Plum Tree Planting.

 Dry and a little warmer.

Today I have been over helping out with a few jobs at Lynettes.

First off I dug over a bed and planted a couple of plum trees, both of which were well pot bound.

Tidying a bed ready for Plum tree planting.

I then took the dead heads off the Daffodils which for the most part have finished flowering. After this I took out a few weeds in the drive just to finish off the morning. After lunch I pruned a shrub by the Laurel hedge, it got left in the winter because it had a few flowers on it. I then finished off the afternoon by going through one of the borders taking out weeds and working the soil.

As always they were very appreciative of my help and said they had been taking note and have come to the conclusion that they now have the best garden in the village. I'm sure there are some just as good but if they say that then I think it probably shows they are happy with what I've done.

Vicki called me in the morning to say that the washing machine has stopped working so fixing that is going to be a pain.

Everywhere Is Saturated.

 Very wet over night and throughout most of the day. Too wet to turn a dog out even.

On account of the weather I have had a lazy day. I've mainly played around on the computer, tidied my room and listened to some music. Later on in the afternoon once the rain had stopped I went out and had a look round but everything was saturated and it was pretty cold too so I was soon back indoors.

Everywhere is saturated.

A Vent & Unit.

 Dry all day for a change. Clouded over in the afternoon and still a cold breeze. My early start was rewarded by a nice sunrise this morning.

Shaun from nextdoor came round first thing to fit a new worktop and cupboard in the kitchen, they fill a gap left from when we downsized the cooker.

New kitchen unit and worktop. The unit is still to be painted to match.

My first job today was to repot the christmas trees that I started from seed a couple of years ago. They weren't particularly pot bound but they looked a bit on the yellow side so thought I would change the compost, I think I will give them a short of iron too. I potted on a few other things as well until the potting mix ran out.

Some of the repotted Christmas trees.

After lunch I fitted an automatic vent opener to the greenhouse, which turned out to be easy enough although a bit of a fiddle on account of gravity, working upside down and being blinded by the sun. It seems to be working okay though.

Automatic vent opener fitted and working.

After this job there was time to take a few cuttings, mainly of Fuchsias, to put into Lynette's cuttings gadget.

Cuttings machine refilled.

A Row Of Broad Beans.

 For the most part today has been bright and sunny with a cold wind. Later became very wet with heavy rain and hail.

The hail storm viewed during afternoon tea in the garden house.

Today I did some work in the veg garden. I had some broad beans in need of planting so I did that job first. I then took out any weeds before throwing some soil back from the edge of the grass, it looks neater that way. I then cut the grass before going for lunch.

Broad Beans and Peas.

After lunch I mixed some potting soil and messed around doing nothing in particular.

Vicki phoned in the morning to say that the boss was cutting everyones hours, this is a bit upsetting as she likes the work.

An Early Appointment.

 Today has been bright with a cool wind.

I was up early this morning as I had an appointment at the eye clinic. Because I'm diabetic I need to have eye scans every so often.

I spent some time today tidying, topdressing and forking over the ash tree border. While I was there I also tied in some loose ends of the Clematis which I have growing up the trunk of the ash tree.

The Ash Tree Border.

The Clematis enjoying the company of its friend.

Charlotte & Cara

A bitterly cold wind from the north this morning. Some showers later.

I have a few unwanted seedlings so this morning I pricked some out into old fruit containers to grow on. If they're looking okay at the time of the next village garden club meeting I will send them down there for them to pick over. So that was the job for this morning.

A few of the seedlings for the garden club.

After lunch I planted the seed potatoes. Even though I now have a veg garden I still decided to grow them in buckets. This year though I am just using soil from the garden as I've been having trouble with them making too much top growth. I think some of the potting compost has a lot of nitrogen in it which can be okay for certain things but not for growing potatoes, we will see though. I am growing Charlotte as a second early/salad potato and Cara as a maincrop. I'm starting Charlotte off under the greenhouse bench and Cara outdoors in the bigger buckets.

Cara & Charlotte potatoes. The buckets will be topped up with soil as the plants grow.

Move Along Please.

 Started the day damp and cold. Became brighter later.

I caught a pidgeon making eyes at my pea row this morning, it got moved on pretty rapid.

I pricked out one tray of Foxgloves and two of Nicotiana seedlings to be grown on in the greenhouse for a few weeks.

After lunch I cut and edged the lawns with the little mower, the ground being too wet for the big mower.

A Tree Set Free.

 Today it has rained for most of the day and when it wasn't raining it was dismal and cold to say the least.

I have been away helping Lynette with their garden which turned out to be pretty miserable given the weather situation. However we did manage to get the large conifer moved from the planter and into the ground by the little gate. We all agreed that the position suited it.

The conifer from the planter filled a gap at the back of a border.

I took some plants from home for them again so I spent some time preparing places in the borders for them. I also did some weeding of the path by the little gate so I was pretty much able to fill my time there.

Today is the first anniversary of my mum passing.

Plectranthus Ciliatus Nico Cuttings.

 A bright but a cold north wind.

The pony was lose again this morning.

Four of the five Plectranthus Ciliatus Nico (Swedish Ivy) cuttings that I have in the little gadget Lynette bought me for Christmas have rooted so I potted them up this morning.

I watched the Chinese Grand Prix before lunch. The winner was predictable but thankfully the following positions were less so.

1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing

2 Lando NORRIS McLaren +4.034

3 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +4.624

4 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +20.179

5 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +35.403

6 George RUSSELL Mercedes +32.925

7 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +37.206

8 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +47.432

9 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +51.414

10 Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team +55.629

11 Esteban OCON Alpine +55.696

12 Alexander ALBON Williams +58.065

13 Pierre GASLY Alpine +62.402

14 Guanyu ZHOU Kick Sauber +59.542

Vicki was out at the art club exhibition this afternoon so when she was on her way home I had a little walk to meet her and get a ride back.

New Ensette Maurelli Plant.

 A bright but cold start to the day. Still quite breezy at times.

Whilst on this morning's dog walk we passed the pony out on the lane outside of Norman's. It seems to be out of the field more than it's in of late.

This morning I did some watering and feeding with liquid feed some of the plants in the greenhouse. I also rearranged some plants while I was at it.

I also took delivery of a new ornamental banana plant. I've had one like it for a few years now but I'm not confident that it's survived the winter so thought I would get a new one just in case.

I finished of the day by watering and feeding the plants in the house and conservatory.

As it was a nice evening I got the bike out and cycled into the village and back.

Surprise Seeds.

 A bright day with  a strong cool wind.

Today I caught up with some seed sowing, all of which were sown indoors to be grown on and planted out later. The white plug tray has various brassicas in it. The three pots with stick labels are the own seed that I can't recall what they are.

Getting Some Vegetables in.

 A bright start to the day but it gradually clouded over before several hours of rain set in at 3pm.

It was dry enough this morning to sow some beetroot and carrots in the veg garden. I also planted out the peas that have been raised indoors in guttering. I also planted the leeks which had been started indoors in a deep pot. I was always told to sow them into a deep container but I'm not sure why as you have to cut the roots back to a couple of inches when planting. I sowed 3 rows of beetroot, 1 of carrots and planted 4 rows of leeks, around 15 plants per row.

My blood glucose was a bit on the low side by lunch time which left me feeling tired so I took it easy for the rest of the day.

Tradesmen good and bad.

 Mostly bright and sunny with the odd shower later in the day.

Today I have mostly been tidying the flower border at the top of the lawn. I cleared away any rubbish, did any cutting back and pruning needed before top dressing with feed and forking over the soil. It is still very wet in places.

Don came this evening to look at a few jobs that Vicki needs doing in the house. It is the first time I've seen him since I left the estate so it was good to catch up. He no longer works for the estate on account of some altercation with the management. Anyway he seems happy to take on the work offered to him.

Vicki messaged the driveway man again today but as yet has had no reply.

Sowing Parsnips and spring barley.

 More rain at times today.

I managed to get a couple of rows of parsnips planted in the veg plot this morning.

The farmer at the end of the lane started sowing spring barley in the field next to us. I enjoyed a chat with his worker at one point.

Wet border work.

 Wet again. Heavy prolonged showers.

I was at Low Fold again today where we attempted to do some work on the borders. We did actually manage to get them tidied up but it wasn't pleasant with everything being saturated on account of the showers. We made do though with the addition of a few extra tea breaks.

Vicki did some pricking out of seedlings for me today, some Nigella and African Marigolds.