Category: Garden

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Sunflowers

Sunflowers, 17 July 2023

Thought I should do a quick update for the records re: the sunflowers – they are growing well, as can be seen in the pic above.  The tallest currently measures 2m 8cm and I’ve needed to add the top “wire”.

The biggest challenge this year has been the wind – on the days before we went to Mallorca, and on the days since our return, it has been really windy and the sunflowers have need some extra support – I don’t think they would all have survived without it. In addition, where they were being blown left and right, their stalks were rubbing against the wire, causing scaring, and one was nearly cut in two, so I put some neoprene fish tank hose over the the supporting wire to make it a much less harsh surface. I also tied all the individual sunflowers to the wires to keep them upright,

They are looking good – we are off to Cavtat tomorrow, I hope they still look as good when we return in nine days time.

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Half-term

Pic of the week

Half-term has arrived and, somewhat surprisingly, the sun is shinning, and promises to do so all week.

I’ve made little use of the day today, other than to run, rest and snooze – I have a bit of a summer cold (sore throat came on in the night on Friday) and now I have a bit of a cough and feel a little lethargic. I ran this morning, but was a little slow, and had looong snooze this afternoon – other than read and snooze, I’ve done little, but I probably needed today to recharge my batteries.

Plan to get busy in the garden for much of the week, some bushes need pruning back, geraniums need planting out and my latest batch of sunflower seeds – and six pumpkins – will need planting out before the week is done. Anyway, its nice to know I have some time ahead of me to potter and prune in the garden, snooze and read, and maybe also get in a little exercise.

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Sun and sunflowers

Pic of the week 21/5/23

So this week we have been blessed with sun and blue skies – and what a difference it makes.  I spent yesterday afternoon running around in the sun, refereeing at the Ashcott charity football tournament (did two lines and two middles for a total of 120 mins.  Legs were aching last night, went for swim this morning – first few lengths were tough but then my body loosened up, I glided through 40 lengths and have felt much better for it all day.) and today I have spent quite a bit of time outside – this morning, circa 11am, enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the garden along with the sunshine, and this afternoon reading and then snoozing, Good weather makes such a difference.

On Wednesday I planted out the sunflower seeds I had sown a few weeks ago, putting them in the front trough. They seem to have taken well and are growing nicely. Today I planted some more seeds in trays in the porch, along with some pumpkin seeds – this time of year is busy, busy, busy in the garden, literally sowing the seeds to reap the rewards later in the summer.

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Bulbs

Pic of the week 14/5/23

Well, we’ve had some quite biblical rain this week (flooding in Bruton, Queen Camel and other places) but yesterday afternoon the sun shone and the garden is looking lovely – the alliums in particular.

Today, I lifted the bulbs from the front “trough” and planted them in a corner of the lawn (top right in the pic above) and hopefully they will burst through to give added colour next year.

It was bloomin’ hard work digging the lawn up and I fear I may not have planted them to the optimum depth but, worst case scenario, we just end up with a patch of mossy lawn again.

I must confess, I ache now. I ran this morning, and then spent a couple of hours of heavy toil in the garden but hopefully, come next March, it will have been worth it (I’m clearly playing the long game here!)

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Exercise!

Pic of the week 7/5/23

Having planted them last Sunday, I am pleased that nearly all my sunflower seeds have burst forth. Dead-headed the tulips in the front bed yesterday – it can only be a week or two before I need to dig them up and start planting out my sunflowers.  The back garden is looking vibrant – the alliums are just beginning to flower, purple exclamation marks offsetting the swathe of blue forget-me-nots, the apple tree blossom is magnificent – probably in for a bumper crop this year – and everything that should be green is,  a vibrant range of greens.

I could do my deadheading yesterday as we had the day of for the King’s coronation.  Not really my thing, I don’t like the overt wealth and inequality and having someone “reign over us” really does go against the very core of what I believe (that we are all equal) but some people like the pomp and ceremony so, if that’s their thing, so be it. As Becky & Sophie (Sophie has come home the Bank Holiday weekend) sat down to watch it, I represented the oppressed masses and went and did the ironing.

And then I went for a swim. I have been a busy boy on the exercise front this week: ran last Sunday, went spinning at school on Monday, Tuesday I refereed an U14 game, Wednesday not too much – stood around chatting at volleyball, Thursday: nada, Friday ran the line at Street FC for a testimonial game, Saturday swum, ran another 7K today and will spin tomorrow, although that will then be “it” until next weekend.  Legs are aching a little today, but, more importantly, my foot has withstood all of that.

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Cars, bikes and pavements

Pic of the week

Well, what a full week this has been!

Monday saw the 205 complete (not pass, but not abandoned!) its MOT. It didn’t pass – I didn’t expect it too, but was surprised that it failed on a couple of brake lines being corroded and headlight alignment. After some initial disappointment, I have decided that these are not major jobs and I will do them myself, as a summer poject.

Tuesday saw me back in the saddle – spinning at Strode leisure centre for the first time since the pandemic. It was tough, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, I may be tempted to return …

On Wednesday we went to Cornwall in the rain (and returned in the rain – it pretty much rained all day) for a gathering of the Woodhouse clan.  A long way to go, but a nice afternoon.

Thursday – a big day: I ran again for the first time since my plantar fasciitis. It was not easy, partly because I was conscious of my foot, and partly because I haven’t run for 4 months. I ended up running 4Km, my foot was OK afterwards, but my left calf felt like a knotted ball. I ran again on Saturday, this time running nearly 6 Km (the 3km “Grange-High Street” loop twice) It felt good to be running again. I think I do need to manage my miles – my foot doesn’t hurt, but I’m “aware” of it – not sure its still 100% recovered. Have also swum a couple of times as well.

Friday was lovely day, weather wise, and spent much of it in the garden, doing some pruning, but also a lot of reading and soaking up the sun.  After much promise, though, sadly neither Saturday nor today lived up to the promise of more good weather, and now it seems the rain will be back tomorrow (good job we are off to Greece (Rhodes) on Wednesday).  Over Friday and today, I chopped back the “brown” tree and the buddleia, reducing both significantly in height, a job that needed doing.

In addition, on Tuesday, the cooker stopped working. It was the heating element – quick bit of fault diagnosis, part identified and ordered, arrived on Thursday and within 20 minutes I’d fixed it. On Monday, the Corsa threw a EML light – Sam thought it was like when the timing belt slipped 18 months ago, diagnostics showed a misfire on cylinder 4, and after initially finding no fault, I was able to replicate it – a low speed lack of power.  Whipped of the coil pack and found some moisture ingress around the no. 4 spark plug: cleaned it up, dried it off and the problem seems to have gone away. Pretty sure that this was the cause and correct solution.

So a busy week, a full week, but an enjoyable week.

 

 

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A Busy Week

Pic of the week 19/2/23

Its been a busy, but enjoyable, (half term) week.

On Wednesday, Becky & I went to Clevedon for the morning, It was a beautiful day (well, the morning was – we left at lunchtime under gathering grey skies) and we watched the swimmers emerge, very pink, from the marine lake. We ambled along the seafront enjoying the big blue sky and then sauntered up and down the pier. We sat outside for coffee and felt a million miles from home. A very pretty seaside town that hasn’t declined like so many have.

On Thursday we went to Cardiff to visit the children.  A cold, damp day (I had misjudged the weather and found myself shivering in my lightweight spring coat, wishing I’d worn my puffa) As always, lovely to see the bambinos, we went for lunch, and then ice cream (ice cream! in the cold!?) Both seem well, and Sam appears to be doing some work for his course. I spent a small fortune on footwear – I’ve entered the “Sketchers ” phase of my life where function triumphs form as a I battle with the pain that is plantar fasciitis. On the whole my foot is getting better, but its still “there”, and still a constant thought on my mind as well as pain in my foot.

The Corsa passed its MOT, the 205 neither passed nor failed its MOT – it was “abandoned” as they couldn’t open the boot. An annoying occasional problem that I have now (hopefully) permanently fixed.

And I’ve been back in the pool. Twice. Unable to run, I thought I’d try swimming again (although I shall leave the frigid waters of Clevedon marine lake to warm up considerably before dipping a toe in there!) and swam a couple of times at Strode. Was pleasantly surprised how quickly I got back in the groove, and on both occasions completed 40 lengths. As running is still very much off limits, I can see an increasing number of visits to the pool in my near future.

And Saturday (18 Feb) saw our first daffodil of the year in flower, one of the ones I planted in the lawn in September.  We’ve had a lovely day today, and one gets the sense that before too long we’ll have a whole load more in flower, although it does seem like everything is a bit late this year. Oh well, good things come to those that wait …

Back to school tomorrow, but with the days staying lighter longer, the first flowers of spring and (hopefully) the odd day of lovely weather one hopes that the worst of winter is behind us.

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Bulbs and boosters

(extra Pic of the week 30/10/22)

Just a quick extra post for reference.

I’ve spent a bit of time this half term planting up bulbs. Before we went to Dubrovnik, I planted all of last year’s bulbs that I had saved in the lawn (was surprisingly hard work, lifting squares of turf to get them planted. The lawn currently looks pretty rubbish!)  And on Friday (28/10/22) I planted a load of daffodil, tulip and grape hyacinth bulbs in the front planter. I have left the geraniums in as they still look healthy and provide a bit of colour. It is currently unseasonably warm, will they make it through the winter. I also planted up some allium bulbs in pots.

In other news, today I had my Covid booster – my 4th covid jab – this time it was Pfizer.  So far, no ill effects … Have my flu jab booked for Saturday.

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Preparation

Pic of the week 16/10/22

We had a fleeting visit from Sam last night – he’d been in Bristol for Smithy’s birthday on Friday, and came home yesterday evening for a roast dinner, shower and sleep in his own bed.  Today he got the bus back to Bristol and then train to Cardiff.  It was nice to see him, he’s looking well and seeming to be enjoying and engaging with his new course of History and Economics.

For me, the half term holidays have begun.  I must admit, the first half of term whizzed by and I still can’t quite believe its mid-October and on Wednesday we are off to Dubrovnik.

Today was sunny and warm (although it is now wet and dark) and I took the opportunity to plant all the bulbs I saved from the planter into the lawn. It was hard work digging up sections of turf, and then I pretty much just dropped the bulbs in and popped the turf back on top.  The lawn does now look a bit off a mess with soil everywhere, but hopefully come next spring the bulbs will all pop up and flower and it will have been a job well done.  Tomorrow (weather permitting) I’ll remove the sunflowers from the front planter – one or two are still gamely flowering, but most are now looking past it (dead!) and they need to come out to make space for the next load of bulbs.

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Pumpkin

Pic of the week 2/10/22

I think that it is fair to say that summer is over, and autumn is upon us.  After a long, hot, dry summer, we have had quite a bit of rain of late, including on Wednesday afternoon when I got soaked whilst refereeing out at Kingweston.  I’d had forgotten that it was possible to be so cold.  We haven’t really had a gradual decay from summer to autumn, the weather has remained quite warm and dry, until this last week when it has suddenly changed (although today was supposed to be really wet, a real wash out, and when I got up in the morning it was raining, the drops were big and heavy, but not too many of them, actually quite nice running conditions. And then, as the day wore on, the clouds vanished, leaving us with a warm, sunny October day.)

This summer I have cultivated two pumpkins, the monster above weighing in at 4.5 Kg and measuring 80cm in circumference, and a much smaller one, 2 Kg and 47 cm in circumference.  The smaller one grew first, I think the latter one did so well as it fruited when we were home from Greece, enjoyed the heat wave and (as a result of the heat wave) got regular, nightly watering. I am proud of them both, but particularly the one above, it is a classic shape and colour, and a fair old heft.