Mostly horticultural

 After our recent work on improving the herbaceous border at the rear of the cottage, I made an impulse purchase.  I decided that a few Cranesbill plants would be the perfect addition to the border, providing a long lasting display of colour at the edge against the path.

Three plugs of the geranium Azure Rush were purchased from eBay, and they arrived with yesterday's post. This morning I headed out to the potting shed and soon had them potted on and watered. The plants are tiny, with barely a couple of leaves showing above the soil surface, and I felt that they would benefit from a few weeks in a pot before being transplanted to the border.

Next job was to water my leeks, and then replenish the water in the butts and tanks.

In the afternoon I finally got around to planting out my Savoy cabbages.  I purchased these as plugs at the beginning of the month, and they have flourished in our cold frame. Their roots are now starting to appear through the drainage holes in their pots, and they have many more leaves.

A line was laid out in the veg patch. A watering can was filled, and a trowel and kneeling pad was collected from the potting shed. I dug my first hole, and was surprised and delighted to see that the soil is still moist a few inches below the surface. I have been told that cabbages like to be planted deep, so their roots should be able to access the water in the soil. Needless to say, I filled each hole with water before planting, and gave them a good soaking, after they had been firmed in to the earth.

30% and I then spent a good while protecting the plants with a sprinkling of slug pellets and netting. It is amazing how quickly the cabbage white butterflies can locate a brassica plant. I swear one of the little sods was flitting over my plants within ten minutes of them being planted out!  And as for pigeons, those bastards would raze the crop to the ground in moments, given the opportunity. The only good place for a pigeon is on the ingredient list of a terrine!

The cabbage planting took most of the afternoon, especially when I take in to account the time to tidy up, and celebrate with a self congratulatory cuppa.  By five o'clock I had definitely run out of steam, and did little more.

A quieter couple of days

 I have had a fairly relaxing couple of days and have neglected to make a Journal entry.  This is an attempt to fill in the gaps.

On Friday 30% had arranged for H to come over with her two granddaughters, O & A.  They are two and five respectively and, shall we say, real characters!

They arrived midway through the morning and stayed until mid afternoon. We had a splendid time sitting and talking, while the girls played and chattered. There was no chance that two youngsters would occupy themselves, so we went up to the orchard to see the bees and chickens, and, of course, collect some eggs.  We explored the greenhouses and the veg patch, picked apples from the trees, and sampled raspberries and blackberries from the bushes. 

It's nearly a quarter century since TP was their age and I had forgotten how easy it is to amuse youngsters with the simplest of activities.  A half filled watering can allowed them to play at gardening, and they loved splashing water over the plants, whilst carefully avoiding the bumblebees!

We had a lovely day sat out in the sun, and they left around three in the afternoon. I have to be honest and report that 30% and I were both exhausted by their antics, and retired for a long snooze after their departure.

Now on to Saturday.

Evesham is hosting its annual Fishing Festival this weekend., and this has become a bit of a pilgrimage for Bubbles and me.  Basically it is an opportunity for us to trawl through the various pop-up stalls to find that "must have" angling essential at a bargain price.

I picked up Bubbs at ten o'clock and we drown down to the Evesham Crown Meadow. Anglers were setting up on the river bank for the competition that would take place later in the day, and tents and gazebos had been pitched to create a temporary market place on the meadow.

We spent an hour, or so, checking out the bargains and I wandered away with a Shimano spinning rod, a new handle for my landing net and a pair of curved forceps. Bubbles was a little more restrained, coming away with a couple of bags of boilies.

I was back at home for lunch, and just in time to wave off 30% ... she had arranged to spend the afternoon with one of her chums.

My afternoon was filled, making another batch of tomato soup, as the tomato plants are producing a seemingly endless supply at the moment.

In the evening we headed down to the local pub. 30% was under the impression that a local couple were performing this evening. It transpired that she was mistaken, so we ended up chatting with a couple and enjoying a glass of wine in the evening sun.

A trip to China Twon provided sustenance, and we then collapsed on the sofa in front of the TV. 

Recently the BBC has been showing a number of subtitled documentaries about Japanese craftsmen and restoration experts.  For some reason, which we cannot explain. these have been absolutely gripping television!  The intricate processes followed and ritualistic approach that is adhered to are fascinating to watch.  Over the past couple of days we have seen Samurai swords, Kimonos and Pottery being hand made. Each documentary left us wanting more.

Bailey Frame Change ... some progress

 I found myself awake at an horrendous hour this morning, or should I say "at some point in the night"?

I checked my blood sugar and the time, both were far lower numbers than are good for me.  As I was hypoglycaemic, my next step was to wander down the stairs* and find something to eat.

I filled my face, and returned to my bed, but failed to fall asleep.  Reluctantly, I hauled myself from my pit just before five o'clock.

The hypo and the lack of sleep meant that I didn't feel particularly great this morning, so I did very little. I took a nap after lunch and, as a result, felt marginally brighter.

This encouraged me to don my bee suit, grab my smoker and head up to check on the hives.

Hives #1 and #3 are both doing really well, and I have no concerns about them. I managed to spot both queens, and each has plenty of brood. 

The hot, dry Summer has impacted honey bee colonies across the country, and there is very little nectar available at the moment. I have been feeding my colonies to prevent them starving and have decided that I should bring my Winter preparations forward.

The first step is to remove the supers from the hives. Unfortunately these are part-filled with a mixture of honey and sugar syrup, so they need to be emptied first. I decided to place them above the crown board of the hives with the porter bee escape removed. The theory is that the bees will move up through the crown board in to the supers. Once there, they will remove the honey and syrup, and take it down to store in the brood box. Well, that's the theory. Let's see what happens in hives 1 and 3 over the next week.

Once the supers have been removed, I will think about an Autumn varroa treatment and feeding in preparation for the colder months.

Now on to hive #2. When I last checked the hive, I discovered that the bees had built fresh comb in the upper brood box, and then decided to fill it with syrup. I also failed to find and relocate the queen. 

I was hoping for a more positive inspection today.

I worked my way through the upper brood box and it looked just the same as last week. Some of the foundation had been drawn in to comb, and there was a lot of stored syrup. I removed the upper brood chamber and placed it on a Bailey board.**

I then started my search through the lower chamber.  About half way through the combs, I managed to spot the queen. I quickly transferred her and the comb to the upper brood box. After finishing my inspection, I reassembled the hive with the queen now secure in the upper chamber. I closed off the lower hive entrance with a piece of foam. The bees will now access the hive from the new entrance in the Bailey board.

According to the cognoscenti, now the queen is confined in the upper brood box, the workers will remove the syrup in order to give her room to lay. That is the theory. Let's see what actually happens in reality.

Over the next three weeks the brood in the lower box will develop and hatch. At the three week point, the lower brood box can be removed and the old comb disposed off. I will need to continue to inspect the hive and keep an eye open for queen cells in the lower chamber.

So that is the theory of the Bailey Frame Change. I'm not sure that my bees have read the relevant articles!

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* Late night walks across the landing now require a greater degree of caution, as Wilson has taken to sleeping out there. His coat is a similar colour to the carpet, which makes him well camouflaged in the low light levels. Whilst I trust him more than I originally did, I wouldn't want to step on him by mistake.

** This is a perforated floor that is used to separate the upper brood box from the lower one. It is constructed in such a way that it creates a new hive entrance for the upper brood box. It also prevents the queen from returning to the lower brood box, although the smaller worker bees can move between the two. Basically it forces the colony to concentrate their efforts and their brood nest on fresh comb in the upper brood box.

I now need to be very patient

Today started with a walk down the lane with the dogs.

We got back home at close to eleven o'clock and agreed that it was an awkward time. It was too soon to have lunch, but too late to make a start on anything time consuming. As a result we drank coffee and pottered for the rest of the morning. 

My pottering activity was to fill two wheel barrows with mulch in preparation for planting this afternoon.

That sentence pretty much makes the rest of this Journal entry redundant. Yes, the afternoon was spent planting, watering and mulching the herbaceous border.  I also revised the positions of a few plants* that had clearly been planted in the wrong place.

We still have spaces to fill, but I now need to be patient to see whether our design develops in to a work of art or a dog's breakfast!

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* Mostly smaller plants placed too far back from the front of the bed. These included a couple of hardy geraniums and a dwarf Knifophia.

Thinking in six dimensions

30% was hosting a select group of Coven members this morning.  I did what any sane person would do, and left them to it!

I headed out to the veg patch and was about to start watering the leeks when I had a sudden change of plan. I grabbed a hand fork and bucket from the potting shed, and spent a good hour hand weeding between and around the two rows of leeks. They were planted out in early July and now look like leeks rather than chives! It will be months before they are ready to be harvested and I don't want them to be competing with bloody weeds!

At lunchtime a local builder called around to give us quote for new gates. He turned up in a far more sensible vehicle,* and seemed reassuringly competent. We now need to see what his numbers look like before making a decision.

In the afternoon I returned to the veg patch.  I had impressed myself with my weeding efforts in the morning, so I knuckled down and finished the back half of the plot.  My cabbage plugs and seedlings are doing well in the cold frame, and the Savoys will need to be planted out at some point over the weekend.

30% and I then turned our attention to the recently cleared areas in the herbaceous border at the rear of the cottage.  We have a number of new plants to be transplanted, and we spent a good while placing the potted specimens in various arrangements.

Initially I thought it would be a simple matter to produce a pleasing design, but there are so many factors to be taken in to account.  We needed to consider height, width, overall shape, colour, flowering period and relationship to neighbouring plants in our attempts to finalise our design. It is no wonder that we had, on occasion, creative differences, as thinking in six dimensions does tend to make one's head hurt.

We eventually achieved a, hopefully, pleasing arrangement, and left it for the day. 

Our final activity was to head out for an evening walk with the dogs across the recently ploughed fields.

I guess that I will be planting tomorrow.

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* i.e. One that is not a flagrant display of excessive profit margins

Some light gardening

 Monday morning was fairly lazy.

TP had stayed overnight, so this morning was spent on a few odd jobs, whilst making the most of the opportunity to catch up with his news and plans.

I did make the effort to bottle a few jars of set honey, before clearing away the paraphernalia involved in making my honey crop saleable.

At lunchtime another chap called in to give us a quote for replacing our gates. These gate companies really must target a customer sector with more money than sense. This chap turned up in a new Land Rover Defender. This is an expensive vehicle and indicative of the sort of profit margins that are going to be applied to his quotation.

30% and I have done a reasonable amount of research and have a fair idea of what a pair of gates will cost. After a good few years spent estimating labour effort and cost, I also have a reasonable idea of how long the job will take. We don't mind paying a company a reasonable profit, but a flagrant display of fripperies suggests excessive margins. Our expectation is that this quote will be higher than the first.

In the early afternoon I headed in to Alcester to collect my spectacles from the optician. They had replaced the lenses in my spare readers and sunglasses following my recent change in optical prescription.

In the late afternoon the weather had cooled a little, so I headed out to the back garden where I cleared, weeded and improved the soil in another area of the herbaceous border.  I also split the large clump of Iris plants. Half was removed and transplanted to another area of the bed. I then spent a happy half hour ensuring that the transplanted plant and cleared areas of soil were well watered.

The weather looks to be cooling over the next couple of days, and we may well finally get to replanting parts of the border.

A restful day

Midway through last week, Bubbles asked if I fancied shooting this morning. I checked my non-existent social diary and confirmed that I was free.

As a result I found myself stood in the glaring sunshine at the Cotswold Clay Club, Farmington Quarry, Northleach. Our shooting party comprised Bubbles, Bobbyn, Ben, myself and Heidi, a friend of Bobbyn's.

I had a pleasant enough morning, although my dreadful score suggested that I should have drunk less red wine the previous evening.

Back at home, I shared a late lunch with 30% before setting about bottling another batch of honey.

Midway through the afternoon TP arrived, accompanied by Charlie. They had combined a pork pie making course in Melton Mowbray with a mini motorcycle tour of Matlock and the Derbyshire Dales.

We spent a pleasant couple of hours in the sun catching up on each others' news before Charlie headed off for a fate worse than death ... We think he has finally made up his mind to end the relationship with his Bunny Boiler of a girlfriend.*

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* Manipulative and controlling are understatements when applied to this young lady. She seems to think that Charlie should give up his friends and his motorcycle and spend his time exclusively with her. She has obviously not yet learnt that you can't change a person.

Something in the air?

I woke this morning and my eyes felt dreadful; dry, itchy, gritty. I went through my usual routine of drops and eyelid washing, and there was little, if any, improvement.

I really haven't a clue what exacerbates my dry eye condition, but whatever it is, there must be an increased amount in the air today!

As my eyes are very uncomfortable, I decided to have a quiet day, and stay indoors as much as possible.

Honey has been selling well over the past week and I am down to my last three jars.* Consequently I spent a chunk of my day sterilising jars and bottling a batch of honey.

In the evening we headed over to Worcester for a lovely evening with B&H. We had a great time, as they are absolutely brilliant company, and we feel so at ease with them. H had prepared two delicious tagines, one chicken based and the other was made with lamb. They were both beautiful, served with couscous ... Oh, and plenty of red wine!

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* I bottled twenty jars about ten days ago, and have sold most of it already.

Sweltering

Today was forecast to be another hot one, so it was a case of finding things to keep me occupied, that were out of the sun.

We still had plenty of tomatoes, so I knocked up another batch of soup during the course the morning.

In the afternoon I headed up to the orchard with a step ladder and a ball of string.  Back at the beginning of May we planted a Wisteria.  It has managed to survive being browsed by Fallow Deer and a prolonged drought. I have helped it along by giving it a regular splash of water ... Every night when I shut up the chickens I give the Wisteria the dregs from their water container.  This has obviously done the job, as the plant has gone from strength to strength, and has put on at least two feet of new growth.  The ladder and string were used to reach and tie in this new growth, before it gets damaged by the wind.

I'm embarrassed to say that those few pathetic sentences summed up my Friday. It was far too bloody hot to do anything more. I did try to keep myself occupied, but just wandering around the garden and outbuildings was exhausting.

The rest of the day was spent indoors, snoozing and reading. 

Oh, I almost forgot, the soup was bagged, labelled and placed in the freezer ... God, I'm desperate if I'm using that as Journal material!

A glut

Our supply of tomatoes from the greenhouse is definitely exceeding our rate of consumption.

As I sliced bread for this morning's breakfast, my eyes fell upon three pasta bowls, each one was filled to the point of overflowing. It was definitely time to do something about the glut.

30% was down at the local pub for a Women's Institute coffee morning today, so I had the kitchen to myself. I therefore decided that it was time to make up the first batch of 2025 vintage tomato soup. This is our favourite way of preserving our tomato crop. It freezes beautifully, and makes a lovely light lunch or supper.

The kitchen tidying and soup making took all of the morning, and I swear that I left the kitchen in a tidier state, than the one I found it in.

In the afternoon I headed up to the orchard and checked on the bees.

Hives #1 and #3 are doing reasonably well. I managed to catch sight of both of the queens and I am happy with how they are doing. Both have about four frames of brood, and are increasing in size nicely.  I really need to think about removing the supers from both hives, and possibly starting to feed hive #1.

Now on to hive #3, the hive in which I am attempting to perform a Bailey Frame Change.* The workers have started to build comb in the upper brood box, but the little sods have started to fill most of the new cells with syrup. There is a single frame in the centre of the upper brood box where the queen has started to lay, but the rest of the frames are being used for stores!

I worked my way through the hive twice, but failed to locate the queen. I had intended to insert a Bailey board between the two brood boxes, which would confine the queen to the new comb in the upper brood. The elusive queen made this a non-starter. Hopefully I will get this done at next week's inspection. My current concern is getting the bees to produce fresh comb, but leave it empty of stores, so the queen has space to lay.**

I need to have a think about this.

Thursday evening saw me sat on the bank of the Avon at Fladbury with Bubbles. I'd like to say that we were fishing, but we caught nothing at all. In fact, our bait received very little attention from the piscine population all evening.  We noted that the fishing pegs had recently been numbered, which probably indicate that there had been a recent competition along the stretch of bank.  We wondered if the competition had disturbed the fish, or perhaps they had simply been overfed on the large quantities of ground bait that would have been used?

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* I don't recall whether I have explained the reasons for a frame change. Over time the brood comb becomes dirty, and can harbour disease. It is good beekeeping practice to move the bees on to fresh comb every couple foyers. The Bailey Frame Change is one method for moving the colony on to fresh comb.  I've tried it a few times previously and have found it to be a bit hit and miss!

** The brood produced in late Summer and Early Autumn are vital, as these are the bees that will live through the Winter and help raise the colony brood  in the following Spring. The stronger the colony over Winter, the faster it will build up in the Spring.

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance

It was going to be another scorching day today.

I generally rise quite early, so I was tasked with getting the greenhouses and veg plots watered before the heat of the day set in ... and before 30% had hauled her backside from her bed!

After taking care of the plants, I wandered over to the garage and unlocked the door.  As I stood in the doorway I paused, and took a moment to appreciate the space. It was warm, but cooler than outside, and has that certain smell of recently used machinery. There is that change in light levels as you move in to the shaded space, and it is also incredibly quiet in there. Weirdly, I would liken it to a monastic cell, or a church, somewhere of solitude and concentration.

I grabbed my mechanic's stool, a few rags and some metal polish, and set to work on the Guzzi's exhausts.  After a few minutes of polishing I could see that they could be restored, but it was not going to be a five minute job.

Over the course of the day I alternated between spells in the garage, and other matters that required my attention.

I fed the bees in Hives #2 and #3, and attended a dental appointment midway through the afternoon.

The dentist advised that the recently filled tooth may feel fine at the moment, but the tooth will crack at some point in the near future. Her advice was to proceed with a crown, or risk loosing the entire tooth ... Appointments were scheduled and payments were made!

Going back, for a moment, to my motorcycle cleaning activities.  I mentioned that it is "not a a five minute job." I can easily spend a day or two cleaning one of my bikes. There are so many nooks and crannies, with intricate components that need to be washed and polished.  I've mentioned previously that inspecting my hives induces a sense of calmness or zen. Cleaning my bikes produces a very similar state of mind.

As I focussed on polishing my exhausts, my thoughts turned to Bubbles' steadfast refusal to clean the R nineT.  I don't think he appreciates the satisfaction of cleaning a bike properly, neither does he understand that it makes you focus on every external component, checking for wear or damage. Instead the silly sod pays some random bloke fifty quid to do a half-arsed job.  Oh well, we're all different!

So, we end this day with a very shiny set of Moto Guzzi exhaust headers. I just need to wash and polish the rest of it now.

A ride out with Buzzer

When we met up with Dot 'n Dave last week, Dave and I arranged to go out for a ride on our bikes, and today was the day.

I selected the Moto Guzzi for this outing as there was a possibility that we would swap bikes at some point in the ride, and the R1250R is a little on the heavy side for Buzzer.

I left home at about half past nine and headed over to Alcester via the new Service Station. Twenty quid's worth of E5 was poured in to the Guzzi's tank, and I then rolled up to Dave's house. His new Enfield Interceptor had already been extracted from the garage, and was sat on the drive.

Our route today was very similar to the one we rode at the beginning of March. The weather was perfect, and the traffic was relatively light. We took a coffee break at the cafe at Wellesbourne Airfield and watched the light aircraft coming and going as we chatted about the usual biker nonsense.

The ride on the Interceptor didn't happen, as Dave is having problems with his left hand, and didn't fancy the long reach to get hold of the Guzzi's clutch lever.*

I was home by about half past twelve and soon had the bike tucked away in the garage. As I parked her up, I noticed that she could really do with a damned good clean.  The stainless steel exhaust is in a horrific state, and badly needs polishing.

However, the temperatures were now well in to the 30's, and we both decided to do very little this afternoon. 

We did have a chap call round to provide a quote for new gates, but that was about it. I made up fiev litres of sugar syrup for the bees, and that was it.

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* Many, many years ago Dave had an argument with an industrial router and lost the top joints of three fingers on his left hand. Only the thumb and index finger are fully intact. This doesn't stop him playing lead guitar, nor from riding a bike, but he is, understandably, very particular about how his guitars and bikes are set up. 

Bits and pieces

We've entered another heatwave, so the first job this morning was to make sure everything was watered, and that the butts were filled.  I took the opportunity to check the level of water in the well. I estimate that  the current water level is about twenty feet below ground level.  

The well is about fifty feet deep, so we still have plenty of water, but we need to be cautious, as there is no sign of the drought ending. I should also add that the well level can be just below ground level in the wetter months, so the water table is very low at the moment.

After pottering in the garden, I made up a couple of litres of syrup for the bees, before breaking for lunch.

In the afternoon I finally got around to cleaning my shotgun. I am embarrassed to say that it has been a good  while since I last put a cleaning rod down the barrels, so I spent a good while giving it a damned good clean.

I also got around to making headway on my next little project.  30% would like a water feature in the ornamental greenhouse, and we have a drilled piece of slate that would be perfect for a little bubbling fountain. However the water feature will need an above-ground reservoir to house the pump and support the feature stone. Unfortunately most water feature reservoirs are unattractive plastic units, and that simply will not do.

Yesterday I found an eBay seller with a selection of lovely granite and sandstone troughs. One of these would make the perfect reservoir. I gave her a call today and she is going to check her stock. Hopefully I will be able to get one ordered later in the week.

I'm almost embarrassed to say that that is all I managed to achieve on Monday. In my defence, it is quite warm.

Bailey Frame Change: day #2

 I had great plans for Sunday, but actually achieved very little.

The day started with a dog walk. My blood sugar was quite low, and I really didn't want to exercise, which would exacerbate the problem, unfortunately 30% seemed to ignore this concern!

Fortunately the walk was short. I would have preferred it to be non-existent, but short was better than bloody miles.

On our return, I wandered up to hive #2, and removed the two supers. The clearer board had been effective and they were virtually empty of bees. They didn't contain much stored honey either.* With the supers removed I placed a crown board over the two brood boxes and placed a feeder on top. Four litres of syrup were poured in to the feeder and an eke** was added to support the hive roof over the feeder. The bees should use the syrup as food and also the raw material to drive wax production. Hopefully they will start to draw out the wax foundation in to comb in the next few days.

The hive will be checked in about a week. At that point I would hope that the queen has moved up in to the upper brood box and started to lay.

In the afternoon I had plans to clear another area of the herbaceous border at the back of the house. Unfortunately 30% and I had artistic differences about the plans for the border, and that little job was abandoned for the time being. 

Instead, I grabbed one of my ladders and repaired a joint in the guttering that had come adrift.

In the evening we popped over to share a Chinese Takeaway with Bubbles and Bobbyn. We had a pleasant enough evening, although Bobbyn was her usual self, and we both had to bite our tongues on a couple of occasions!

I will end this Journal entry on a more positive note. As I wandered around the garden this afternoon I noticed that the huge Ivy bush has just started to flower. Ivy is a fantastic source of both nectar and pollen, which bodes well for my three hives.

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* The bees are really struggling to find any nectar in this dry Summer, hence the decision to feed them and perform a frame change, rather than hold out a futile hope for a late honey harvest.

** An eke is a shallow lidless and bottomless box built to the same outer dimensions as the hive. It is used to increase space. In this situation to allow a feeder to be placed on the hive and allow the roof to be replaced.

Post Script: A few days ago I mentioned that my little honey stall is doing great business at the moment. Well, a couple of days ago a couple from London called at the gate and asked for another jar of honey. They had taken all four jars from my stall, but wanted to add a fifth. I gladly provided another jar and waved them off.  Initially I was delighted until I realised that they had paid with a Scottish twenty pound note, and they can be a bit difficult to use round here. Anyway, they appeared at the gate again today and requested another five jars! Apparently all they can get locally is commercial supermarket honey, so they had decided to stock up.  They paid with proper money this time, so I was happier about the transaction. I also found out that Tesco will take Scottish currency, so I will be using the dodgy notes to buy sugar for syrup feeding.

Bailey Frame Change: day #1

Saturday morning was spent pottering in the garden. The main achievement was that we prepared the small bed in front of the store room and transplanted a number of Beard Iris rhizomes.  A white specimen was planted in the centre of this narrow bed with a fabulous, almost black, variety planted either side.  They should look fabulous next year.

In the afternoon we went out in search of a stone bowl to act as the reservoir for a water feature in the ornamental greenhouse.  We thought we knew of the perfect supplier, but it seems that they have offloaded their stock, as they got fed up with moving the damned things around ... Oh well, back to the internet, I guess?

Later in the afternoon I reconfigured Hive #2 for a Bailey frame change. A second brood box was added, filled with fresh foundation. A clearer board was placed over that, and the supers were returned to the hive. Hopefully the bees will clear down from the supers overnight, and I will be able to replace them with a feeder filled with syrup tomorrow.

In the evening we headed out for dinner with a friend of 30%. I don't think either of us were particularly looking forward to the evening. Whilst the friend is good company, her husband can be a little overbearing and tends to spend the evening regaling you with tales of his previous heroics, be they in a boardroom, a sailing yacht, or his workshop! He is one of this people that isn't really interested in anything anyone else has to say, so you just have to sit there and listen to him drone on.

The evening panned out pretty much as expected. The greek themed, barbecue food was beautiful and the summer pudding desert with homemade ice cream was a perfect balance to the grilled meats and greek salad. A cheese board rounded off the meal and we were able to make our excuses and head home shortly before nine o'clock.

The husband was his usual self, and it was nice to make an early escape.

I will see my future through varifocals

We had a play-date arranged for this morning. Dot 'n Dave were dog sitting for their son and daughter-in-law, and had invited us over, with the dogs, for coffee and a chat.

We had a lovely morning sat out in the sun and the dogs seemed to enjoy it too. The play did get a little fractious at one point, when both Hobson and Wilson wanted to play with Django. Django, on the other hand,, had had enough of two boisterous youngsters and made that quite clear. Overall they interacted really well and soon settled to a level of play appropriate on the baking sun.

In the afternoon we headed over to Alcester for yet another trip to the Opticians. I wanted to arranged for my prescription sunglasses and spare readers to be updated to my new prescription. I soon had the new lenses ordered, and was made aware that I really need to be wearing my spectacles all of the time now* ... I wonder whether that is why I have had a few headaches recently?

It was then time for a quick whizz around the supermarket before calling in at Botany Bay nursery for some bags of rotted cow manure.

We popped in at Mummy Sheila's on the way home, to drop off some eggs, and I ended up with yet another sonly duty.  A floor fitter had just finished in her living room, and I was roped in for a spell of furniture moving, before I was rewarded with a cup of coffee.

We eventually made it home, and I dug a bag of the manure in to the area of bed made clear by the recent removal of the Juniper.

That'll do for today.

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* I'm frustrated with swapping back and forth between readers and long distance specs already.

Sonly duties

It seems that I may have acquired a mum!*

After yesterday's "Can you just mince this meat for me" visit, today I was scheduled to drop by Sheila's house at eight thirty, so we could drive, in tandem, to the local Tip.  I had the trailer in tow, filled with Sheila's living room carpet, and she had a quantity of old tiles in the back of her little runaround.

To be fair, all of these sonly duties had been prearranged, and I am more than happy to give her a hand. She has a great sense of humour, and is always good company.

I was back home by ten o'clock, and 30% and I set to removing a dwarf Juniper from our herbaceous border.  It is a lovely specimen, but has outgrown its spot.  There was no chance of relocating it, so loppers and a spade were deployed to cut and dig out its major roots.

In the afternoon I dug over the space previously occupied by the Juniper, and 30% volunteered to give the ground a good soaking later on in the evening.

In the evening I met up with Bubbles for our regular fishing session.  Bubbles selected a peg immediately downstream of Jubilee Bridge. We had a pleasant time chatting nonsense and laughing, but we caught nothing at all. I had a couple of bites at my luncheon meat bait, whilst poor Bubs had nothing at all.

Oh well, better luck next week, perhaps?

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* My mother died in the February of 1997. Although it could be argued that I lost her back in the Summer of 1974.  She was involved in a car accident and suffered life changing injuries, including brain damage that resulted in a complete personality change.  She was comatose for several weeks, and attended the Rivermead Rehabilitation Centre down in Oxford for many months. The person that came home to live with us was definitely not my mother, and we, as a family, became her carers. 

I could go on at length about my mother, but I don't feel the need anymore. She is long dead, and the years after her accident were as difficult for her as they were for us. I grew up quickly and these circumstances probably led to my fiercely independent streak, and willingness to have a go at anything.

As for my mum, post accident, try to imagine an individual that has had all of their filters removed. Think about all of those little social veneers that we have. Now imagine loosing them and saying exactly what you think, whilst also having absolutely no empathy for those around you. That goes a small way to describing her.

You become quite hard, with a black sense of humour when you're in your early teens and you have to clean up your own mother's shit!

Butchery and Bees

This morning 30% headed off to Stratford-on-Avon with the WI. Apparently they were going to have a behind the scenes tour of the RSC, and then lunch on a floating restaurant ... I was to be left home alone.

Mummy Sheila picked up 30% and Jules shortly after nine o'clock.  She bade me a cheery "Good Morning!" and presented me with a blue carrier bag, containing a three joints of lamb.

It seems that 30% and Sheila had had a conversation that went along the lines of ...

MS:    Have you got a mincer?
30%:  Why?

MS:    I've got all of these joints of lamb in my freezer, and I've gone off roast dinners. I thought I'd mince it and make a lovely Shepherd's Pie.

30%    Yes, we've got an electric mincer. Badman uses it for sausage making.

MS:    Perfect, do you think he'd mince up the lamb for me?

30%    You'd better ask him. You know he gets pissy, if he thinks I've been committing his time without asking him first!    

So, most of my morning was spent boning out the lamb joints, and converting them to a couple of kilos of minced lamb.  By the time I'd finished cleaning up, it was midday.

In the afternoon I grabbed my beekeeping gear and headed up to inspect the hives.

Hive #1 is doing much better. I could see four frames of brood and there are sufficient stores in the supers. I think any plans for a late Summer honey crop should now be abandoned. The bees are bringing in less nectar than they are using, and I need to keep a close eye to make sure they don't starve.

I moved on to Hive #2 next. It is doing really well, but, again, the colony is relying on honey reserves to maintain it. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't run short of food in the next week. There are six frames filled with brood and the hive is rammed with bees.

Hive #3 is also doing well and has four frames of brood. The bees have taken down the syrup, that I fed them last week and this has been stored in the brood chamber. I gave it another couple of litres of syrup and left them to heir own devices.

I had spotted all three queens during my inspections and I am reasonably happy with the condition of the colonies.  They need to build up their numbers and their stores in preparation for the colder months, so I need manage them accordingly.

As I mulled over the state of my hives, I gave consideration to carrying out a Bailey Frame Change on hive #2. If I'm not going to take a honey crop, there is no problem with feeding them, and they would benefit from fresh brood comb.

So that was Wednesday ... and the dogs got the bones!

Like hot cakes

I last bottled a batch of honey on 29th July, as I had sold the last couple of jars a day, or two, earlier.

Back on the 29th,  I did my usual couple of batches, plus a special order of five jars of set honey. That amounted to 25 half pound jars of honey.

Yesterday I realised that I was down to my last three jars of honey for my little stall. It has been selling like crazy over the past week, and I definitely needed to bottle a couple of batches today.

The observant of you might note that I have made no mention of colony inspections this week.  The weather has been far too windy, and I am hoping that Wednesday's weather will be fine enough to take a look.

Over the past week I have taken a couple of peeks at the feeder on Hive #3.  This doesn't disturb the colony at all, and I have noticed that they have emptied the two litre feeder of syrup.

I therefore made up a batch of syrup first thing this morning. If the weather does improve, it will be ready to top up the feeder. If the weather stays breezy, ti'll be ready for tomorrow.

The only other matters of any import from today were the honey bottling, and that Whiffler and Hobson needed to be taken to the Groomers.

The Grooming salon has relocated to a different part of the town, and it is much trickier to get there.  Its new location is down by the Marina, only about half a mile further, but it involves negotiating the town centre.

Now Stratford-on-Avon is always busy. There are the locals and there is the endless swarm of tourists, both on foot and in cars.  Add in a street layout that has its origins more than five hundred years ago, and you have the perfect recipe for motoring hell!

The locals drive like arseholes because they are, rightly, annoyed with the tourists clogging up the town, and the tourists drive like arseholes because they haven't got a clue where they are going ... Oh, and because they are arseholes.

I should also add that both the natives and the grockles have a tendency to just step in to the bloody road without looking, and then stare at you like you are dog shit on their shoes!*

The Groomer's new location has the potential to be a complete and utter pig to get in and out of when the traffic is at it's worst.

I'm sure I'll get used to it, but I have a gut feeling that things will go very bad at some point in the future.

I should also add that this was Whiffler's last professional clip. He is now in his twelfth year, and a day at the groomers is very tiring, especially for an older dog. He has now been retired and, in future, will sport what is affectionately referred to as a daddy haircut.**

I can also report that Wilson will be going for his first clip, along with Hobson, in the middle of September  ... I'm sure it will be fine!

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* I'm not keen on Stratford-on-Avon

** one of my efforts!

Even better than that!

The Southern edge of Storm Floris blew across the Midlands today, and the morning was grey and windy.  Rain was forecast, and we really hoped that the garden would get a good soaking, but, again, we got a few drops, that did nothing other than settle the dust.*

Phil the Postie arrived at the gate this morning and delivered my cabbage plugs.  I had originally planned to plant them straight in to the veg patch, but it is still very dry and they are tiny plants. I potted them on in to 3" pots and will leave them out in the cold frame for a couple of weeks. Hopefully they will grow on, and, fingers crossed, we will get some much needed rain

Our ornamental greenhouse is starting to be used on a regular basis for tea and coffee breaks. It is lovely to sit out there, particularly in cooler weather, and enjoy the outside, but inside experience.

The windy weather was not conducive to gardening, so we headed out in the afternoon to complete a few errands.

We attempted to locate the premises of a company that we would like to come and quote for a new pair of gates. We failed to find them, but we did have a pleasant drive through the lanes around Hanbury. Next stop was at a local upholsterer, as we want to get new covers made for the conservatory chairs we recently acquired.  The Upholsterer advised that "she only did curtains," but she did provide contact details for a colleague that made seat covers.

We then headed over to Astwood Bank to talk to another Upholsterer, and she was happy to make them, but she was going to charge the same price as a set of covers from the chair's original manufacturer.** 

At this point we agreed that we weren't doing very well with our errands.

As a pick-me-up we decided to pop in to a local Nursery to see if they had a particular variety of Achillea that we would like to plant in our Herbaceous Perennial Border.  We drew another blank, and were about to give up when 30% suggested a trip to Golls Nursery.

Golls was a great suggestion, and they actually had the Terracotta variety we were looking for, but, even better than that, they had two huge, later flowering Kniphofia specimens. One was in the usual red, and the other was a  yellow variety ... I have just the spot for them.

In the evening 30% made contact with Upholsterer#3, and it seems that her prices are far more reasonable. We now just need to decide on a fabric.

---

* Our Herbaceous Border has really suffered in the dry weather. We had great plans for it, but have not planted anything, as the plants will just scorch in the current drought ... We are just hoping that the Autumn weather is more clement.

** 30% had already obtained quotes from them

Day of rest

This week seems to have been quite a bit busier than expected, so I am pleased to say that Sunday was much more sedate.

This morning we hitched the trailer to the car and headed down in to town* and parked outside Mummy Sheila's residence. Sheila is redecorating her lounge and we agreed to help her lift her carpet and take it to the local tip later on in the week.

We were finished and back home shortly after ten. The trailer was unhitched and wheeled in to the carport and the rest of the morning was spent pottering.

In the afternoon 30% had planned a trip to Rowberry's Nursery. Apparently Sheila is looking for an Hibiscus and was hoping that she would find the perfect one at the Nursery. Unfortunately she didn't, but we did find some beautiful Salvias and a fabulous red leaved banana plant.** Sheila insisted that the banana plant should be a present, for our assistance with the carpet. It now takes pride of place in the greenhouse.

We were home by mid afternoon and my blood sugar had plummeted. I responded to this medical emergency by stuffing an almond croissant and several peanut M&Ms down my throat, before taking a long nap on the sofa.

The early evening saw us take the dogs for a walk around the recently harvested fields uphill from the cottage. It was a lovely walk in the evening sun and the dogs had a great time exploring the hedgerows and stubble.

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* This is an unfunny witticism we deliver regularly, now we have moved away from the village. Any visit to the village centre is referred to as "going in to town".

** We also found lovely little Mimosa plant that is now sat on a shelf in the greenhouse. Back in 2018 30% and I found a huge Mimosa bush when we were holidaying in Costa Rica. I brought some seeds home, and actually managed to get them to germinate, but the little plants didn't survive very long.

I am not a good shot

It is the first Saturday of the month, so I was booked in for the monthly 80 sporting bird shoot at the Cotswold Shooting Ground.

I arrived just before nine o'clock, found Bubbles, and we wandered in to the reception to pay for our morning's clay shooting. We were somewhat befuddled when we were asked if we wanted to enter the Fab 5 competition. Our first point of confusion was that there were only two of us, and, secondly, I am not a good shot, so would be detrimental to any team's performance.

The shoot organisers decided that we simply must be part of a team and were linked up with three other chaps. At this point I should add that two of the team were Instructors at the Shooting Ground and one was the son of one of the aforementioned Instructors.

By this time I was feeling well out of my depth, and starting to make my excuses.*

And so the competition started. I did quite well on my first couple of stands, especially compared to my very experienced team mates, and this streak of luck seemed to stay with me as we continued around the eight stands.

The last stand was a bit of a disaster for a couple of us, but, overall, I felt that I had had a reasonable day.

The scores were totalled up and I had scored 62/80 (77.5%). That was an absolutely unbelievable score and a personal best. I was only two shots behind Bubbles, who is a far superior shot to me, and mine was not the lowest score in our team.

When the completion results came in we found that our team had come third overall ... I felt as proud as a dog with two dicks!

In the afternoon I finally got around to some much needed work in the garden. The new potting shed lighting was connected up and illuminates the bench brilliantly. I then headed out to the greenhouse and tied up the tomato plants, taking the tops out of those with six or seven trusses. Next I wandered over to the raised beds and watered the beetroot and carrots.

The leeks, I had planted out in the first half of July, seem to be doing reasonably well, although the fresh growth on a couple of them looks a little pale.  I gave them a good watering with a phostrogen additive and hope that this will make up for any deficiencies in the soil.

The final job in the garden was to attend to the raspberry canes. I picked the fresh fruit and was delighted by the quantity and quality of the berries. A bowl of them was put in the fridge for later. I then grabbed a ball of string and tied in the fresh growth of the Summer fruiting raspberry canes. These will bear fruit next year and needed to be tied in to the supporting wires.

Midway through the afternoon 30% gave me a shout, and asked if we had any more honey labelled. A gentleman had called at the gate, and asked if he could buy five jars. I happily labeled up another jar, and wandered up to thank the chap for his purchase.

Over the next few minutes we learnt that he had grown up in the cottage, before leaving sometime in the early 70's.  We invited him, his wife and daughter in for a look around, and spent an hour getting to know a little more about the fairly recent history of our home.

I must take some time to jot down what he told us, in the next few days. But I will add these two nuggets now ... 

He was delighted to see Rose Cottage still standing, although now in the orchard. He advised that this had originally been a little corrugated iron garage sited at the front of the property where the 2014 timber garage now stands. It had also been referred to as Rose Cottage, even then. Clearly it had been relocated to the orchard at some point in the more recent past.  

He also filled in a few gaps about Tessa's gravestone.  It was actually the discovery of this gravestone that led to the Gentleman's visit today.  A few months a retired Judge from the village called on us to buy some honey. He advised that his cousin had lived here from the 1950's. At that point we asked if they had owned a dog called Tessa, and he confirmed that he thought they did. The Judge took a photograph of the gravestone and advised that he would send the picture on to his cousin.  The letter was sent and the cousin decided to come down from York for a trip down memory lane.

Now, on to the dog. Tessa was a mongrel acquired by the Gentleman's mother. She was a single mother who brought up three children in this little cottage with no running water and an earth closet toilet. It had been suggested that she have a dog, as she was living a good way out of the village on her own, and a dog might deter the attentions of vagrants and ne'er do wells.

Tessa came to live with the family and, when she died, she was buried with love up in the orchard. The rather posh gravestone was hewn by the gentleman's grandfather. Apparently he was a stonemason from Stratford-on-Avon and this was probably one of his last pieces of work before he died in the early 70's.

I finished my day with another dog related activity. 30% had decided that we should take the dogs up to a local exercise field to let them have a run. I must admit to thinking "why the hell are we paying to take the dogs to an exercise field when we live on three quarters of an acre, and have miles of empty lanes for them to run along?" Anyway, some times I just keep my mouth shut and go with the flow, so we spent an hour in a fenced paddock hurling tennis balls around for Wilson and Hobson to retrieve. Whiffler just ambled around sniffing at stuff and The Rat chased a few balls, but got pushed out of the way by the two youngsters.

So that was my day! Definitely not was I was expecting to happen!

---

* I went with the blunt, but honest, "I'm a shit shot".

T-shirt slogans

This morning 30% and I needed to be in Alcester quite early.

First stop was at Screwfix for a few electrical components, and we then nipped down the road to the Alcester Heath Centre for my annual diabetic eye health screening test.  With the eye test completed, I donned a pair of natty shades*, and 30% chauffeured me in to the town centre. There we headed in to the Optician to collect our new glasses, followed by a quick whizz around Waitrose, before heading home.

30% suggested that we should go out for lunch, as TP would be heading off later this afternoon. We settled on The Why Not, up on The Ridgeway.  A rather good, light lunch was enjoyed by all of us. It has been several years since we last ate there, and we left wondering why we had left it so long

TP headed off for a weekend in Somerset shortly after lunch, and I settle down for a snooze, followed by several hours of very little. Guilt set in late in the afternoon, and I made a start on wiring in the new lighting for the potting shed. I didn't actually finish the job, but, as they say, "broke the back of the work".

Now. the title for today's Journal entry comes from a lunchtime discussion.

I feel that I have a knack for coming up with some superb, but unprintable, T-shirt slogans and today I delivered another. 

As we chatted over lunch, TP had mentioned that one of his friends might have got his girlfriend of six months pregnant. This major announcement was made to TP in a very "by the way" fashion.

There is a very narrow range of responses to that situation,** so I went with "car crashes are great to watch, but not so good to be in." 

It's a bit long for a T-shirt ... maybe it needs a bit of work. The discussion continued and we recalled a day when we were in Las Vegas. TP was only ten years old, and we were wandering around a touristy shop that sold T-shirts. TP spotted a shirt and declared it simply perfect for me.  It bore the legend, "Do I look like a fucking people person" ... Even at that tender age, he knew his father too well.

I'll end this missive with my personal favourite for a t-shirt.  This little beauty came about after many long years working in the IT outsourcing industry. It is, wait for it ...

I used to be a fanny magnet, but now I just seem to attract cunts!

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* The eye test involves dilation of one's pupils. This makes bright lights very uncomfortable for a few hours, and driving is not permitted. 

** This, most definitely falls in to the category of SEP - Someone Else's Problem. Over the years I have found that people get dreadfully worried about SEP's. Personally, I find this a complete waste of time. Other people's problems are theirs to resolve. Worrying about another's problem, especially where one's input is both unwelcome, and probably intrusive, seems to be completely pointless?