Do you want to take a trip to the garden centre?

This is a bit of a different post tonight and I'm not sure if anyone will find it interesting or not. I had to go to the garden centre today so I had the idea of taking Tom's cam from his collar and putting it in the car so you could all come along for the ride with me. I'm afraid the lighting is a bit poor, especially in the first video but I couldn't see what was being filmed so didn't realise until later. Anyway it's not to bad at times.

On the way to the garden centre.

The journey home.

Do you want to take a trip to the garden centre?

This is a bit of a different post tonight and I'm not sure if anyone will find it interesting or not. I had to go to the garden centre today so I had the idea of taking Tom's cam from his collar and putting it in the car so you could all come along for the ride with me. I'm afraid the lighting is a bit poor, especially in the first video but I couldn't see what was being filmed so didn't realise until later. Anyway it's not to bad at times.

On the way to the garden centre.

The journey home.

Dead heading roses.

One of my jobs this afternoon was to do some dead heading in the rose garden in the hope that we will get more blooms later.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Some things for the dowage house.

I have just been picking some produce for the dowager house. This picking amounted to some cherries, radish, lettuce and sweet pea. There were more sweet pea but they don't like me to take in red and white flowers in the same bunch so I just took the red, I will have to find something else to do with the other colours.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

First picking of Tayberries.

This morning I've made the first picking of Tayberries 2.221 kgs which I will shortly be taking to the hall.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Leash Free.

Today has been the warmest day of the year so far with a temperature of 30C. I think it is unlikely to get any higher than that this year.

The good thing about the temps being that high is that weeds curl up and die the minute you hoe them off so that's what I've been doing most of today. Also there is lots of soft fruit picking to be done at the moment, I made a second picking of the Raspberries this morning, I've now harvested 8 kgs with the picking I made last week.

During the past week I have been getting Tess used to walking off the leash. She already has the hang of walking on the leash and is very good mostly walking with a slack leash unless there is something interesting taking her attention. So for that reason I have to choose where to let her lose at the moment because although she usually comes to me when I call her I'm not totally confident that I would get her full attention if the choice was between me or a squirrel. Anyway tonight I let her off on what we call the narrow walk where she is pretty well confined except for a few gaps in the hedge. The funny thing was that everytime we pass one of the gaps and she is on the leash she trys to go through them but tonight when she was off the leash she paid no interest in them at all so I'm not sure what that's about. Anyway all went well and I think she enjoyed the freedom and of course Tommy was a great help as usual because she mostly followed him as you can see in the short video I took on the way back.

Leash Free.

Today has been the warmest day of the year so far with a temperature of 30C. I think it is unlikely to get any higher than that this year.

The good thing about the temps being that high is that weeds curl up and die the minute you hoe them off so that's what I've been doing most of today. Also there is lots of soft fruit picking to be done at the moment, I made a second picking of the Raspberries this morning, I've now harvested 8 kgs with the picking I made last week.

During the past week I have been getting Tess used to walking off the leash. She already has the hang of walking on the leash and is very good mostly walking with a slack leash unless there is something interesting taking her attention. So for that reason I have to choose where to let her lose at the moment because although she usually comes to me when I call her I'm not totally confident that I would get her full attention if the choice was between me or a squirrel. Anyway tonight I let her off on what we call the narrow walk where she is pretty well confined except for a few gaps in the hedge. The funny thing was that everytime we pass one of the gaps and she is on the leash she trys to go through them but tonight when she was off the leash she paid no interest in them at all so I'm not sure what that's about. Anyway all went well and I think she enjoyed the freedom and of course Tommy was a great help as usual because she mostly followed him as you can see in the short video I took on the way back.

The barrels.

Some of you probably remember me painting four half barrels a while back. Well here they now are planted up with Geraniums and ready to go out in to the courtyard.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Roll out the barrels.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Tomcam version 2.1.

I've recently been working on version 2 of 'Tomcam' the video below was actually made with version 2.1 and is just a bit of a fun video we took whilst I was trying a new collar attachment. In the video you will see me playing around with Tess. You will probably notice that when I am trying to get her to lie down Tommy is the one doing the lying down. I have to laugh sometimes because when I am trying to get her to do things I turn round to find Tommy already did it, it's sort of like he is showing her what to do behind my back. Oh yes, in the video you will hear me telling her first to sit and then lie down which might sound a bit confusing but the reason is that at the moment we have to go through the sitting position to get to lying down with maybe a paw shake thrown in for good meassure. She does do the lie down quite well most of the time although it isn't so obvious in the video, what is more obvious is that she will sit and stay very well now. Anyway I will let you watch the video which is a bit rough in places but it was just a bit of fun with the dogs really.

Tomcam version 2.1.

I've recently been working on version 2 of 'Tomcam' the video below was actually made with version 2.1 and is just a bit of a fun video we took whilst I was trying a new collar attachment. In the video you will see me playing around with Tess. You will probably notice that when I am trying to get her to lie down Tommy is the one doing the lying down. I have to laugh sometimes because when I am trying to get her to do things I turn round to find Tommy already did it, it's sort of like he is showing her what to do behind my back. Oh yes, in the video you will hear me telling her first to sit and then lie down which might sound a bit confusing but the reason is that at the moment we have to go through the sitting position to get to lying down with maybe a paw shake thrown in for good meassure. She does do the lie down quite well most of the time although it isn't so obvious in the video, what is more obvious is that she will sit and stay very well now. Anyway I will let you watch the video which is a bit rough in places but it was just a bit of fun with the dogs really.

Haulin' Lumber.

This morning the puppy took to haulin' lumber and it would seem she has been taking lessons from her uncle Tommy who thinks the best pieces are those that are to big to carry.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Where's the puppy?

Every morning I sit outside eating my breakfast 

so as to keep an eye on the puppy... 

and where's the puppy? 

Inside eating shoes!

Puppy outside wishing she was inside.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Birthday video.

Hello everyone, I would like to thank Merle for wishing me a happy birthday. I have had a good day and what with fathers day yesterday and my birthday today I have quite a collection of cards and presents.

Tonight I will show you a video I took the other day which shows Tess playing with a ball on a rope and then at the end Tommy is asking for a treat, I'm not sure why but no doubt he had a valid reason.

Birthday video.

Hello everyone, I would like to thank Merle for wishing me a happy birthday. I have had a good day and what with fathers day yesterday and my birthday today I have quite a collection of cards and presents.

Tonight I will show you a video I took the other day which shows Tess playing with a ball on a rope and then at the end Tommy is asking for a treat, I'm not sure why but no doubt he had a valid reason.

Roll out the barrels.

Some of you may remember me painting four half barrels a few months back. Well its now time for them to go out in to the courtyard so here is a picture prior to being moved.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

More access.

As Tess is showing such a keen interest in gardening I am rearranging the fencing in our garden so giving her more access to perfect her skills.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Don't tell Vicki.

As you will see from this picture Tess is turning out the be a very keen gardener.

I'm sure that when Tommy retires she will make a very good head gardener.

P.S. don't tell Vicki about this as she only bought that plant home last night - so sssh!

Don't tell Vicki.

As you will see from this picture Tess is turning out the be a very keen gardener.

I'm sure that when Tommy retires she will make a very good head gardener.

P.S. don't tell Vicki about this as she only bought that plant home last night - so sssh!

Who did this?

Okay who did this to the tea towel?!!

Was it you?

Or was it you?

Can anyone guess?

Who did this?

Okay who did this to the tea towel?!!

Was it you?

Or was it you?

Can anyone guess?

Do not bend.

I wonder which part of 'Do Not Bend' the post office don't understand?!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

No hosepipe required.

Today I have been treating the front lawn for a Chafer grub infestation. I am using Provado lawn grub killer. I had to smile to myself when I read on the packet that no hosepipe is required - that is such a relief lol! Well I just hope the stuff works okay.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Earlier.

For the first since we had her I was up before the puppy this morning.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Put out to rest.

I made the last pick of indoor Strawberries this morning before removing the runners and any dead leaves and placing outdoors where they will stay until next year. 

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Tess playing with a clothes hanger.

I took this video tonight of Tess playing with a clothes hanger which she just pinched from the bedroom. If you can hear things crashing to the floor, teeth gnawing, something bouncing off the walls like a power ball, don't worry too much it will only be Tess. If the house falls silent and you've actually managed to stay seated for more than two minutes, that is the time to worry. If you can't see Tess I will tell you now she is at the far end of the trail of chewed up twigs, discarded shoes, flower petals and toys.

Tess playing with a clothes hanger.

I took this video tonight of Tess playing with a clothes hanger which she just pinched from the bedroom. If you can hear things crashing to the floor, teeth gnawing, something bouncing off the walls like a power ball, don't worry too much it will only be Tess. If the house falls silent and you've actually managed to stay seated for more than two minutes, that is the time to worry. If you can't see Tess I will tell you now she is at the far end of the trail of chewed up twigs, discarded shoes, flower petals and toys.

Rain stopped play.

It has just come on to rain which I don't mind to much as the plants need it and I also have to finish in a minute anyway to take Vicki to the doctors for her second operation to remove the darn lump.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Blackberry update.

Earlier in the year I blogged about growing soft fruit such as Blackberries and Tayberries etc. against a wall or fence. Now is a good time to give you an update as to what you need to be doing now as the more established plants will have put up new shoots that need to be trained in before they get out of control. They grow very fast so will need to be tied in every week to avoid them going somewhere they shouldn't. As you will see in the first picture one of the shoots is going behind a wire, if this was left much longer it would be hard to retieve it without breaking the tip of the shoot off as they are VERY brittle and the last thing you want to do is break the shoot. So this shoot was brought down and tied in to the wire. By the way the length of shoot pointing skywards was made during just one week so you can tell how quick the whole bush could get out of hand if not touched.

In the picture below you can see how the new shoots are being trained along the wires to the right, there is one shoot per wire and these shoots are the ones that will have the berries on next year, the shoots with this years crop are all to the left.



Blackberry update.

Earlier in the year I blogged about growing soft fruit such as Blackberries and Tayberries etc. against a wall or fence. Now is a good time to give you an update as to what you need to be doing now as the more established plants will have put up new shoots that need to be trained in before they get out of control. They grow very fast so will need to be tied in every week to avoid them going somewhere they shouldn't. As you will see in the first picture one of the shoots is going behind a wire, if this was left much longer it would be hard to retieve it without breaking the tip of the shoot off as they are VERY brittle and the last thing you want to do is break the shoot. So this shoot was brought down and tied in to the wire. By the way the length of shoot pointing skywards was made during just one week so you can tell how quick the whole bush could get out of hand if not touched.

In the picture below you can see how the new shoots are being trained along the wires to the right, there is one shoot per wire and these shoots are the ones that will have the berries on next year, the shoots with this years crop are all to the left.



First Dahlia

I was planting some Cosmos amongst the Dahlia's this morning and I noticed the first Dahlia has come in to bloom.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

First bath for Tess.

Look what happened to my puppy!

Scampi was having a bath the other night so I thought I would take Tess in to take a look, the next thing you know is she is in the bath and Vicki is handing me the shampoo. I think she was a bit bewildered at first but once out was soon recovered and was up for a fight with the towel in no time at all. She was actually quite lively - even more lively afterwards so I don't know what the bath most have done to her.

Last night as I was finishing work I noticed this dog roaming around outside our house.It didn't dawn on me at first but then I suddenly realise with great horror that it was Tess! Vicki had taken the other two out to play ball and Tess decided she wasn't going to miss out on the action and even though there is a wire netting fence all around the garden she still made her escape. She has learned to climb up the inside of the conifer hedge and then drop down over the wire. So last night was spent modifying the fencing arrangement, I now have the wire netting on the inside of the conifer hedge so that she can't get to the conifers to climb up them. It looks a bit more unsightly with it being on this side of the hedge but it's absolutely vital that she doesn't escape as the gamekeeper would shoot her if she frightened his pheasants and I would probably lose my job as well. thankfully it happened when we were close to hand and was able to get her back with no harm done.

Tonight she went to the vets to get micro chipped and have her second vaccination. The vet says I have to wait another two weeks before I can start taking her for a walk, she will be going stir crazy by then!

First bath for Tess.

Look what happened to my puppy!

Scampi was having a bath the other night so I thought I would take Tess in to take a look, the next thing you know is she is in the bath and Vicki is handing me the shampoo. I think she was a bit bewildered at first but once out was soon recovered and was up for a fight with the towel in no time at all. She was actually quite lively - even more lively afterwards so I don't know what the bath most have done to her.

Last night as I was finishing work I noticed this dog roaming around outside our house.It didn't dawn on me at first but then I suddenly realise with great horror that it was Tess! Vicki had taken the other two out to play ball and Tess decided she wasn't going to miss out on the action and even though there is a wire netting fence all around the garden she still made her escape. She has learned to climb up the inside of the conifer hedge and then drop down over the wire. So last night was spent modifying the fencing arrangement, I now have the wire netting on the inside of the conifer hedge so that she can't get to the conifers to climb up them. It looks a bit more unsightly with it being on this side of the hedge but it's absolutely vital that she doesn't escape as the gamekeeper would shoot her if she frightened his pheasants and I would probably lose my job as well. thankfully it happened when we were close to hand and was able to get her back with no harm done.

Tonight she went to the vets to get micro chipped and have her second vaccination. The vet says I have to wait another two weeks before I can start taking her for a walk, she will be going stir crazy by then!

The Tree (June).

Below is a picture of 'The Tree' for June.

January

February

March

April

May

June

The Tree (June).

Below is a picture of 'The Tree' for June.

January

February

March

April

May

June

Happy Birthday Tommy.

Hello everyone, today is little Tommy's birthday, or at least this is the day that we celebrate his birthday. 6th June is actually the day that I found him 6 years ago at the place you see in the first picture, all lost and alone, abandoned by the very people he should have been able to trust the most. There wasn't snow at the time of course. I can honestly say with all my heart that I couldn't wish to have found anything better, nothing else could have enriched my life more than Tommy has.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMMY.