Fixed, Preparations & Planning!

They have fixed the car!!!!!!!!!!! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Well it appears to be working so far!!!!!

The event of the year takes place this weekend! All children accounted for, outfits sorted, hat, preened, cameras at the ready, memory cards emptied, spare batteries packed! Wedding present wrapped, Oh Lord! I forgot the confetti! Now all we have to do is fit in a 'diddy' car! As you can imagine we won't be taking the new car!!!!! Just in case!

Then we are trolling on down to my sisters! Hubby and K are getting haircuts today! That should give me enough time to clean out the chickens and fit in a spot of gardening before I go, must remember to wear gloves! Its supposed to rain next week according to the weather forecast! Which as much as we need it, I wish it had waited till I had finished digging the jungle bed!!!! Hey ho! Keep your fingers crossed it doesn't go too cool this weekend as my softer jungle plants won't be wrapped up!!!

Another hectic week to come, take K back to Uni, T has an interview at New College Swindon, Tuesday. Wednesday I have to see my friend Hayley plus T has an appointment with her occupational therapist. Somewhere in the week I have to see Sue too (my other friend with MS) although she did tell me there was a chance she may have to go to hospital for the week, for intensive physio! So I may have to visit her there! Plus obviously I need to get on in the garden! Where on earth do people fit time in for work!!!!!!!

See you later with lots of pics ;o)

All go in this household!

As you can see I couldn't sleep!! As I have so much to do today I thought I would do a quick post!

Off to collect K today, apparently whilst Mr Motortrader, drove the car (80+ miles, so he said)yesterday, no red light came on! Hrmph! But he is apparently putting it in to Peugout today!! I shall probably pick it up on the way back!!! Maybe!
Then T has an appointment to check her eyes, then we start getting ready for the wedding!!!! Unless I can fit some more time in, in the garden!!!!

I pottered around outside yesterday


my first climbing french bean has emerged!!!



I have lifted a row of slabs



and started digging. This will be about a metre wide at its thinnest! It is a long time since this bed has been really dug, it is full of bind weed!! Which means I may have to take out the fennel and angelica as the bindweed will have interwoven into their roots!! The jungle plants I will be planting here are not cheap and I can't afford for them to be smoothered by bindweed, even if it does give it an authentic look!!!!!!! You can see how much sun is here which makes it very hot area to work in!



Look at the size of the caster oil plant now!!! I have 2 of these!





These are just 2 of the Elephants Ears that are coming along in the green house! I also planted some brugmansia seeds and the most beautiul morning glory seeds that are red, white and frilly, be interesting to see if they come through. I have alot of flower seeds on the go and intend to have flower beds full of flowers this year!!

I have ordered some 'ripstop nylon' from Ebay! Now shall I tell you what I'm going to make with this or not?????? MMmmmmmmmmm!!!! A Clue.... its for in the garden and I shall have to cut and sew it and if it works it will be quite big!!!

Don't Cross Me Mr Motortrader!!!!!!!

Things are getting very mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! can't think of the word I need!!
Tori has an appointment today, with Occupational therapist and tomorrow for a check up on her eyes. I also have to collect Kathryn from Worcester tomorrow. Friday we are off to the wedding, then on to my sisters Saturday night!

Guess what? we still only have one car!!!! You would have been proud of me yesterday...... the new car has stayed at the garage and was due to be picked up by G one of the partners from where we bought it and taken to Peuguot to be hooked up to a machine and sorted once and for all!!!!! I got a phonecall from S at my garage to say they had returned the car, this was about 1.00ish. They hadn't taken it to peugout, they had supposedly taken it back to Cirencester had their mechanic look at it and driven it all the way back, and guess what the red light had not come on! (Liars) I was furious about this because I had been lied too, so I took a leaf out of hubbys book and did not shout and scream and stamp my feet but stayed very calm, controled and extremely firm. I knew for a fact they hadn't been to Cirencester, the mileage on the car was not enough, they had only driven about 30 miles. I knew also that if I took the car and went to pick up hubby the red light would come on. So after alot of discussion!!! G gave me his mobile number and said if ever the red light came to phone him!
So I took the car, and pootled around, collect Tori then it was time to collect hubby! I hadn't even got to Swindon when the red light came on! So got to hubbies office and phoned darling G!!! and very calmly said, 'the red light is on and I hadn't even got to Swindon before it came on. I know for a fact you never took it to Cirencester becuase had you done so, you would have got the red light, plus the mileage was totally wrong. He jumped in and said he would collect the car tomorrow and take it to Peugout! I said, that is another day I will have been without this car, I paid £**** for this car last Tuesday and I have yet to use it apart from test driving it. Anyway it went on like this and by the time I finished he was groveling and calling me your majesty! Hubby was cheering in the background and said he was well impressed with the way I handled it!! So, they are coming to collect it this morning, leaving me a swap car and I have yet to hit them with the biggy!!! I want to see the paper work from Peugout when they return it!!! I will also know if they have removed the bulb, (just in case they stoop that low)and I am currently reading up on where we stand legally!! DON'T CROSS ME, MR MOTORTRADER!!!!!!!!!

Things could get erratic on the posting front between now and next week, but even if its a short one I will try, so much to do, so little time!!

I did start digging the jungle beds yesterday, so if I have a chance I will try and get some pics. I still have to collect our other car from the garage as they are finishing off the service that was started last week. I also have to wash it and do a multitude of other things but hey ho!!!

Catch you later!!

Do I ? Don't I?

I get the local parish magazine every month. It helps keep me up to date on whats going on! Anyway theres a competition and I wondered if I should enter, it read....

" Is your garden a winner? It doesn't have to be perfect! Why not give it a go and enter H & S Garden Competition. This is being judged during the week Monday 28th May to June 2nd. The winners will be announced and prizes given at the fete on Saturday 2nd June 2007. Do have a go, all levels of ability welcome!"

Now why do I hesitate, well maybe because my garden currently looks like this.... I will take you down the garden then back up...


all that stuff in the bags and wheel barrow needs to go to the tip, I also need to weed between the slabs, the big hairy bush in front of the bumkers needs a trim but if I do it now I won't get the flowers!!



I'm quite happy with the veg area, the box needs a trim and I need more gravel and it would look alot better if the veg and flowers where growing!!



MMmmm well this is a mess, I think I need higher boards around the edge of the chooks, the mess to the left is where I had a compost bin, I plan to get some tyres and plant potatoes in them, and put them there! Then obviously it will need grass seeding!!



right the way down you can see the fence on the left needs painting. This bed needs digging over, and more soil conditioner added, plus I need to edge the bed with boards to keep the grass and the bed seperate!



the fence behind the jasmine stephinosis needs painting, I took out the crocosmia yesterday along the fence it did look a right mess, I had so many cannas, that I have planted them along here as it gets nice and hot, I had also planned to put in some nicotinia (sp) as well. The slabs and gravel need to go and are to be replaced by a circle of slabs with lavender planted at the corners where the circle fits inside the square area, if you see what I mean!!!!



the big yellow thing on the right of the pic is a baby banana! You can see I'm trying to re-seed here!



Well you can certainly see where the chicken run used to be, I can buy some coir matting that you put down then sow grass seed on top, apparently this helps kee the seed moist!! I must plant the sweetpeas and morning glory up the pallets, they are ready now actually!



well maybe I should give up now!!! Thats the brugmansia covered in fleece, you can see why I had to take it out of the greenhouse, it was practically lifting the roof!!
This is really I suppose cosmetic, but being the perfectionist I am I would like this area slabbed!!

Now just turn around and walk back up the garden and pretend to be a judge!!!





Can you see what I see? NO COLOUR!!!!!! and due to my re-designing and I don't think it leaves enough time for many annuals to come up, but the grass seed may if I water!!!

So what would I need to do starting at the top
1. Dig and edge the jungle beds on the patio and plant up.
2. Make 2 lids for the open coal bunkers.
3. Paint the whole length of the left hand fence.
4. Add more gravel to paths round veg plots.
5. Improve edging to chicken run as they keep scratching their run stuff out everywhere!
6. Re dig and edge all the beds at the bottom.
7. Paint fence panels round pond.
8. We have decided on a circle of patio stones by the pond so would need to buy that plus sand and lay!
9. Also make a canopy for by the pond! (long story)
10. Grass seed the bare patches!
11. Finish laying slabs round greenhouse.
12. Get a delivery of top soil and top up beds.
13. Oh yes theres a bed by the pond that needs totally re doing too!

See it doesn't look much when you write it down, but bearing in mind I still have all my other jobs to do, plus, collecting K for us all to go to the wedding this week end, then take her back next week. Up to my mums for her specialist appointment 24th - 27th May. Tori has 2 appointments this week!So on and so forth!!

I think I'll just borrow Yolandas garden, pop it over here for a week, win the competion, cos I can only enter to win!!! Then I may give it back to her!!!!! lol!!!

Car-tastrophe!

I am exhausted! I haven't done much in the garden this last week because of the 'secret'!!!! It was really a surprise for Kathryn although it belongs to me! We have a new car, well we would if it worked!!! I have now told K because it has been so riidiculous you would never believe it!!
We are exceptionally unlucky with cars! Fortunately we have a wonderful garage only 40 mins walk away with 2 fabulous mechanics! If one car goes in for say a service, then without fail something will go wrong with the other car and vice versa!!! Out of all their customers, we return to the garage on the back of a breakdown wagon more in one year than all their customers added together!!
Anyway we had to buy a newer car, as Tori starts to drive in September and both our cars where far to big, engine wise! we had to get rid of the citroen 'stationwagon' (estate)which I loved, a brilliant motorway car, but a massive gas guzzler! So I eventually found this car, an X reg Peuguot 306, 1.4, only 31,000 miles on the clock! Brilliant! So took it to my garage, (bearing in mind we have taken a number to them over the last week or so) they checked it over and where quite excited that this was a brilliant car! So went back paid for it signed all the documantation and drove home!!!
Wait for it!!!!!!
1.5 miles from home it developed an electrical fault!!!! I limped to my garage! Who could not believe what they where seeing and their first words out of the mouths "I have never met anyone as unlucky with cars as you lot!" Now the guy who checked it over was feeling as guilty as anything, but to be fair, no one can see or predict an electrical problem!
Fortunately they had given us a 3 month warrenty. So phoned them up and they agreed for my garage to work on the problem and they would pay them! Now the only problem being this fault would only show after being driven 40+ miles! So thats what I have been doing, the garage have been going step by step through, trying to find the problem, and each time it has to be driven! They already have a full diary and each time I am being squeezed in! So they don't have the time to do the driving bit! It got to the stage where they had done everything they thought it was, so in agreement with where we purchased it, they got 'Auto Electrics' in! It now has to go to Peugout!
So we still don't have the car its at our garage, where it will be picked up on Tuesday to be taken to the Peugout garage by the people we purchased it from and then returned to my garage for them to check that these guys haven't done anything dodgy like, removing bulbs, so the fault doesn't show up!! I don't think they will, but we got this car for a very good price and with all the work thats been done so far there profit is 'zilch!'
So is it worth keeping, I hear you all say! Apparently, yes! Our mechanics say its a great car, the best we have had, if the electrical problem can be solved with supporting paper work from Peugout, then its definately worth keeping! I must admit this is the most we have ever spent on a car, it has ABS brakes, front and side airbags, power assisted stearing and of course nost important to teenage girls a CD player!!! I still await its arrival to our drive!!!!!!!

Yesterday I promised I would go out into the garden ....... I did and it looked lovely!!!!!! lol!!!!

I'm afraid we are a bit wasted! I know hubby has a motorbike but as you know he works for a building society, he is on a very high profile project and everytime he has to meet outside people he has to wear a suit! Suits and motorbikes don't go! So I have been driving him to work each morning which is 40+ miles there and back, then back again to take Tori to school(12+), then do all the driving on the other car, collect T from school(another 12+) then go back and collect hubby (40+ again)!!! So I think now, you might understand why I have blogged so little, and visited other blogs even less!

So just to end this and to prove I did go out and look round the garden yesterday a few pictures....

The peas are coming through...


No sign of the French beans though! Look what was buzzing around my greenhouse..





Its a hornet. This is the second year we have seen one down here so they must be nesting somewhere close by!

I will try getting out into the garden today, but I was not impressed with Big Bird, one of my chickens, 'Bedawking' at 06.15 this morning! Its her alarm call, so I shot out of bed and down the garden, to find her 'bedawking' away and everyone else happily scratchin around! Well at least I stopped her and hopefully it didn't wake any of the neighbours this Sunday morn!!