WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2023

Oh Michael!!

Don't carry on until dusk , stop now and rest ! xx

 

Okay, I won't carry on until dusk xx
I fell again but saved myself this time, and I've moved two rather large rose bushes to their new locations, and watered them with two big cans of water, so I'm quite satisfied for today.
I've also been able to tidy a bit more of the shelter on the north side of my garage, and moved some slabs to make room for the roses.
There's loads more to do

 

So sorry to hear of your fall Michael ... trying to catch up with me, huh? Take things a bit gentler now.

 

Thank you @Victoria

 

Hi,

Thanks Logan; amazingly a huge root with also a big tap root just to torment me; I hope it's a one off because there's a lot of roots to get out.

A few years ago I attacked lots of English ivy and our mature hawthorn tree had a massive crown of it in full bloom; I got rid of the ivy by getting rid of the tree.


No easy jobs here; our huge Hawthorn tree.

Here's the English ivy; strangling the tree and the ivy was also established under the very large hedge I removed. Our neighbour collected two full pickup loads of logs just from the Hawthorn.

I hope you've recovered Michael from your tumble; it must have shaken you up and of all the things to land on it had to be a cactus.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Yes i hope so too. The trees around here are like that, they don't look after them at all.

@Michael Hewett take it easy now your fall could have a slow effect on you. I know I've done things that at the time it didn't feel like much but it does after a long time.

 

So sorry to hear about your accident, @Michael Hewett! I hope you won't have lasting repercussions from your two falls. Nevertheless I had a little chuckle as I imagined you falling on the poor cactus & filling your backside with its prickles - like in the cartoon series we used to watch on TV!

I also caused a couple of breakages today, this evening to be precise! First I dropped my mug with the solar system that shows up when hot water is put in the cup. My daughter gave me it for my birthday last year. So it has lasted 11 months! Almost every single day I've used it for my tea at teatime. The transfer was wearing off now & I would have had to remove the remains in a few weeks time anyway.

A couple of hours later I dropped a saucer as well!

 

Oh dear @Balc it was a day of things landing on the ground. Hopefully nothing and no one will fall today.

 

Went for petrol this morning then topped up the mower and gave the "Meadow" its first cut. I have not used the mower since September but the trusty Briggs Stratton started the first tug of the cord.

 

Prepared the urns for the front garden - ready for sapphire trailing lobelia once it gets large enough to plant out - mixture of Miracle Gro peat free - slow release plant food and vermiculite.

Couldn't help but pause in the back garden to take in this Cherry Laurel in bloom. I have this as a hedge in the front - so think of it as a boring evergreen - but WOW can it put on a lovely display. I appreciate it even more as there is not much else flowering at the moment apart from tulips.

Take a close look at this beauty:

 

@Michael Hewett No accidents toady, at least to me, but a poor pigeon got caught by its leg in the strings on the balcony railings that I use for my climbers during the summer months. The poor thing was hanging upside down & I had to go out & rescue it. Fearing it might peck me on the arm I got out a pair of scissors & cut the string whereupon it fell to the balcony floor & scuttled away under the table where I couldn't get to it. It seemed alright so I left it to get over its fright & when I looked again a couple of hours later it had gone! Obviously none the worse for its dramatic entanglement with the string!

 

Hi,

Well done Michael; if everyone cared in the same way the world would be a much happier place.

A few years ago a Kestrel came down at high speed to attack a blackbird; it came down with such velocity it took the blackbird through a large double glazed window this across the street at a neighbours house; my wife and I are animal lovers so the neighbours came across seeking advice.

Both birds were unconscious so we collected them putting the Kestrel in a cat container and closed the door leaving it with water; the blackbird was put in an open cardboard box also with water and we left then in peace overnight; sadly in the morning the blackbird had died but the Kestrel looked pretty good as it watched us.

We took the Kestrel right to the top of our steep garden and and placing the container on the ground opened its door then we stepped back; nothing happened for a few minutes then the Kestrel popped out and we were truly amazed as it just stood there looking at us for what seemed ages before taking low flight just clearing the fence; it was one of those magical moments that are never forgotten.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi,

At last the final two stumps are out but they put up a tremendous fight tiring me out for a few days; I thought these last two would be easy because they weren't the largest but they proved the most difficult being on the steepest part of the garden; they just didn't want to come out; I tried 10 ton hydraulic bottle jack; 2 ton trolley jack; 4 ton hi-lift farm jack; 2.500Lb winch; metal beam with jack each end and wedges and assorted combinations of all these; I also used my new 18V cordless reciprocating saw and new Makita mains powered reciprocating saw together with petrol 20" chainsaw.


Split with wedges but it just laughed at me whilst making me extremely tired.

The new Makita mains reciprocating saw; it's a beauty and if I didn't have this I still wouldn't have got the stumps out.

Wedges split the stump but roots remained very deep; I'm sure the ends of the roots must have appeared in a greenhouse in Australia; so many went straight down meaning getting a jack under the stump was major grief. I only weigh just over 10 stones so swinging the heavy sledge hammer whilst trying to remain upright on the slope was a challenge; it might explain why I feel so tired.

I even tried using a steel beam supported on two jacks but even this failed because of the steepness of the garden; it was difficult and tiring trying to remain standing upright and if I put something on the ground the wrong way it was soon disappearing towards the valley bottom; I've been going to bed tired and getting up the following morning feeling even more tired.

I blunted the petrol chainsaw again but here's the last lump of stump much to my relief; I didn't care how long it took these two stumps were coming out; next big job is removing the many roots but I'll win in the end after all this piece of garden had 8 very tall trees on it in March last year; this must be about as hard as it can get trying to create a wildflower meadow but then nothings easy living here.

This afternoon our CCTV rep was here selling us an upgrade it costing £2,100 another rep will visit tomorrow morning to sort out installation date and time; the rep this afternoon was late arriving he'd just been to visit a house and the police were there in numbers; whilst the owners were enjoying themselves in their garden in rare hot sunshine low scum life had used a mobile phone (Sniffer) through their letterbox to obtain the code for a brand new BMW car and highly expensive Mercedes car driving away in them; this nearby in Holmfirth.

After all this fun and feeling absolutely drained I went into the bathroom and ended up replacing the basin hot water tap washer; I must have been a truly bad person in a former life; I'll resume garden hostilities on Friday because I'm busy for a change tomorrow.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Well done @Retired for getting those tree stumps out.