Hi all, sorry i have not been around for a few days, but as you can see from the photo I have been busy on a little project. Since we moved here a couple of years ago we have been renovating the house and last week we moved onto the kitchen. I have spent the last week gutting it, removing the ceiling, work units floor and anything else I could hit with a hammer. It is now ready to begin reconstructing, but that won't be until the new year.
I have however also managed to get into the garden a couple of times, mainly to escape the dust! I finally got my broad beans planted out, i like to get them in early as this gives a crop before the dreaded blackfly appears. My sweet peas are also doing well in the greenhouse, i have now pinched out the growing tip so as to make them bush out a bit.
I was amazed on Sundy while sitting under our willow tree to find a large bumble bee probably Bombus terrestris crawling across the lawn, I picked it up and moved it somewhere out of the dogs reach for it's safety! I wonder if anyone else has seen one on the shortest day of the year, it really shows how mild the weather was over the weekend.
Thanks for reminding me to pinch out the growing tips of my sweet peas. I have a bumble bee that visits the Cyclamen outside my kitchen window - no idea what type it is but I was surprised to see it yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI presume you are going to relatives for Christmas dinner?!!
Er no staying here for Christmas! We still have the cooker and can prepare food in our utility room. We aren't having any guests this year so that makes it a bit easier.
ReplyDeleteyour Cyclamen must be one of the few food sources available at this time of year.
I saw a bumblebee in my garden today too, zooming about and looking quite energetic. However, I don't know whether this is because I've just read the long-range weather forecast, but I can feel the temperature dropping already. Gary, I hope your kitchen renovations leave the central heating untouched. Please tell me you have a lovely log fire even if you haven't got a kitchen.
ReplyDeleteCrumbs - that's brave just before Christmas! Hope your dinner's dust free ;)
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas :)
I keep spending the money I'm trying to save to renovate our kitchen on other things like a computer, camera, and as of yesterday, an iphone. My husband has been chomping at the bit to get one, and when he suggested we both get one, I was a bit skeptical of the cost, but secretly had been thinking they are pretty cool, too. Now I can blog on my lunch break and not get upset at the slow computer that was only letting me see 3 blogs in 20 minutes.
ReplyDeleteWell, Gary, you are a brave man taking on such a project this time of year. I hope it turns out just like you want it to, and cost what you think it's going to.
Merry Christmas,
Sue
Victoria, We have a small log fire and the central heating still works! If all fails we will grab a hot water bottle and the highland malt.
ReplyDeleteVP, I sealed the floor yesterday which has cut down the dust, I think some of the dust from the ceiling is at lest 100yrs old so at least it's well matured1
Sue, We have done the same over the last year, we finally got our act together and decided to go for it.
I got an iPhone for my birthday last July, it is the best gadget I have got, I absolutely love it.
What do you mean you planted out your broadbeans. Do you mean in the ground? or in the green house? Don't you get snow and frost where you live? I live in Portland Oregon USA and I'm very interested in this if indeed you do plant outside this early. Are they under shelter of some type?
ReplyDeleteThat must be quite a work, Gary. Hope your broadbeans are ready soon for the new kitchen! Good luck.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I raised them in an unheated greenhouse and have now moved them outside into the veg patch. Broadbeans are very tough and frost resistant, in fact I am only copying what the local farmers do. The only protection I give them is wire mesh to keep the birds off.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Gary. Sounds like you have a huge undertaking ahead of you...although you've already done a lot of the advance prep-work. I'm glad you will wait until after the New Year to work on this big project. Enjoy the rest of the Christmas holiday:) Jan
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