Spring proper, Bits and Bobs.

[Stephen]

I ventured out, just to see if everything was still in place. Of course I ended up doing an hour or 90 minutes work, a bit of weeding here, a little watering they, tidying that up and cleaning this bit. I'm sure you all understand!

The wind was still a bit blustery but the sun had come out, so it wasn't as cold as I was expecting.

[robo]

We have had gale force winds and torrential rain all day and it's still ongoing at least my water barrels are full

[Westi]

She wasn't as vicious down here as she was further North but she did have a sting in her tail & we got pelted with hail stones a couple of times this afternoon & it was cold. Hail came between sunny spells so I got caught out several times as re-sowing bits of the back lawn. I was dressed like I am in the middle of winter with my furry coat on top a fleece, T Shirt & vest - I was still cold!

However looks better for tomorrow!

[Geoff]

Just shot a large rat on the bird table. Don't suppose I'll be allowed to do that in the future once the Packham / Juniper inspired halfwits get their way. Surely whatever your view of nature and conservation it has got to include the concept of vermin or animals in inappropriate places.

[robo]

You are lucky Geoff, I visited our plot with my .22 rifle everything I plant is getting eaten by pheasants and woodpigeon I had it with me three days on the run two days I never had it out of its bag some smarty reported me to the council who sent me a letter stating if I was seen with it on my plot I would have my agreement terminated

[oldherbaceous]

We missed most of the rain that was about last week....it is now getting worringly dry.

[Primrose]

All these "bunny huggers" should remember the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin and the origins of the bubonic plague. Let's face it, rats, (and wood pigeons, magpies and the like). are not exactly endangered species are they ?

[Diane]

Warm rain here today - lovely. Frost at the weekend - out comes the fleece again. Not lovely!

[Shallot Man]

No sign of movement with my sweet-peas. Been in over a month now.

[robo]

At the bottom of our plot we did a small lawn around 12 feet square we did it as it floods even drilling down ten feet with an eight inch augur did not help ,this week I decided to put a small wildlife pond not big around three feet x two feet no fish going in it just a water lily and some oxygen making plants ,I ordered one of those pre made liners it arrived yesterday so today I dug a hole placed the liner in it then filled with water next is to fish out some spawn out of the pond at home

[alan refail]

New first-time-ever breakfast this morning. Bacon, mushroom and egg. What was special was the eggs were from our lone Muscovy duck who has just started laying. Beautiful egg in a very hard olive coloured shell. She prefers to lay in a hen's nest box! She laid her first egg two days ago and yesterday she laid two in the space of an hour! And she's laid again today!

[Shallot Man]

Moved to a new House insurer last year, quiet cheap. Renewal has come in. %20 dearer. Would seem last year I was the sprat caught by the mackerel.Ah well. Time for this sprat to move on and be caught by another mackerel.

[Geoff]

I was surprised yesterday, got my car insurance renewal email and the price had gone down. Now the lowest it has been since 2015. Perhaps it will be a successful ploy and I won't waste a day a shopping around, unless it rains!

[retropants]

Emptied out my shed at home yesterday, it was full to the brim, and all cobwebby, and we discovered rats have been living in there . It was very satisfying throwing everything away, mostly stuff kept 'just in case' but I hadn't used any of it for years, so....I also took a few hundred pots to the garden centre pot recycle bin. I am glad to say that no one saw me lug the bin bags to the container, it would have raised a few questions! I still have at least the same number to get through and cull, which live under the gargantuan potting bench that my dad built for me. Now I no longer have the allotment, I can get through with a much smaller number of them! We evicted a few very big spiders, I hope they like their new home in the flower bed. I disinfected the floor and have put everything I need to keep back in, and there's space for my bicycle now as well.

[Diane]

Wow- that's an amazingly satisfying amount of work. Pots and wildlife relocated in one fell swoop. And room for more. Well done.