Daydream fund challenge part 4

Davesnave

Good news re Mum.:)

Apparently, we had hail too, which always freaks the cats out, but I was in Barnstaple, visting the [STRIKE]dump[/STRIKE] recycling centre and shopping. Like Superman, I arrive at the tip dressed in my rags, unload the grot, park up, jump into the back of the van, change, then emerge as Mr Spendthrift.....:D

Actually, it was just essentials. After failing completely to find a suit for the wedding that would look any good, even with alterations, I've had to have one made. I'm bankrupt!!

In other news, both the builder/carpenter and the plumber who are supposed to be doing our en-suite have the same operation coming up, so have passed us to their subbies. I am not delighted, but just want the damn thing done now. Still no actual date. :mad:

greenbee

We had hail too - woke me up and I thought there was someone trying to get into the house! It's now cold, grey and miserable out there.

While I'd love to spend some time in the garden, its another work day and I've got a lot to do. I might sneak out for an hour or so if I get stuck though

I'm having a break from builders Dave. Just the front and back doors and the kitchen to go, but it's nice to have peace and quiet. Having said that, getting the utility room done has freed up a LOT of space so was well worth the effort. I won't be using the same guy for the kitchen though, as he makes all the units on site, which means a lot of mess and dust, materials cluttering up the garage and he's here for a long time. I think it'll be a major stumbling block to his ambition to set up his own bespoken kitchen business as most people will want units made off site and the only on site time to be for fitting.

choille

Glad that Mum is improving Alfie. What a worrying time.

It snowed quite heavily here yesterday & we thought we'd have to turn back. We were heading over to a funeral on the East. Past a car off the road and Police there, but the weather cleared up. Standing room only at the church by the time we got there. Sad to see such a nice bloke succumb to cancer but he's at peace now.

Sunny today & cold with strong wind.

alfie_1

sun is back today but still chilly ...


marsha goes to her new home tomorrow... bitter sweet !
I will miss her ...


im determined to keep on top of the garden this year .. lawns looking good, patios and paths weeded . plants popping up ... just got to trim some shrubs now... had a bonfire last night but the wind changed and ive got a perfect half ash and half bonny now ! plenty more to burn so will do my girl guide bit [wet finger in the air ] for the next one...
im waiting for the first boot sale that will have lots of bedding plants , I like to support those that have nurtured them at home and put a few bob in their pockets.


im determined to empty my garage as well ... a triple garage with a neighbours classic car covered over and the rest ... carp ! just don't know where to start !! why is it when you uncover something you've not missed for years, you suddenly have that " oooo forgot I had that" moment , then to be shoved in ANOTHER shed/corner ...... for another 5 years ??!!


well I have no bread,milk or tea bags so HAVE to go get some ...


hope you all have a good weekend peeps xx

Davesnave

Sure has been a turn-around. Yesterday, I was shivering on the hedge again, forcing in a few more already-sprouting hazels and then fleeing as I saw the rain swallow Dartmoor!:(

Today, T shirt.

I like the BBC local forecasts, because they show the wind hour by hour through the day with no faffing-around:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2635762

Not always quite as accurate as the Met Office, who seem to update several times a day, but easier to glance at.

Got the mangetout peas in the polytunnel raring to go at the bottom of their sticks and evicting as many plants as I can to make room for the early summer crops. Cue gales and a return of snow next week! :rotfl:

Did I say I helped Horse Woman 2 (whom I shall now just call Horse Woman) negotiate on the property next to hers? It's only a tiddler 1 bed, which she plans to use for Air BnB. Got it at a decent price, but better still, when the present owner goes, so does his horrible cat that terrorises ours! Hurray! :j

Just ordered a load of logs for Monday. I've learned to get them in asap for the next winter and they'll then be really dry. My own are even drier, but not enough. Dunno when Pete is turning up with the rest!

greenbee

No sun here Dave. I've been weeding and transplanting self-seeded foxgloves, aquilegia and erigeron. Not sure they'll all make it, but I tried. Lots of seedlings of something in the very damp bed that used to be a hedge. I took the chance that something that was growing that prolifically was likely to be something I didn't want. Of course, I'll find out from the few I missed that they were actually nicotiana alata or cosmos which i spend ages attempting to grow (and usually killing!).

Part of the garden is VERY damp, and mostly likes to grow moss, so I need to rethink the planting there. I'm also considering what to do about the creeping buttercup that now makes up the majority of the lawn in places. I don't mind it that much in the lawn, but it keeps trying to get into the flowerbeds. I don't want to use herbicides as a. there would be nothing left of the lawn and b. given that the lawn is now vole paradise, I need to be careful what I do with it (I really must remember to suggest to natural england that they trap and rehome a few given the population explosion).

Tomorrow I need to mulch what I've weeded. I'm contemplating feeding the roses as well, seeing as they're determined to get going.

in_my_wellies

Good morning, I hope mum is doing well alfie. It was sunny here yesterday. DD took mum to the hair dresser so I had a welcome 2 hours in the garden without needing to keep watch.

I've cut down on vegetable growing area so I'm trying to make the most of what I am doing. 4' strips so far: potatoes, beans, runner beans, roots, salads (courgettes/squash/etc), brassicas (only sprouts/broc)

I'll miss not having random flowers (foxglove/evening primrose/feverfew/etc) growing in amongst everything but I'm being strict with myself. Fruit will be the same. I've not worked out how many different fruit and veg that will be but it'll be a drop from the 57 I've grown for the last few years.

Today I shall make a huge crumble from the very last of the Bramley and the first of the rhubarb. Family tradition. The birds haven't needed them so much this year so I've a lot left which are rotting fast and only fit for compost.

Davesnave

We have the creeping buttercup too, greenbee, but I've just decided to live with it in the lawns. I've found Relay the most effective herbicide against it, but I'm not prepared to use that over massive areas on the fields, or anywhere else. I'm just a spot weeder.


Nothing we've done has appeared to impact on the voles here. Even the cats are rather bored with them.

choille

Cold & windy again but dry.

Hope Mum is making progress Alfie. It must be hard fostering animals as the goodbyes will be sore but you have done a great job.

Over cast & dull but the cherry blossom is out in full & oddly the wall flowers are still flowering - have been since January. Too cold to want to be sat weeding or doing anything other than walking briskly out there.

Just being lazy as usual.

greenbee

We managed to get the mower going (Mostly by giving the blade a whack with a mallet to get it moving...) spark plug has been sanded, I need to order a new oil filter, which I can change myself when it arrives, and my brother has taken the blade away to sharpen as I haven't done it for so long that it was about as sharp as the stone...:o I did give most of the garden a quick cut on the highest setting, and left it running for a bit. He'll drop the blade back tomorrow evening.

Not sure how the voles will feel about the mowing. Or about the amount of activity in the water rescuing footballs while the kids were here!

We also moved a couple of concrete pots that are too heavy for one person (he'd brought his sack barrow which helped) as they were in a damp, sheltered spot and the agapanthus in the pots don't like it. In return he got a whole lot of erigeron as it's been rooting itself happily. I now need to go and redistribute the rest of it around my own garden as well as moving the primroses.