Today in my garden......

Things are progressing slowly.  I cheered up the building site with some lavender plants - netted to keep the pigeons, and chooks off until they take root.

 

The unusal weather this year has created havoc in the garden.  The deep snow killed off some plants, the hot summer weather in spring meant that my spring and summer plants and shrubs were all in flower at the same time!

 

But I still have some pockets of colour.  I have some perfumed Stargazer lilies dotted here and there and due to flower soon

 

It's my 'shades of red' season in the garden

 

Some of my hardy fuschias have survived

 

This bush is positively dripping with them

 

The 'green row' but will full of colour soon with Cosmos - there's one Japanese basil plant in the pot second from the right - near enough to my door to grab some for lunch

 

Don't these just make you smile?

 

These are in Maxine's garden bed - with lilies and other plants due to flower later

 

I took the garden photos this evening when it was drizzling with rain.  The bantam babes had had their evening meal and were in a nice quiet tranquil mood, just chilling out and quietly 'cooing' to each other, winding down at the end of the day!

Chicken heaven

I ran out of chicken food over the weekend so paid a visit to a friend of mine who buys in bulk and lets me get a sack from him.  He lives locally so no trips to the nearest town which stocks it.

 

I just adore visiting him, a he has so many chickens - these are baby Seabrights

 

And here are some more - they are so cute.  My two came from this breeder

 

Look at the size of the baby turkeys compared to the Seabrights the same age.

My friend hatches these out in incubators - a very clever man

 Some people think turkeys are ugly, but I do not - they make a sweet little noise

 

Yet more Seabrights

  

He has chickens, here, there, and everywhere, and all sorts of breeds.

I just love seeing them freeranging around his huge garden - these are too young yet.

I am not going to post any more about the garden room until it is finished.

I write about the saga with the builder - but decided against posting it - I wouldn't want to be reminded of all the hassle when I look back on it in a years' time.

It is still a work in progress, but hopefully it will be finished by the end of next week - fingers and toes crossed!

Garden Room Day 10

They started taking out the patio door today and we heard a bit of a squeal!

We had told the builder that we had cavity wall insulation - but the information hadn't been passed on to the lads!

We could all just stand there helplessly watching it cascade out onto the floor without being able to stop it.  On the plus side, we are a bungalow so once it had all drained out from the gable wall it gradually stopped.  Have you ever had an experience with the mini foam balls?  You can't sweep them up, any breath of air and they fly all around the room, and they are really full of static!  Mr Lottie and the 'workers' all set to trying to clear them up.  We couldn't use our little vacuum cleaner as it's one with a bag inside and it would have filled up packets of replacement bags which we didn't have!   The men were telling us some funny stories about mishaps with this form of insulation - one of the funniest was when a patio door was being installed on a windy day, and as you can't stem the flow of balls, they flew all over the garden - and neighbouring gardens.  On the positive side we at least had the garden room, and the door closed so were able to contain them.  Sadly the day finished on a downside.  All was going smoothly, the glass in all the windows and the French doors to the extension were fitted smoothly, and look a treat.  But (oh why does there always seem to be a big 'but' in things we have done) - they installed the French doors in place of the patio door, and the doors were supposed to open out and flat against the walls either side; the frame being fitted on the outside of the wall, to avoid the doors 'smacking' against the wall either side if it were fitted inset as patio doors are.  Yes you've guessed it, they fit inside, and even if they move the door frame to the very outside edge, the doors are so big that they will hit the outside walls and not lay flat. So we will lose a metre of space on both sides - which is a lot in a small room, and one door will obstruct a heater and there is no other place it will go!   The 'boss' is back from his other house in France and is due to pay us a visit tomorrow - watch this space - it's bound to all end in tears! He, of course was the one who did all the measuring and ordering.  Hey ho!

 

Garden Room Day 10

At last - progress is romping away now.

My goodness the thickness of the roof panes was a shock

How those men managed to carry them and lift them up onto the roof amazed me, and they got 'whacked' in with a very sophisticated tool - a long lump of wood!

Bluebell couldn't wait for them to go home - then she flew through the door for a look around.  Yes a very clever bantam, as she knew the glass hadn't been put into the windows or french doors yet.

She stood looking out of the door at the others with a rather superior look on her face!

Thank goodness for the workers a duller day today.

Tomorrow - doors and windows to be glazed, patio door coming out, french doors going in.  Electrician coming to do the wiring, and a builder coming to put up the plasterboard.  Thursday the plan is that the plasterer will do all the walls, the builder will lay the pipes and extend the soakaway, and build a step, and Friday, fingers, toes, and everything else crossed, the floor screed will be laid.

Today I spent my time mowing the front lawns and a long time pruning Sylvia's rose arch over the front path.  I did want to clean the chooks run out - but Mr Lottie made me sit down and rest.

Garden Room Day 9.

A funny thing happened last week - Mr Lottie was at a bowls match and a man came up to him and said, 'Heard that you wife is not happy with Tony and the lack of progress on your extension'.

They all had a good laugh at my expense - and my conversation with said builder.

Living in a village, with other small villages around - it's funny how 'word' gets around isn't it, and we hadn't told a soul! So that is probably what prompted the brickie being sent last week to finish off the brick work - and the surprise visit today.

A room with a view

Ok - so it's only the framework.

But it does resemble a room now rather than a building site (Note the garden wall has fallen down) over the weekend - must get the brickie to repair it when he next visits.

Fingers crossed, this time tomorrow the roof should be leaded and glazed.  See the difference in colour of the brickwork.  That is because the base concrete is still drying out and the bricks look darker

With a bit of luck the windows should be glazed too tomorrow!
The guys reckon that by Wednesday evening their part of the job will be finished, including the removal of the patio door and installation of new french doors!

 

It's amazing what two men can achieve in one day - with cups of tea every hour, and cakes and biscuits in the shady studio.  They even had an hour's lunch break too!

The cakes are home made boozy mincemeat swirls, morello cherry madeira squares, and gooseberry and almond strudel.

I spent the whole morning making dozens of sandwiches and rolls for a bowls match tonight, that Mr Lottie wasn't even playing in!   And the bowlers had a stack of the above cakes too.

I'll find out tomorrow if they all passed the taste test when we get our plates back.

Arghhh builders! Garden room days 6, 7, 8

Well the builders disappeared off the face of the earth after day 5.  No phones, no reply to messages zero.  When I did managed to track him down (not the lovely hardworking workers, the person that is owner of the company).   I was told that the bricklayer would be coming towards the end of the following week.  Fibber.  A phone call last Friday - and I caught the builder at home - no apology, nothing!  It should have been finished in three weeks according to him when we decided to go ahead.  that was an even bigger fib!   I hate it when people take advantage of me cos I am nice and friendly and polite.  But the worm can turn - and will - it's the red hair!

I moved a couple of armchairs out of our conservatory just to see where the new settee will go.  It'll look nothing like these

The lovely bricklayer turned up Monday and got 'stuck in'

He used up the bricks and breeze blocks and had to get some more.  This was newly laid turf last year, I do so hope it recovers

End of the day Tuesday - insulation to go in and the breeze block inner walls need to be completed

Thursday late morning all ready for the framework for the roof and windows to go on.  The builder is at his home in France again for two weeks - been over there every other week - how the rich do live.  Keeping fingers crossed they come early next week - but haven't been told.  

Allotment Diary 2011 Me: 56.5 hrs He: 52.5hrs ....cont

So I mowed

The heavens opened and I mowed in the pouring rain, soaked to the skin literally

Half an hour later you'd never know it rained

Not a pretty site, but emergency actions - I picked 4 large carrier bags full of broad beans, and Mr L helped me pull up all the plants.  Because of all the rain forecast we did a quick weed of the plot area but it needs digging over where the broad beans were - so to avoid a jungle growing, we have covered it, and weighted down the plastic with the nearest heavy 'stuff'.   In our defence another heavy downfall was just starting and we had been working for over three hours and I was shattered

Some red potatoes not ready yet, and onions - not a good crop due to the drought conditions

More lawns and paths now mowed, we just have to keep it under control and the weeds grow so fast.

 

The covered bed in the foreground is the only way I can keep in control of the huge plot - its were the potatoes will go next year.

Grass now mowed and weeds pulled and it filled up a compost bin!

I added a few more courgette plants, and headed wearily home.

 

 

I have been busy in the garden too - more of that another time.

Allotment Diary 2011 Me: 56.5 hrs He: 52.5hrs

It's been so hot this past week - really really jungle weather that I have been wilting indoors and going stir crazy.

Today we got an early start up the allotment - and what a difference a week makes !

We have had some thundery showers some nights and the grass has grown and these experimental spuds have too

The pumpking on the compost bin is finally taking off

The courgettes have taken.  Despite a heavy shower when we first got there, the ground dried out really quickly

My primary project was to just pick the broad beans today - and Mr Lottie to have a bonfire

A Comfrey plant has sprung up amongst the broad beans - so too more weeds

Oh now - look at the weeds and long grass - this needs doing too.

It's not going to be the quick visit that I planned.

Pumpkin and courgettes have taken - but oh my the weeds

I'll just have to do the most urgent tasks first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So it was mowing the lawns

And all the paths

Of which there are a lot on my 250ft plot!

 

 

Mr Lottie played bonfires and I spent two hours mowing - passing  my brassica patch en route!  Brussel sprouts on the right, broccoli in the middle, cauliflowers on the left.

Blogger is playing up so I will try a new post and see if that works..................to be continued.