Kitchen Garden Forum

Living near London, we don't get half the exotic birds you lot in the countryside do however, it is always a joy to watch Mr blackbird filling his beak up with dried mealworms to take back to his offspring he was busy cramming as many in as he could this morning!

The Robins in my seed tray stack are now feeding their young - I'll have to work out a way of getting a photograph - perhaps slip a couple of trays out of the pile.

I found it quite bizarre to see just one swallow because usually I see numbers swooping about, we don't get exotic birds like MW. Woodpecker, blackbirds, robin, blue tits, great tits, chaffinch, yellow hammer and long tail waggy birds. We do get jays, rooks and crows together with the odd visit by birds of prey that I never manage to identify other than the Pembrokeshire eagle. (Smile)

At the coast, beach and in the estuary it's completely different though I couldn't list what we have because I rarely study birds.

Potato charlotte has shown together with broad bean and I have kale plants to go in with cauli and leak. My spring garlic is racing away and quite frankly I can't see the point and risk of autumn sowing here. Little gem is happy though I may have messed up the coriander transplant, they don't look happy.

Sweet pea, yes.

A lovely bright day here today, only made better by the return of Richard....

oldherbaceous wrote:A lovely bright day here today, only made better by the return of Richard....

Thank you Oh, I had yet another pressing building job to complete that has been put-off for two years down to costs and getting convenient weather. the right weather showed and I had enough in the maintenance fund to re-roof the conservatory in slate rather than the glazed roof we had as original that was far to hot when the sun came out even in winter and it always had lots of seagull poo on it. I'm seven rows of slate up the roof with just five to go and the lovely new slate has been shat on already.

I'm just top side of this now and looking forward to some relaxing garden time together with some old-git pottering about rather than the full on every day work routine that just cannot be sustained in my case.

I didn't see any more swallows today.

Friday is cleanup day for me, at least half a day has to be spent looking for dust , cobwebs and windows that need a polish. It doesn't ever all get done but my routine stops the place falling into it becoming a blokes cave. She likes tidy and I like tidy.

I'm still not managing a week without having a crying season after loosing Molly, so many people I meet have lovely dogs they want me to say hello too. Then we had a weekend visit from a pal who has a six month old spaniel.

That was difficult.

No Swifts yet but first House Martins and we heard a Cuckoo while lunching outside, it travelled down the valley as it called so it might not have stayed, not heard it again.

Saturday 25th. 15:20 (ish)

Slight rain overnight dampened ground and made is easier to break down.
Westerly wind across plot, temperature 15 degrees.

Hoeing & digging of weeds only, no sowing or planting done today although did tie back some apple & pear tree branches new growth where I am trying to train them as espaliers.

I fell of steps, ripped some skin on my nose so I look like a prize fighter, hurt my ass and upper arm but it'll all mend.

I'm doing stuff I'm too old for because of slowing response and slowing everything else but I do enjoy achieving things.

I won't be told.

Ricard with an H wrote:I fell of steps, ripped some skin on my nose so I look like a prize fighter, hurt my ass and upper arm but it'll all mend.

I'm doing stuff I'm too old for because of slowing response and slowing everything else but I do enjoy achieving things.

I won't be told.

Don't expect any sympathy then, Richard.

Plenty sympathy from me!
Just spent silly length of time fitting two replacement autovents. Same design name as the old ones Bayliss XL but utterly different design so didn't fit. Ended up making adapter plates and angle grinding the fixing plates that came with them. If I had a £1 for the number of times I went up and down the steps because my useless arthritic fingers wouldn't hold the screws I could have paid somebody to fix them.
Hope the sun comes back tomorrow and I can see if they work.

I'm so glad my husband isn't the only man who won't give in and gets incensed when he struggles to do stuff that he could do easily even 5 years ago. He used to be very fit after a life time of hard physical graft and is finding it difficult to accept that his joints aren't working so well these days and instead of being supple, he is creaking and frequently in pain.

So, I am greatly relieved that he agreed the new fireplace and plastering we're having done, will be sorted out by the firm who is supplying it.....he had intended to do it himself. I was dreading it, as tools would have been launched into space as he lost his rag with himself and the next astronauts to land on the moon would find plenty of tools inscribed KB....

He won't be told either.....

Most men wont be told, that's why we have a reputation for not stopping and asking directions when driving

A little sad this morning, when i went to wind the Church clock earlier, a piece on the winding drum has broken....a very expensive job by the looks of it....

A nice amount of rain last night.....much needed.

OH
does that mean that until it is fixed the clock is going to stop at some point