Winter Bits and Bobs.

[Cider Boys]

Beautiful day here in Somerset, ideally the soil was a little cold for onion sets but I decided to get on and plant my red and white onion sets after first preparing the ground. I will plant some more next week if the weather allows me to.

I think spring has now sprung.

Barney

[Clive.]

Cold start to today with de-icer needed on the car windscreen and an amazing fern pattern of frost on the car roof.

It was annual car cleaning day today....actually I think it might have had another one earlier this year...new dust bag in the Miele vacuum.

Late this afternoon there was a chance to get my front lawn mown...dear old Rover mower started first pull with petrol that was in stock from last year....lawn very long, soft and mossy and is now slightly shorter and mossy with a chequer board pattern of mower wheelings and accompanying footmarks....

C.

[Westi]

Nice down on lottie when the sun warmed up. Did some sows into the beds I had prepped but couldn't find some of the seeds so had to do a re-order; no doubt seeds will be found behind the staging! Made a start on plot 2 & got the old cold frame cleared for this year's parsnips & carrots & sowed. Pleased to see no stones had come up when I gave them a dig over & top up & also fully prepped 2 other beds & pulled all the weeds tangled in the chicken wire fencing. I was in the zone as it was so nice, warm & quiet.

Weather looking pretty good for next week so hopefully I can get down a couple of times & uncover more of plot 2 & get prepping them & potting on if the club root resistant brassica's start waking up! Still only one variety up.

[oldherbaceous]

A really good drying day today, although the wind has a real bite to it!
They are showing heavy showers for later, but hoping we miss them….next week is looking dry, so hopefully will be able to get on the allotments, towards the end of the week.

[Clive.]

Tally with the chill sharp breeze...it's actually been slightly up on forecast here this morning. There was white frost on the grass at work early but at home here only a thin freeze on the windscreen that occurred after I swished the wipers across.

Early lunch and then see if I can get a little job or two done here if the wind dries it a fraction more...and before it gets wet again.!!

Banana custard is an element of today's lunch...that always takes me back to school days when lunch would be delivered to the second annexe site of the junior school by Mr Parrot's taxi service...insulated aluminium containers of custard arriving in the boot of a highly polished black Austin Cambridge or later an Austin 1800...


C.

[oldherbaceous]

I remember the aluminium containers, for School dinners….there was a kitchen at Milton Bryan School, so dinners were sent off to a local school, and it was a Mrs Horsler, that ran the village post office, that delivered them…..

[Clive.]

Just finished pruning my gooseberry bushes...job started Christmas time.!

Then took the posts and string from round last years bean row location....bit behind on that too..!!

...and then set into some more of the errant leap frog brambles in the old chicken run area.

It's looking darker now with an odd spit and spot of rain in the breeze.

C.

[Clive.]

Didn't escape the wet here....sharp squally sleet shower has just been rattling on the windows..

C.

[oldherbaceous]

It’s been raining steadily for a couple of hours now…..real shame as it was drying nicely! I still have my Gooseberry bushes to prune, so better get them done this week sometime!

[Clive.]

Clear sky again now.. just stepped out the back door to go to the bins and there was the space station going by high above... Double checked and the time tallied....actually high above France by the track map..

C.

[retropants]

We had a sunny day Saturday, for emptying my brother's old sheds of car parts. Hopefully the move is now complete, I can't face any more. Yesterday, I had a craft fair in Ruislip, in a C15 barn and around. We had a cold bright day, it clouded over, but waited until I was driving home to chuck it down. For hours! I have sort of emptied the car, but I have the MOT this afternoon, so need to get home from work and get the tables and shelves etc out and re-set the seats.

[Geoff]

Another thoroughly miserable day, hope the forecast "spring" actually happens. Hope all the flower seedlings I've pricked out very small take OK, just desperate for something productive to do.

[oldherbaceous]

Hope the weather soon improves for you Geoff!
Actually managed to get Big Bertha, over all the plots this afternoon, and it’s starting to dry on top already, now the soil has got some air back into it…. my shoulders are letting me know already, that I had to wrestle her, a fair bit….

[Clive.]

I too was having the first wrestle of the year with 'the big mower' . Grass was plenty long for it but it will come right on the next mow.

It was one of those days, at last when wanted to be everywhere as suddenly jobs were opening up able to be done...can only do one at once though.

Meanwhile, for some years I have been pondering on a large Narcis' in the garden at home here. My mum was quite a buyer of narcissus for pot display and then planting out.
I seem to think I may have posted a photo of the flower before on here some years ago....anyway, this morning, with the help of Gemini AI, and a better phot than I could take, my work colleague got it sussed out to be N. Petit Four. This has its origin in 1961 so is getting on a bit but tallies to my mums keen buying time..

C.

[Geoff]

That was more like it 16.3°. My potato bed was prepared and sheeted over on 29th December so today I could take off the sheet and plant my 81 potatoes that were nicely chitted and replace the sheet. Also managed a bit of weeding of one of my drier bits, hopefully more will be fit for that in the coming days.