A couple of good days at the plot managed to get the 5th bed filled up with soil had to waiver the riddling due to time constraints. Got the bed prepared for planting last night got the spuds in this afternoon. 

Got the beansticks in and 6 Borrolotte bean plants that were given to me.

THE BED FILLED YESTERDAY.

READY FOR PLANTING

ALL PLANTED UP NICELY

GOT THE BEANSTICKS IN AND SOME PLANTS IN

I thought I'd better catch up with my blog - in case some members think I've croaked it!! Thanks for your concern Dave

I've been spending every minute I can get on the lottie - it's that time of the year. Everything else has been taking second place on my priority list. Most evenings I come home and I'm so tired and stiff I can hardly stand, so writing a blog is just too much after days like that. How sweet the memories of the time when I could shift double the work in half the time and not feel tired at the end of it. Sigh!

It's starting to take shape, but again it's a late season this year. For three seasons we've had silly unseasonal warm weather in March, rain and cold through April - so that you can't touch the soil, then in May - when things should be getting into their stride - there's scorching wind and sun in the day and cold nights. A gardener's nightmare. Add to that slow/ non existent germination rates in the polytunnel coupled to mouse problems (peas and larger seeds just disappear) and you have the recipe for a very irate allotmenteer!!!

Saw Ian my best friend today, he tracked me down at the lottie and had a cuppa with me. A bit of good news there, he tells that the old faithful white van (must think of an appropriate name for her) that doubles up as my mobile shed between home and the allotment is nearly ready for her MOT. A few bits 'n pieces needed doing, like a new handbrake cable and new steel brake pipes plus a new brake cylinder that had seized (sorry girls - this is boy talk, bear with me), which should be finished today, and then she should sail through - I miss her terribly!

Anyway, must go our No. 1 son is coming up tonight and he's spending a few days with us. I'm REALLY looking forward to that. Better still he tells me he's going to give me a hand on the lottie on Wednesday WOO-HOO perhaps I'll get all my beds sorted before the weekend after all!

One mouse less in the world but many more left. Six traps, six days of waiting, one dead mouse. If I was a fur trapper I'd starve to death! Still it's one less to scoff my peas. The word must have got around the mouse world that I'm on the war-path because nothing has touched my new batch of sowings - YET!

Had a good day on the lottie yesterday (Wed). Got a whole 40 foot row of potatoes planted. Also filled a row and a half with muck (half a dozen large barrow loads). Ridged the one row, then the rain came. Stephen & Phil got caught in the shower doing the same as me - panicking to get the spuds in as soon as the soil is workable again.

I paid for that flurry of activity. I was almost too stiff to go to bed last night. I anticipated being even stiffer this morning, but strangely I wasn't too bad. BUT I I've been too tired to budge all day.

Ian, one of my best mates from long, long ago, came to my house today to take away my trusty old van that I use for the lottie - actually it's my mobile shed. It carries EVERYTHING around inside it (it's like the Tardis), from my carpentry tool-box, my Mantis tiller, rope, string, trays, sacks, seeds and gardening tools etc. etc. you've probably got the picture by now. The MOT is up. Ian, who has a workshop and repair garage on his farm for his implements (he does contracting work and employs a diesel plant fitter full time). He  brought his trailer down and carried it away. Hopefully he'll get it through an MOT for another year. I look after his computer equipment and web-site, he takes care of little things like my van. The world of barter and favour banks is a wonderful one. I would quite happily do away with all that horrible money stuff tomorrow. I'm convinced people were a thousand times happier before money was invented. That's when everyone got "independent" and started relying on their money rather than their friends and neighbours network to make their world turn.

So the lottie had a miss today & I busied myself at home, although I'd got my boots and lottie clothes on this morning I never did manage the enthusiasm for this stiff old carcass to get going with anything more strenuous than making a weeding hand-tool for myself - and I didn't even finish that! However I DID manage to make a sign to stick in my muck heap to remind the dopey hippies on our site that the muck is not a free for all to dip into. I get the muck from Marc a farmer from close by whose computers I also look after - in turn he provides me with all the muck I need, delivered by tractor and trailer to the allotment site. Trouble is some think everything should be shared, the only flaw in their logic is that they think others should always provide for them whilst they NEVER provide anything for anyone. Scroungers. One of them has just finished dipping into my wood-chip pile. He apologised when I tackled him about his thieving habits. He said that he would arrange another delivery for me (hardly the point) however I suspect I'll catch a dinosaur in one of my mouse-traps before that materialises! 

At last the weathermen got it right! That promised huge low pressure weather front that was moving up from Spain - accompanied by gale force winds for today actually hit us some time last night. I got up this morning to find a water-butt had gone walk-about and other things were in the wrong places or at funny angles! Like my neighbour's bird-table that's taken up a horizontal resting position on his front lawn. Two short scaffold planks that had been propped up against our tool-shed down on the lottie were also horizontal this morning. They hadn't budged all winter, but last night the wind must have been from an unusual direction.

So it's WET & very cold & miserable here this morning. The mice that should have got their sentences executed in the traps in my polytunnel last night must have decided to stay in their warm nests somewhere - very wise - given the weather. So my enthusiasm for revenge never got quenched. All six of the death traps were still gaping at me like little miniature hippos when I went in. Not a stiff mouse in sight. Hmm. This could turn into a real "cat & mouse" game.

I went down hoping to do a bit of sowing etc. in the polytunnel this morning. HOWEVER the disappointment of no mouse-trap victims coupled to a horrible cold & damp feel (as readers of my blog will know - I absolutely hate the cold especially when it's damp, because I go into "shut-down" mode, get VERY miserable and can't motivate myself to do ANYTHING).

So it's back to the house - after taking Josie and her friend Jan down town to get a "couple of things from the shop" (that's code for - "go and sit in the car for an hour & read your book, whilst I exorcise my can't pass a shop addiction"!)

Right central heating back on 'constant' for the afternoon. Write my blog, sit down & read the Sunday papers and have a couple of glasses of sparkling Schloer for me for the rest of the day - the weather can go to hell!

I love all little animals - but today I had to turn assassin! Regardless of how fluffy and cute something is, when it decides to fill it's furry little tummy with MY newly sown peas, I have no option but to put the black handkerchief on my head and declare a death sentence.

What am I talking about? MICE. The little sods have dug up and eaten between 80 and a 100 of my newly sown seeds that were in cell trays in the polytunnel. Thank goodness it's only the peas that took their fancy.

I discovered the deed yesterday - so I've re-sown. Last night I had to go down to Fishguard to pick up our friend Jan who lives in Ireland. She came off the ferry at quarter to one this morning. So following a lie-in I went for a rummage in the garage (well to be more precise Josie did) to find the mouse-traps. I'd forgotten where I'd put them.

So armed with 6 of the latest in mouse-trap technology from Mr Rolson (black plastic ones that look like miniature hippos, with teeth and a bait cage). I headed down to the place of planned instant death. Whilst down there I did some more sowing and the last job was to strategically place the baited traps in what I guessed would be the logical places I'd explore - if I was a mouse.

The deed is done. In the morning I'll go down to inspect the carnage - I just hope the traps will NOT be empty and that the latest batch of sown peas won't have gone AWOL!

Another of those "nothing" days again today! Well as far as the lottie is concerned anyway!

Had an appointment at the doctor's surgery this morning - there went the morning. My Dr 's surgery is fifteen miles north in Aberystwyth (he's a friend as well as my doc - so I travel). Then followed an afternoon of the drudge - our weekly grocery shopping - ugh! Still, mustn't grumble too much - I treated myself to a few goodies from our local gardening goodies shop called Charlie's. Two more gravel trays for my potting adventures in the polytunnel, also I bought some other trays with 40 x 3" pots in, some capillary matting and a catch for one of my p/tunnel doors. Also of course, if I don't put up with the weekly shopping drudge I'll eventually starve - not a nice thought!

I've used carpet underlay as capillary matting in the past. It works great - BUT - being made of wool, it's prone to smell when it gets wet. By the end of the potting frenzy my p/tunnel smells embarrassingly horrible! At the beginning - before I discovered where the stink was coming from -  I went looking for a dead rodent under the staging last year, that's the level of potency of the pong!! So I had to hold my nose again today to stop the horrible smell of having to spend money on capillary matting! Ah well - it doesn't eat or drink.

Tomorrow I'm going down to get stuck into those potato rows that need planting before we get phase 2 of the wind & rain storm that's been promised over the weekend. Low pressure heading our way from Spain apparently. I've also got to get the remainder of my other seeds sown in the p/tunnel - hence the reason for the goodies bought today.

Tomorrow night I've got to go down to Fishguard (40 miles south of here) to meet the ferry coming over from Ireland at 12.30a.m. Jan - a friend of ours (well Josie's old chum from Birkenhead) who lives over there, is coming over to stay for a few days. Pity about the weather. In fact Stenner stopped the sailings yesterday, so they may do the same again tomorrow. That WILL be a disappointment. I think I'm turning into a Job's Comforter!

It's been another ten days since I wrote in my Blog - that's amazing - NEARLY HALF A MONTH. Time is flying by at a frightening rate!

Anyway, I'm actually getting on top of my seed sowing regime in the polytunnel. There's now hundreds of little pots, trays, cells and toilet rolls standing to attention. Lets hope they all sprout! Everything has been buried in the black stuff, from runner beans to melons and everything in between. Mind you the daunting task of doing the same outside is still haunting my sleeping hours! I say that because last night I sadly dreamt about my seed sowing - that is serious overload. Perhaps I do take this allotment thing too seriously!! Having now quickly dismissed that horrible thought I can look forward to getting on with one of the greatest joys of life - getting away from everything and everyone and enjoying my own company on my lottie or in my polytunnel.

I LOVE my home built polytunnel. No more so was that brought home to me than today, when we had a torrential shower at about six o'clock this evening. I merrily carried on until Stephen (one of my plot neighbour friends) popped in on the way home from work. We had a cuppa together (very civilised two chairs and a table) whilst putting the world to rights in the deafening sound of a thunderstorm and BIG rain on the polythene - it doesn't get much better than that!

For the first time this year I felt quite good working hard today. That hasn't always been the case with lots of fatigue, breathlessness and general weakness when I get really stuck in. Today was a bit more like old times. I wheel-barrowed five loads of manure the 50 yards from the heap to the potato rows (not at normal speed, but respectable). Spread it out and got one 40 foot row finished before the rain AND I still had a little bit left in the tank to do a bit of pottering inside the polytunnel when the rain came. I hope I don't suffer tomorrow, experience dictates that after a day like today it's often a case of the rest of the week off!! Lets hope not.

So my first row of spuds are in - the Winstons. Look out Dave, they're starting to sprout and swell already, and they haven't been in the ground 12 hours yet!! I think I'd better go and look for some bigger scales tomorrow - in readiness. Do you still want to go ahead with this challenge? Now would be a good time for you to back down before we get to the business end of the season!!

 It looks as if it's going to be a colouring book day tomorrow! Remember our mothers used to bring the colouring book out when it rained on a caravan holiday! Not that we had holidays - but I've been told by my wife that is how it was!!! Well perhaps not a colouring book day, but a day to catch up with my web-site work & some correspondence. Perhaps it'll stop me dreaming about seed sowing!

Due to the success of our worm tea we will now be selling it freshly made daily. For more info go to

www.thewormfirm.com   and click on Worm Tii/ Liquid worm castings

This stuff really is amazing

Has to be used on day of purchase due to being full of all the good living microbes plants needs

Maligayang Pasko at Manigong bagong taon sa lahat!

in English

Merry Christmas and a Happy new year to all!

Heidi

What a weekend.

Carboot sale on Saturday morning (up at 6), sold off some of last years alpine strawberrys i had left over, re felted next door neighburs summer house, not to bad a job if i say so myself.

Put new waterbarrel on raised platform i built - and the platform didnt collapse - will put some pics on and you will see why - belts and brasses lol

BBQ saturday evening, out in the garden having a few beers, decided to move in doors when it got cooler - but ended up out front with other neighburs till 12 midnight lol

came in and fell asleep on couch till 3 in the morning
Sunday - hangover o joy

planted out sweetcorn, pumpkins and courgettes, more beetroot, peas and put melon pear plant and tumbling tom into hanging baskets

yet another BBQ - no drink this time (well 1 bottle)

now its cold again - whats happened