WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2023

Too cold here to do anything, body doesn't know which part hurts the most- hips/ back / hands
I've decided that checking out electric propagator's on the internet for next year is my best option... and may be I might splash out with having a coffee & brandy.

 

Go easy on the coffee.

 

Hi,

Oh dear @Grandma Sue I hope you're feeling much better.

It reached a scorching 2C here this afternoon; I spent an hour in the garden planting these;

Astilbe collection 12 plants.

Potentilla mixed 3 plants.

Ceanothus Puget Blue 2 plants.

The top of the soil was rock hard but digging over with the spade I soon had it ready to accept the plants and the exercise warmed me up making it pleasant in spite of how cold it was. The Astilbe were supplied as loose rooted in bags so not having anything to pot them in or potting compost the best place for them was in the garden. I won't complain if all winter passes by like this.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Another day doing nothing on the balcony! (I may be repeating this line often now! )

 

I've still got lots of tree pruning and some lopping to do but the quagmire is too much and I'd be doing more harm than good, so went for a walk instead.

 

I had a cremation to deal with today.

Oswald the Owl. Chainsaw created and now sadly cremated. 2015-2023

 

No, not Oswald!

Why, oh why did you lower his beauty to the flickering tongues of flames of eternity, @Sheal ?

Oswald was very handsome indeed, I hope he is a phoenix and the resurrecting chick comes your way soon. That place is just right for a statue, looks great

 

Your garden in IOM I assume @Sheal.

 

I had no choice but too cremate him @Selleri. There are too many rocks in the ground here for me to dig a hole for burial, plus it's currently frozen. Sadly he was absolutely rotten and his demise was helped by woodpeckers and the humidity here.

It was the best choice as he was sitting on a drain cover.

Yes, it was in the garden of my previous home on the Isle of Man @pete.

 

Nipped into the allotment yesterday to check the mousetraps and found out they'd had a delivery of manure. If you'd told me twenty years ago I'd be getting excited about shovelling the proverbial, I'd have laughed at you. I left 8 barrows later

 

As I stared forlornly out of the study window, I realised my style of gardening will have to adapt to my ability in later life, to be able to cope with this high maintenance type of garden.
I'll have to switch from Thai jungle, to Mediterranean.......plus I'm going to start fishing again next year......I'll start sorting it after Christmas....maybe(turns and walks out of study)

 

Hi,

Beautiful picture of the garden @Sheal Very well done.

The C/H has been on setting "3" in the studio but it was still cold so I switched on the fan heater to boost the temperature for half an hour; I've had to come out it still being too cold to play my violin.

I'm a dinosaur and as it's so bitterly cold outside thought I'd experiment with Bron's mobile phone trying to make a video of me playing. Here on the computer there's no sign of a video from the phone camera but this is normal for me; we both have a mobile phone but only for emergencies; texting is alien to us as are the phones but now I've started I'll keep trying. Perhaps I should have retained the tons of logs I've given away for years and installed a woodburner in the studio.

No gardening today; the ground is so hard I think I'd need a tungsten carbide tipped spade.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

@Sheal
The sad demise of Oswald,

I have two owls in my small garden, one wooden and one made out of stone, PLUS a rabbit, tortoise and a little robin red-breast who sits on top of a large pebble in a shrub, he’s been happily residing there for 20 years now, since the grandchildren first took an interest in him.

To me they bring life to my garden. I have even got a wooden elongated Staffordshire bull terrier seat which my grandchildren played on as toddlers, and with my own aging staffies 9-10 years, we potter about in the garden or if they have a burst of energy my dogs chase each other around for 5 minutes before sitting down with me on the patio. Although now, I will probably have to wait till next spring until that happens again.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…
It's a bit to frosty to wipe the frost off them

Both of them not looking their best - but if we were left out over night we wouldn't either

 

Ventured outside due to being a bit bored , its a bit frosty to be out in the garden really . Cut some perennials back in the front garden and some in the rear garden, then the blackbird and robin decided they have a mooch around in the border so I've left them to it thinking they'd be gone in 5mins , 30 mins later I am still waiting with a brew and now its mates have turned up , that looks to be it for the day in the garden .