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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 11, 2023 19:15:05 GMT
It was fine this morning so I finished pruning my H.T. roses and put all the prunings in the re-cycling bin. Had to cut them up to fit them all in. This afternoon I intended to prune the floribundas in the front garden but it started raining so they will have to wait.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 12, 2023 20:56:23 GMT
It managed to stay fine for our walk at Blackleach this morning but it started raining a bit as soon as we got back in the visitor centre. On my way home at 3.00 I called at the allotment for some sprouts because we wanted them for tea. Didn't have time to do any other jobs.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 13, 2023 20:50:54 GMT
Showery today and this afternoon I continued washing my pots.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 14, 2023 20:29:09 GMT
It rained till mid morning but when it stopped I pruned the floribunda roses in the front garden. This afternoon I went to Blackleach to do my bird count.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 15, 2023 20:27:53 GMT
It rained a bit this morning but it dried up this afternoon. Took Rosemary a walk this afternoon in her wheelchair. If it is raining I can carry on washing my pots but the next job I want to do at home, weather permitting, is to give my lawns their annual treatment. When we got home this afternoon I scarified the back lawn with my lawn rake but it started raining about 3.50 so I couldn't do the front one. The next job is to spike them and brush in some sand.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 16, 2023 19:46:20 GMT
Today, I scarified the front lawn then spiked most of the back lawn . I find this hard work and it makes my arms ache, pushing the fork in and pulling it out so I just do a bit as a time.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 17, 2023 20:00:21 GMT
It was frosty this morning so I thought the ground would be too hard to carry on forking the lawn or do anything else in the garden so I stayed in. Anyway, I went out this afternoon and the ground was not as hard as I thought so I finished the back lawn and did the front one which isn't as big .
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 18, 2023 18:59:31 GMT
There was a scattering of snow this morning so I couldn't carry on with the lawns. Some leeks that I ordered arrived this morning and I potted them into three and a half inch pots. There is still no power in my propagating greenhouse but I fixed up a propagator in the other greenhouse and put them in there. There were 22.
Took Rosemary a walk in her wheelchair this afternoon. I had an hour spare when we got home so I rubbed some labels. I use the same labels for many years. I write them in pencil then I rub it out with a rubber on the kitchen table and use them again.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 19, 2023 18:39:05 GMT
As usual on Thursdays I was at Blackleach till 3.00. When I got home I went in the greenhouse and sowed my exhibition onions in a half tray. Put them on the propagator with the leeks.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 20, 2023 22:42:54 GMT
The ground is still frozen and it is too frosty to prune my roses on the allotment so I couldn't do much outside. I just trimmed the ivy behind the rockery. This afternoon I washed the drinking cups that I use in the greenhouse for small plants.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 21, 2023 20:23:58 GMT
When I washing up this morning, looking through the window into the back garden, I saw a great tit at our nest box, fixed to the shed . It flew into a tree but went back to the box several times. I don't remember seeing birds looking for nest sites so early before. This was a new box put up last year but it was not used. One that was there previously was used every year .So, we have high hopes for it this year. We watch birds a lot from the back bedroom window but we couldn't see the nest box from there because the ivy that I told you about yesterday was blocking the view. This is why I cut some off yesterday and I cut some more off this morning so we can see the box from upstairs now.
I forgot to tell you last Wednesday that Heather, our daughter, had arrived again and she has gone back home this evening. We have been out for our lunch today with Martyn, our son, as we often do when Heather is here. We went to a nature reserve after, where we go occasionally, a few miles away ,where there are hides to watch birds. We pushed Rosemary round in her wheelchair in turn.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 23, 2023 21:23:15 GMT
We have had a scattering of snow on the ground for a few days but it has gone now. So, this morning, I decided to put sand on the lawns and brush it into the holes that I made. I told you before that I put fresh sand on my warming benches in the greenhouse every year and the sand that I remove is what I put on the lawns. It has been left in three sacks. I couldn't put it all on, though, because some of it had frozen into lumps in the bags. I put these lumps in a bucket in the greenhouse to thaw out. I put the rest of the sand on both lawns and brushed it over the front lawn. I will put the rest on the back lawn when it has thawed out before I brush it .
Took Rosemary for a walk this afternoon and when we got home I cleaned some more labels.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 24, 2023 21:38:44 GMT
This morning the lumps of frozen sand had thawed out so I spread it on the back lawn and begun to brush it in but the brush handle broke. I tried to mend it but couldn't. When I have washed pots I stand them in large buckets in their different sizes and put them behind the greenhouse. This area needed tidying though. It was full of leaves from the hawthorn hedge along the back . I had brushed all the leaves from the top of the greenhouse a few weeks ago but more had fallen since. I brushed all these off then shifted all the leaves from off the ground behind the greenhouse. I think I will clean the windows before I put the pots there.
We went for a walk this afternoon but on the way I called at a hardware shop for a new stiff brush. When we got home I started brushing the lawn but didn't have time to do much.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 25, 2023 22:18:14 GMT
It has been raining most of the day till mid afternoon, not hard but too wet to do anything outside and we couldn't go a walk this afternoon. This afternoon I have washed all my margarine tubs and ice cream cartons. I use a lot of these in the greenhouse. I use the margarine tubs for sowing small amounts of seeds and small cuttings such as fuchsias and the ice cream cartons for larger cuttings such as dahlias.
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Post by derekbrooks on Jan 26, 2023 22:08:24 GMT
Ninety gladioli in six varieties arrived this morning from Parkers. When I got home from Blackleach at 3.30 this afternoon I put them in trays of each variety and put the corms the right way up. I put them on top of a cupboard in the kitchen but there wasn't room for them because the pods of runner beans and climbing French beans from which I keep the seeds were still there. So, this evening I removed the beans from the pods and put them in ice cream cartons and got rid of the pods , then put the gladioli on the cupboard.
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