But nature never stops and won't wait for the weather to brighten up.
So just like the birds, insects and determined animals of this country, I was outside all day making the most of my holiday!
I didn't get up to much, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to share this.
Early last month, I built a hedgehog home with my mad eccentric boyfriend.
May was a busy month for me, so the 2 weeks I didn't work on this mini project, proved to be busy for the wildlife too! The wildlife around the home has really flourished and it looks really established!
With a wooden base, laid out on top of weed control fabric, brick walls and a wooden roof, this hog home was sure to be warm and water tight.
A small corridor on the inside of the home, prevented any wind from chilling the main chamber immediately. The main chamber is on the other side of the right hand wall.
The main chamber, as you can see, is quite spacious. You have to remember that hedgehogs can grow quite big!
After our monster of a pond was built a few years ago, there was some excess pond liner left over. This was used to make the whole construction water proof. Bricks held the liner down on one side, and excess turf on the other. Both acting as a double layer of insulation to maintain a constant temperature inside.
It looked strange initially, a black box in the corner of the garden. it needed camouflaging and what better way to do so, more natural objects! On top of the home, we placed a spare part of a wooden archway which had convenient sized segments to infill with materials.
This created a buggy hotel. Or as my my mad eccentric boyfriend put it, a buffet for the hedgehog!
Different materials, means different habitats. Different habitats means a variety of creatures will set up home.
Piling large logs on top, covered in fungi and lichen, added more diversity for the wildlife and will hopefully encourage other creatures to use this area dedicated to them, opening up a more varied diets for any hedgehog which visits.
Excess branches from our garden tree and a dead fuschia were cut up and stacked up against the turfed wall and as last month went on, more logs were added. Including a large piece of the fuschia across the doorway, covering the entrance from rain and other elements.
A random stray air-brick makes an ideal nest site for a solitary bee and a convenient piece of triangular turf, makes a mini flowering meadow right outside the home. You could say, it's a doormat for the hedgehogs to wipe their feet on before going to bed!
And the most fun part, the doormat/meadow, is currently flowering.
I really hope this inspires you to create a home for Britain's hedgehogs because they have declined 95% since the 1960's and they need our help more than ever. Your hog home doesn't need to be as extravagant as mine; it can be an old wooden crate with a 13x13cm hole cut from one side.
So go on moment-eers, make Britain proud!
