About Stuff

Pic of the week 19/11/23

This year, I have really enjoyed the garden and, in particular, watching plants grow (obviously over a period of time, rather than as an instantaneous spectator sport!) It started in the spring with the bulbs in the lawn, bringing a sense of hope when all was brown, grey and drab; moved through the summer with as the sunflowers reached for the sky, then the pumpkins, large and small, and still the nasturtiums and cosmos valiantly burst forth in colour, continuing to flower into mid-November.

But despite the best efforts of those plants that refuse to give up despite the falling levels of light, incessant rain and howling winds, winter is coming and soon there will be little cheer outside. The best we can hope for is the frozen  form of white frost covered seed-heads against a brilliant blue sky, but days like that are few and far between. (We’ve yet to have anything close to a frost – hence the nasturtiums soldiering on.)

So I decided to bring the outside in, and try my hand at over-wintering some geraniums and also nurturing a collection of spider plants – the latter in part inspired by my Mediterranean travels where they can be seen as part of normal outdoor planting. My hope/plan is that mine will spend the summer outdoors reminding me of sunnier climes.

So I put up a new shelf in my room, and also moved an Ikea shelf, and have filled them with six geraniums taken from outside that I hope to over winter, my four cacti, and twelve baby spider plants that I bought of ebay and have potted up.

I look forward to watching them all grow over the coming months, (hopefully) providing an oasis of green and a source of interest over the dark months to come.

Pic of the week

I have been enjoying the colours of the trees this week. They have been a lovely range of colours and, when its not been raining*, I have been deliberately drinking in their beauty, full in the knowledge that before too long they will be gone and we will be left with a barren brown-grey vista for a few months to come.

In the garden, I have still have some cosmos and nasturtiums flowering, and a couple of poppies keep popping up in the “wildflower” corner of the lawn, to provide some cheerful colour alongside the autumnal hues. My grasses (near the fig) which did so well this year are just beginning to turn, I’ll keep them in place for some structural interest until spring doesn’t seem too far away.

*its been a wet autumn so far, with wind and rain never far away. A damp, depressing winter beckons (good job we’re off to Spain (Cordoba) in 28 days time!)

Pic of the week 15/10/23

For the first time in about 20 years, I went to a barber of Friday.

Di has had a new hip so is currently out of action, and I have been growing my hair a bit longer, looking for a new style. For the last week or two it has begun to annoy me – a shapeless nest atop of my head, nut after my trip to the barber I’m happy again after he has given it some shape and style.

I’ve also had a busy couple of days in the garden ( we broke for half term on Friday. On Friday it poured with rain – really poured, Sophie had a nightmare journey home from London due to flooding in Swindon, eventually getting back to Cardiff at around midnight – Saturday and today (Sunday) have been quite bright and sunny, but cold, much colder than before. A bit of a shock going from unseasonably warm to a cold (albeit normal) autumn day)

I have taken out the sunflowers from the front bed and planted it up with tulips, daffodils and grape hyacinths. Also planted up several pots with daffodils and several others (9) with about 5 allium bulbs. Looking forward to spring already …!

And I harvested my pumpkin:

This year it weighed in at 4.2kg, with a circumference of 71 cms, so a little smaller than last years effort, but an impressive pumpkin – good shape and colour – non-the-less.

Still seems a lot to do in the garden it doesn’t seem like its fully ready to be put to bed for the winter just yet. Still have several sunflowers “shinning” in the back garden, and the cosmos plants that took so long to flower are now producing a vibrant pink and magenta display. Am going to try overwintering a few geraniums to see how that goes.

Pic of the week 8/10/23

October, the August we never had?

Its been unseasonably warm this weekend (and not too bad in the days leading up to fin de semana) with today being particularly glorious, a day in which we could sit outside and bask in the sun this afternoon.  I would suggest that temperatures have been in the low to mid-twenties.

This morning I was told to tackle the ivy by the bin – I was going to just give it a bit of a haircut, but Becky wanted more off so I gave it a good pull and it all just peeled off.

A quick trip to the tip and it was disposed off.

It has been lovely to have some warm weather – and on the weekend too – it certainly doesn’t feel like early to mid- October and a week to half-term. The garden is still very much in full growth, although I know I will have to start tidying it up over half term as this autumn sunshine can’t continue and winter will be coming.

I have been particularly pleased this year with the grasses that I planted last year at the back of the garden – the have given height and interest over the summer and in the last week or so have sprouted wonderful purple seed hands that wallow in the wind.

The sunflowers continue to provide a burst of colour, with new flowers still to come in the back. I’m still disappointed about the August we had, but October is proving a bonus.

Pic of the week 1/10/23

This has been a busy, busy week at work, but one always gets through it, and by Friday things were calming down and I was able to take a breath. I have been quite dedicated to my Spanish learning (I have been following 1001 Reasons to Learn Spanish) and doing twenty or thirty minutes each night has kept me grounded and proved to be a good distraction from work.

It has been a pleasantly warm weekend, with today in particular being sunny and you could certainly feel the warmth when outside – got me thinking of (looking forward to) our upcoming trip to Barcelona, Blanes and Girona in only two and half weeks. Although (or perhaps because) he estado muy ocupado, the term is passing muy rapido and its hard to believe its only two weeks until half term.

Today I planted a load of bulbs into the lawn – some daffs (I think!) and alliums saved from the pots earlier in the year. I used the drill bit auger I had purchased a few months ago – a great bit of kit that made this task so much easier. Hopefully the results will be reaped come spring.

(The pic of the week is Becky’s Kingsfisher that she finally got to shoot on Saturday whilst walking the Bath skyline with Jo.)

An additional pic of the week 24/9/23

After a blisteringly hot start to September, followed by a very wet couple of weeks, today I cut back the lawn.  Began with my strimmer – fortunately had got most if it done before there was an audible “pop”, a flash of flame followed by smoke as I burnt out the motor.  I had done enough to allow me to finish the job with the lawnmower.

Looks quite neat now – such that I wonder why I didn’t cut it sooner! – but I think it is the change that makes it appealing. I have enjoyed the long grass and a few wildflowers (would love to see more wildflowers take hold) and the habitat it has provided for the insects.

Next job (next week?) is to plant the bulbs from last years pots into the lawn ready for next spring.