The First Big Adventure. And it's scary

So the P&J has just left on his first big solo adventure- cycling from here (Bristol) to Colwyn Bay (North Wales coast). He has a hotel room booked in Shrewsbury for tonight and is carrying a rucksack that weighs a ton(full of food and water, so it will get lighter). He's had a big breakfast, and we will be following to Hereford later today in case he finds he's bitten off more than he can chew.
 He's aiming to cover 103miles today and similar tomorrow. We're the emergency crew this side of Shrewsbury, my brother will take over after Shrewsbury. I've put £60 on his phone, so there's no excuse not to keep in touch. I have explained to him that we will worry, so can he text us when he stops to tell us where he's got to, and particularly when he gets to Hereford. After Hereford, he's got forty-odd miles to do to get to Shrewsbury and his bed for the night. I think if he gets to Shrewsbury, he'll finish the journey, and we'll see him again Thursday night.
So we're trying not to think of what might go wrong and hoping he'll make it to the end. He's been planning this journey for a long time and he'll be greatly disappointed if he doesn't. He's thinking about cycling back, so we might have it all to do again, next week!

UPDATE-Unfortunately, he only got as far as just outside Hereford due to a problem with his back tyre. We tried to fix it outside Halfords in Hereford, but to no avail. We traipsed back home to see if we could sort it out and then drop him at the TravelLodge to resume his journey from Shrewsbury, but we can't fix it (the rim tape is basically rubbish and causing punctures). He's too cheesed off to decide whether he'll have another go, but he will be visiting the bike shop tomorrow to get some decent rim tape. I got some nice photos of Hereford, though (there's always an upside).

 He has learned from the episode and accepts he didn't prepare well enough, didn't start out early enough and he was carrying too much weight in his rucksack. What is probably most galling, though, is that mum and dad were right all along, but he didn't listen. 

101 Things To Do With an Old Wooden Pallet: Number 2- A modular raised bed

Number 1 was the planter, remember? And as dear Mr Davie has kindly brought  me 4 more pallets of varying sizes, I thought it was time to be creative. Again, I'm trying to do as little DIY as possible, so I'm using what's already there, where I can. Those of you with bigger muscles and hammers will no  doubt be more able and willing to discombobulate a pallet, and create a super design, but mine, well, it works.
This was made from two pallets of different sizes, using a mallet, an old chisel and a saw (to dismantle), a hammer and some nails. It was  then given a coat of wood preservative.
 The bits I used were the "feet" of the pallets, which I sawed free as I couldn't get the nails out of the wood easily. Taking the "feet" and their attached planks of wood means you've already got your module almost made, only requiring one more plank on one side to make an open box. The planks not nailed to the "feet" are a lot easier to get off the pallet and reuse.  
 I left one side open, my thoughts being that I could put companion plants in there (marigolds and herbs, for example) to help control pests. At the moment, I'm thinking that I will place the four sides where I want the raised bed to be, and raise the soil level inside it  with compost. I'm hoping the weight of the compost and plants in the "wall" of the raised bed will keep  things in place, but if that turns out to be impractical, I can't see it being difficult to make the thing more rigid. We'll see next year, won't we?
 I have two pallets left and the bits left over from these pallets. What can we conjure up next? And here's a picture of my young thrush, who was watching what I was doing in to the expectation there'd be food afterwards.

Feed the Birds, Tuppence a Bag

 Well, more like £20.00 actually. You know you're feeding them well when the Mafia and the hoodlums (starlings and magpies) move in.  The above is one of my new best mates in the garden. It nearly did itself an injury trying to find its way out of the greenhouse this afternoon, but did a sterling job clearing up the mess I made when a poorly sited bag of meal-worms fell on the floor this morning, so I tried not to laugh. Frankly, I'm surprised it could still get airborne.
 We've had a lot of new families moving into the neighbourhood this spring, partly thanks to the overgrownedness (it's a word I've just made up) of my neighbour's garden, which has provided a lot of secure nesting sites, and my lack of a cat to threaten them all. I'm trying to build up a bird community to help me with the pests when (I hope) my organic garden gets into full swing next year. I'm not quite sure what use the magpies and their kin are going to be, though, other than providing the entertainment. I just witnessed a magpie trying to jump up onto the apple tree trunk, completely misjudging it and almost knocking itself unconscious. It tried to look like it meant to do it and wandered dazedly under the garden table. I'm assuming it's a youngster and hasn't quite mastered its wings yet. It's either that or some of the apples lying around the garden are fermenting. That being the case, I look forward to the spectacle of some raucous parties among my corvine acquaintances as the summer draws to a close.

 

To Jemara the Cat. We Will Miss Her Sorely

It is with great sadness and with broken heart that I have to tell you Jemara, vanquisher of the neighbourhood rats, is no more. After a short illness that has progressed rapidly in these last few days, it was decided by ourselves with the help of our vets at Watkins and Tasker, that her suffering had greatly increased, was irreversible and the kindest thing was for us to help her on her way.
 She died in my arms at 10 o'clock this morning, still purring 'til her last breath. Neither I or my husband have stopped crying yet and the pain of losing such a wonderful animal will be with us for some time. We have laid her to rest under the yew tree, her favourite spot, where she can watch the birds gathering on the lawn forever.
 If there is an afterlife, no doubt her previous owners, Shelagh and Jeff, and her dog-brother Nubi (who we also looked after) will be waiting to greet her at the gates of the Happy Hunting Grounds.
  Goodbye Jemara. You go before us, in peace and without pain. We will so miss you.

On Loud Music, Gardening, Retirement and Giving the Cat her Pills

 My word, doesn't time fly?! We're nearly at the end of June! We've already had our heat-wave in the UK, so we can get on with enjoying the wind and the rain as usual, but in our t-shirts and flip-flops.
 It's just coming up to 6pm here, and I appear to have a reject from Glastonbury playing a birthday bash at a house behind me. And it's very annoying- not because the music is too loud (actually, it is quite loud), but because I recognise most of the songs, but can't for the life of me remember who had the original hits. Fortunately, this lot are quite polished and able musicians, so other than distracting me from what I ought to be doing (because I'm googling to find out who had the hit with the song), it's not bothering me.
 Life, as ever, has been busy, despite my husband retiring last February (it has yet to occur to the OH to run the hoover around once a week, though he has found out where the hoover lives, so maybe it's just a matter of time and a few hints). I live in hope of coming home to dinner already started, the attic being sorted (and mostly disposed of), but then, I live in hope of winning the lottery, and that's probably not going to happen, either.
 The P&J turned 18 just before the election, and was somewhat peeved that he just missed his chance to vote for the first time. Mrs May will never be forgiven for it. There, there, I tell him. Don't worry, you'll get your chance soon. That nice Mr Corbyn will make sure you do.

 The mammals have been in the wars- particularly the cat, who now has high blood pressure, which may or may not have an underlying cause, and is on tablets. Oh, the joy. Half a pill a day- thank you, whoever invented the pill-popper! And D L Keur, who told me about them. She's due back next Wednesday to see if there's been any improvement (the cat, not Ms Keur). Yes, there has been, thanks for asking; today she had eaten nearly 2 sachets of cat-food by lunch time. Sheba cat-food mind. We've been going more and more up-market in order to get her to eat, and we seem to have hit the mark with Sheba. A bit of me can't help wondering if it isn't just a ruse on the cat's part.
  The kitchen garden is coming on. We've had all the strawberries, and the birds seem to have had most of the blueberries. The blackberries are turning and the spinach and rocket need replacing as they have now bolted. I regret to tell you that that the Chinese cabbage didn't make it, having been almost devoured by slugs one night while my back was turned. I let it flower before I pulled it up, so it had some happiness before it went to that great compost heap in the sky.

 There looks to be some decent onions forming now the summer solstice is past, and I know for a fact there are some potatoes, providing we can get them up before the slugs discover them. They've just finished flowering (the potatoes, not the slugs), so we should be able to start digging them up soon. There's quite a good chance of getting another crop in, if we're quick enough. What am I saying? We? Me, I mean.
 The carrots and parsnips I planted in one one of the planters are looking healthy, and the peas are already podding and some could be ready for picking next week. I picked my first tomatoes this morning and the first pepper has appeared on my -um- peppers. I have a lot of peppers this year. And aubergines- though the latter are only just flowering.

 The courgettes (two plants) are being grown in the greenhouse this year, and already have three lovely flowers. The cucumber has rallied and is climbing, and when I've got some space, purple sprouting broccoli will be going out- for next year.

 The beetroot is only just getting going, mainly, I think, through being over-shadowed by the potatoes. Now they are dying back, the beetroot is rallying. So, overall, the kitchen garden seems to be doing well and should be expanded in the autumn. And, yes, it has been a lot less stress and bother than having the allotment. And, I have to say, more fruitful, by the look of it.
  I won't make any promises of speaking to you soon, so I'll see you when I see you. Now I'm off to give the cat her pill. So, where did I leave my gauntlets...?
   Meanwhile, here's a picture of Meg, who is currently barking at nothing, and... a picture of a plant holder I made from an old pallet and some old planks. Thank you Charlie Dimmock for that.

 

 

#Gardening Tales- Prickles, vinegar and missing cucumbers

It was a gardening day today. Well, it was after we'd been out for lunch (all three of us, shock, horror!). All right, not so much gardening as clearing up and moving things around so I can get the next part of the garden under way. That meant being on hands and knees, and gloves on. Yes, gloves on, because cutting back my neighbour's jungle means there are a lot of prickles lying in the piles of debris.
 I shifted most of it, and then moved some of the bigger logs/limbs of the apple tree along the edge of what I laughingly call a lawn, before chucking the rest of the wood onto one big pile- the "to be dealt with" pile, if you like. I dug up all the encroaching vines that I could see, that were trying to tunnel in from next-door's garden, planted a rosemary shrub and replanted a lavender that wasn't doing too well in its current location.
 I've have sprayed the encroaching bind weed with spirit of white vinegar, would you believe, which I read somewhere was an effective and less toxic weed killer. I have to say, the bindweed was looking a little sadder today, so I gave it another spray, just for luck, and I'll tell you how it goes.
  The  kitchen garden is beginning to look the part, with the early planting looking like it's paying off. The potatoes, in particular, are looking impressive. I shall be bitterly disappointed if I don't get some decent spuds from it. My two crows are keeping an eye on them, as you can see.

Beetroot, carrot and parsnip are all up (albeit in the company of an errant potato), the spinach is looking lush, and my last surviving Chinese cabbage is still hanging in there. The onions have sprouted and will be growing until mid-June, when they'll start to fatten up- I hope.

 The pepper, aubergines and tomatoes are happily growing in the greenhouse, as are the squashes and the peas and beans- which are currently germinating in the greenhouse because something kept nicking the seed. That was a problem on the allotment as well- it always took several attempts to get the beans and peas going. There is, I have to tell you, still no sign of the cucumbers. After the glut of last year, it would appear- well nothing. That's the problem; nothing is appearing. It's not my favourite food, so I'm not too bothered about it.

 What we could do with now is a good day of rain- we haven't had any for a while. My dear husband (no, I still haven't found him a little job, or friends that like to go out and do things) advises me Winter is revisiting us for the next few days. I can't see anything to indicate that on the weather forecast (it's a balmy 9 deg C tonight), so I assume he managed to watch the Scottish weather by mistake. Or possibly Norway (snow was mentioned). We'll see, won't we.

Birthdays, mortality and a spanking new camera

  I'm expecting another birthday to stop by soon. No, I won't tell you how old I am- let's just say I've stopped taking any notice of who's got what Olympics or World Cup now, because I may not actually be around for those- and that's before we factor in the numerous idiots  currently in charge of some very large arsenals of rather worrying weapons.
 But I digress (it's an age thing.). The OH, bless him, flush with his retirement payout, bought me an early birthday present, in the form of a Nikon L340, as I'd been moaning about the lack of a decent camera. Consequently, I've been out and about testing it and getting myself familiar with the functions, etc- particularly the zoom (28X) and the macro.
 I was hoping to get some really good wildlife shots with such a good zoom capacity, forgetting my previous experiences with zoom lenses and that you need a tripod to use it to it's full extent.

 I'd like to tell you I dusted the old tripod down, but I didn't. Yep, I have no shame- I went out with a mucky tripod. But, you'll be pleased to hear, I only went into the back-yard, so it's only you and me who know about it, and I'm not going to tell anyone else. I've spent the afternoon trying to capture video of the bird-life in the garden, which is quite rich, but only the blackbirds and robins wanted to play.
 I made it into a video, using Openshot Video Editor, which tried my patience by crashing several times and losing my work. I learned quickly to save each stage. If you like robins  and blackbirds particularly, you'll find it on YouTube, or possibly here, if I can remember how to post a video. Oops- there you go. Blackbird and Robin. Oh, and by the way- I've cleaned the tripod now.