Daydream fund challenge part 4 4 October 2014 at 9:37AM edited 4 October 2014 at 11:24AM in Greenfingered MoneySaving 10.5K replies 822.1K views

Rummer

So lovely to hear from Alfie! Sounds as if everyone is busy in their gardens at the moment. Today I cut the hedge, which is massive, and I got all the grass cut. Tomorrow I am planning to top up the pots with compost, sow some more seeds and finish the weeding in the side garden. It has been so warm here that I am itching to get things planted outside, however a light frost on the cars this morning was a timely reminder not to get carried away!

Davesnave

I'd like your stream problem, greenbee, because that would mean it had water in it. Mine's dried-up already! Water parsnip smells so fresh it seems very likely to be edible....though, of course, it's anything but!

Really good to know that alfie is still with us, albeit only in spirit at present. Also relieved to understand that the prodigal choille, having been cast out, is not downcast.

Speaking of casting, the Environment Agency has just written to remind me I should not be fishing, but there was no mention of a refund or extension on the licence for the rod I'm not allowed to use. Apparently, it would be very naughty of me to incorporate a walk to the river in my daily exercise regime. Far more people are walking past us here these days, probably because the road is much quieter and they have the time to do a round trip to the small town a mile distant. How often they repeat the 1:5 climb to get there would be an interesting statistic!

Our tomatoes will be ready to be re-homed in about a week and we'll probably start selling the perennials then too. No idea what demand will be like for the latter.

greenbee

But then you'd have my neighbours @Davesnave, and they like gardens to look manicured... Maybe I could tell them that the water parsnip is watercress (most of them think it is...). I'm not sure that they're aware that being downstream of sheep (and having grey water from sewage treatment draining into the stream) means you shouldn't eat things that grow in there anyway... 

Ted_Head

Well, I am still trying to clear some ground at the front of the house. Better half & I spent ages yesterday levering out a big boulder by using a jemmie and dropping stones in about the gap when prised up. OH said that was how they did stonehenge but it wasn't on that scale at all - just felt as if it was.
All the birds are singing their hearts out and the cherry tree is hanging with blossom. and the sun shone again - how strange to have several days on the trot of warm weather.

Davesnave

If it makes you feel better ch....Ted, we still have 'Mount Fuji' out at the front; a remnant not of volcanic activity, but the clay from when we dug new drains. When we whip out the dead elm hedge, we'll take the bank with it and replace the lot with a fence + shrubs, firmly planted at soil level and not stuck a few feet above.

The banks here are a haven for our voles, but they are a devil to populate with anything other than couch, ground ivy, ground elder, ivy proper and cleavers. The latter went totally berserk last year for some reason and I had to declare war on it, which seems to have paid-off now.

Got locked out of here for a couple of days. Notifications stopped and my authentication mail didn't go through either, so I had to message the management. They were so slow, I took matters into my own hands.....might come in handy if I'm ever as naughty as some people! 

RAS

Wondered why you were so quiet. Glad to see you back, Dave. Have the eggs survived?

Davesnave

RAS said:

Wondered why you were so quiet. Glad to see you back, Dave. Have the eggs survived?

I wasn't totally quiet, but I didn't say a lot!

The goldfinches are still around and now they've a total of 4 eggs, but we're not sure if they're being incubated properly. Both birds go off on a jolly now and again! Could be a young, inexperienced pair maybe. We have loads of goldfinches at present, so they seem to be doing well as a species.

The blackbirds in the nursery hedge have all flown. They're still around and the parent birds are feeding them. Lila, our woolly cat, is singled out for a lot of hassle by the blackbirds and I saw her running away from them earlier. They're too noisy for her!  Izzy's the one who's the more dangerous if you're a bird, but often she's ignored.

Digging new flower beds today on what was mostly virgin land, or so we thought, but barrow-loads of stone have come out, including bricks, tiles etc, all over a spit down. Slow-going currently, but the actual soil is OK.

People have gone mad for the annuals from the postponed wedding we offered locally. They've all gone, so DD2 has her money back on those. About £30 worth of perennials also went in the first day of gate sales. Lock-down fever?

pink_poppy

Good to see alfie is still around and just not able to post at the moment.
I'm loving the bird updates  We had Mr and Mrs Blackcap in the back garden yesterday, first time I've seen one in years. This morning I spotted another one on my daily walk through some woods, so they're obviously like buses... 
Talking of my daily walk...I was furious this morning when a jogger ran past me on the pavement on the inside of me  She could easily have ran onto the road to get past us as it's a quiet road and there were no cars. We didn't see her coming as she was behind us, otherwise we would have moved. She was huffing and puffing as well as she squeezed past  Then a bit further on there were three (not wise) men standing together having a chat. Another man joined them and greeted them all with a handshake  I honestly despair...
Anyway, I hope everyone is well. It sounds like you're all keeping busy 

Fay

Hello everyone, I don’t even know if you’ll remember me. It’s been a while! I can’t remember where I got up to in my story to you all. But I’ve now been settled in the new house for nearly 18 months...that flew by. The garden is really coming along and if I get chance I’ll put some pics up. 
I hope you’re all keeping well at this time. You may recall I’m a psychologist in secondary/tertiary mental health services and it’s a difficult time for us. Lots of challenges and some opportunities. Long hours and new duties too. So the garden and running is keeping me sane...I think! 

Ted_Head

Welcome back Fay.
Lovely day again today so more digging and generally just staring at the beauty of the place and the quiet - no nutters driving at 100 mph - no nutters chucking rubbish out of their windows - horray.
Blackbird built a nest just at the porch so was watching the tufts of sheep wool and dried reeds getting carried up and into the gap that will be very secure and near the bird feeder too - how clever. Saw a peacock butterfly today too - they aren't that usual here. Bats flitting about this evening in the lovely sunset but came really cold so covered up the lettuce seeds with an old window. Not getting much headway but slowly slowly as I don't want to put my back out of kilter again.
Good about the plant sales Dave. A lot of the seed places are sold out and won't take anymore orders.
Strange days all melting into one another - lucky to have loads of outdoor space and the weather being so nice.......at last.