Another busy day

Thursday morning started with a walk down the lane. 30% had decreed that it should be a family outing, so TP joined us, and we had a pleasant amble. The dogs had their usual fun and games, taking in the scents from the comings and goings of the nocturnal wildlife.

After lunch I headed out to the potting shed and installed a LED strip light over the potting bench. The light in the shed isn't great, and the lower light levels of Spring and Autumn make improvements necessary.  I should point out that I only installed the light fitting today ... connecting it up to the lighting circuit can wait for a day or two.

In the early afternoon TP and I headed over to see Dot 'n Dave on our bikes. We swapped machines, so TP had his first run out on my R1250R, and got to ride TP's recent acquisition, a very nice Honda VFR 800 in a stunning red livery.

The roads were busy, which was unfortunate, as TP's VFR was just begging to be opened up on the twisty road towards Arrow.  I'm certain he would have liked to explore the BMW's capabilities too.

We had a lovely afternoon with Dot 'n Dave, catching up on each others' news. There was, predictably, a lot of motorcycle based conversation. Dave has recently re-acquired his Honda 50th Anniversary VFR 800 and has also managed to swap his, much disliked, BMW F800 for a Royal Enfield Meteor.  It is good to see that he is now much more positive about his bikes, as he was considering stopping riding a few months ago.

Later in the day I met up with Bubbles over at Barton for an evening of fishing. 

Last week we fished at Fladbury and I caught nothing at all. Bubbles was slightly more successful, bringing in a large olive green bream, but that was it. I suggested that we should try a change of venue because our recent successes at Fladbury were giving me the expectation that we would catch a decent fish every time. I was also slightly suspicious that we were catching the same fish repeatedly, so I thought fishing a different section of the Avon would be a good idea.

We had a fun evening, chatting nonsense and watching the antics of a lovely young robin that was very confident. It flitted from rod to rod and even perched on my fishing chair and took crumbs from my hand.

As for the fishing, I had plenty of bites, but Bubbs had very little interest at all. I was using luncheon meat, marinaded with garlic and chilli powder. Bubbles was using a commercial Red Robin boilie. Of the two baits, the Barton fishy community seemed to prefer the luncheon meat.

Over the course of the evening I managed to bring in a very small chublet and a slightly larger skimmer bream.  Unfortunately there were no monsters, but the bite rate increased the later it got. I would have happily fished for another hour, but Bubbles had work tomorrow, so I thought it only fair to call it a day at half past ten.

Many little things

I had nothing in particular that I wanted to achieve today. 

I have just about finished the potting shed reorganisation. The greenhouse has been cleared and is ready to move from the practical to the ornamental, and a large quantity of rubbish has been removed to the tip.

So today I amused myself with little things.

I wandered out to the tomato greenhouse, checked the plants for side shoots and removed the lower leaves. I can report that our Sweet Aperitif plants now have ripening fruits. This is about fifteen weeks from sowing to first harvest, and, according to the internet, exactly the timescale expected.

After sorting out the tomatoes, I refilled the water butts and tanks from the well, and then headed indoors.

My next job was to prepare a batch of sugar syrup for hive #3. The syrup recipe is 1.2 l of water to 2 kg of granulated syrup and it was soon prepared and left to cool.

With my bees foremost in my mind, I then headed up to the orchard and cleaned out the wasp traps. I estimate that the four traps produced a litre mixture of fermenting syrup and wasp corpses. It is truly incredible how many of the damned things I have caught.

The traps were reassembled and refilled with some partially fermented syrup, left over from a couple of years ago. I also gave hive #3 a couple of litres of syrup. It will be interesting to see how quickly they take it in to the hive, and whether it has any effect on colony size.*

The morning was drawing to a close, so 30% and I lunched before heading over to Powick with our little trailer in tow.  30% had found a couple of rather nice wicker chairs for sale on Facebook Marketplace, and we set off to see if they were suitable for the greenhouse transformation.

On arrival we decided that they would do nicely. They will need new cushion covers but the chairs are of a decent quality and will warrant the expenditure on new covers ... I can see some exotic plants being procured in the coming weeks!

We arrived home to be greeted by TP. He had just come back from a short holiday in Ireland, and was to spend a couple of days here with us.

As we caught up with TP's news unexpected visitors arrived. The chap who had ordered a few jars of set honey had turned up with his wife to collect them. We invited them to join us for afternoon tea and had a pleasant hour with them.

Later in the day TP and I headed down the lane with the dogs, and we realised that it was actually far warmer than I thought. We kept the walk relatively short, but I have noticed that Whiffler is now starting to show his age and is probably better being given a couple of short walks than a couple of miles.

My final activity was to use the potting shed for the first time. I planted out a couple of trays of Durham Early Spring Cabbage ... let's hope they don't get eaten by Whitefly, Pigeons, Slugs, Snails ... I sometime wonder why I grow veg!

So that was my Wednesday. An alternative title for today's Journal entry is, Does anyone have a recipe for a litre of candied wasps?

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* This colony is far too small to produce a honey crop this year, so there is no risk of contaminating a honey crop with sugar syrup.

At last!

"Tip run" has been on my to-do list for several months.

During this time at least three piles of unwanted materials have been created around the place, and they were long overdue for disposal

As already mentioned, the trailer was filled on Sunday, and, this morning, the tow bar was attached to the car. Today had been selected as the perfect day for a Recycling Centre Tip visit, as we assumed that it would be quiet.

As we drew near, we had a casual wager on how busy it would be. 30% confidently declared that it would be empty, whilst my guess was that there would be a couple of cars. As we drove on to the site it was clear that my guess was in the ball park, but it was also clear that we had arrived just in time ... by the time we had unloaded there were cars queuing to gain access to the skips.

Who are these people, and why aren't they at work?

The rest of the day wasn't particularly exciting.

The wine we ordered at The Game Fair arrived and is now cluttering up the hallway.  

I had my second visit to the dentist. The tooth is cracked, and has been filled to see if that resolves the sensitivity. My dentist isn't confident that it will be effective, and a follow-up has been arranged in two week's time. A crown is predicted to be the final solution.

The rest of the afternoon was spent bottling another batch of honey. This included a special order batch of five jars for a local chap, who loves the velvety smooth texture of a set, rape flower honey.  I must admit that he has good taste, as I, too, think it is far superior to the runny honey* that I sell. The only problem is that it is really challenging to bottle it. It needs to be warmed sufficiently to be able to get it in the jar, but not too much, or it becomes liquid. It also has the potential to get everywhere, making a mess of the jars.

Bloody customers!

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* Over the years I have found it virtually impossible to sell set honey from my little roadside stall. I can sell runny honey by the bucketful, but no-one wants the set stuff. On the rare occasions that I can get someone to try the set honey, they are generally converted by its luxurious feel in the mouth, but most plebs just want "the runny stuff, like they get at the supermarket"

Bees and the Dentist

Monday started with a check of the hives.

Hive #1 certainly looks no worse than last week, and possibly a little better. It is no longer plagued by wasps, which seems to suggest that my wasp traps are helping reduce the problem. In fact, so effective that I now need to empty them of wasp corpses and refill them with syrup.

Hives #2 and #3 are also doing well, although I noted that hive #3 is running short of stores and will benefit from some sugar syrup in the next couple of days.  The other two hives have partially filled supers left on after the May honey harvest, so they have plenty of reserves.

There doesn't seem to be many nectar producing flowers at present, which is possibly a result of the very dry Spring and early Summer. I am starting to think that my May honey crop will be the only one this year, although there will be some ivy nectar later in the year to help keep the colonies going through the Winter.

After checking on the bees I applied myself to bottling some honey.  I have had a surge in sales over the past few days and supplies for my little stall need to be replenished.

The only other thing worthy of mention was a trip to the dentist. A few weeks ago I bit down on something and felt a significant crack in one of my teeth.  It has taken me until today to get an "emergency" appointment.  Fortunately I have not been in pain, just very sensitive to hot or cold food and drinks.

The dentist is unsure whether I have simply broken a filling, or cracked the tooth ... I have another appointment scheduled for tomorrow, to investigate matters further.

That looks better

Having doused the wasp nest with a liberal dusting of permethrin powder on Friday, it was now devoid of life.

I was therefore able to remove the beautiful papery construction and dispose of it. The nests are quite incredible things. It is just such a shame that they are home to such nuisances.

The removal of the nest allowed us to finish sweeping up in the shed and completing our reorganisation.  It is quite remarkable how the removal of the central partition has made the shed seem larger and the space much more usable.

With 30% lending a hand in the shed, I was able to attend to the pile of unwanted rubbish that we seem to have accumulated over recent months.* 

I had used our trailer as a dumping ground for items cleared from the shed. It was now empty again, so I made a start on filling it for a tip trip.** Over the next few hours I cut up the various pieces of sheet material and slotted it in to the trailer. Oddments of weld mesh and short sections of aluminium extrusion were gathered and stacked in there too.  Various items of miscellaneous crap were collected from the car port and we finally got to the revolting table that dominates the lovely greenhouse to the side of the house.***

It was with great pleasure that I smashed the legs and frame from this vile thing, and I then took out my circular saw and reduced the 8' x 4' top in to four manageable sections. These were stacked in the trailer and the load was carefully roped ... the tip trip is planned for Tuesday.

My final job of the day was to take the circular saw to the wooden partition that had divided the shed. I had originally hoped to recycle the timber, but I could see that I would just end up with a lot of split oddments.  The now manageable sections were wheeled up to the orchard and will be the basis of a bonfire in the near future.

So that just about sums up a rather busy and productive Sunday.  The potting shed and Greenhouse both look fantastic**** and we can't wait to find some decent chairs and plants for the latter. As I said a couple of days ago, "I think my next project may be some tiered greenhouse shelving."

The only other thing worthy of mention was that the cereal crops in the fields around us were harvested today. As the straw was being baled, 30% called me upstairs to take a look from the bathroom window ... we were delighted to see hares running across the stubble. 

It is lovely to see these marvellous animals so close to home.

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* When I say "recent" I am probably pushing the definition somewhat. I am certain that some of the bits and pieces have been piled up for a year or more.

** This had been on my to-do list since March!

*** The shed refurbishment had always been part of a long term plan to clear out this greenhouse and enable it to be used as a home for more exotic specimens.  It has always had a large table that was aways cluttered with general gardening debris and potting miscellanea. Hence I needed to construct a new potting bench and then find the space to site it.

**** The car port looks a lot better too.

A wedding

 I feel a little churlish about how I feel about today's main event ... it was a wedding.

The problem is that it was the wedding of two people that I am not particularly close to.  The couple live just down the High. Street from The Pile, and we have been casual acquaintances since they moved in to the village about seven years ago.

30% has a much closer relationship, as the female half of the couple is a manicurist, and, the two of them have bonded over nail painting sessions.

I know them both to say "hello" to, and they are a pleasant couple, but we are not part of their friendship circle, so I felt that we would definitely be cast as extras at todays event.

Having said all of that, the ceremony was at the local church and the evening do was at the village sports club, so it would have been very antisocial not to make the effort.

Basically we were to attend the church ceremony at two clock and then make a second appearance at the party in the evening.

As a result the wedding consumed most of the day. We needed to be clean and tidy for the church, and, really, maintain that level of freshness for the later party. 

So the morning was taken up with gentle pottering, we lunched, attended the ceremony, and then had a damned good snooze in the afternoon. After a light supper, we headed up to the sports club for a drink and to be sociable, and headed home after the firework display.

It was a pleasant enough experience, I just wish that I had been more emotionally and socially connected to the happy couple.

The Game Fair

For the past few years we have been regular visitors to the annual Game Fair.

Last year it was held on the Blenheim Estate, and we had a pleasant enough day there, despite the fact that their traffic management, signage and general organisation was piss poor!

One highlight of last year's visit was the encounter with a small scale wine merchant. They dragged us in to their stall and asked about our tastes in wine. I sampled the best red* I have ever drunk, and promptly ordered a case of twelve. From that point on the relationship was established and I have a lot more good wine in the house and a lot less money in my bank account.

The merchant in question would be present at this year's Game Fair, which was being held on the Ragley Estate; a few miles down the road from home. We, therefore, decided that a tasting session would be one of the main reasons for attending the show.

After attending several, we have decided to give future Game Fairs a miss. It is very much a case of a "been there, done that, got the shooting jacket" event ... They are all very similar. Another reason for this year's attendance was as a training session for Wilson; to see how he performed on the lead with lots of people, strange noises and countless other dogs.

So, let's get back to the narrative. 

We arrived at Ragley around ten o'clock this morning and were soon wandering amongst the stalls and exhibits. Wilson was performing reasonably well, although we still need to curb his tendency to pull on his lead. 

We eventually spotted the wine merchants stand, wandered in and introduced ourselves.  Their sales approach is very much based on relationship management and we were welcomed in like old friends. A long sampling session followed, and we ended up ordering a couple of mixed cases.

By now the day was becoming very warm, and the dogs refused to drink from any of the water bowls present in front of the stands. We decided that we would lunch and then head home. The obligatory pies and ice creams were consumed, before we endured the four mile run back home.

On interesting point about today's event was that it we learnt that the Organisers had deployed signal blockers. This meant that they could charge the exhibitors an exorbitant fee for the Wifi service! One benefit of this was that we were unable to link up with Bubbles and Bobyn ... Bobyn is most definitely not a people person!**

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* a 2020 Governo

* She can be bloody hard work, and we really didn't want to spend the day in the company of a woman who is generally monosyllabic, yet bloody arrogant at the same time.

I see

Thursday turned out to be a relatively lazy day.

30% and I walked the dogs in the morning and then tidied ourselves up for an afternoon trip in to Alcester.

Obviously my priority was to purchase some wasp nest killer, and we had both also noticed that our eyesight had deteriorated, so a trip to the Opticians had also been arranged.

After the usual battery of tests I was informed that there was only a marginal change in my left eye, but there had been a significant drop in my right eye's vision. 

I was slightly concerned at this, but the Optician took a long look at my retinas and the scans of the back of my eye and advised that they were in great shape; particularly for someone who was a Type 1 diabetic for more than fifty years.

New lenses have been ordered, and we'll be back in a few days to collect them.

Wasps don't like marmalade

Today I continued my "Marie Kondo" transformation of our garden shed.

At some point in its history the previous owner had installed a central partition in the back half of the space we use as our garden shed. Now the shed is only about 8' wide, so the back half had been split in to two narrow spaces that were difficult to use for storage and to access.  We think they may have used them as bunkers for logs and kindling, but there are far better spaces on the property to store firewood. It is probably best that I don't waste any more time trying to make sense of this ... the previous owners just did some really odd things.

Anyway, back to the partition. I was home alone today,* and my plan was to remove the partition. I had given it a brief inspection and it seemed to be held in place with a multitude of screws and coach bolts. I had a suspicion that I might need an angle grinder for the floor fixings, but there was nothing that seemed overly complicated.

Fortunately my half-arsed assessment was correct and I needed nothing more than an impact driver and a half inch socket to remove the majority of the fixings. I soon had the top half of the partition unscrewed, removed and stacked in the car port.** 

The lower half of the partition was more firmly fixed at the rear of the shed. This gave me an excuse to deploy my reciprocating saw to hack through the ½" boards, and cut the rear section free. With that removed, I was able to move on to the final phase, which was to remove the oddments*** of sheet material that had been used to clad the rear wall of the shed.

All was going well until I moved on to the final piece of MDF. As I was removing the screws holding it to the back wall of the shed I managed to get stung by a wasp. It was only a minor sting and I carried on, unaware of this portent. 

The final screw was removed and the final sheet was tugged away from the wall. As it dropped to the floor I found myself "face to face" with a wasp nest, and its inhabitants were not amused by the disturbance.

My tactical retreat was immediate and rapid ... I added "buy wasp nest killer" to my virtual shopping list, and left the job for another day.

Whilst on the subject of wasps, a couple of days ago I mentioned that my hives have been pestered by wasps, and that I had set up some wasp traps in the orchard. A couple of the traps had been baited with watered down raspberry jam and had been very successful. I then made up a couple of traps using old 2 litre plastic bottles. These had been baited with some old marmalade, that had been kicking around in the kitchen, and had been nowhere near as good at trapping wasps.

During my shed clearing activities I had come across a container with some sugar syrup that had been left over from feeding my bees. I decided to add this to my wasp traps and was amazed at the result. Within a few hours the traps were buzzing with trapped wasps.

Clearly wasps don't like marmalade.

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* 30% and her "crew" had, strangely, decided that they should take a trip to Bletchley Park. I say "strangely" because Alan Turing and decryption of Nazi Germany codes are two subject that I would never expect to be discussed by my dear wife.

** I am, as yet, undecided whether to try to recycle the timber or just burn the damned thing!

*** A piece of blockboard, and a few pieces of MDF that had been badly affected by damp ... yet another bodge job!

A bargain

I knew from the outset that this morning was going to be mostly taken up with a trip to visit Mr & Mrs Tweedy.*

The reason for the visit was that Mr Tweedy had kindly offered us a cold frame, and we had arranged to collect it today. Now I am delighted to be given a cold frame, but the thought of spending a couple of hours in the company of Mrs Tweedy is not my idea of fun, and I knew that coffee and chat was going to part of the bargain.

Whilst on the subject of bargains, 30% had brought some runner beans and a couple of cucumbers for her Mum and Dad. I made a joke about exchanging five of the beans for a cow, and then rapidly recoiled from this transaction when I realised what "cow"** I was likely to get in return!

We eventually got around to wandering down the garden for the cold frame and I was gobsmacked to see that we were being given an absolutely fantastic aluminium framed cold frame. It must have cost a pretty penny when they bought it and it will be an absolute boon when we are hardening off plants next Spring.

Our morning outing also included a quick trip to the supermarket for a few groceries and a couple of pairs of jeans ... I need replacements as I seem to have worked my way through the knees of most of mine in the past few of months.

We were home by lunch time and first job of the afternoon was to thin my beetroot crop. An internet "expert" had recommended using a pair of scissors to snip off the unwanted plants and I must admit that it seemed to make the job very straightforward.

The rest of the afternoon was spent making more space in the shed and moving the potting bench in to position. I then applied a second coat of finishing oil to the bench top and compost hopper, before calling it a day.

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* My in-laws

** Mrs Tweedy.

The next project?

I had a few minutes spare before Monday morning's priority, so I headed out to the shed and re-fitted the shelves in the shed. They are now in a much more sensible location and I get the feeling that 30% is itching to get the rest of the shed tidied and reorganised.

Monday's priority activity was a trip over to Littleton Auctions to pick up an impulse buy from Saturday's auction.  I had been browsing the lots last week and a three African hunting spears had caught my eye. I do have a penchant for spears. Don't ask me why, as I can't explain it. I just have a thing for spears*.

Our commission bid had been successful, so we headed over to Littleton to pick up our spears. I was a little concerned, as these had been purchased without viewing them. For all we knew they could be broken or dreadful reproductions. As it happens they are quite splendid and I now need to think of a way to display them at home.

We next headed over to The Valley in Evesham, as 30% needed to return a purchase. Then we headed home via Alcester, as I needed to pick up some wood filler from the fabulous little hardware store at the bottom of the High Street.

In the afternoon 30% grabbed my shop vacuum and made a start on the decades of cobwebs and dust in the shed. I mixed up some wood filler and filled the holes on the work surface of the potting bench. While that was setting, I headed up to the orchard to check on the bees.

I can report that hives #3 and #2 are both doing very well. I saw both queens and the brood nests are increasing in size. Hive #3 has about three frames of capped brood and #2 is magnificent with about half a dozen frames filled with brood.

Hive #1 is doing reasonably well, I think. 

The queen was seen and there are two good frames of capped brood. This is alright, but not brilliant. There are a couple of factors that may have slowed the growth of this colony. Firstly the old queen had been failing for several weeks which meant that the new queen was introduced to a colony with older workers.** It is possible that the older workers have now expired and the colony has contracted slightly. The colony has also been suffering from robbing by wasps which could have impacted the colony size. I reduced the entrance size a fortnight ago, and have set up wasp traps in the orchard. These measures seem to have reduced the number of wasps entering the hive.

I may transfer a frame of capped brood from hive #2 to hive #1 next week to boost the colony size

After finished with the bees I returned to the potting bench. The wood fills was now set, so I got it sanded and applied a coat of finishing oil to the top and sides.

I then retrieved my workshop vacuum and spent a very noisy half hour sucking up the dust and shavings from the workshop ... It now looks reasonably tidy, and ready for the next project.***

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* I have an Assegai that leans against the wall in the hall, and many years ago I purchased five spear heads from the same action house.  I mounted these in a box frame and I really must get around to hanging it, as it looks quite splendid.

** A worker bee lives for about six weeks at this time of year.

*** That is likely to be some tiered plant stands for the "posh" greenhouse

The Perfect Spot

 Having finished the potting bench, I now need to find somewhere to put it!

Actually I had had the perfect spot in mind for quite some time. The problem was that the perfect spot was filled with garden shed junk and detritus.

Hence, today's first job was to empty the front half of the shed.* The contents were unceremoniously dumped in the car port, giving me enough space to work.  I then attended to the perfect spot. 

We moved in back in 2021, and I hurriedly threw up some shelves in the perfect spot, just to avoid dumping stuff on the floor.** These shelves now needed to be taken down and relocated much higher on the wall.

This was not straightforward, as I needed to insert a section of timber studding to support the shelving brackets.

By the end of the day I had inserted the aforementioned studding, and relocated the shelving brackets.

30% is very pleased with her new potting bench and is keen to start using it. She even offered to get my workshop vacuum out and hoover up the mess in the shed.

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* We call it the shed, but it is actually a room in the large outbuilding that sits alongside of the cottage. The "shed" is the room that sits between the garage and the car port, and is so named because its contents are, most definitely, what one would keep in a garden shed ... mowers, the rotamatiser, forks and spades etc

** At that point the back half of the shed was filled to chest height with logs and kindling ... it was a bit of a state!

Home Alone

I was home alone for most of Saturday, as 30% and The Cinema Club had headed in to Birmingham to see a stage production of Micheal Morpurgo's War Horse.

Most of my day was spent in the workshop and carport finishing off the potting bench. The main activity was to fix the back and sides to the bench. These will form a compost hopper, and, hopefully, stop compost falling on the floor.

I started with a scrappy sketch 

Added a few more details

... and finished with this

After finishing the bench* I headed down the lane with Wilson and Hobson. We had a pleasant enough walk, but the weather was warmer than I thought, and we were glad to get home for a drink.

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* When I say "finished", there is always something else to do! There are a few screw heads that need to be filled and a coat of protective oil wouldn't go amiss either.

Wilson's Bumper Book of Crimes - No 1 in an occasional series

Many years ago a similarly titled series of Journal entries addressed the misbehavings of Pippin,* our much beloved, and greatly missed, brown poodle bitch.

It now seems that I need a new series to cover the antics of Wilson.

As I was travelling to Hodnet today my phone rang.

It was 30% calling to advise that Wilson had managed to clear the four feet high gates at the entrance to the cottage, and then engaged in some rather "boisterous" play with Ronnie, a black Labrador retriever from just down the lane.

It looks like a new set of gates will be ordered, sooner rather than later!

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* Her alias was "Marauder"

 

Differing Tastes

Friday started early.

I was out of bed by six o'clock, and getting on with my usual morning routine. The chickens were let out of their coop, and I then emptied my fishing gear from 30%'s car.  It was then time for a quick cup of coffee before I got myself fed, and ready for the day.

The reason for being up early was that Bubbles had arranged a clay shooting session at the West Midlands Shooting Ground at Hodnet in Shropshire.

The plan was for seven of us to meet up at the grand around ten o'clock and then shoot 120 sporting clays, before lunching and heading home.

I have shot at this ground once previously, and found it challenging, but very enjoyable. On the last occasion I managed to score somewhere in the region of 50%. I shot a lot more frequently at that time and, frankly, thought I would be lucky to get anywhere near that level of competence today.

Bubbles picked me up around eight o'clock, and we were soon on our way. Bobyn and Ben were shooting too, so there were the four of us travelling together.

I'd like to say that it was a pleasant trip to the wilds of Shropshire, but Bubbs' musical tastes do not align with mine. A two hour car ride set to a backing track of really shitty dance music ... God, it was fucking awful!

As for the day, it was splendid. The weather stayed warm and fine and the company was great too. There was plenty of light hearted banter and I actually shot reasonably well.* My final score was 60/120, and I have no complaints considering that it is a National standard ground and, nowadays, I probably only shoot once a month.

The journey home was just as melodic, ** and I was glad that I managed to fall asleep for some of the drive.

Overall, I had a great day. It's just that I should have made my own way there.

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* for me

** If you actually listen to the rave music, it becomes apparent that it has all the sophistication of a child's nursery song, sung over a 130 BPM track, comprised of cheap synthesised noise

Catching Up

It's been a few days since I last put virtual pen to paper, so here is a brief summary of what I've been up to.

Tuesday, 15th July 2025 

The morning started with an early walk down the lane with the dogs.

We had planned to walk early, as rain was forecast to come in later on in the morning ... the first decent rain in weeks.  We had also decided to take a trip over to Rowberry's Nursery, as we are hunting for something to fill a gap* in the border at the rear of the house.

Mummy Sheila accompanied us on our little outing and a wander around the nursery actually got extended to include a light lunch in the nursery restaurant. 

I should add that the rain arrived on cue, and it seemed that we actually got a decent amount for once.

The afternoon included a snooze on the sofa, and then I headed out to the carport and turned my collection of timber components in to the start of the potting bench frame. By the time I called it a day I had a self supporting frame ... I still need to make the frame cross members, but that can wait until tomorrow.

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* The gap isn't actually there yet, but it will be, oncen I summon the enthusiasm to dig out the Juniper that has outgrown its plot.

Wednesday, 16th July 2025

Most of Wednesday was spent in the carport working on the potting bench project.

I completed the frame and finally got to try out my new circular saw; cutting the 18mm plywood to form the bench work surface and lower shelf.

By the end of the day I had a fully functional bench and had spent a considerable amount of time pondering how I was going to construct a compost hopper. I needed to biscuit joint a couple of offcuts of ply together to form the back of the hopper, and I think I will need to use pocket screws to affix the hopper sides ... that can wait for a day or two.

In the evening I attended the last Tai Chi session* of this term. As always, I was surprised at how much I enjoy these sessions and I am definitely booked in for the new term in September.

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* I missed a couple of sessions while I was away in Germany, and then a couple more when Kung Po Fran headed off to the wilds of Telford to care for her sister, who was convalescing after a hip replacement.

Thursday, 17th July 2025

I had great intentions for today, but these rapidly petered out.

I had planned on completing the potting bench, but as soon as I wandered in to the workshop I realised that I needed to tidy up, before I continued with my project.

The clear-up took most of the morning. Lunch and a snooze followed, before I climbed in the car and headed over to Cleeve Prior to collect my freshly sharpened clipper blades ... Wilson had better watch out, I will get his rear feet tidied up!

In the evening I met up with Bubbles in Fladbury and we had another great evening fishing.

I started early with a small chub. I landed it within twenty minutes of my first cast, and then sat for the remainder of the evening with very few bites. Whilst I endured a "drought" Bubbles pulled in a couple of large chub and a half-decent bream. 

It is fair to say that I was somewhat envious, as my little 8" chublet wasn't impressive, by comparison. 

We had agreed to finish fishing at ten o'clock, and I was about to reel in my line, when I saw the tip of my rod bend. I struck and felt the weight of a fish on the line. I reeled in, and was rewarded with a fabulous chub; probably weighing in at a little over 4lbs ... Neither of us could believe my luck!

I do like a little project

The weather has finally cooled a little. It's still very pleasant, but it is now possible to set to a task without risk of heat stroke.

This morning I wandered out to the workshop and routed out the rebates on the potting bench legs. 

I then headed over to Alcester to complete a few errands.  Stop #1 was Screwfix, where I collected a new circular saw. I have never been totally satisfied with the cheap saw I have. The blade does not sit perpendicular to the base plate, so it will not produce a decent cut. I have used this potting bench project as an excuse to spoil myself and buy a decent Makita saw ... well, I hope it's decent!

Next I parked up in the town centre and got a few essentials from Superdrug and Specsavers, before heading home via the local Surgery, as a prescription needed to be collected.

After lunch I had a snooze, and then headed out to check on the bees.

All of the hives are doing well, and are slowly increasing in size. I saw the queens in Hives #1 and #2, but didn't spot the third queen. This is not a concern as all of the hives have brood and eggs present, a clear sign that I have laying queens.

I have noticed that wasps are attempting to gain access to the hives, so I have made the hive entrances smaller. This makes it easier for the bees to repel the wasp attacks.

I then wandered back out to the workshop to cut and pre-drill the frame rails for the bench. All being well, I should start to assemble it tomorrow.

Potting Bench Project

It is going to be a very brief entry for Sunday, as will be seen.

30% headed out fairly early to meet up with a friend, for a morning of coffee and shopping at The Valley in Evesham.

I headed out to the workshop and finally made a start on 30%'s potting bench. 

I checked over a few lengths of 3" x 3", that had been kindly donated by Mummy Sheila. These were judged suitable for the legs of the bench, and the remainder of the day was spent carefully measuring, marking and cutting them.  By the end of the day I had four legs cut to length. Cuts had been made in each to mark the positions of the notches for the frame rails.

If all goes well, I'll break out one of my routers and create the notches tomorrow.

The only other activity was the watering of the tomato plants

Heat stopped play

It is fair to say that Saturday was a case of "Heat stopped play".

I managed to plant out the last of my leeks.  This almost sounds like an achievement, but in reality it was eight plants at most. I now have a couple of rows, and just need to keep them moist over the next few days. Whilst on the subject of gardening, I have also decided that my possibly parsnips are actually definitely not parsnips, and is more likely a carefully tended patch of Fat Hen (Chenopodium album). It looks like further weeding will be needed as soon as it cools down,

In the afternoon I finally got my arse in to gear and drew up some crude plans for a potting bench. I bought the timber and plywood for this project back in March, and have finally found the motivation to finish the job.

The only other thing worthy of mention was that I gave 30% some assistance ,as she had decided that dogs all needed a bath. I am sure they appreciated the cooling effect of a bath, and we certainly appreciated their somewhat less doggy odour!

Toasty!

Today was forecast to be a very hot day.

I was up early and did as much as I could before the mercury started to rise. All of the doors and windows were opened to cool the house as much as possible. * Water butts were filled from the well and I ensured that the tomatoes and other veg crops were well watered. I then took my fishing gear out of the car and put it away in the store room ... I was far too lazy to do that last night.

It was then time to move on to motorcycling. I wheeled the Guzzi from the garage** and tucked her in the shade of the car port. I then settled in my favourite sunny spot,*** and gave my motorcycle boots a good clean and a coat of my home-made leather food.

All of the above were completed before 30% had risen.

More watering took place, before we tidied ourselves up and headed over to Alcester. I rode the Guzzi over to my local Motorcycle Dealer for its MOT.  30% picked me up in the car, and we then dropped in to see Dot 'n Dave.  We had a splendid couple of hours catching up on each others' news and sampling Dotty's freshly baked banana cake.

We headed home shortly before midday, lunched and then slept through the heat of the early afternoon.

30% took me back in to Alcester just before four o'clock to collect my bike. It had flown through the MOT.**** We also discussed my sickly CBR 600. It seems likely that it has suffered from modern fuel causing problems with the carburettors. It will need to be collected in their van, so I agreed to defer this until things calm down in the early Autumn.

So that just about sums up my efforts for Friday. As I listened to the evening news and learnt that the hottest temperature was recorded a few miles away in Astwood Bank; 34.7 ℃.

It's little wonder we've done very little.

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* With each heat wave we are getting better at keeping the house cool. First thing in the morning we open all of the windows and doors to let the early morning breeze blow through the house. As the temperature rises, we close the windows and curtains on the sunny side of the house. The house remains curtained all day, and it is only as the sunset draws near that we start to open curtains, windows and doors to let in the cooler evening air.

** This might not seem a particularly strenuous task, but I first needed to move the ride-on lawn mower, and then put it back afterwards. It is incredibly warm at the moment, and I'd rather do this in the cool of the early morning wearing shorts, than later in the day, dressed in motorcycling gear!

*** The little bench by the beech hedge that faces the veg patch and the orchard

**** One of the partners is a big Guzzi fan and he joked that he never failed a Guzzi ... At least, I think that he was joking?

The hotter it is, the less I do

 It was far too hot for a dog walk this morning, so I headed out and tidied up the veg patch.

Cloches were stacked out of the way and tools were returned to the garden store.  My plan for today was to get my leeks planted out.

However, before I could start planting I needed to attend to the parched tomatoes in the greenhouse. For some strange reason 30% seems to think that four cans of water is sufficient for eighteen vigorous tomato plants. They actually need at least two or three litres each, which is more than double what she actually gives them. It is up to me to follow on and swamp them.

Watering and tidying consumed all of the morning, and I eventually set to planting the leeks in the early afternoon. I managed to get about thirty plants in the ground, but then sought shelter from the sun indoors ... I'll get the rest of them in when it cools a little!

I then had the now obligatory siesta, before gathering my fishing equipment.

This evening Bubbles and I had planned to fish on the Avon at Fladbury.

I arrived first and picked a nice peg in the dappled shade of a Willow tree. I had set up and just cast my bait in to the river, when Bubbles turned up.

We had a spending evening chatting and a little after eight o'clock I managed to reel in a beautiful chub that we estimated was at least 4lbs. Luck was obviously with us this evening as Bubbs also pulled in a couple of similar sized chub, although he graciously admitted that mine was the largest fish of the evening.

I think we'll definitely be fishing at Fladbury again next week.

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* I wasn't paying attention when I gathered my fishing tackle, and brought a carp rod rather than one for barbel. The carp rod is nowhere near as sensitive to bites, so I was pleased to catch such a lovely fish with a rod that was less than ideal for ledger fishing.

It's warming up

The latest heat wave has set in and the weather is already very warm. This is just the start and, apparently, it will be scorching before the weekend!

As a result we tend to do very little during the heat of the day. Long siestas in the afternoon have become de rigueur. They allow us to escape the heat of the day and, perhaps, catch up on our sleep, after sweltering nights that results in us waking ridiculously early in the morning. 

Today started with an early walk down the lane with the dogs.

I then had a relatively lazy day, choosing little jobs, in the shade wherever possible.

I got the tomatoes watered before the heat of the day set in and noticed that my beetroot have already started to sprout. I only planted them last Thursday, so they have done really well. I just hope they can endure the roasting they will get this week.

After sorting out the vegetable crops I headed out to the garage and checked that the Moto Guzzi would start. It hadn't been run since last year, so I needed to make sure it was ready to be ridden to its MOT test this coming Friday.

I then attended to a little job that 30% had. present to me a couple of days ago. She casually mentioned that she had a bird feeder that needed repairing. I initially thought it would be an easy job, until she handed over a weighty item constructed from slate. A vital component would no longer remain in place, resulting in a bird feeder that wouldn't hold bird food..

I was going to need to cut some replacement sections of slate and find a glue that would work with stone. I found an old roofing slate, and, luckily, remembered that Gorilla Glue is suitable for repairing stone and brick.

I then spent a happy hour sorting out the repair, but have to report that cutting slate with an angle grinder in hot weather was not a pleasant experience. I ended up very dusty and gritty.

After a shower I felt vaguely human, but my evening plans were going to result in getting hot and sweaty once more.  

When we fished last week I had asked Bubbles if he fancied a ride out on his bike. He had mention that there was a Bike Meet at the Aviator Cafe at Staverton Airport near Cheltenham, and he was keen to go. I grudgingly agreed.*

So this evening saw a ride through traffic choked roads to a sun drenched, shade free aerodrome on the outskirts of Cheltenham. To be fair, it was a reasonable event and we had a pleasant time wandering around and chatting, but it was very hot.

We left at a reasonable hour and I was allowed to select our route home.** I picked a lovely winding route that zigged and zagged through the villages to the East of the A46.

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* Biker's Meets are alright once in a while, but they are all very formulaic. You turn up. There are lots of other people who have also ridden their bike there. You wander around and peruse the various machines, then queue for an overpriced burger and a soft drink. It's OK once in a while, but some unimaginative individuals do this every week across the Summer! 

** Bubbles chose the route there and it was not good. An unimaginative run along the Cheltenham road from Evesham, via the traffic jammed outskirts of Tewkesbury, before eventually reaching Staverton.

A short ride out

I recently noticed that my little Heiniger mini trimmer was not performing well, when I attempted to trim the hair on Wilson's paws.

I am hoping that it is simply a case of blunt blades, so I reached out to a local chap, who sharpens scissors and clippers, and arranged to drop them off with him.

I used the need to deliver the blades as an excuse to have a ride on my bike, so the BMW was wheeled out of the garage. I had a splendid run over to Cleeve Prior via Wixford and Bidford, before returning via Badsey, Wickhamford and Evesham. 

The recent tour to Germany has greatly improved my relationship with the bike. The 1,550 miles ridden have done wonders for the clattery gearbox, and also for my level of familiarity with the machine. I am now much more confident on and off the saddle.*

My ride consumed most of the morning, and in the afternoon I headed out in to the garden.

The beans were given copious quantities of water, as we are moving in to another heat wave. We have had a couple of recent showers, but they have done little more than dampen down the dust.

I then finished off weeding and watering the probably parsnips, before retiring to the relative cool of the house.

Next on my list is to plant the leeks out.

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* Fully loaded the bike comes in at about 250 kg. At 5' 3" in my stocking feet, it is a bike bike to move around!

Perfect Outcomes

Today's most significant event was that both Whiffler and Wilson were booked in at the Vet's for, hopefully, minor operations. Wilson is to be castrated and Whiffler is to have a growth removed from his lower lip.

We dropped them off shortly after ten o'clock, and 30% attempted to conceal her nervousness by proffering lots of information and guidance, including offering her views on the order in which the dogs should have their respective procedures.  It was fairly obvious that the Veterinary Nurse dismissed that suggestion without a moment's consideration, and probably gave a sigh of relief, once I had ushered 30% out of the surgery.

A few errands in Astwood Bank and Redditch followed, before we headed home for lunch.

In the afternoon I set to bottling a couple of batches of honey. It has been selling really well, and I estimate that we have sold around seventeen or eighteen jars in the past fortnight.

Whilst the honey was slowly liquifying, I grabbed my beekeeping equipment and headed up to check the hives.

I started with Hive #1, which was requeened on Wednesday, 26th June. I worked my way, slowly, through the frames in the brood box and was soon rewarded with the sight of the new queen scurrying across the comb. I could see patches of young larvae, which indicate that she has been laying for five days, at least. Hopefully the hive will be back at full strength in the next few weeks.

Hives #2 and #3 were also doing well. Both queens were spotted and the quantities of brood are increasing nicely in both colonies. I walked away from the inspection delighted with how the colonies are performing. 

Failing queens have the potential to lead to colony loss, but I have managed to make the right decisions at the right time* and this has resulted in three queen right colonies.

After finishing with the bees, we headed up to the Vet's to collect the dogs. The operations had gone well and we drove our two mildly stoned mutts back home. They settled reasonably well, but we know, from experience, that it will take a day or two until they are back to their normal selves.

So that was it for Monday. The only other achievements were that the honey got bottled and my little Guzzi was booked in for an MOT test on Friday.** 

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* There is also a considerable helping of luck. We have had fabulous weather recently, and this has, no doubt, helped the virgin queens in Hives #2 and #2 when it came to successful mating flights.

** I also mentioned the possibility of getting my CBR 600 recommissioned to the Workshop owner... more on that at a later date.

Possibly Parsnips?

This morning 30% and I headed out for a walk with the dogs. 

For the past couple of weeks we have tended to walk about a mile down the lane, and then turn around and come home. Today we diverted down the Bridle Path and had a splendid time enjoying the solitude of the empty landscape.

Our walk took most of the morning, and the afternoon saw me back out in the veg patch weeding. A few weeks ago I planted a row of parsnips. I'm embarrassed to say that, apart from watering them in the first couple of weeks, I have ignored them. 

The "row" is now overgrown with weeds, and, having never grown parsnips before, I don't really know whether I have parsnip plants or weeds.

I did a little research on the internet and got an idea of what to expect. It seems that I do have some parsnip plants, but my row is crooked, which further added to my dilemma about what to leave and what to pull up.

Anyway, I spent a good few hours out on the patch and I have almost completed weeding the "row".

The reason for the early finish was that we had invited Mummy Sheila over for supper. This evening's fare was a takeaway from China Twon ... as usual it was quite splendid.

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And, if I run short of news, I may recount the story about the Hedgehogs that like to climb sea stacks. 

Shelsley Walsh Bike Bonanza 2025

One of my Christmas gifts from TP was a ticket to the "Bike Bonanza" at the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb course, and today was the day.

I had arranged to meet TP at the event and was out of the house shortly after eight o'clock this morning.

At this point I should mention that I am far happier with the R1250R after the recent tour. The gearbox isn't perfect, but it is much less clunky, and, with over two thousand miles under my belt, I am more comfortable with the way the bike handles.

Shelsley Walsh is only about forty minutes from home and I was just taking off my jacket when I saw TP drive up to the entry gate on his new VFR800.

We had a pleasant day at the event. There wasn't a huge amount of bikes there, and very little in the way of trade stands. If anything, low key sums up the day. But the limited numbers of spectators meant that the pits weren't crowded and we had our pick of seating to view the runs up the hill.

The obligatory shit burger and ice cream were consumed, before we went our separate ways in the early afternoon. TP headed back to Cardiff, and I headed home for a snooze on the sofa.

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* At any motorcycling event it is the law that one must consume an overpriced burger of dubious quality.  Actually today's fare was reasonably tasty, but it was still pricy!

Nothing to see here

We had arranged for the boiler to be serviced this morning, and the engineer was on site at the appointed hour. We left him to check over the boiler and heating system, whilst we attempted to calm a rather vocal Wilson and Hobson.

The excitable dogs meant that we needed to stay indoors for most of the morning,* and, consequently, achieved very little.

The service was completed and everything was fine. I was advised that additional work** will be needed next year, simply because the boiler will then be five years old.

I had planned to continue weeding the veg patch in the afternoon, and got as far as tying up the tomato vines, before I had a hypoglycaemic event, and needed to hit the sofa for a surprisingly long time.

The title of today's entry sums the day up nicely ... nothing to see here.

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* Wilson is far too unpredictable to be let out when strangers are on the premises. Hopefully his temperament will be calmer, once his testosterone levels drop.

** Two seals will need to be replaced and an internal oil line will need to be replaced.

Gone Fishing

 I finally summoned sufficient courage to venture in to the veg patch this morning.

The smaller of our raised beds has sat fallow since last Autumn, with a mulch of manure. This morning I dug in the mulch, and poured on a few cans of water to make sure that the soil was moist. 

In the afternoon I made five shallow drills in the bed and sowed a crop of beetroot (var: Boltardy). I grew this variety last year and was really pleased with the beets. They pickled really well and my beetroot relish was well received too.

I then set to clearing the weeds that had grown in the bare earth over the past few weeks. This wasn't too bad a job and by about half past three I estimate that I had cleared more than half of the veg patch. 

At the beginning of June I had planted a row of cabbage and cauliflower plants. Unfortunately I have to report that they have been decimated by Whitefly. Apparently the recent hot, dry weather provides the perfect conditions for this pest. The plants were beyond salvation and have been dug up and disposed of. I may see if I can get some better quality plants and try again, although I am concerned that the infestation will just reappear.

I aborted my weeding session in the late afternoon, as I had an evening of fishing planned.

Shortly after four o'clock I loaded up the car with my gear and headed over to a lovely stretch of the Avon at Barton.  I had just got my bait in the water when Bubbles arrived and we had a pleasant evening chatting and watching the wildlife.

I had several bites over the course of the evening and even had a smallish fish on the line, but the little devil slipped the hook before I could get it anywhere near the bank. Bubbles was less fortunate. He was using a commercial Red Robin pellet and was getting no interest at all. He decided to switch to the garlic marinaded luncheon meat that I was using, and finally started to get a few bites.

We packed up just before ten o'clock and headed home, having agreed that it had been a good evening, and only a fool expects to catch a fish every time.

Beeswax, part 2

 This morning we took an early walk down the lane with the dogs, before 30% disappeared for the day with the Cinema Club. 

The remainder of the morning was spent watering the tomatoes, and I even managed to trim Hobson's rear paws ... He seems to have very sensitive feet, and doesn't like warm clipper blades near his toes.

After lunch I decided to finish processing the beeswax that I produced yesterday.

The block of wax was cut in to chunks and melted in an old saucepan over a Bain Marie. Once melted it was poured in to moulds.* These had squares of old t-short material, held tight with rubber bands, over the top of them. The fabric acts as a filter to separate the crud from the liquid wax.**

The wax cools and solidifies quite quickly, and, by the end of the afternoon, I had 20 ounces of pure beeswax.

There is something quite other worldly about beeswax. It is difficult to explain. It has an amazing, but subtle aroma, and a feel that is almost silky under one's fingertips. It is a very tactile experience holding a block of beeswax.

Needless to say, I have a accumulated several pounds of the stuff over the years, and I really should think about doing more with it ... candles, perhaps?

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* In this case, old, washed margarine tubs

** The wax soaked filter material makes really good firelighters for later in the year.

Processing Beeswax

Why do I maintain The Journal?  I'm not certain that there is a single reason. 

It is a useful record of how, or when, I have completed certain projects. The recipe for a successful dish, or how I have overcome a particular problem with the bees, or a DIY project at home.

It is also a narrative of the second half of my life. What I have done. Who I have worked with, and for. Tales of holidays and events and even the mundane comings and goings of day-to-day life at home. There are even the occasional snapshots from my younger days, before The Journal was started.

I'm not sure that it has any value to anyone else. I sometime wonder whether TP will ever read it to, perhaps, get a better understanding of his father and his life? I am aware, from the blog statistics, that Journal entries are read by casual visitors,* and I can see which entries have been read. It is quite fun to re-read these entries. It is as though I am using these random visitations by unknown persons, to select and review certain days from my past.

Anyway, enough of that, on to today.

After extracting the honey crop back in May, I was left with a quality of sticky wax cappings.** These had been placed in a couple of feeders and placed on hives #1 and #2. In the intervening weeks the bees in those hives had scrupulously cleaned the honey from the cappings and stored it back in the hives.

This morning I finally got my arse in to gear and removed the feeders from the hives. After shooing away a few bees, I settled down to process the cappings. After cleaning by the bees, they look almost like a drift of coarse sawdust. They have a slight sticky texture due to honey remnants and the nature of the wax itself.

Stage one of this process is to melt down the cappings in boiling water. I use an old rice cooker, and I soon had a slightly aromatic brown liquid bubbling away in the cooker.  This was poured through an old sieve in to a plastic container and was left to cool for a few hours.

While the wax was cooling I attended to the feeders, which were slightly sticky and the bees had even started to build brace comb*** in them. I found that careful application of a hot air gun, on its lowest setting, would melt the wax and it could be cleaned off with a cloth. The plastic feeders were then put through the dishwasher and have come out beautifully clean.

I then returned to the wax and removed it from the plastic container. The underside of the wax is covered with a layer of black sludge comprised of pollen, and other debris from the hive. This is scraped away to leave a disk of beeswax. It still has impurities and will need to be melted and filtered again before it it suitable for making candles, leather cream or furniture polish ... but that can wait until tomorrow.

My only other achievement was that I grabbed my clippers and gave Wilson a lamb clip. I have to say that he was really very good, and I am very please with the result. I will point out that I have yet to clip his feet, so it does look like he is wearing Ugg boots!

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* I do wonder how they come across an anonymous little blog, that makes no attempt to appeal to the masses, and what they actually think of it when they get here?

** These have to be cut from the honey comb to enable the honey to be harvested

*** Brace comb is a term used to describe the clusters of wax cells that bees will construct in an attempt to fill large spaces; often between the frames and the floor and sides of the hive. In this case, in an attempt to fill the feeder.