Barge on the River Aire

Usually we don't get many boats on the River but recently this one has been going back and forth. Someone told me they are ferrying stone for river bank repairs at Airmyn which is about a mile downstream of us, but on the opposite side of the river. 

Second Year Geraniums

Today I potted up the second year bedding Geraniums. After lifting them in the Autumn I just trimmed them back and put them in to a seed tray with a bit of compost around the roots. I didn't go to a lot of trouble with them as i look on them more of a bonus than a necessity as i have quite a few rooted cuttings from them already. So today I took them out of the trays and threw away any that were no good then tidied up what was left before potting them up to hopefully grow on to make useful plants for this summers bedding. 

Below is a picture of one of the trays of over wintered bedding Geraniums.

They don't look very appealing in this state but we will see what can be done with them.

Below is after they have been cleaned up and potted on.

There's still not a lot to shout about but we will see how they progress.

Some Pruning Work.

 Today I have been doing some pruning work at the hall. 

The first job was to give the Pyracantha a bit of a trim. I removed all the long growth and then tidied up the arms. There was nothing to be tied in so I was spared that job.

Whilst I was there I gave the Euonymus to the left a trim up. I try to keep it flat against the wall as much as possible so as no to encroach on anything growing around it.

Next I moved on to the Ivy growing on the steps to the right of the Pyracantha. I just cut this back into the allotted space and the clipped up the face of the Ivy.

I like to try and keep this looking a bit tidy as I think they take wedding photo's on steps.

Christmas Tomatoes. (Month One).

 If you remember, just before Christmas I did a sowing of Tomato seeds, well as promised here is a monthly follow up picture so you can track their progress. I got quite a lot of the seeds to germinate but just chose to bring on six, one of which has since died. But thats okay as I only really need a couple of plants.

DIY Paneling Job

Today Fallon and I made a start on some wall paneling on the back wall of the conservatory. Neither of us are DIY experts or even close to one but we decided to have a go, also the weather was a bit rubbish outside so at least it was something constructive to do indoors.

Back to work.

Today is my first day back at work after the Christmas break. It felt strange going back after three weeks away but I guess I will soon get back in to things.

The most important job of the new year is going to be finding a new head gardener and getting them settled in to the job which all takes time and Spring is on its way, things need to be sorted before then.

On entering the greenhouse I could see that a rat has been making itself at home there as a lot of the small pots were knocked over. Unfortunately this situation had been noted and reported some weeks before Christmas but clearly nothing has been done about it. I say that this is unfortunate because it seems that losing two head gardeners in six months has taught them nothing. It becomes frustrating and a little pointless when you are trying to achieve something and the people you are doing it for show little interest.

Rats at work in the greenhouse.

Timothy - Michael's Shoe Tree.

 A couple of entries past I showed a picture of the discarded christmas trees, in fact the picture below. Welllll! The head gardener went and had one of his brainwaves, take a look at the second picture to reveal all.

Timothy - Michael showing off his brill idea. Apparently he got fed up of tripping over badly parked shoes and boots when herding his toys so he went and invented a shoe tree. I have it in the garage and it is proving to be very useful. There is even a place on the top to hang my hat.

This Mornings Sunrise.

During this mornings walk we enjoyed quite a nice sunrise from across the river. The picture was taken at 8.26 am. 

Back To The Future.

 Yesterday we took down all the Christmas trees and decorations and gave the place a tidy up. I think the official time for doing so is Friday but Vicki is busy towards the end of the week so we thought it would be good to get tidy for the weekend. As the trees were starting to lose their needle quite badly we cut the branches off were they stud and bagged them up and it worked well and saved messing up the whole house dragging the trees through it.

The Return Of Ratty.

Today has been another lazy day, mostly on account of still being mostly one handed. Also this morning we had a friend called Pat come to visit so I was being sociable. I noticed during one of my trips to the garage for logs that it appears that the rat is back.  I caught it pilfering the apples a few weeks back so I moved them out and the rat has not been seen since but as I say I've noticed that there is evidence of a return so the trap has been baited and set so we will see what happens next.

I took this picture of the sunrise whilst on this morning's dog walk. This is as it came and not enhanced with any kind of filters.

I sowed some herb seeds a couple of weeks ago so I was pleased to see the Parsley has germinated. It's actually for work but as there is no gardener there at the moment I brought them home to look after.