"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

greenbee

thanks RT. I don't seem to have a renew option - possibly left it to late, so will go in one morning next week to discuss (and maybe do a CS drop off!). 

Found all my greenhouse irrigation stuff and realised I need to fit another waterbutt somewhere different (on the front, so the hose can come in through the door rather than the louvre vent), and I can put a bigger one there. Ordered bits, need to fit the tap on the spare water butt and get it shifted. But have all the bits out and can lay out what's already been made up and put the rest somewhere sensible for when I start putting pots in and need to set the drippers up. I can't find the misters, so need to decide whether I want any, and if so I'll order some. 

I also found my other drip irrigation system which ran off the garden tap. I don't think I need this one anymore, so might see whether I can adapt it to run in the greenhouse. If not, I'll have a think before getting rid of it.

Next job is to try fitting the auto-opener to the louvre vent. There are three to do, but I'm going to try getting one done and seeing how it goes. They're all in the fridge ready to go, I just need to find the screwdriver, spanner, molegrips, and WD40!

greenbee

As always, not as much done as I'd hoped. Partly because I can't make decisions about what will go in the greenhouse and where. 

But the big water butt has been moved and the tap installed, and the parts to get it attached to the greenhouse gutter have been ordered - not that any rain is forecast for ages, so I may have to fill it from the hose (in fact I should probably test my tap installation before I plumb it in). 

I've also emptied and moved a raised planter (the scaffolders moved the one with the rocket in on Thursday which was handy), emptied another raised planter, and rearranged them all so my 'salad bar' is now all together outside the kitchen. I need to refill the two empty ones and sow salad leaves, radishes, and carrots in them. I brought the small spare greenhouse staging down to put outside the kitchen too, in case I need to harden anything off there - although it probably doesn't get enough light as it's north-facing.

Nice break after lunch having coffee with a friend and looking round her garden, which got me away from the neighbours at the back who were making a lot of racket with stinky power tools and yelling and shrieking in their garden. Between that and the floodlight they have on their gable end that lights up all the neighbours gardens they're not wildly popular. I'll have to think of suitable retaliation.

Small shed has had an insect fogger set off in it, which will hopefully kill off any of the giant spiders that try to live in it. 

Tomorrow needs to involve some work on the compost bins, but also some weeding and watering. My mum is coming over, so hopefully she'll do a bit of deadheading/pruning for me. 

Stinky has been VERY good, and has not chased muntjac twice, as well as walking to heel and keeping out of the way of cyclists and runners. He's now snoring away on his bed. 

greenbee

Remembered to water the veg plot while letting the dog out first thing. There are possible signs of peas and spinach germinating, so I need to get on and fence the veg plot in case the dog discovers them!

greenbee

Busy day yesterday - my mum came over with a couple of trays of white geranium for me to divide and plant as ground cover. They're still waiting to be planted as I need to weed the bits they're going to cover, but have lots of water in the wheelbarrow.

We deadheaded all the hydrangeas and pruned some, and I also had a good go at the compost bins (although they need watering as they're too dry to do much right now). One hose reel has been moved, and I need to check that a. I can get it to the border I need it to reach and b. it attaches to the sprinklers without leaking. I think all the hose attachments need checking so I can work out where the problem with the poor connections is - on the hose (easy, have lots of spare fittings) or on the accessories (some will need new washers, which I have lots of; some will need new parts, which I may have to source; some will need replacing). 

Seedlings inside now have capillary matting in their trays and the slightly crispy ones are looking OK. I just hope the sweet peas that were emerging in the greenhouse are OK, and the transplanted seedlings that I put in there yesterday as there was frost last night. Which also meant I wimped out of gardening when I took the dog out first thing, so no weeding/planting in the border I was working on yesterday has been done. That may be a job for after work, but as it's west-facing, ideally I'd get it done early in the morning so I can run the sprinkler on in for a bit in the morning. I'm also going to stick all the bare root stuff in that bed as there is space. Not ideal in terms of design, but it'll be in the ground and have a chance to grow, and I'll just have to move it again when I have come up with a bit more of a coherent design for the garden. I may manage to get the bulbs into pots. 

greenbee

Lots of weeding and planting done yesterday (eventually), and I'm feeling it today! But lots of hypericum has been dug out (plenty more to deal with) and the bare root dahlias have been planted (not where I'd originally intended) as well as another lot of white geranium. There's plenty more of this, so I need to keep going with the weeding and get it in - I'm using the sprinkler to water it in, which isn't necessarily that efficient in terms of water use, but means I can get on with one patch while it waters another.

It looks like we'll have a bit more cloud over the next few days (this is probably down to my new solar panels going live today), so that should at least give the new plants a bit more of a chance. 

Builders came round today to go through all the annoying jobs on my list - they'll be back next week to get them all done hopefully. I really do need to get working on a plan for the garage, as if I want the garage doors blocked up and replaced with a window and door before winter, I need to have that worked out soon so I can book the work in. 

Today's jobs need to be ordering brackets for some shelves that I want put up next week (nice brackets seem to be very expensive!), as well as a few bits for the IBCs as I can now move those on to the hard standing and start collecting water (assuming it ever rains again).

greenbee

Ordered brackets and bits for the IBCs. Didn't manage to get anything done in the garden due to work/outside being cold. However, tomorrow I have the afternoon off, so need to get on with work in the morning (although I have just hada message - finally- from the drain guy to say he can come round tomorrow morning). Plumber is coming round tomorrow afternoon too. And a neighbour is coming to get some deer mesh (I'm hoping I can persuade her to help me cut a couple of sections for myself or that I'll have managed to do a bit before she gets here. Although I do still have all that weeding and geranium planting to do... 

At some point I do need to pot up the aubergine/pepper/tomato/cucumber seedlings. And sow more seeds inside and out.

greenbee

Watering done this morning - it's cool and overcast, but that at least means it may soak in.

Electricians have nearly finished the new solar - I've got more apps to install, and it isn't currently showing as a separate system on the main app, which apparently it should, but there's definitely a lot more generation. It'll be interesting to see how much earlier/later we get generation.

They've also turned the temperature down on the immersion as the hot water was scalding (and on the boiler which I've been nagging the plumber about for ages!). It turns out they know someone who does air source heating properly, not fitting it as if it is gas/oil heating, so I may get his details at some point.

Drain man is due shortly, plumber is due this afternoon. I have some time booked off to do some gardening, but also need to clear a bit of a work backlog before I log off. I guess I should get on and get that over with really.

greenbee

Drains are fine, so I'll blame the smell on the dog...

New solar is generating and it's generating a LOT. I've definitely got enough for if/when I put in a heat pump and/or get an EV. And we haven't run out of roof yet either... 

badmemory

You are making me wonder if it would be worth putting sonething on my detached garage!

greenbee

I definitely don't need any extra now, and TBH I haven't done the maths on it. I know export won't always pay this well - I'm going to look at the timing of my export today and may well move back to Flux to make the most of the peak rate export payments (actually, just looked at 3 hours at 29p won't make up for losing 4.1p/hour for the rest of the day, so that's that solved), but I'll take it while I can. I'm using the solar diverter for hot water even though technically I'd be better off exporting as it means using less oil. And once I have an idea of how much I'm generating when, I suspect I'll be able to turn the heating off completely and just use the electric towel rails and plug-in radiators on timers. 

It's probably worth finding out what it would cost to put more on your roof - and also asking them whether you're likely to get approval for the additional export. We put the export application in before starting the installation to be on the safe side, and were then given a deadline of three months for the installation. 

I have no idea whether I need to tell Octopus my export limit has been increased. There's no useful information on their website. If they ask, I'll send them the new certificate.

Oh well, back to the weeding!