The garden bites back.

Having been told we'd be having a beautiful Saturday I vowed to be up and about in the garden early and I'm pleased to say that I had a productive day. From scrubbing the conservatory rood with a long handled brush whilst teetering on a step ladder to digging over the pastel border it was a joy to be out in the sunshine. My favourite of all things though was hacking back the overgrown confier boundary between ours and next door's garden. It's only three conifers but they have bulked up and because we have no decent ladder had been left unchecked for over a year. Now was the time to 'nip them in the bud' and ensure the tops didn't develop thicker trunks which would have resulted in a bigger job.
As it was Luke and I spent an enjoyable hour giving them a short back and sides. We took up to three foot out of the top and lightly trimmed back the rest of it. I made a little dippy in the middle of the top so that if we had settling snow next winter it wouldn't splay out the edges as much and spoil it's shape. I suggested (tongue in cheek) that we shape it into a train but in reality we just wanted it tidy and straight.
It took it's toll though and whilst halfway up a ladder with Luke keeping it steady as I leaned into the mass to get the ever elusive stalks I was victim to quite a few needle scratches. In fact this morning I got a pin to remove THIRTY little pine needles from my hands. The sillliest thing I did was to pour some vinegar over my burning arms (in the hope that it would neutralise any infection from dirty lacerations. Wow, did that sting?! It was like having boiling water poured on me. What possessed me to do it in the first place I don't know but should you ever want to feel absolutely wide awake I would recommend it. Youch!

Here are the photos of my endeavours up the ladder. The first one soaked me and the second one left me with all those cuts and scratches. It's not always a friendly place, the garden.

Other jobs we've been doing.

This week, the sunniest of the lot this summer I'm pleased to say, Luke and I have been on holiday. We decided we wouldn't go on holiday but stay home and get some jobs done around the house. After having some fun making soap and bath bombes it was time for proper work!

When we first saw the house the driveway wall was fine but the fortnight before we exchanged contracts we had snow in anbundance and once that cleared it seemed to have blown the rendering from the wall. So, Luke has diligently chiselled it off, I've pressure washed it and then Luke has rendered it again. Heavy rain today (our last day off) has meant that he can't put the finishing coat of render on but here are a few pictures of his progress.


















































Meanwhile I've been bashing out the old fireplace so we can have a wood burner in it's place. Some work still to do on this though. I've been given the task of clearing out the black mortar between teh bricks which Luke will repoint. The picture of my hand below is after I'd hit it five times with a hammer after missing the chisel! Since then I have hit it twice more and now have a lump there, the spoils of war!

Pain stops play.

Oh, me poor old back! I swang those hips as I was sieving the stones out of the greenhouse area last week and they aren't hips to be moving around too much so I have seriously put my back out (if there is such a thing as 'putting your back out'). So, yesterday was spent mooching around, doing easy jobs; cleaning the panes of greenhouse glass and diong a small weeding job around the Trail of Tears beans as well as planting up some Nicotiana plants.

Gosh, the ground looks so much better when it's been weeded, much like the lawn always looks considerably better for a quick mow - these are the jobs you can do which result in instant improvements so I always like to do a spot of weeding when everything else seems like a lot of work for no apparent outcome.

Casualties

It can be a dangerous place, the garden. Don't be fooled by those quintessential Summer days with butterflies and busy bees flitting from flower head to flower head. Nope, there is danger at every turn - especially if you are an idiot like me and think you can trample the garden rubbish further into your refuse bin so you can cram more grass cuttings in. Note the first photo is all smiles. The second shows how a solitary green bin can turn on you when you least expect it - especially if you are in the darn thing.




The picture really does do the bruise justice, it was over a hand's length and vivid scarlet with black dots by day two. No one to blame but myself though! This is also one of those times I probably won't learn by my mistakes; when I have another load of garden waste to compress into it I'm sure to be getting in there with my steel toe-capped wellingtons again. Some people never learn!


This time the casualty was a fork! These innocuous small trees were planted so close together that their roots intertwined and it was like trying to separate spaghetti!
Luke persevered though and we always have at least two forks and spades so we could continue in our quest to remove the root system. Good old Luke sweated over this one, I can tell you!

Garden 3 Photos only

If you have had enough of me rabbiting on here is a photographic overview of the last four months in our new garden. It has a long long way to go before it's picture perfect, if indeed it ever is but it always seems to be messier before it gets better. Please get in touch if you want additional info.