howdy all, winter's arrived, after the warmest May on record, and then the wettest muggiest June for a long time, and the cold has come as quite a shock, with chilly south-easterlies cutting through the skin, and rain forever. However, there have been some awesome rainbows, and some beautiful sunny days, so it helps while I wait for it to roll on spring! I'm hoping for a few more sunny days, to dry out the ground, as it is developing pronounced swamp-like tendencies. Gumboots have been sucked off in the mud, on more than one occasion!
Due to the ground being so wet, the garden is coming along very slowly, the main activity at the moment being stamping one's feet on the ground and going 'isn't it cooooold!' I am considering turning the back garden into a winter olympic stadium for rural sports, such as the Mud-Puddle Gumboot Hop (10 metres and 20 metres), the Stamp'N'Shiver Endurance Month, and the Sway-In-The-Easterly dance competition. Special spot prizes will be awarded for funky hats, scarves and gloves. I have been making use of the indoor warmth though, and planting lots of seeds in containers on sunny windowsills. So far, peas, beans, lettuce, nettles, viola, and even a couple of sunflowers are coming up. Unfortunately, slugs seem to be sprouting up too, and all over my kitchen floor and windows first thing in the morning! cheeky things, but they are good feed for the chookies, who like their little parcels of fresh protein being tossed over their fence.
Guess this is what they mean by 'living the dream'.
Due to the ground being so wet, the garden is coming along very slowly, the main activity at the moment being stamping one's feet on the ground and going 'isn't it cooooold!' I am considering turning the back garden into a winter olympic stadium for rural sports, such as the Mud-Puddle Gumboot Hop (10 metres and 20 metres), the Stamp'N'Shiver Endurance Month, and the Sway-In-The-Easterly dance competition. Special spot prizes will be awarded for funky hats, scarves and gloves. I have been making use of the indoor warmth though, and planting lots of seeds in containers on sunny windowsills. So far, peas, beans, lettuce, nettles, viola, and even a couple of sunflowers are coming up. Unfortunately, slugs seem to be sprouting up too, and all over my kitchen floor and windows first thing in the morning! cheeky things, but they are good feed for the chookies, who like their little parcels of fresh protein being tossed over their fence.
The chickens are not laying at the moment, apart from Blondie the chicken who ran off to go and fornicate with next door's rooster. The rooster has been dispatched, for extreme antisocial behaviour, and Blondie is looking for secret places to lay her fertilised eggs, whilst singing 'that man he done me wrong, that man he now is gone' in a plaintive manner. I probably won't be telling her where he has gone, and how he got there.... Meantime, I think that there may be some little chickies chirping around come spring, so watch this space.
Here are some photos of the garden in autumn, with accidental pumpkins, and helper chickens, who came from next door to dig up the garden and poop all over it, saving me the job of having to dig it and spread poop on it myself. Sally the Cat supervised the whole project from around the corner....
here are the potatoes in their early stages, just making the most of the diminishing sunlight hours
and the lemon balm grew hard out, and has had a radical haircut since this photo was taken. Anyone got any ideas on what I can do with lemon balm?
aaah those views, aaah that sunset.
Guess this is what they mean by 'living the dream'.
Ka kite ano
lou
