My Patch

Still no date for the move, I've been taking cuttings from various plants for the past two or three months, with mixed results really. I've managed to get a few going, although they suffered a bit while we were away on holiday and a few were lost.

So I tried a few more today - took some more Helianthemum and variegated box cuttings to hopefully add to the odd one or two which seem to be surviving. Also I'm going to try again to get some Pieris cuttings started, this will be my third attempt - I'm hoping that sheer persistence will win through in the end.

Also potted up a couple of offshoots from a clump of Rudbeckia 'Goldstrum' to add to my ever growing collection of herbaceous plants I've propagated to take with us.

 

It will happen Trunky, hang in there! It took me 16 months to sell and it's taken 11 to buy.

 

Hopefully Armandii! We should have confirmation in the morning. Up here when the offer is accepted that's pretty much legally binding.

 

Thanks Armandii! I'll keep you posted on progress.

Meanwhile apologies to @Trunky for hi-jacking his thread!

 

Don't mind in the slightest @Sheal. Does your new house have a good sized garden?

Have you had confirmation yet? Sounds as if you've been going even longer than us, we've only been waiting 6 months so far.

It looks as if things are progressing for us at last, we had some paperwork from the solicitors to check and sign today. Still more to come as yet but at least things are moving along now.

 

She'm got a zigs annex

 

Thanks @Trunky. No, the gardens are smaller than at my last house. I've had to be sensible and down size because my broken down old body can't cope with it all now. Both gardens are still bigger than postage stamps though. The bungalow is in a rural position with amazing views from the back garden down into and across a glen. That will be a distraction when I'm out there supposedly removing weeds. It's currently standing empty and I'll be back there shortly to measure up for various things so will take my camera along for some garden pics.

I sold my place on the island during a stagnant market which is why it took so long and bungalows here are like gold dust, being sort after particularly in the rural and semi-rural areas.

We lost out on written confirmation today owing to our offer being lost yesterday in Fax transition due to telephone line problems. It's verbally accepted by both parties and solicitors/agents and we should have confirmation tomorrow morning. Let's hope this is the only hiccup. We hope to be in somewhere between the middle and end of September as the solicitors here like to have everything sewn up in six weeks.

I'm glad to here your move is progressing again and wish you luck and a smooth journey to completion. Here completion is called Entry Date.

Mr S. you need to zip it! I don't want to turn my place into a bunkhouse when word gets out.

 

Things continue to progress, albeit at an almost glacial pace. Mrs Trunky and I spent an 'entertaining' Friday evening last night wading through the solicitors report on our purchase, sorting out queries with the vendors and answering queries raised by our solicitor. All good fun.

We will get there in the end, just have to be patient.

I'm gradually winding things down in the garden here, though the summer vegetables are in full swing at the moment - we're still harvesting plenty of sweet corn, runner beans, courgettes, beetroot, tomatoes, peppers and so on. It looks as if the butternut squash I planted in between the sweet corn are producing a good crop this year, hopefully they'll ripen before we leave.

I'm keeping the lawns and borders in good order, the hedges cut and shrubs pruned as I normally would, no point doing otherwise as far as I'm concerned. Also, it helps keep me occupied while we wait.

I did make an interesting discovery today about the garden at the house we're buying.

I was looking at some old ordnance survey maps of the area online today out of idle curiosity. I know the area very well, as it's the village where I grew up and went to school, so I can pinpoint the location of our new house, which was built in the early 1960s, quite accurately.

The garden has well established hedges all around it and one hedge in particular interested me when we were viewing the place, as it seemed to have a good mix of mostly native species in it and was quite thick.

Turns out it's an old field boundary hedge dating back to the 19th century and possibly earlier. The line of the hedge is clearly marked on a map dated 1884, so it's at least 130 years old.

It's nice to think we will have a real piece of living history right there in our own garden.

 

@Trunky may I ask what sort of things that includes, it sounds like the homebuyers survey up here?

 

@Sheal We've already had the homebuyers survey done a couple of months ago.

This report covered various other things such as property information, fixtures and fittings, land registry, searches, boundaries etc. as well as the actual purchase contract itself.

Made my brain hurt.

 

Right, I'm with you now and I'm not surprised it made your brain hurt. Not long to go then!
It's interesting when history of the land/property is turned up. Perhaps you may see more on the deeds at a later point.

 

Some of the herbaceous plants and shrubs I've propagated over the past two or three months to take with us for the new garden. I've got them dotted about in sheltered spots all over the place, just have to remember to keep them watered.

 

Still waiting.

I'm keeping the garden in good order while we wait for a moving date, keeps me occupied and and helps reduce the stress levels.

I'm still collecting seeds and potting up various things to take with us, getting quite a collection now.

This weekend I've collected seeds from a sunflower which I particularly like, as well as parsley and lavender. Potted up a couple of offshoots from a Heuchera villosa 'Autumn Bride', a japanese anemone and a layered shoot from a Euonymus 'Emerald 'n' Gold'.

Tried a few more cuttings to add to the few which have taken so far, Helianthemum, variegated box and Euonymus this time. I've never been very good at cuttings, but I just keep taking more to replace the ones which don't strike and I'm gradually building up a small stock of rooted cuttings through sheer persistence.