Friday 11 March 2011

Was this the cloudiest winter ever ?

We have FINALLY had a few days of sun . One day it was even warm and the lawn has dried out from being just a muddy mess to a hard grassless mess . Thats clay for you . Still . threw some grass seed on , soon that will be all good again . Cant wait for the smell of cut grass.
I planted some tomato seeds today . Small cherry tomatoes and the opposite , HUGE beef tomatoes . Im trying them for the first time as ive never grown big tomatoes before . Apparantly last years tomato blight wasnt unique to me , everyone got it . SO im trying again .
Im also growing some ruby chard if i can find a place ot put it and im going all out for fruit . its so expensive in the shops that i have to if we want to eat any .
Ive added some raspberry bushes and a gooseberry bush that i suspect may be dead , to the front mimi veg patch along with strawberries .  The strawberries im trying under a cloche to see if i get earlier or better fruit . Must remember to water them .
On the balcony , well i dont know because husband is building a new balustrade that has glass panels . i want them seriously strong so i can hang window boxes from it . Im hoping anyway . I want to grow black beans up it somewhere but the steps need moving .
I made some plant tags because i cant tell what fruit tree is what in winter , I painted some slate with the names and when the sticks bear fruit again ill add labels .
At least i have some plants in flower now   , Spring wont be long !

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Spring is sneaking about at last . Just a little bit .

Spring definately isn't here yet . there is ice in the water and frost on the roof . BUT buds are showing and spring bulbs are sending out green shoots . Its so cold and damp and coudy here , has been for weeks but when it does warm up , this year i think spring is going to be a riot . Cant wait  , i need to drink coffee on my balcony again . Last year i did it all winter . This year its been so wet and cloudy and damn cold that i just cant and i miss it . A lot .
I have a new plant pot that i bought really cheaply . Its purple with a wavy edge and i filled it with bright pink , purple and white cyclamen and put it in a corner of the balcony . A strong corner . When it does get sunny it will be ready for me to sit next to and admire . Ive bought tomato , purple bean and Brussel sprout seeds to try this year . Im thinking though it makes more economic sense to grow fruit rather than veg ,. veg is quite cheap , fruit isnt . Maybe i can fit in some raspberry canes .
Im under new doctors orders because i still keep collapsing which is making things a bit difficult . I had my diet all sorted out and they went and changed it . Im banned from a lot of fruit as well as a million other things and thats been hard . Im also not allowed stress or stressful situations . How do i avoid that ! Stress is by definition a situation that happens to you that you cant avoid , which gives you stress  . Hmm . cant sell my kids so ill do my best .  Im also banned from excercise and undue exertion in case i fall over . for THREE MONTHS . I have a shed to help put up .  Im reduced to standing on the sidelines and feeling helpless . I hate that . But i also hate falling over so i guess ill just have to stick with it . we need to know for certain whats causing it . one way to find that out is to see if we can stop it happening . hence all the banned things .
We have at last had a few moments of sun , it had been absolutely WEEKS without any . At one point the entire British Isles was covered in FOG . everywhere . when its not fog its clouds . unrelenting clouds . So any sun , even a flash is really really welcome .
seed packet time ! yay :-)
Sometimes i write .

And make jelly . This is my new pie dish but its great for jelly hearts .

This Lemon Geranium i grew from a cutting from a friend of mine . She went to hospital so i aquired a bit while i was round her house and it smells delicious !
Sunshine ! only a few seconds but it really helps .

Lexi cat with her mouse toy .

Shocked at sunlight !

She was scared of this mouse at first but we took the bell out and now she loves it .