SPRING

[peter]

Sadly yes 32 - 12 and a broken nose.

My lads match was cancelled so I went for a coffeeshop breakfast with him and his girlfriend, who had stayed round ours to watch him play.
She had managed to shut her hand in her mums cardoor on Saturday, we persuaded her after breakfast that the swelling and interesting colours merited a visit to A&E and were proved right a couple of hours later when the verdict came back. Tendon damage and a fractured bone.

[oldherbaceous]

Sorry to hear the three bad results Peter, the score, the nose and the hand.

I remember getting a right good headbutt in the face whilst playing rugby at school, resulting in me getting a broken nose that seemed to go on bleeding for ages. So whilst having a shower after the game, with the blood still pouring out, it looked as if someone had had their throat cut.
Then one of the big forwards came in, saw the colour of the water,went a very pale colour and all but past out.

[Clive.]

I remember playing rugby at school.....games was not my favourite subject...and I was happy to be in the second group who could never make the school team and got sent across the field to form a secondary game...
I never got very involved with the game but knew full well that there was always a threatened inspection at the end of the games lesson to check if we had all got muddied sufficiently.... I used to make sure I went down on one knee from time to time to make sure my boot laces were tied well enough....er, and rub some muck onto my knees..

Cross country runs were good...we got out into the open fields and the quicker we got back the sooner we got to the showers and then home.

Clive.

[Clive.]

Back on thread.....Today was much the sort of day we have been waiting for....with Sunshine from the word go. ...after a slight frost...
Greenhouse windows flung open not long after arriving at work...

We have been working on trimming up the formal front Catmints....then gave the ground a light pricking over.. and a light mulch with well rotted...and a little something for the slugs....

Planted a new Crab Apple out the front too...

Meanwhile, the rotavator had its slitting tines fitted and our trainee spent some time trundling it over some of the lawns.

I had a look across at the Beehives at lunchtime and two were quite active with the third not so much so...

The Snowdrops and Aconites are at their absolute best throughout now...and some Crocus too... A few of the Daffodils in the Orchard have a bud showing....

Just prior to finish today I took some canes down to the kitchen garden border and had a bit of a pace and mark out for where things Pea and Bean may go....needs to dry a bit yet though..thinking of a row of Broad Beans at the earliest opportunity...

Tony the greenhouse joiner, on putting his ladders away,...requested another similar day for tomorrow.......

Meanwhile, at home today Mum had a notion to put some lettuce into the frame...but in the time available work was cancelled due to a hail shower.....
We escaped that one 5 miles up the road..

Clive.

[oldherbaceous]

Morning Clive, looks as if Tony will get his request.

[Clive.]

Morning Clive, looks as if Tony will get his request.

Hello Old H',

It looks that way...very white frosty this morning..31.6F currently...

Sky is clear as anything now with the very big moon just having gone down in the West...it was exceptionally bright last night.

However,.....Mr Kettley on the local radio weather forecast has just spoken of a narrow band of light snow that is set to move across the county during this morning........currently snowing in the NW of the county it is said.....

Clive.

[Shallot Man]

Clive. re your Rugby days. I played school rugby during WW2. Due to petrol restrictions the class played its self.[ 38 in the class.] So each sports period we played in a different position, as I was about seven stone wringing wet, playing in the front row, raised all sorts of connotation's.

[Clive.]

Clive. re your Rugby days. I played school rugby during WW2. Due to petrol restrictions the class played its self.[ 38 in the class.] So each sports period we played in a different position, as I was about seven stone wringing wet, playing in the front row, raised all sorts of connotation's.

Re the Rugby...I steered well clear of being flattened and/or having to flatten anyone....as long as I checked my laces frequently all was well..shower and home...



Another spring like day today...more glass is in place in the greenhouse...next to make and fit, I'm told, is a door.......

I have been fiddling with mowers on a makeshift bench on a garden trolley..good to work on machines in the open air and bright sunshine...not like years ago when I was stuck in a cold grimy workshop....
I could also get some plane spotting in too.

32.9F at the moment...and breeze noted earlier as moving into the NE......

Clive.

[Clive.]

An amazing sunny day today...enough such that I have caught the sun...and have a rather glowing face...unusual that, but then we have not had too many doses of sunshine lately...

Weather station now showing 32.5F....

In a break from tinkering with a mower on my outside workbench again...I ventured to set up the Carrot tunnel....and decided to chance a sowing....
Then put a short row of Premiere Potatoes in on the same sheltered South facing corner plot....the ground had dried on the top lovely and working from planks on forking over the previously dug soil I fully expected it to be still glistening wet and cold in the bottom as can happen with our soil if we get too keen about now...but no...it was fine. ..time will tell if I have got too keen

Worked a piece at the other end of the South border yesterday and in went a row of Broad Bean seed..

Mower progress not so good today....a light service turned sour due to discovery of a broken weld in a cylinder blade end....


Clive.

[oldherbaceous]

Another very frosty morning out there this morning, so hopefully another bright day ahead, even if it is a touch on the chilly side.

Have managed to get 500 shallots in over the last couple of days, in between working.

[Shallot Man]

Noticed whilst out this morning with the dog, lower branches of the Hawthorn showing tips of green.

[Clive.]

Noticed whilst out this morning with the dog, lower branches of the Hawthorn showing tips of green.

Yes, at last things are starting to move forward.

Although I have had a going backwards sort of day....I noticed that the slug bait that I had put down the Carrot row under the tunnel of Enviromesh had totally all gone...strange. ...but then I spotted some rodent sized holes on the other side. So the first piece of "my" brand new Enviromesh that I had high hopes for gets trashed on the first night out in the garden...

Last year we had a Rat get into a store shed and eat a quantity of slug bait...only when we found the destroyed bag of bait did we realise why the Rat droppings that we were seeing about were blue.....

To top it up tonight a greenhouse window, that had swelled a bit, lodged and twisted as I shut it to... I managed to break the glass..

On a more positive note...I did put 4 rows of Shallots in late morning..not quite as many as Old H' though....
.....and the mower cylinder received some weld...not my best ever effort but it looks a bit more attached than it did yesterday...

Clive...

[Geoff]

Yesterday I thought Spring was springing with a beautiful patch of mauve species Crocus looking great in the afternoon sun.

Today I discovered they had been browsed flat presumably by a rabbit.

Tomorrow I shall decide on what type of rabbit netting I shall use to renew my defences - Google came up with an electrified version but I don't think that will be practical although the temptation is there.

[PLUMPUDDING]

What on earth do you with 500 shallots OH?

I only planted 20 and got about 150 bulbs.

[alan refail]

What on earth do you with 500 shallots OH?

Sends them to