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

Jessy103

I feel like Stinky needs a treadmill to wear him out 🤣

greenbee

Stinky's problem isn't that he needs exercise, he needs brain work and company.

Slept badly due to Stripey-cat being excessively cuddly and either preventing me moving by sleeping right by my feet, or lashing her tail when i moved when she moved further up.

First walk done, washing in the machine (can't do any during the week due to builders) and hopefully it'll dry a bit on the line. Pork belly prepped and in the oven (various different recipes consulted and combined so I can shove it in the oven. Veg prepped to go in later.

So… I need to take the tomato seedlings to the greenhouse for potting on and do some more mulching and weeding with breaks for cooking/eating/washing up/entertaining Stinky.

greenbee

About a billion tomato seedlings potted on (actually, far fewer than in past years, but still more than I'll need if they all make it. Then again, I have plans for the space outside the garage conversion that may or may not involve a nice south-facing row of outdoor toms!

I've had to put the shading down on half the greenhouse as it's so hot when the sun is out (but freezing when it clouds over!). Pots of toms are in trays of water to ensure the compost is hydrated, and will be moved onto gravel trays later today.

Belly pork roast is OK. I'll slice it thinly to eat during the week. I'll need more veg (so might dig up some leeks and pick some chard and spinach at some point.

Clothes was is on the line, cleaning cloths in on a hygiene wash. I'm going to do a batch of washing up, then get back into the garden. I really MUST get to the strawberry bed this week, and get the paths done so I can work out the irrigation system.

Watty1

Would some agility toys help? WattyDog before his injury loved his tunnel, weave poles and jumps! And he could invite friends round? (I tried this, WattyDog became so over excited in playschool and barked continually but all 3 dogs went home exhausted, and the humans were too I think)

greenbee

I think it would probably be a good idea Watty - the issue is that whatever we do, I need to spend more time doing things with him. I've taught him easy stuff - paw, other paw, say please (lift up paw but don't give it) and this week he's (almost) got the hang of 'high five'. He's had lots of sniffing time on today's walks, and he's persuaded not-Fatty to chase him a couple of times which he LOVES.

I weeded all the small beds, and the mulched area (mulch isn't very deep - gardener clearly got bored as I said 3 inches of mulch over 2 layers of cardboard with no gaps). All but the last two tiny beds and a bit of the small one with leeks in have been mulched - I need to dig another barrow load out of the almost-empty compost bin). Then took Stinky out for a walk (after dragging the VERY heavy garden waste bin to the gate and realising that I can't get it past the pile of bricks to get it onto the drive), then did food for them all and washed up the backlog of pet bowls, and then went back to tackle the strawberry bed. I've dug out a HUGE amount of nettle root (and been stung through my gloves) and come to the conclusion that I need to dig EVERYTHING out of there so I can make sure there is no nettle root left, top it up with some topsoil and mulch, then replant some of the strawberries, and stick the rest elsewhere as ground cover. So first job tomorrow is to mulch the remaining beds, then I need to take the nettles to the other garden waste bin, bring bagged compost back, and start digging up the strawberry plants. As they're starting to flower, I need to get them out and back quickly.

It's due to freeze tonight, so I need to put the boiler on for hot water in a bit, find some bubble wrap and cover up the seedlings in the greenhouse, and then light the fire. Then think about food…

greenbee

Did the hot water, found bubble wrap and have tucked up the seedlings, lit the fire (am attempting to keep it going, but too lazy to get it running on solid fuel which would actually be less work). Made an omelette with eggs from my cousin and a bit of cheese and a spring onion.

Sliced the pork and put it away with it's sauce (used up a pack of cranberries that have been in the freezer for ages too), put the roast veg away, made some seeds/kefir/yogurt fruit with rhubarb and strawberries (from the freezer) stewed in the oven while the pork was cooking with the juice of half a blood orange (another quarter was used in my post-gardening G&T and the last quarter eaten). Put the remains of the stewed fruit away. Fed Stinky a wizened easy peeler and he did high-five, up, paw, please, lie down, sit up and then please without me even asking…

Washing is on the airer which I may turn on tomorrow… if not it'll go into the airing cupboard.

One lot of washing up has been put away, another one done and on the drainer, and a third is queued up. Stinky and I took the compost to the hotbin (he thought that was very boring).

I've got some houseplants that need sorting out, and the aubergine seedlings are still in the kitchen. And there are packets of seeds everywhere…

Tomorrow I have builders, and work, and Stinky needs entertaining. But I definitely need to deal with the strawberry bed.

So the list looks like this:

• Water house plants
• Deal with houseplant cuttings that need sorting before they die
• Mulch garlic/leek beds
• Dig everything out of strawberry bed and sort out strawberries into a bucket
• Take rest of weeds to garden waste bin (bin day Tuesday)
• Bring back bales of compost (there are only two) to greenhouse
• Sort out strawberry bed soaker hose (peg down and cut if necessary)
• Fill bed with compost from compost bin (hopefully bin 2 will be OK)
• Top up with sieved soil
• Replant strawberries and keep spares alive
• Put up wires for blackberry and fig
• Plant peas (should be quick and easy!)
• Remove more dandelions from veg plot paths and mow
• Cardboard veg plot paths
• Mulch veg plot paths with woodchip
• Connect up soaker hoses with hosepipe in two loops
• Feed fruit bushes
• Mulch fruit area and unused bit next to it (probably squash) with whatever is left in the compost bin/grass clippings
• Plant spare strawberries in fruit area
• Sow green manures in fruit/squash areas
• Weed left-hand border
• Mulch left-hand border with stuff from compost bin/grass clippings
• Pressure wash patio

Obviously the weeding will be continuous.

Also remembered that the old fence panels and roof tiles need clearing from behind the shed, and I need to a. finish painting the back of the shed and b. give the rest of the shed another coat of paint. It also needs some trellis putting on the front for the perennial peas to climb up, and a bed creating in front of it so I can stick all the random flower seeds in it.

And there are still pictures to put up inside, as well as probably starting to pack up the utility room… oh, and stuff to put in the car to take to the CS before I clean my car.

However, I think I'll have a bath this evening, read a book and go to bed with my electric blanket and hopefully NOT with a cat on my feet…

greenbee

Have done none of that. However, builders aren't here yet, but bricklayers are. So I had the discussion about moving the window from the downstairs loo (which is eventually being moved) to the new bootroom, and they are in the process of removing the window. It'll be VERY cold until they brick it up, so timing isn't great, but we're at window height with the new bit. Hopefully the brickwork will be completed fairly soon, and they can shove some insulation in and cover it with OSB until we get round to that bit of the renovation.

Also ordered my brother's birthday present, so just the card to do.

It's going to be freezing in the house and the garden for the next few days, so I'm not quite sure how I'm going to manage anything productive work-wise. At least the solar and battery will be reconnected on Wednesday which will help!

I did put some solid fuel on the fire last night, which helped enormously. I've got a bit more left, so hopefully enough to mean that I can get through the cold snap.

Not keen on going out in the garden right now, so I might do washing up and sort out the house plant cuttings before I brave the greenhouse to see whether my poor little seedlings survived!

Watty1

I'm smiling reading about Stinky. Same issues I had with WattyDog many years ago. Entertaining him and teaching him was almost a full time job. He needed to learn things. I took him trick training at one point until PPH spoilt it, then decided to train him as a search and rescue dog (again PPH intervened) but everything involved hours and me which I simply didn't have.

Stinky will be fine. Even if he considers you boring, you are his world.

Also using solid fuel on the wood burner to keep the work down

greenbee

Some people say pets don't need a lot of attention, but at the moment not-Fatty is curled up next to me (having spent quite a bit of time wandering round wailing about the builders) and Stinky is in his bed waiting for something more interesting to happen (which looking warily at not-Fatty. Both are very nervous about any noise, and are not really enjoying the builders being here (Stinky loves the builders, but the noise and disruption are obviously even more distressing for them than they are for me!).

Bucket of nettles has been put in the garden waste which is nearly full, last of the veg beds have been mulched (so the first compost bin is completely empty - stuff at the bottom was fabulous) and I'm making a start on the strawberry bed. It will take HOURS as I'm having to start with all the runners that are outside the bed. I've cleared about 1/3 of the paving between the greenhouse and strawberry bed, saving the runners with viable roots and trying to get the weeds out from between the paving stones. I'm leaving a few decent strawberries and poppies in there. Bucket of runners is being kept in the shade on the patio. I'll just have to do an hour at a time as and when I can. So probably not much more this morning, but hopefully a bit after work.

Poking a few peas into holes would be a quick win too.

Looks like the seedlings survived last night in the greenhouse which is a relief.

Better take Stinky for a walk so he's ready for his boring day watching me work!

greenbee

Am continuing to do battle with the DW. Handyman cleared the sink outlets which made no difference (although they definitely needed clearing!). So I took the cover off the pump and poked around a bit and persuaded it to run a rinse cycle (which took a lot longer than it should. It's now running a 'normal' cycle, also taking a lot longer than it should, but if I can persuade it to run, it may improve (I'm being hopeful!). I think there was a certain amount of crud in it from having been stored for so long. It seems to keep filling and then pumping itself out. And having just looked at it, no water is coming out of the top and it isn't heating up, so clearly all is not well at all. I may need to try to pull it out and check the inlet.

Some productive work has happened - I do need to follow up on a few bits, but the sun is shining and the gardener is gone and Stinky wants a walk. I want to do gardening. I've just put vine eyes in for the fig (but not wires) so need to order more vine eyes (and dog biscuits apparently). And then walk Stinky before starting to do battle with the strawberry bed again! And water. I can't believe the garden needs watering when it's so freezingly cold out there!