I started re-reading “The Wind in the Willows” on Monday, and really envy Mole’s joy, in chapter one, at the onset of spring…
‘Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said “Bother”‘ and “O blow!” and also “Hang spring-cleaning!” and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something up above was calling him imperiously…. he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, “Up we go! Up we go!” till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.’
Then I went out into the garden and saw this. Oh my!
The next afternoon another hill appeared. And on Friday morning this is what I saw…
Oh my! Oh my! (as Mole was known to say)….
Oh, lucky, lucky you!
Linda
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I’m not sure I’d put it that way… I would prefer they move a few metres west to the field beyond our fence!
Is this a good sign or a bad one? My dad, who lives on a small acreage, would think this a very bad thing.
Bad, if this culprit decides to excavate the whole garden!
I don’t like for Mole to jump out of the pages like that.
A little unnerving, for sure….
We’ve had to deal with skunks and rabbits, but fortunately not moles.
They have popped up occasionally on the edges of our garden, but never four hills in a row! Skunks and rabbits must be hard to deal with too….
I hope you do not mind if I have a glorious laugh [even if it is not QUITE funny] ?! [Oh, i loved the ‘Wind in the Willows’ as a child when first in Australia!].
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry!
The onset of spring does bring visitors to our gardens sometimes. Perhaps it was the sound of the wind in the willow that woke them up. Your re-reading this book now makes me wonder where I put my copy of this great story and book.
I’m enjoying it so much, and managed to get a copy of it with the Ernest Shepard illustrations. 😀 I’m hoping Mole is just “visiting” and will move on to other adventures soon! 😉
There is life under the snow 🙂 .) 🙂 And soon it will bring up the first spring flowers. So, it is a good sign! I wish you an nice weekend – Uta
The soil that Mole has deposited on the surface will be distributed on my flowerbeds! Thanks, Uta – wish you a nice weekend too! 😀
Aaahh… Moley! My first audiobook! I can still hear the joy from the 33 rpm.
Thanks for the memories. Luckily I don’t have the garden to make it less amusing…
I also keep thinking of that old children’s cartoon from the seventies… “The Mole”. I think it was Czech. He was a cute little thing, but I just hope this one finds pastures new very soon!
Oh no, you have a mole too! I’ve been advised to play loud rock music in the garden to get rid of moley (they can’t stand it, apparently) – haven’t been brave enough to try it yet, but maybe one morning when the neighbours are out…
LOL! A friend’s father once tried burying transistor radios… it worked until the batteries ran out! (Not sure what channel they were tuned in to though, possibly radio 2 with Terry Wogan in the 1980s!)
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What a beautiful edition of The Wind in the Willows. I love the illustrations. Didn’t Beatrice Potter have a Mole, too? I know the one you’re thinking of from the 70’s. I think moles have been very cute in children’s literature, but in the garden, it’s hard to feel too warm and cosy. But I’ve never killed them–fortunately they seem to move on! 🙂
Let’s hope this one does too. I don’t remember the Beatrix Potter mole, but I remember Peter rabbit and Mrs Tiggywinkle…
Hahaha – oh what a great story and a lovely passage regarding Mole and spring time. My four year old, Carter, is very adamant about stamping down mole holes whenever he sees them. He would be horrified (oh, my! oh my!) at your photo of the mole hole mounds. 🙂
I shall use that lovely soft soil on my flowers as soon as the snow melts! 😀
Too bad the mole and you can’t come to some sort of agreement. The mole can stay confined to a certain area or a limited amount of holes. Perhaps this agreement can be reached…. 😉 I’ll see if my cat will send an e-mail or something, he is quite connected you know. He may know some German moles. 😉
Any assistance would be appreciated! I haven’t tried negotiations yet, as I think my mole is just passing through… (hopefully!).
My neighbor who I call “The poisoner” because of his pesticide use, had moles last summer and then really lived up to his name…if you know what I mean. His yard is a dead zone-yikes!
Oh no! Scary! I hope your cats don’t go round to his place!
Moley brings back memories. As for the real thing, I can’t forget about him for very long as he frequently decorates the garden with his piles of soil. Useful for the pots, though. Interesting that he is not put off by the cold and snow.
They seem to be active all through winter if the ground isn’t frozen. The snowy fields down near the river are covered in molehills too.
oh! the wind in the willows!!!! I loved that book as so many of the commenters before me have posted! One of the greatest joys of my life was my middle son falling in love with the story as much as I. (Wierd, too, because my oldest and youngest had no interest in the book at all! ) Such wonderful memories I have of reading to him and then talking about the later years when he was old enough to read on his own..
HOWEVER—–the mole of reality is nowhere near the affectionate, caring creature of fairytale! I’ve lost seasons’ worth of flowers to a family that lives in my yard. This year, I tried Sweeney’s mole remover, which basically herds them to a more acceptable area of the yard. It seems to be working, so for now problem solved.
I’ll have to look that up. Glad I could bring back some good memories for you! 😀
How odd! The mole must have known that you started to read the book again. Maybe he wanted to read it too 😉
Spooky!
That’s one of the Classics that I never read – will have to remedy this, and soon!
They *are* much cuter in the pages of a book than in your garden….
It is such a lovely story! I’d say just as much for adults as for children. 😀
We are getting excited about the end of winter here but something tells me Spring might have a fight on its hands…
Same here – more snow forecast for tomorrow!
I always loved that story…but I’d be distressed to see the holes! I hope they don’t dig too many more in your yard.
To date there are 8, but there have been no new ones for a couple of days now… I’m hopeful! 😉
Cathy, I thought about you when I saw this posting and the picture with his remarks about the moles. Check it out, I think you might like the comments and view.~Mary http://northumbrianlight.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/morning-mist/
Thank you Mary – it’s a beautiful photo, and I find that the molehills blend well into the countryside. There are many fields like that around us, so I should be grateful my garden doesn’t look like that! I think ours have moved on anyway, as I saw two huge hills just beyond our fence… 😉