from the oven with a lot of melted garlic butter on toast. Escargots, mmmmmmm. ;-)

KC MO Garden Guy said...

I agree with what Britt Arnhild said about fresh eyes. But sometime it is hard to find the fresh eyes with the blinders we wear.

David (Snappy) said...

You are welcome Britt, you have a lovely blog and now a garden one too.I thought of you today.I posted blue flowers, to go with your blue cafe and garden :)
Marc I thought he had died.I was suprised when he came around from his snail slumber.A reminder of the gardens I have done, and of future gardens to do..
Yolanda Elizabeth I have cooked Escargot before.Are they common garden snails that get pan fried with butter and garlic?
KC Mo guy, thanks for the comment.I linked back to you on the post too.Im aware people dont always see whats in front of them.I am always trying to look for beauty in the commonplace.Which might be overlooked normally.Like Dandelions etc and all the wildflowers I have tried to photograph.