Daybreak to Sunset

Sunrise

It seems to me that the more tired Coco gets during the day the earlier she wakes up the next day.  We've tried an 8 o'clock bedtime a 7 o'clock bedtime and half past 6 as well.  The result?


We are still up at about 6.15 in the morning.  Even a trip to Banham Zoo with Auntie's Angela and Sarah didn't make a difference, up bright and early this morning.

Never mind, if I'm honest I do lay there waiting some mornings for her to rouse so its really no hardship at all.

Levelling the compost!

That, in it's own way was an explanation of how we came to start this post with a sunrise picture instead of a sunset.

Anyway, we have been adding to the structural stability of our poly tunnels ; and in doing so have started to incorporate some raised beds.

It didn't take us very long at all, we screwed 4 planks of left over decking together filled it with compost and dug it into the soil below.

Firming the compost!

Coco took on the levelling job with gusto and initiative.  Having started with her rake it quickly transpired that this was neither fast enough or hands on enough for my little assistant.

The only answer really is to launch yourself onto the bed and push the compost around with your hands and then walk up and down to firm it all.

It worked a treat!

Teamwork

As you are aware we always like to bring glimpses of some of the creatures we get visiting the garden and here on the caravan wheel are a couple spiders who seem quite happy sharing a web for their evenings hunting.

We also get numerous bats flying around  the property at dusk and we could sit and watch them for hours, (except it gets dark and we can't see them) as they remove countless mozzies for us.

Now I was told/read/or heard somewhere that if you stand very still and then clap your hands slowly and rhythmically above your head the bats will fly much closer to you and you will attract more of them.

So, having checked it was September not April, I found myself a quiet little spot in the corner of the paddock which was under their main flight path and not in view of the house (or Nanny Southwellski!) and away from prying eyes.

I stood very still then slowly raised my hands up and started to clap rhythmically (Nanny Southwellski will tell you my sense of rhythm is not great and in fact seldom has any rhythm of its own, its more a random selection of steps/claps/toe taps etc.)

I tried for about 5 minutes and only succeeded in attracting Blossom, who looked at me with pity in her eyes and then wandered off.

Did it work? Did it Charlie, I doubt they will ever return.

Yellow Winged Darter

Never mind, this little chap on the left is a Yellow Winged Darter, a member of the Dragonfly family who landed on the deck fence at lunchtime.

We have quite a few of these and other Dragonflies floating around and I do mean floating around, they are incredible exponents of flight!

Sunset

And finally, tonight's sunset.  It seems only right that as we started with sunrise we should finish with sunset.

Blow the wind Southerly, Easterly, Northerly and Westerly!

The UK has been blasted by South Westerly gale force winds, except for Grandpa Southwellski's Garden that is.

A bit of ventilation!

Here, upon reaching the garden some of the gusts took a sharp right turn (South East) after the bungalow,  took down our poly tunnel and  then rejoined their South Westerly buddies and went on towards Feltwell.

It was a bit of a blow (excuse the pun) because everything was looking lovely in there yesterday and was the source of much pride for Coco and I.

But hey ho, it will be again once we have fixed it, and if the wind drops overnight that will be our job for tomorrow.

Trevor and the boys!

Our tomatoes are at last starting to turn and I sampled the first ripe one today in a sandwich with our own cucumber and home-made bread, it was delicious and needed nothing else!

Remember Trevor and the boys? Well here they are in out of the wind and safe and well, for now anyway haha haha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

We are still busy preparing and preserving our produce and the next batch of fruit for preserving arrived in the kitchen earlier in the shape of a huge basketful of pears.

It always amazes me how much fruit you end up with once it's actually off the tree.  There never seems to be that much when its growing.

Moon rising over Hawthorns

We also made our fist batch of Hawthorn Syrup which is good for circulation, heart problems, hardened arteries and anxiety and restlessness.  So if I suddenly fall asleep on the keyboar.........
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...d you will know why.

This will go alongside our Rosehip Syrup which has already proven its worth with a cold circulating at the moment, it certainly makes a difference.

A peck of purple peppers

In the poly tunnel we have (had?) a good crop of peppers and chilli's coming on and one plant has peppers that are a beautiful purple colour.

I've not seen these before so whether they will turn red at some point I am not sure.

Now as for the melons, well I am not sure if its was a cruel joke on the part of Focus or if it was the mix up in labelling when I was being ably assisted by my small partner in grime but the melons we planted are now sporting some really healthy looking Cucumbers!  Not a melon in sight!

Never mind, peeled, chopped and put in a bowl with some grapes, cherries and a splash of cream and no one will know!

One of the chicks

The chicks are doing exceptionally well and we have 6 of Brutus's offspring along with 3 Buff Orpington's which are about 5 days younger that the first brood.

Blossom is beside herself and is waiting for the chance to get in the cage with them.

We moved the chicks into the utility room and when I put the dogs to bed Blossom sat there staring into the cage, she was still there the next morning in the very same spot!

She was exhausted all day and didn't even bark at passing dog walkers.

Well that's it for tonight, hopefully tomorrow will see the poly tunnel rebuilt, plants retied and everything back to being good in the garden.  Now for some more Hawthorn syrup!

A whole load of firsts

First Cauliflower

I actually saw this for the first time this evening and I have been checking my caulis for the last few weeks and missed them, good job Nanny Southwellski and I are off to the opticians tomorrow.

Do you know who I bumped into the last time I was at the opticians?  Everyone!

We had a very special visitor to the garden on Sunday, in fact we had special visitors all weekend and I had a very able trainee poultry manager in Ed Waldren the son of some good friends who, despite allegedly not liking chickens at all spent much of his time here in the chicken run.

In fact the eggs didn't even settle in the straw before they were delivered to the kitchen.  Good job Ed!

Ed was accompanied by his younger brother Archie who ran the dogs ragged all weekend and his parents Sal and Alan and we really enjoyed them being here. 

Our other special guests were Norga and Carlos, distant relatives on Nanny Southwellski's side of the family.  They came all the way from Bolivia just to visit the garden, oh, and go to some meetings in London and Norway while they were here. 

Carlos was the Bolivian Ambassador to the UK and is now involved in a global youth project encouraging young people into business.  Now other than Ed and Archie, guests just don't get any more important than that.

French Breakfast Radishes

The other firsts include my French Breakfast radishes which are soooooooo much milder than the burn your mouth vindaloo style radishes we had earlier in the year.

I couldn't give them away!

Peppers, no really!

I'm a Cucumber, not a cactus!

In the poly tunnel it's all happening too, we have cucumbers and peppers starting to appear and the tomatoes I planted in the tunnel some 4 weeks after planting out the outdoor ones have overtaken them already.


Now I am sure there was another first today, now what was it?

Only kidding, Coco took her first proper steps today and as soon as someone shows me how to upload a video from my mobile I will put it on here!  We are all so proud of her, now to get her name down for a paper round!