Friday, April 20, 2007

Builders on the roof, Me on the Patio!

I was up and buzzing around, the builders came...


Apparently who ever had fitted the flue had done a real botch job and they where surprised we hadn't sprung a leak earlier! So done and fixed!!!

Cleaned out the chickens, I'l still using the straw I wrapped the banana in and they love it. I have seperated the run from the eglu and this is looking through the run, a chickens eye view'!!



they love it when I put the new bedding in and scratch away for ages.



So you ask what do I do with the old bedding? Well I follow Scarecrows lead and water very thoroughly then use it as a mulch...



well if we are going to have a drought I may as well be prepared and the straw has been in the pen a couple of weeks so hopefully they will have eaten all the seeds!

I got a phone call from my friend with MS, she sounded upset so went up. Prior to getting MS she has suffered for years with Raynaud's Disease ( poor circulation to hands and feet) and it has now become so serious that her GP has had her admitted as a day case at the hospital on Monday (without any arguments from her, very unusual)and is expecting her to be kept in. She showed me her legs, which are purple to just under the knee and freezing cold and her hands are going the same way, she says it is so painful! As if she hasn't enough on her plate. Fingers crossed they can help her!

As you know I keep my 'tropical' plants on the patio, it has its own micro climate as it is south facing! I was trolling round 'Ebay' again this afternoon (very dangerous) and have decided to re design this area as well, so the plan is... looking down the garden this is the end of the patio on the left



you can just make out the banana on the left of the pic. Right remove all untropical plants (to the bottom) lift the five slabs and remove gravel, re-edge, compost ready for planting.




just infront of the banana you can see a palm, Phoenix Canariensis. Well I followed the winter instructions and I think its died well it looks it in the middle!! Never mind. So the plan for this is to dig everything out, except the banana, edge and compost.



Don't forget my garden up here is only 13ft wide! So I am removing a row of slabs to widen the bed, the big green bushy plant is angelica and it hits 6ft+ every year so that can stay. Beyond it is a fennel which must be in its 4th or 5th year so is really past its best, so I will probably take that out to. I have 2 small clumps of Myscanthus that I hope have made it through the winter. So again give it a good dig add compost edge and then decide where I am going to put everything!!


What do you think I have under these?





Yep! Tomatoes, well I had so many in the greenhouse I thought it was worth a try, I just put the lids on in the evening and take them off the next day! They are not dead yet!!!!!

Well only a short blog today, I might drag hubby out to Hardy Palms in Bristol tomorrow, then again I might not. Right off to make tea have a great weekend everyone. Lets hope it rains soon! (At night, of course!!!)

6 comments:

A wildlife gardener said...

I love that chicken run! My mum used to keep chickens. I loved it when she was incubating eggs and we could watch the whole procedure of the chick using its egg tooth to hatch, drying its feathers and running around cheep-cheeping...saying I'm alive, I'm alive!

Shammickite said...

I like your chicken nur too, I'd love to have some chickens. Even though I have loads of room, I can't keep them.... the Town rules are NO LIVESTOCK! Except cats'n'dogs of course. The garden's looking good. We have had our first warm days and everything is sprouting.... hooray!

Petunia's Gardener said...

Libby, you are just a powerhouse of energy! I have so many things I want to do outside and we have these cool, wet days. In no time, I feel chilled to the bone. I have to break down some projects into bite size pieces so I can at least get a little underway. This job thing just gets in the way! Enjoy the weekend.

Anonymous said...

Wow your garden is brilliant and you change you beds more often than I change my duvet cover it seems (joke)

I use milk bottles all the time up my allotment - to keep the rabbits and pheasants from eating the plants and to keep the wind off them and to keep the frost off them - brilliant aren't they?

Have a lovely day tomorrow

mrsnesbitt said...

Fantastic stuff Libby, what a workhorse you are!

garden looks so fantastic, what an inspiration!

Have a great day.
Dxx

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

You're working hard and doing great things in the garden. How happy your chickens look while scratching away in the straw.

Can't wait to see your bananas unfold their leaves!

I hope those builders did a good job and you will have no more leaks!!!