April 2008

1 My prize red cabbage was converted into a tasty sweet & sour red cabbage dish for dinner, but most of my day has been spent testing out Crow's next table-top rally due to start tomorrow evening.  I need to eat more carrots or get a bigger, stronger magnifying glass.
2 I've finished crocheting the evening bag and need to visit my local haberdasher to find a really nice lining for it.  More table-top trials tested tense, tired me.
3 Squeezed in a Mum-in-law visit and were joined by Christine Crowther the 1st (Crow's aunt).  She gave me two wonderful knitting pattern books with some designs in that I can't wait to try, but I've just started a new project - a Sirdar Sirocco jumper.  Back home, yet more TT.
4 It's been an extremely warm week for the time of year, culminating in a temperature of 18C today.  I've noticed that the bushes outside of the bedroom window have all sprung into life and look quite beautiful.  That includes the greengage tree which is in full blossom.  Sadly, there's cold weather and snow showers forecast for this weekend which is disastrous news for fruit trees in bloom and might spoil this year's crop.  Finally, I finished TT testing.
5 I've found a blackbird nesting in our plum tree right outside of the lounge window.  She's sitting in the nest, hopefully on some eggs.  Can't wait to get pics of young ones when they hatch.
6 Nesting blackbirdBlackbirdwatch continues.  Mrs B has sat on her nest all day and didn't even fly away when I went really close, so I was able to feed her.

(This pic is not taken on zoom, I can really get this close.)

Two knittings on the go right now - the second is a jumper for my brother's wife's daughter's son.

7 Have I told you that there's a fabulous, intoxicating scent just outside our front door?  It's a plant in a pot that we inherited with the house.  My knowledge of scents over the years tells me that maybe it's a honeysuckle.  Whatever, it's gorgeous!  Did you know that smell is the sense most closely associated with memory?
8 Our moorhen pair have been spotted nest building inside the pampas grass, swimming and indulging in hanky-panky by the edge of the pond, followed by the male chasing the female for more.... (why are men so predictable?).  Meanwhile I caught Mrs B fast asleep, on top of her eggs, in the sunshine, with her beak tucked away under her wing.  Later we discovered that she's sitting on four eggs.
Lovely day - ventured out in the garden for a touch of planting - 2 pots of potatoes, one pot of garlic, onions put in a tray to root plus four planted out.  Row of garlic planted out and finally, weeding and potato bed preparation (digging and fertilising) in the veg garden.
Crow started prep in the net tunnel by chopping green manure and digging it into three beds.
Harvest: celeriac, carrots, leeks
9 Birthday & Thank You card making during the day.  Later I finished the kids jumper but still needs making up.  Got sand & compost to prepare the tunnel for raised beds.
Harvest:  spicy salad leaves, corn salad.
10 Planted 18 tubers in the potato bed I prepared on Tuesday, plus two rows of carrots sown on either side of my garlic row.  Crow is tackling the worst tunnel beds, weeding and digging in sand ready for my new raised beds to go on top.  Meanwhile Mrs B still sits.......
11 We are just teaming with wildlife at the moment!
07:00  I woke up this morning to find a duck in our pond, having a nice swim and generally ducking about.  She then had a sit on the lawn by the bamboo and another swim.  Too wild to feed though, she flies away as soon as the door is opened.
12:00  Duck's back with her mate in tow, although he's hanging back in the paddock.  She's had another good swim and ducking session.  The moorhens don't seem to mind her, they joined her in the pond.  They came for a break from their frantic nest building.  Unfortunately the drake just flew to join her when Crow went out so they both flew off.
14:00  I'm sitting watching the hailstones..... the chickens are sheltering in the car port.
Besides all this, I've seen a stoat running across the paddock, we've been visited by a big pheasant and there are lots of tiny birds feeding and stealing nesting material - pieces of pampas frond seem to be the current favourite.  All surveyed by Mrs B still patiently sitting on her eggs.
15:00  Now there's thunder.....
16:00 and more sunshine.  Just a small gardening effort sowing some sweetcorn seeds to germinate (hopefully) in the potting shed.
Harvest:  spicy salad leaves, corn salad.
12 A bit of planting, then some digging in the tunnel.  It's very hard work as it's still so wet in there!
Harvest:  last leeks from the tunnel.
We were out for dinner with friends this evening and when we got back Mr Drake & Mrs Duck were having a midnight swim.....
13 .... and they were both sitting by the pond when I got up this morning.
Crow did garden work, giving the lawn it's second mowing of the year and digging and sanding the third tunnel bed.  For me, it's veg planting planning.  Mrs B is still sitting patiently.
Ever made lettuce soup?
Harvest:  lots of spicy salad leaves.
14 Having trouble finding the best ISA.  Why do banks, building societies etc have to make this so difficult?  As for the so-called comparison sites - according to the press some are "paid" to push certain products.  But, can we believe everything we read in the press?  I find the whole thing a bit of a nightmare.
15 A little bit of flower "pot" gardening and houseplant tending, followed by sowing of carrots, squash and chard.  Crow tried to continue in the tunnel, digging in the sand and some leaf mould into the wettest beds.  He ended up sinking like he was in quicksand and had to escape, leaving his wellies behind in the mud.  Then we had to dig the wellies out!
16 Peeped into the pampas grass and spied the moorhen eggs - at least 5 of them.  I've been a spoilt girl with Crow doing outside maintenance clearing gutters and cleaning the conservatory exterior for me, then cooking one of his excellent omelettes for dinner.  Talking of spoiling, I fed raisins to Mrs B and she absolutely loved them.  We've had more overnight rain so more big puddles in the tunnel.   Two of the four garlic cloves have sprouted in the pot I planted.
17 A bright, sunny but chilly day, I ventured out into the veg garden to sow chard, beetroot and turnips.  Then I warmed up digging over the back bed and weeding in the greenhouse.
Harvest: purple sprouting broccoli.
18 A dull and rather cold day - easterly wind making me shiver, so no outdoor activity to speak of.  Well, not for me but a team of four chaps have been cutting back some of our large trees including our beautiful willow (sob) which is now just a very tall stump.  Crow's off on another rally which he and his driver have won for the last two years, so no pressure there then.
19 Whilst tidying my desk area, I came across a reminder of my visit to the British Museum in January to see the Terracotta Army exhibition.  I found it so fascinating, I've recorded what I learned to share with you.  Go to my Terracotta Army page.
I spotted Mr B back on the scene yesterday, seemingly bringing food to the nest.  I wondered if the eggs had hatched but then thought not as Mrs B continued to sit all day.  But I was wrong, she's still sitting to keep her vulnerable new chicks warm.  It's obviously another wonder of nature that they don't suffocate.  I managed to get a glimpse today of four (well, I'm guessing that as there were four eggs) pathetic, ugly, pink, gangly things, all tangled up in the nest, one of which opened a mouth that seemed bigger than it's whole body.  Unfortunately, by the time I got my camera, Mrs B had returned and sat on them again.
20 a tasty morsel?4 young blackbirdsWell, I warned you that they were ugly!

I'm still hand feeding lucky mum with raisins but the chicks get worms.

(Remember, you can click on any image to see a full size version in a new window.)

I've also had a busy gardening day - sowing tomatoes, peppers, celeriac, cape gooseberry and basil, planting out garlic and rooted onions and putting my second batch of onions to root.
Harvest:  spinach & chard.
21 A beautiful day, about 13C with a warmish breeze and hazy sunshine.  The weather forecast for the week is looking up too, so here's hoping my tunnel can start to dry out as I'm desperate to get the remaining potatoes in there.
At last, I've recorded some memories of our ice hotel holiday - see them here.
Sowing:  brussels sprout (indoors)
Germination:  broad beans (outdoors), sweetcorn (indoors)
Harvest:  spicy salad leaves and corn salad.
22 And another lovely day, this time 16C.  Positively roasting in my potting shed and all four greenhouse auto-roof vents open.
Sowing:  cabbage, artichoke, climbing courgette (indoors), salad and radishes (outdoors).
Harvest:  spotty spinach & chard for chicks.
23 Mrs B loves raisinsBlackbird babes 220408Mrs B just loves her raisins...

... and the babes are growing.

I've start to crochet my first victorian scarf,
24 Pretty in pinkBlossoming in blueIsn't it just wonderful?
I do nothing in my flower garden except remove any big weeds & nettles that appear.
And lovely flowers just appear, year after year.

Victorian scarf finished!
25 My new strawberry plants have arrived and I've got nowhere to plant them as they're destined for a raised bed in the tunnel.  Things were looking up on Tuesday as all of the tunnel puddles had disappeared then two days, both with some heavy and persistent rain, means we're waterlogged again.
Crow's been weeding and digging one of my dryer tunnel beds.
Harvest: last turnip from tunnel.
26 Strawberry day for me - first, I weeded in and around the two existing raised beds in the net tunnel.  Then I tidied up all of my strawberry pots/troughs, planting the new runners I made last year.  Then I planted 24 new strawberry plants in a raised bed in the tunnel and one leftover in a hanging basket.  Meanwhile Crow continued with the heavy weeding and digging, hating every minute of it.
Our reward was an invitation to dinner with friends where we had a wonderful meal in very good company.
27 Built a raised bed for my second lot of onions and filled it with my compost.  Indoors I'm going through the tedium of printing Cloverleaf regulations and preparing them for mailing.
28 We're having a real tunnel attack this week. Crow has finished weeding and digging three beds today for my remaining potatoes, then dug a fourth bed and we built another raised bed on there.  I planted my second batch of onions in yesterday's new raised bed.
29 I've taken a big, big chance and planted my 50 remaining potatoes in the tunnel.  I'm concerned that the clay soil is still far too wet and that they will rot rather than grow, but there's no sign of a long dry spell - or even a short one!  Now they're planted and covered with black plastic (recycled empty compost bags, actually) at least that ground won't get any wetter, which is a good thing as we've had prolonged heavy rain this evening.
I also prepared the frame for my last raised bed but that side of the tunnel is swampland again, so much so that it's not even remotely possible to try to proceed.
30 Getting cramped in here...Feed me mummy!Been to the gym, then into London for lunch with the girls,

then back for a spot of bird watching....  haven't they grown.