Month: May 2024

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Wet, wet, wet

Pic of the week 26/5/24

Half-term began late lunchtime yesterday, a sunnyish day, possibly the best of the last week (which has been, in turns, cold and wet) and this morning was pleasantly sunny, I enjoyed a run beneath warm, blue skies (although big puddles evidenced the rain I heard in the night) and I managed to get all my geraniums planted up before I felt the first spots of rain at noon. Then the heavens opened, and although we have had some dry spells this afternoon, the rain, when it has fallen, has been of biblical proportions. And, sadly, I think its going to be a wet week to come.

Last Sunday I listed the 205 for sale; on Tuesday – after a lot of interest (and a few time wasters) I sold it for £700. Sold it via Facebook Marketplace – once listed it became an almost fulltime job (not really!) keeping on top of, and replying to, all the messages. So by Tuesday, when someone came to see it (someone was supposed to becoming at 5pm that evening to take it away for £600, but didn’t show up) I was quite happy to see it gone. The end of a chapter, I’ve enjoyed owning it, but couldn’t justify keeping it, especially as it was due to be re-taxed (for the princely sum of £400!) at the end of July.

A few weeks ago, I spotted a nest in our ivy hedge near where I hang the washing line.  This was from 4th May:

and we have been watching it like concerned parents ever since. Last Sunday, whilst having my breakfast, I saw a cat looking menacing up at the hedge so out I raced shouting and waving to scare the bugger away.

On Tuesday we (well, Becky) were able to snap the young:

and so on Wednesday it was so sad when I found a dead fledgling on the lawn. Closer inspection of the next revealed another two, or possibly three, dead chics in there too.

and so I removed the next to dispose of the bodies in the hedge across the road. The suspect? Possibly magpies? The birds appear to have been killed, but with no real attempt to consume them. The circle of life, but sad non-the-less.

Also on Wednesday, Rishi Sunak, in the pouring rain, with “Things can only get better” belting out from a nearby sound system, announced a general election, to be held on 4th July.  At last, an opportunity to rid ourselves of these corrupt crooks that have governed us for too long.

Yesterday, Sophie came home, to spend a few days with us for the Bank Holiday weekend, which is nice.

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Another glorious Sunday

Pic of the week 19/5/24

After last week’s “scorchio” mini-heatwave, this week has been back to another mixed bag of rain, grey skies and the odd bit of sun, but today has been another glorious Sunday (hooray!) – sunny all day, and not as hot as last week, making it much more pleasant.

Four weeks into term, and I’m starting to feel tired, so I deliberately didn’t go for a run today, but that did mean I could get plenty done. Have lifted all the bulbs from the front trugg and have started to dry them off ready for replanting into the lawn in September.  I need to get some more compost to top up the trugg, and then I’ll plant it up with geraniums – a job for the half-term to come in a week’s time.

Have also listed the 205 for sale this evening on Facebook Marketplace – will see what comes of that …

My new glasses arrived in the week and today I’ve been modelling my prescription sunglasses – its amazing the detail you can see when you wear specs, must do so more often!

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Scorchio!

Pic of the week 12/5/24

At last the skies have cleared and the temperature has risen and for the last few days we have enjoyed some wonderful early summer sunshine. On friday we ate outside for the first time this year, I have been wearing shorts (when not at work!) all week, and today I ran without gloves on for the first time. It has been wonderful, and today has been spent in a mix of sitting and chilling, and pottering in the garden, cutting back some mad growth, and planting up some geraniums (still more to do, though.) But alas, it looks like next week is a return to grey skies and rain.

The last couple of nights, the northern lights – aurora borealis – have (reportedly) been seen all the way down here.  Waking up on Saturday morning to social media streams full of photos we decided to see if we could see them on Saturday night.

I couldn’t see them from the back garden, but the moon was spectacular:

I, sensibly, went to bed, but Becky decided to stay up looking out of our window

but to no avail. Although in the early morning, circa 5am, when she got up to go to the loo, the sunrise over the tor didn’t disappoint

Summer – you can’t beat it.

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Plants

Pic of the week 5/5/24

At last, yesterday the sun shone. It has been a very long, wet autumn into winter into spring, the sky has been seemingly permanently leaden grey, with rain constantly tumbling from the skies. And Spring has been cold, too. Yesterday was the first day I wore shorts – and today I’m back in my jeans, after the early promise of an alright early morning gave way to drizzle.

But I do think it has warmed up enough to start introducing my over-wintered geraniums and spider plants to the out doors, to start hardening them off.  I wrote about them here in November: https://aboutstuff.co.uk/garden/indoor-gardening/ – I started with six geraniums and twelve spider plants that I bought of ebay. I’ve learned a  lot about how much or little water and light they have needed over the winter, and I have enjoyed my regime of nurturing and watering.  Five geraniums and eight spider plants have made it through the long, dark, wet winter and will, in the next few weeks, take up their summer residence outside. (I tried to keep a few geraniums alive outside, this was not successful.) The geraniums are looking particularly healthy, with plenty of new green growth – will they flower, that is the next question?

We’ve also purchased a lot of geranium plants – with going away for a month in July we need plants that will be tolerant of neglect in our absence – and they are now waiting for planting up. I won’t be planting lobelia this year, I’m not sure they will survive our absence.  The plan is to sow Cosmos in the front bed/trugs to go with the geranium and spider plants, and to also plant nasturtium seeds which so also, hopefully, survive (thrive) on neglect.

The alliums are now coming into flower and the garden is looking good.

And I’m including this photo (below) as a bit of a guide to see where there will be space to plant some more bulbs into the lawn come September (gave it a mow yesterday)

 

This morning I ran 10K – the first time since January. The weather was still (and dry!) and, although I wasn’t running swiftly, I felt I was cruising comfortably, so it was (relatively) easy to add the extra 3K loop onto the end of my run to make it a 10K run. Ran it 49m 30 sec.