Posting on my Blog, Visitting Yours!

I am sorry that posting on my blog and visiting yours, has been very erratic. I am fine, just very busy, whilst eldest is home from Uni., I have taken the opportunity to enjoy her company and crack on with Christmas stuff!
I am still awaiting a date for my surgery and the longer I wait the closer Christmas gets! I am actually only just, feeling human again and able to tackle stuff with enthusiasum after my bout of flu! Now thats 2 weeks, unbelievable. I find this hard to get my head round as I eat healthier now than I ever have, yes I might carry a bit too much weight but am working on it!!

1. So trying to finish off and tidy up bits and pieces in the gardens and greenhouses so hubby has nothing to worry about.
2. Knitting for England, well Christmas actually!
3. Still have Christmas cake to make.
4. Most of the pressies I have to buy I will do so online.

Oh! the planning committee meets tonight and you can view the report the planning officer has made. We are happy with his recommendations, lets hope the committee follow them!!!

Right must dash, so much to do, so little time to do it!!!! lol!!!

Dreaded Monday!

I usually hate Mondays, its the day after the weekend and everyone goes to work, college or whatever. Its normally gloomy but today its brilliant sunshine and look what came in the post.............



a parcel............................ from my blog friend Vallen and what a lovely surprise was in side.



full of lovely woolie felted goodies all in my favourite colour which match beautifully with my kitchen! A super teacosie for the important teapot in a tea drinking family, some coasters to save my lovely wooden table from hot cups of tea, and pot pan holders so I don't burn my handies when lifting my pots off the Rayburn.

But did you see the added detail



sleeping on the sofa of my teacosie....................my ginger puss cat!
Thank you so much Vallen, these will be, I was going to say, treasured but thats not right they will be well used, and no doubt admired by many.

Did you remember?

To turn your clocks back? Remember 'Spring forward, Fall back'!! I did!!!

I have had a very enjoyable week with my daughters both home from 'uni' and college!
In between spending time with them I have been bubblewrapping the greenhouse which is looking good, it actually looks like a proper greenhouse! Quite professional I think!!

This is the big greenhouse, I expect most people think its quite empty, but this is my first year and I'm quite worried about packing the plants in, I'm not sure how infections/infestations will occur, thats of course 'IF' they occur, and how effective my heating will be.



in here I have amongst all my brugmansias, my variagated Brugmansia, it is the only one I have not cut back as it is in bud and I want to see what colour the flowers will be, fingers crossed.



I do currently have a problem already in here and its only October!!!!! Condensation, lots and lots of it all running down the inside of the bubble wrap? This puzzles me as I have never experienced this problem in my small greenhouse before and thats been up and running and full to the brim for the last 3 winters!!! I have my Ensete Maurelii in here which needs to have its trunk area kept dry becuase if it freezes it will die, which happened to one of my nanas last year! But the condensation keeps dripping on the leaves and rolling down to fill up the trunk again, so I really have to solve this somehow?

This is the small greenhouse..............



As you can see the Sanguinea is still flowering its little heart out




I have my various 'nanas' in here as I know how the heating works, I'm a bit concerned with one of the leaves and hope its not serious and just probably the cooler time of year, so will cut it off later today!



My baby 'Rex' looking good!



and these are my date palms, remember from the 'Great Pip Challenge'!



Outside my Tree Ferns are still coming along well



haven't been hit by any frosts ........................... yet!!!!

my bananas are still growing away sending up new leaves I still think it is too early to wrap them up but will start preparing during this week so I can wrap quickly, if necessary!

This is my 'plantation' at the top of the garden


and this is my lone one with tiny babies at the bottom.



and to finish for today, remember I dug up the caster oil plant on the patio to make way for the huge water butt? Well its survived after all the beating, digging and chopping that it got its come through



and its flowering too!!!!

Your Right!!

I am pushing myself far to hard!!! I'm still suffering with a sore throat and headache, plus having to deal with my pain! But the real problem is, there is no one else to do it! If I hadn't had the op in August this would all have been sorted!

So

I'm a woman, a mother and if no one else does it what do we do?
We do it ourselves!!!! Theres no one to come along and rescue us!

Monday we managed to get the doors on and I'm thrilled because they meet! Which means it has to be fairly level!!!




Even found a pane of glass which fitted in the door where one had broken!!! I have ordered a frost protector fan heater and am bidding on another one on EBAY!!! So hopefully I will have one tube heater and one fan heater in each greenhouse!!

Been to the shops, my first time out since I had the flu, had to take the blue car to the garage for its MOT tomorrow and we had to walk back from the garage, couple of miles, can you remember where I live?



We are to the left of the white houses in the middle of the picture!!!
Tuesday we are off up to Worcester, K's not too well, and wants to come home. But she has promised to help with the gravel delivery when it comes, probably next week!
So an early start tomorrow as we are down to one car, and hubby usually leaves at 7am!! Thats why I'm posting this now!
If we are back in time I shall wash all of the greenhouse and hopefully start getting the bubble wrap up, then I can move my 'precious' plants in!
I must admit compared to the 6 x6 this ones huge!!! Wonder how long that feeling will last!!
Oh and just to let you know I don't sit back with my feet up in the evening, the Christmas presents are coming along well!!!

Exhausted!

And still not finished!!!! But wasn't it a glorious day yesterday!
Well the rubber/foam strips arrived late saturday, my post doesn't come till about 2pm!!! By the way is anyone still waiting for post from the postal strike? I am, 2 parcels, seem to have disappeared into the depths!!!!!!!

So we awoke on Sunday, rareing to go, ate a hearty breakfast and set off about 9.45am!! Now being the perfectionist I am, we had to scrape away all the old rubber, clean off all the bits before we could stick down the new!
Being such a lovely day we roped T into helping so set up the patio, table, chairs and yes parasol! It was so hot we caught the sun.
Anyway T was chief drink and lunch maker, she also entertained Tango who was not impressed about us being so busy and not being able to fuss him!




having scrapped and cleaned and stuck , I was able to start the glazing, whilst hubby scraped and cleaned the roof bars.

I can't remember what time this was but it is definately afternoon, and I have glazed the back and this side, whilst hubby is still up the ladder doing the roof



can you see where we have gone wrong???? I kid you not! A clue, what is missing from the roof? Got it yet?

Windows!!!! at this exact time I hadn't realised and by the time I had, the whole of the front had been glazed too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So what to do, we had to undo the apex and loosen all the roof struts, then grease and slide in the windows from the door end, praying to goodness that we don't crack any glass! It was flipping hard, but we did it and no breakages either!

I couldn't photograph the finished greenhouse last night as it was too dark and we had to finish, using the garden lights and large torches, of which we have a few, well we do live in the country!!! So we got back inside the house at 8pm, at which time we had a carry out!!!!! I had no energy to cook!

So here it is this morning




all thats left to do now is, hang the doors, bubble wrap and fit an automatic opener to one of the windows, I should also get some gravel delivered as I shall weed membrane and gravel down either side of the main path.

I need to do some shopping, sort out some other bits and pieces before the blue car has to go to the garage tonight, for its MOT tomorrow, so I shall probably finish all the bits and pieces in the greenhouse tomorrow when I'm carless!!!!!!!