2022 - What I did today

I've watered a bit in the garden and went to collect two garden bench ends in cast iron with wooden handles. They look antique and I'm very happy with them.

After that, the only positive thing has been my covid test

On a not negative note though, it's a solid line so it's clearly been festering for a few days, and I feel much, much better than I did last time, at this stage.

Given that its been raining heavily for most of the day, it seemed a good time (I don't think) to do some water butt juggling. There are 2 barrels at the end of the garden that no longer have a water catchment - but were full of water and sludge. So one has been moved up near the house to be connected to the butt that catches water from GH 4. This involved moving various containers and the strawberry shopping trolley out of the way to make room for it.
Meanwhile the rain became heavier until everyone and the dogs were soaking wet. Job not finished but it will have to wait for a dry spell.
Also pricked out some lavender seedlings I'd been given recently. I'm up to about 60 modules so far and there's still more!

Dog walking, bit of shopping, watered tomatoes at allotment and gathered another load of french beans, dog walking again,made and ate my dinner, made kato's dinner snd now chilling out before bed time.

I've watered a bit in the garden and went to collect two garden bench ends in cast iron with wooden handles. They look antique and I'm very happy with them.

After that, the only positive thing has been my covid test

On a not negative note though, it's a solid line so it's clearly been festering for a few days, and I feel much, much better than I did last time, at this stage.

Get well soon SarrissUK

Cutback the strawberry beds.

Potted 8 runners.

Potted 3 spare lavender plants.

Started going through my seeds to decide what is surplus and what I need.

Haven't done very much apart from watering morning and night for what feels like weeks!
Spent a bit of time jigging the rotation as I've filled this winter's garlic patch with kale for some reason.

Planted 8 chitted potatoes in the permanent Tattie bed.
Pricked out the rest of the lavender seedlings - there are about 100 in total!!
Sowed 10 Courgette seeds
Raked the weeds on some of the paths. Bronwen likes to be there, helping, to see whatever's lurking underneath.
Cut back some of the hazel branches that are in the way.
Collected more mangetout pods for seed.
Cut down the calendula and scattered the seeds, willy nilly.
Took sideshoots off the perennial kale to root in water.
Collected some Apple mint to dry for herb tea.
Pulled up Montbretia and feverfew and put the flowers in a vase trying to convince myself it earns its space.

Panic stations last evening. Our fridge freezer packed up. I frantically blagged freezer space from next door, thankfully he has a 3/4 empty chest freezer in his garage. The fridge stuff had to be stuffed in the old freezer, being the coolest place for the time being. Deciding what to replace it with was the most stressful. As always the one we have is long obsolete and the storage space in the new one will be very different and I shall be swearing abount it for a few weeks I'm sure. The new one is being delivered tomorrow.

Yesterday I cut the lawn, plus raked up the hay from the wild area which I had strimmed a few days ago. I then gave the 'wild area' its last cut of the season on the mowers highest positon.

This gave me six large bags full of grass and hay which will be taken to allotment. The grass will be used as a mulch but I may compost the hay as it is full of grass seeds!

Potted up some rosemary cuttings that have been rooted in water.
Picked some Wizard broad beans pods that had been left to dry on the plants. They'll be next season's seeds.
Cut back a lot of brambles so that I could pick the blackberries that were protected by all the thorns.
.............and now, for the daft bit!!
You may remember some of the "cromlechs" made from slices of tree trunk, leaning against old tree stumps to make a table. The wood is starting to rot now so I've been deconstructing some of them. I pushed the top slice off, onto the ground and it split in two. Then I pulled away the surrounding slices. It seems that this was not your ordinary cromlech but a highly popular home for ants! I first realised this when I felt something crawling up my leg and biting me. There was only one thing to do, drop my trousers!! I was standing there, trousers round my ankles, inspecting the back of my leg for trespassers. Fortunately, nobody could see me as there are so many trees and bushes to screen me.