Daydream fund challenge part 4 4 October 2014 at 9:37AM edited 4 October 2014 at 11:24AM in Greenfingered MoneySaving 10.6K replies 826.6K views

Davesnave

I don't think I could eat the birds I've raised, @greenbee. Last time we had a full grown cockerel it tasted too 'gamey' for me anyway.

I had a nice surprise today when I went down to the mini-woodland; our new neighbour there has felled one of two large edible chestnut trees, improving the amount of light we get on the slope below the trees and by the stream. Now, if he just does the same to the other one.....

Don't know when we last had a completely dry day (29th September maybe?) but we're promised one tomorrow. Planted some small hedging trees up by Mr Dog this afternoon, and despite all the rain, the ground on the hedge bank under the larger trees was still as dry as a bone. No wonder growth is so slow. It feels like I've taken up bonsai!

Best news of the week was finding out that an ex-girlfriend in a care home far away is OK, not a Covid victim. I've only spoken to staff before, and they've been so hot on confidentiality I couldn't get a straight answer. Indeed, last time I was told, " Jill hasn't had visitors for some weeks.." and I took that to be code for "Jill is no longer with us."  However, this week I got the boss, who was happy to say, "Jill's doing all right, but we're closed to visitors again."  Jill has advanced MS, so her speech isn't good enough for phone conversations, but I've written now I know she'll get to read our news.

greenbee

@Davesnave - we always knew where our food came from. Lots of wild game (including the stuff that visitors hit with their cars on the way to us). Trevor the sheep (every year my aunt had one lamb slaughtered for the freezer - it was always called Trevor). Guinea fowl, geese and chickens that we bred ourselves. Turkeys from my cousin. It would have been considered wasteful (and possibly disrespectful) not to eat something that we'd had to kill. Even now I struggle with food waste. 

RAS

Hi

I've been meaning to post for ages but convinced myself I'd forgotten my password. Had 6 weeks with no computer, so when I started to get back online, there were a lot to remember.

We were just south of a storm cell the other week; a few miles north it shredded the foliage on tender plants and made a mess of hanging fruit. Fortunately I got away with some damage to the tomatoes. We've also had weeks and weeks of cold winds from the North/East even on sunny days, often over 15mph.

Just put in the seed order via the allotment society although I have quite a lot left from last year that I bought for communal activities that were cancelled. Have decided to "invest" in some late strawberries as mine finish early and don't survive the slugs if it's a poor year. I'll look at Real Seeds shortly as they have some gems.

greenbee

@RAS - my strawberries are still going. I have masses of runners if you'd like me to post some to you. 

Davesnave

Not the best of days, but at least the guy who we've employed to sort out the en-suite turned up and did a careful job on what he's done so far. I began dismantling the conservatory floor, aware that I could call on the en-suite guy if I got stuck, but so far, so good.It's just slow, because in places the plasterboard overlaps and the edge screws aren't accessible without some digging....oh, and the whole thing's built like a tank! If only it had been at the correct height.

This is the day I was supposed to get my new BT Halo set-up, having negotiated a good deal with them last week. However, when I received the confirmation email I found it had been sent to Mr Dog's house! Arrrrrgggghhhh!!! An hour on the phone later, and with an assurance I wouldn't be cut off again...I was. So, I used the on-line complaint facility.....Nothing!

Undaunted, yesterday I tracked the parcel, used the Parcelforce 'contact us' facility, warned them not to deliver and why....and waited. This, morning back came a response saying "Sorry you didn't get a non delivery ticket..." Huh??

Almost apoplectic by that time, another Parcelforce message arrived  to say there was no one in, so would I like to re-direct the parcel to a Post Office for £1 ? I did like, as I imagined Mr Dog going 10 miles to South Molton only to find the parcel wasn't even his , but common sense got the better of me and I opted for the village PO.

Ah, but Mr Dog had the Parcelforce slip, so I still wouldn't be able to collect. unless.....unless I could speak to a real human. I still don't really know how I did it, but by swearing a lot at the automated woman and pretending not to understand, I was eventually put through to a jolly man. He got the  ID number from me and then said he'd contact the PO and sort it for me. The End. Sometimes robots are rubbish.

Of course, BT is rubbish all the time, but here there are few alternatives.Ever since we had the barney over the telephone pole, BT have tried to make Mr Dog's address ours, so although we've sorted it with accounts, there must be a dark recess somewhere in sales where things have not been fixed. If it had been anyone else.....Grrr!!!

in_my_wellies

Good afternoon, finally able and ready to report back. Strange times, I hope everyone is well.
Many changes here. I'm back in my old Leicestershire house and loving it! Long story short, it went on the market just before lockdown, by word of mouth the owner new I was interested and wanted someone in it rather than it standing empty. He's extended and improved it beyond my price range so I'm paying a peppercorn rent, like a caretaker. I'm scarred to death in case I muck it up. A good mile from the nearest neighbour I do feel a bit vulnerable (strange I didn't feel it 30 years ago) so I have 2 dogs and some geese, and a cockerel, hens, goats (bill and ben - not mine) .................. and fish
So my Devon house stood empty but now a friend is renting that (so I still make the trip but in the other direction!)
I still have my 'allotment' and could give it full attention this year - veg boxes became community food bank donations but all good fun - still picking the odd punnet of raspberries and blackberries this week
Dave, I'm pleased to see the progress of your hens, I still have the incubator - unused.......... 
Well done to folk who tackled big landscaping projects, I have been looking at the photos when not posting. My mother and daughter are horrified that I 'need' to dig up the field lawn for raised beds so for this year I've left it. Surprising how my saying it's far too much grass to cut inspired my daughter to mow and edge it every week! 

Davesnave

in_my_wellies said:

Dave, I'm pleased to see the progress of your hens, I still have the incubator - unused..........

I'm not the one who put in all the work, but as DW has been isolated here most of the year, it seems a good thing I got her an incubator for a milestone birthday.

It's been a lovely day here and I'm too tired to post more now, but impressed with your nomadic gardening.

Ted_Head

Goodness In My Wellies - that must keep you busy. Good you have managed to get it sorted out. I used to lived a mile from nearest neighbour and did like it but I suppose times change. Quite a distance from nearest neighbours here but I can't see them now for the trees which is great.

Not bad day today- pruning some stuff that is very leggy and to big.

I would like to prune the hydrangeas but don't know quite when to do it.

ukmaggie45

Ted_Head said:

I would like to prune the hydrangeas but don't know quite when to do it.

We had to leave Wales for me to go to Dentist. Hydrangea was looking great, but didn't have time to take flowers off before we left. In the past when I was able to do the pruning of stuff I used to cut the flowers off at this time of year, take them home to put in a vase for a while. To enjoy the flowers. At least it means you can get some enjoyment from your pruning! 

Cut your flowers off now, then look in Spring to adjust pruning if looks odd or wrong.

If you put your flower cuttings into water you might get some that grow roots so you can grow them on as new plants.

Davesnave

ukmaggie45 said:

Ted_Head said:

I would like to prune the hydrangeas but don't know quite when to do it.

We had to leave Wales for me to go to Dentist.

Looks like you won't get back again any time soon!  Dentists are operating here clandestinely, so I have an appt booked for the end of the month. I'm not in pain now, but I was a few months ago and just 'coped.' Now we seem to be heading into more stringent measures again, I'm hoping not to wait till next February

Chatting with the new neighbour, he's told me about 5 or 6 more trees will eventually be removed in his shady garden, so the stream-side is going to see more light in the late afternoons onwards. It's maybe not great news for wildlife, but our mini wood is maturing well next door, and to be fair, neighbour's garden has had many years of neglect and backs onto several acres of wilderness, so there's still lots of untamed habitat.

BT finally got my Halo thingy to me, but only after we contacted a human, who confirmed that on the equipment side we gained Mr Dog's address from the days when he claimed our land was his and got them to move a pole onto it. The reasoning is, we have a pole, the pole belongs to Mr Dog's address, therefore we have his address too.....or something! Anyway, it's all been fixed.

Oh, and the en-suite is largely finished at last. Just a loo and some silicone....maybe.