Summertime

PennysIntoPounds

Thanks @beanielou! I mean, I expect they'll completely ignore it but at least I'll know I tried and can envisage them waking up in the middle of the night vowing to change their ways due to my not at all dubious legalese, rather than the reality of it being chucked out a window in the rain

Baileys_Babe

I've finally put the winter a quilt away until it is next needed, instead of it cluttering up the bedroom like it has been doing for what feels like forever.

KajiKita

Not an OAT, but an OET … An outstanding excellent task 😊 Spent the whole day, ducking in and out of the sun and heat, planting, planting, planting 😊

Shattered now but very pleased. Tomorrow will be a lazy day! 😊

KK

greenbee

I should have been planting, but it's been too hot! However, I'm really glad I went to the effort of sorting out the irrigation in the veg plot as I built it - otherwise everything would be dead! I now need to work out how to convert it from running off the mains to running off rainwater tanks - I need to find out whether a solar pump would cope with the current setup as they're generally designed for microdrip systems and this is 13mm soaker hose linked by 13mm hose. 

I've also sorted out the soaker hose for the hedge, which now needs mulching. Which means barrowing grass clippings from the compost heap at the back to the hedge at the front. I should probably do the same round the fruit trees after I water them. 

Pulses have been soaked, and need cooking (chickpeas and carlin peas, could also do with cooking some lentils). 

Muntjac hasn't been dealt with, and I haven't been to the shop for yogurt and bananas for the dog either. 

I have washed some bedding (one pillowcase is rotten, and one sheet is clearly no longer white), and two lots of dog stuff - including both sets of PJs. I put the clean wet one on him when it came out of the machine in an attempt to cool him down as he doesn't seem to realise that it's too hot outside for black puppies!

rachmac3

Look at you all in your sunshine. I've had drizzle all day!
I've done a little bit of scything of weeds (it's actually a sickle but saying I've done a bit of sickling sounds weird). And general bits of housework. I need to decide on this evenings task, either business related or uni related. The business one is more urgent so probably that, but I'm out of snacks. 

ETA: I found a bag of popcorn and did my business thing. Eurgh. I think I can have the rest of the evening off now!

redofromstart

Thank you - it has left me feeling a little more inspired to sort the rest out.

Todays OAT was washing my linen dresses so that I am not melting in jeans 

Suffolk_lass

@greenbee. I found a metal and plastic tap connector is now available for my chosen hose system. The metal screw-thread and replacement washer has stopped the tap leaking. I also now have a box of spares. Cheaper than paying for the water we were wasting.

What happens at the end of the month? does someone post a link here to the new thread? Is it called the same thing?

greenbee

Thanks SL. I had a replacement plastic connector which seems to have worked. I'm getting pretty good at replacing washers first (I fixed the pressure washer this way)! I'm also getting better at throwing out the failed bits. Which reminds me, I need to have a good look at the spray guns, as I think their problem is internal and unfixable so they may need replacing. 

Dog walked and emptied (cats said 5.30 was DEFINITELY getting up time), hedge watered via nice new soaker hose set up (definitely needs mulching), two water butts filled from the tap to allow watering cans to be filled while irrigation system is running. Irrigation on as water pressure is better this morning than it was yesterday evening so I'm hoping the water gets as far as the raspberries, home-grown centaurea nigra planted, 15 bought hollyhock plugs planted, soaker hose laid in border and some more hose connectors ordered as it can't actually be used yet. Nipped to shop after feeding animals to get bananas and yogurt for the dog - picked up some useful reductions (tomatoes and kiwi - turns out dogs can eat kiwi so may freeze in slices). Carlin peas frozen, chickpeas in IP cooking. Need to get out slow cookers so I can cook some lentils as well. And blue peas and flamingo peas. 

Plants will either make it or they won't - I'm aiming to get all the seedlings in the ground today and use the last of the soaker hose in another border to reduce the effort involved in watering. 

Gardener is back next week (I think) and getting the water butts set up on the back of the summerhouse (as well as connecting the IBC on the cart shed) need to be a priority. 

Overcast today, and not as windy, so I'm hoping I can get a reasonable amount done and off the list. I'd like to get all the remaining plants in the ground, and the garden waste bins filled. 

KajiKita

@Suffolk_lass, it’s generally @PennysIntoPounds who does the opening post and every thread is called something different (so far 😊).

KK

greenbee

Prompted by @KajiKita's good example yesterday (and because it is cooler today) I'm planting. 15 Hollyhocks and 15 nepeta are in, also some nicotiana (more soaking), blue banana squash, musquee de provence squash, centaurea nigra, ragged robin and one lonely larkspur. Still have dianthus, pelargoniums, snapdragons, celery and probably a couple of other things to do. 

Hose was attached to soaker hose at the front and it works, so I'm now mulching it. Or was, until I realised there's a bumble bee nest in the compost heap... One length of soaker hose has been laid along the back of one of the borders so hopefully will help with the newly planted hollyhocks. There's another length left, so I just need to check for an end stop and connector. 

Water butts are all being topped up so I have water ready for use with watering cans if we have a hosepipe ban.

Bolted spinach has been pulled up and chopped and shoved on the compost heap (not the one I'm digging up). 

Need to pick the last of the peas and pull them up and then consider what to plant where they and the spinach have been taken out. 

Carlin peas and chickpeas have been cooked, so I should probably do some lentils, blue peas, and flamingo peas.