Nuts, whole hazelnuts...

and we want them to remain that way... 2014 appears to have been another good year for our hazelnut tree, it is absolutely full of nuts.

Regular readers will know we have had problems in the past with a greater spotted woodpecker pinching our hazelnuts.

But for the last two years we have deployed our man and the nuts have survived intact... Today he was brought out of storage to do his work...

Some may say it's 'Simon's annual errection' We would decline to comment!!

Now we have the wildlife camera we will be able to monitor the situation more closely and also to see what he gets up to when we are away!!

"Here we go gathering nuts in..... September?"

Why does the rhyme say: "May"?

This year we appear to have beaten the woodpecker and secured a reasonable harvest of hazelnuts..

Let's hope this year is third time lucky and we can keep the mice off them....

I'll guess I'll just have to get busy making hazelnut meringues; they make a nice change from Stuffed Woodpecker....... 

But this time I won't try piping the meringue mixture. It's not a good idea when it contains chopped nuts - and you are using a piping bag with a small nozzle!

Umm, hazelnut meringues.....!!

A bit of a surprise!

Last year we had a tree full of Hazelnuts... We did not manage to harvest any as the woodpecker, probably assisted by the squirrel managed to eat the lot!!! See here

This year, with the severe frosts, all the catkins shrivalled and died before the leaves even appeared on the tree so we assumed that we would have no hazelnuts at all.

What do we know...

The tree appears to have the start of small hazelnuts... Amazing... unless of course they all fall off!

If they do mature we will be ready for that pesky woodpecker this year...

First step - a scarecrow made from the big yellow waterproof Elizabeth modeled here. I suggested she could be the scarecrow but *?!!*?!!!**??! was all I  got.

Second step - Old CD's hung in the tree.

Third step - One of my old jumpers hung in the tree.

Fourth step - an air rifle and stuffed woodpecker... Bon appetit.

If any of our readers have any more ideas we would be only too pleased to try them...