Hello to the Birds
A love for the garden and being outdoors continues to be a daily pleasure for Mary at The Cottage. Her husband, Cliff and daughter, Joanne kindly donated birdfeeders and a birdbath for the pleasure of all residents and the local birds enjoy them, too.
Mary and Cliff have lived in Howick for more than 45 years and Mary spent much of her time in their large garden, which became a haven for monarch butterflies. With a gentle and kind heart, Mary always rescued nature’s beauties and often, there were caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies inside the family home. Joanne says they always had to be careful where they walked or sat to avoid harming the little creatures. Mary fed the monarch caterpillars swan plants when they were tiny and only fed them pumpkin or courgette when they were larger.
She also had lots of plants to bring the birds into the garden and they seemed to trust her – often coming very close to her.
When Cliff and Mary moved to a retirement village, they took 200 monarch butterflies with them and built a special house for the beautiful insects. The family knows how much pleasure Mary gets from gardens and nature and the birdfeeders are positioned in trees that Mary can see from her room at The Cottage. She helps the staff refill the feeders with wild birdseed supplied by Joanne, and helps keep the water clean in the birdbath.
The family’s on-going thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated by the great big Ambridge Rose family.