Ground very wet

These pictures show the border where I had some leylandi trees.  I dug up the roots and roughly dug the ground, set some daffodil bulbs covered the ground with weed suppressant  and finally covered it all with shingle. I am pleased with the end result. The first photo shows the big leylandi tree which the young man and I cut a lot of the branches off because it was encroaching on my property. The guy next door told me he didn't have time to cut the large branch down. Now I have the fence erected it will not be possible to cut the large branch down without doing damage to  my fence.
 I had forgotten to have these on my blog. It was the young man who lived next door. I haven't seen him for about 6 days and he shouted out to me saying that we had to paint the fence. I then informed him that I had roughly done it because it had forecast dreadful weather with persistent heavy rain for 2 days. I wish it was only 2 days.
He then told me about his vegetable seeds which I gave him so I said I would go and have a look. Off we went round, I was amazed just how wet the lawn was next door. It was standing in water in many areas. I just thought it was my garden that would be like that.
 Anyway I was pleasantly surprised because he had a few radish ready in the greenhouse but outside his carrots were much better than mine and I told him so.
 I had taken a few photos of the wet ground and the damage the winds had done to my broad beans. I will post them on my next blog.
Today has been drier with much of the morning being wet but with drizzle. We have not seen the sun for 3 days and tomorrow talks of it being an improving day but the week end and into next week is supposed to be similar to this week. Roll on around the Summer Equinox when hopefully the wind will move from the easterly direction.  More soon.

Rain and more rain

At least my feet are beginning to reduce the swelling, this is because I have not taken any of the medication that actually caused the swelling. I know that the dosage was reduced but I wish to get my legs and feet back to some sort of normality before I take anymore.
 With the Bank Holiday over the weather has turned dreadful. The initial forecast over the week end was not good but to be honest it was quite good although the easterly wind made it somewhat a little cooler.
 On Monday I decided to paint the new fence panels because it did forecast bad weather and sure enough on Tuesday it was a dreadful day with heavy rain and strong winds . Today has been similar with the rain being a lot less heavy and this afternoon drying up somewhat although the wind is perhaps a little stronger. It is also cold for the time of year. My central heating coming on both mornings.
 I decided to have a walk in the garden, the winds have battered my flowers and broad beans are looking a sorry state. In many places my ground is waterlogged especially around my new potatoes. I only hope that it soon dries up or I am afraid my potatoes will rot in the ground.
 I have managed to have my first taste of peas out of my polytunnel also I have picked some strawberries too. With the recent rains the carrot seeds I planted a while ago have started to germinate so perhaps I will get a decent row.
 It looks as if I will not have a great crop of cherries, to be honest I am not bothered as they are not easy to pick and I give most of them away and I don't think those I give them to don't appreciate the hard work it takes.
 Plums are looking plentiful and my apples too are looking promising. We must now wait for better weather to be with us. Not tomorrow though as it is forecast another day without any sun at all, plenty of rain again but hopefully a little less wind although still from the east.
 The man next door was going to lay more slabs this week but the weather has stopped him in his tracks. Still we mustn't complain too much, think of the parents of the schoolchildren who are on half term holiday this week. More soon.

G.P.Appointment

Just a few photos of what I have been up to these last few weeks. More photos will follow. I  am pleased the way the job was done so now I am boarded up on 2 sides. It is a pity that the newer neighbours don't do something similar. Then I would be fully boarded with the added protection of deterring the vermin from entering my garden. Mainly rabbits.
Now to medical problems.
 I managed to get an appointment with a G.P this morning. So off I went to see the G.P. I have a small spot on my cheek, my feet are swelling plus my toe nails are in a dreadful state. I thought at first I had stubbed my toe and another new toenail was growing under the old one. This was not so. Soon I had a couple more that seemed in a similar state to those. Anyway the G.P first looked at my spot, told me we should keep a careful watch on it. I presume it is the Royal We, that is me. Then he looked at my swollen feet. As I had guessed it was the medication I was on for my increasingly upward move of my hypertension. He told me he would reduce the dosage a little, to be honest I don't suppose it will make any difference at all. Finally he saw my toenails, suggested that I should have some cream for them and perhaps there may be a fungal disease so would also give me some stuff to paint on  my toenails. To be honest I don't expect the treatment to make any difference at all but we will see.
 The outcome is that I will now be on 9 different medications a day, when will it all cease? More soon.

Rare occurence

The other day I decided to do some washing in the afternoon which is in itself a rare occurrence. The reason was that my night rate on this new Provider for electric is not so much different than the day rate. As I was producing a reasonable amount of solar power I did my washing.
 It was a windy day and it was great for drying. Anyway I started to peg my washing out on my line. I had done my bed linen as well as my towels underwear etc. I had most pegged out when the line broke. To be honest I just started to laugh and hurriedly collected the damp clothes and carried them in to my sitting room. I then started to look for the remains of the clothes line. I was lucky as I had been moving things about and noticed the line about a week earlier.
 I hurriedly fitted a new line up and although my mate would call it a rats nest with the ends not being neat. It served it's purpose. I then pegged out the washing, by now it was about 4.00pm. I was pleasantly surprised that nearly all of my washing was dry well before it got dark. It was only my polo shirts collars and cuffs which were not completely dry.
 As I have had my washing line up more or less since I was here I certainly couldn't grumble at my mishap.
 I could remember my late Mother shedding a few tears when her washing line broke. Of course it must be remembered this was many years ago when Monday was wash day and it took most of the day to do the washing. All was manual, no automatic washing machines. The washing lines were also not as robust as they are these days.
 Now I remembered that several years ago, well it must be around 30 years ago to be honest I had many mining people come and visit me. This guy who came with his wife and family frequently to eat in my establishment. One day came up to the counter and asked me if I would like a washing line. He went on to explain that all the mining community had these and that they would last a lifetime. I naturally told him I would love to have one.
 I didn't think anything more about it but a few weeks later he came in and handed me a bag. He told me that all the fitments were included. I thanked him very much and didn't bother to look at the stuff.
 When I eventually left there and moved to where I am now I bought a washing line and used that. It was not until I looked and found this washing line that I took a closed look. I am sure it will do me fine, definitely will last me my life. I have asked  my mate to purchase a metal washing post which I will concrete in the ground making more space to hang out the washing.
 Of course my mate will be the expert in erecting the line, he is very good at DIY and makes a neat job of everything he does. More soon.

Fencing

This morning I arose early as I generally do when it is light early in the morning.
 I decided to open the driveway gates because several weeks ago I had John the fence man come and give me a price for erecting fencing panels at the end of my garden. As I had heard nothing from him, I expected him to be here.
 Soon after 8.00am. I saw a form of a person going by my door. I was a little surprised and opened my door to see that John and his assistant had arrived, just as well I had opened the gates. Anyway I asked him if he wished to have a cuppa which I knew he would not refuse.
 He started to get the things up the top of the garden while I made the tea. After a quick drink they started. The weather was kind to them because when they had finished the heaven opened up more or less constant for the next 4 hours.
 They finished just as it started to rain, lightly for a start but soon after they left it was dreadful. Most of my garden was full of puddles. The ditch at the end of my garden has now got water in it. Most unusual  but we really have had a lot of heavy rain lately.
 It was my intention to take a photo of the fencing but it has really been too wet.
 I managed to catch young Tim who lived next door, to tell him that the fencing had been done but he mustn't come round the rear as it was muddy. He told me he noticed my driveway gates were open when he was going to work.
 Tomorrow we will take stock of the situation as I notice that the fencing is not flush to the ground so some chicken wire will be required to deter the rabbits. More soon.

Holiday over

With the May Day Bank Holiday over I had arranged with my mate to come next door and fit an Ariel to the young mans bedroom.
 He duly arrived around 10.00am. and after bringing me a few goods went round with his car to next door.
 I managed to see the man and asked him how he had got on with the pigeon racing at the week end. He did O.K. but last year with his Wife had a successful year winning several trophies but he was not worried as he was waiting for his youngsters to start racing. They have bred them themselves.
 In I went to the bungalow and called out for young Tim to come and help my mate. I sent him up the loft which he duly did as I asked him. I could see he was a little apprehensive but he did it.
 My mate went up and immediately noticed that the loft was full of unwanted items. Naturally all of them are just left near the loft opening. Tim managed to shift all the bits and bobs so that my mate could get on with the job.
 It didn't take too long, the worst was finding  an existing Ariel which he could tap into. He managed to get that without  ant trouble and drilled a hole so that the Ariel could be threaded to where his T.V. was.
 With the connection made the signal was a lot better so we tidied up and off we went to get the greenhouse dismantled.
 Typical of my mate, he had an idea which made a lot of sense, He suggested that we carry the greenhouse from next door's back garden to my driveway.
 It was a lot heavier than he thought and as we walked from next door's front to mine it meant that we had to go onto the main A52 which is generally busy this time of year.
 I stopped as I heard a vehicle approaching from the rear. I made sure I was just off the road. Just as well as it was a Police Car. Anyway we managed to get it safely on the driveway. I then told them that I would go and start getting dinner ready.
 I kept going out to see how they were getting on and was surprised how well things were going. My mate was also happy with things.
 My chicken was well done when I went to get the rest of the dinner ready but it was nice anyway.
I put the vegetables on around Noon and told them that it would be ready in about 30 minutes but would call them in time to wash their hands while I was dishing up.
 Sure enough about 12.30pm. I called them in and we ate.
 Just before 1.00pm my mate went out to finish off. I told Tim to go and help him while I did the washing up and cleaned to cooker as the veg had boiled over with not constantly watching the cooker.
 After doing the cleaning I shouted them in to get a cuppa. my mate was sure ready as it was the first time he had drunk anything since early morning. They had, between them managed to dismantle the greenhouse completely and as soon as my mate finished his tea was out again tying up the pieces of greenhouse into bundles.
 By now it was approaching 2.00pm. I had told him that I wished him to leave by then as he had 4 hours at the Night School starting at 5.00pm.
 Soon after 2.00pm. with his car loaded with all the bits he set off home.
I was happy the way the day went. I guess we will all sleep well tonight. More soon.

More shopping

I called at the local Supermarket and made my way to the Deli counter. The lady was on hand, the one I generally see and I asked her if her Husband had been busy over the Easter period. She told me that it had been good but not quite as good as last Easter.
 I finished my shopping and made my way to the check out. A nice lady was on the till and she put a few things in bags for me. I thanked her for being so good. When she told me how much I owed I just remarked I would make sure I was on her till next time. With that a complete stranger called out that I had made her day. It was a female voice and she made sure plenty heard her.
 Off I went to Lidl and as is the norm, there was a queue at the check out. They hardly ever have enough on the check outs.
 The Woman in front of me put her shopping basket down and I remarked that this was a good idea. We then got talking and after a while she told me she had been at Citizen's Advice yesterday from 9.00am. until 11.20am. just to see an Advisor. She then told me the reason why she was there. She told me her Husband had died around 6 months ago and had left her a sum of about £10.000 and that Inland Revenue wanted to know where the money had come from. By this time we were moving nearer the check out. She then opened  he handbag and showed me a folder telling me that this is what Citizen's Advice had requested her to take to them today. She told me she hoped that it would not take as long as yesterday to see one of the Advisers.
She would probably told me more but it was then her turn to the check out.
 The weather here for these last few days have been very poor. Not much sun at all, plenty of low cloud blowing off the cold North Sea. Once it gets into that quarter it is reluctant to move much until the next quarter. Still we live in hopes and it sounds as if the weather will be nice for the May Bank Holiday week end, we may pay for it on Friday as some frost is forecast. I will be out covering up my tender plants. More soon.