By way of update since last month’s blog, I’m pleased to announce that I did manage to mend my beloved bird feeder – well, of a fashion. The plastic tray was too badly mangled even for superglue, so I had to resort to copious quantities of insulating tape – not pretty I know, but the birds won’t mind, will they? To try and reduce the risk of the insulating tape getting wet when I clean the tray, I fished a plastic container out of the recycling and used it as a lining tray. My cunning plan is that if the birds have good table manners and don’t spill too much over the edges, I will only need to clean the liner. I really hope I’ll get a bit more life out of the feeder – like I said, it has sentimental value.
Last week I discovered one of my plastic greenhouse covers was leaking. It’s one of those opaque mesh type ones. The sun has destroyed the clear bits on its roof, so it looked like a string vest and rain was just pouring through – might account for the mouldiness of my overwintered geraniums?
I decided to order a clear cover to let in more light for my seedlings – another experiment. Getting the old cover off was like getting out of a wetsuit, and putting the new one on was equally strenuous and unwieldy. If only that was all I had to contend with – but no. When I finally got the old cover off I realised quite a number of the metal rods that make up the frame had corroded and snapped off in their plastic supports. Aha I thought, I have some plant shelving in the loft – that has metal rods – I’ll use some of them. So I trekked up to the loft, emptied the neatly packed box containing all the metal rods, plastic supports and shelves and trekked down again with a handful of rods. Slight issue – a quick comparison revealed they were shorter and stumpier than required, and therefore no use whatsoever. I couldn’t be arsed to put them away neatly after all that.
So, another Plan B was needed – more masking tape – I should have just bought a new greenhouse – I wonder how long it will be before it collapses. (In case you were wondering the bungee attached to the rope is attached to a full watering can at the bottom – a precaution invented by GR following greenhousetakeoffinwindgate).
To make matters worse I discovered my autumn sown sweet peas had no leaves left on them – slugs and/or snails have been having a party in my greenhouse. I decided it was time to sow some more.
This led to a grand clear out of seed packets and organising the ones I’d decided to keep more efficiently. Look how tidy they all are now – the bread bin has a rusty bottom by the way, which is why it’s now a seed storage container. I really tried to be ruthless about the number of seed varieties I selected to sow this year, but one thing led to another …
Victoria & Albert gave me a Seed Advent Calendar for Christmas – what a lovely idea! I’ve only set it up recently and it’s really taken off – 24 types of seed – a mix of veg, salad and flowers – I’ve already needed to pot on some of the seedlings. The ones that are too tender to go into the plastic greenhouse yet are on just about every window sill in our house, along with those I chose to sow from my seed packets. I’m not sure GR was too impressed when he returned from Italy (yet another ski trip) but soon he’s off to Canada for his final jaunt on the slopes for this year, so by the time he returns it will almost be time for the seedlings to brave the elements.
Victoria also gave me a ‘Grow Your Own Christmas Tree’ kit. I planted the 10 seeds provided at the beginning of January – I’d all but given up – but look – 4 seedlings have just appeared!
It’s been so good to get out in the garden and feel the warmth of the sun. The ladybirds are clearly enjoying it too – they’re everywhere! That’s good – they eat aphids – apparently they can eat up to 5,000 in their lifetime. They can live up to 2 years, although the average is one – I’m surprised it’s that long to be honest – some birds, spiders, wasps and beetles love to munch on them.
You may be interested to know I have been successful in luring the woodpecker away from Victoria and into my garden. I say woodpecker singular, but of course there could be more than one visiting – it’s just not been at the same time so far. Sorry again about the poor quality photo – they’re very shy birds – the slightest movement and they’re off, but I felt I had to provide proof – if you have a magnifying glass to hand, it’s on the left hand feeder!
*The characters featured in my blogs are family members and friends – you can see who’s who here
Rambling Rose 