#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.                                                                                

Getting Techie with Facebook...not

 I took the plunge. Having read how so-and-so spent x amount of $/£ promoting their book/blog/facebook pages/whatever and three hours later they had six squillion new followers/customers, I thought I'd take the plunge and try a Facebook ad.
  I took the modest option. All right, the cheapest option. £4.00 a day for 7 days, trying to encourage more than just my dog to join my mailing list. I'm offering a free copy of Vernon the Pirate, which is not to be sniffed at, in my view. It is an epic and lengthy poem and a darn good yarn to boot.
 But on to the ad. Not a lot of instruction. Some of it, you have to guess why nothing's happening when you click next. And sooo slooow. I checked with the P&J. No, the internet was fine- least-ways, the bit he was using was. Other web pages were acting as you would hope. But Facebook's business page? Soo slooow!
  About every three letters (yes, letters, not even words) everything would stop while the page reloaded. Sometimes I could only get away with a space. Half an hour two write three sentences. Then it asked me what places I wanted to target. I thought of all the English speaking countries, and ended up with Austin, Texas as one of my prime targets. Why? Predictive text- I'd started typing Australia after I'd clicked on United States, so Facebook decided I wanted Austin, Texas, USA. Hate predictive text.
 Then it was time to pay. Waiting and waiting for the page to load. Then I'm presented with two options- Paypal or direct debit. I've no idea what my Paypal details are, so I take direct debit. Eventually I manage to complete the form in a manner that the system will accept. The direct debit will take up to 6 days to process. Would I like to pay by another method- such as my credit card, my preferred method of payment on-line. Why didn't you give me that option in the first place? And no, I am not going to give you my credit card details when you've just taken my bank account details. I know, I just know you'll end up taking the money out of both of them.
 Anyway, I received an e-mail from Facebook confirming a direct debit will be set up within 6 days, and then, presumably, the ad will go live over 7 days. And we'll see if there is any result. Try back here in a couple of weeks and I'll tell you if it was worth the time or money. 

And see this to the left? Don't try clicking on it. It doesn't work. If you want your free copy of Vernon the Pirate, click top right of the page, where it says Subscribe to Our Mailing List. And then, all together- AH-HARR!

#GardeningTales Easter?! Already?

 I'm really looking forward to the Easter hols. It's my favourite break. There's plenty that needs doing outside, and there's such a sense of achievement when the garden has been tidied up, and things you planted in hope rather than expectation all start coming up. And there's always a chance the weather will be just perfect- for drying, for painting, for gardening.
  The window man has been to measure up for two more double-glazed units, and on Wednesday, some chap called Warren is calling round to give me a quote for installing solar panels. Well, I figure as I'm only getting about £20 a year from my savings, I might as well invest them in something that not only will save me money, but might make me a little, too.
  The potatoes are coming up, but are under random attack from what I suspect is another one of our furry friends. I've been leaving him slices of sweet potato in the hope it will at least spoil his appetite.
 The garlic and the shallots are also looking good, and the teeny tiny carrots and parsnips are just emerging. The onions are also starting to green, and if the slugs don't get them, the beetroot are emerging too.

 The peppers, aubergines and tomatoes are in their pots and looking healthy, though there's still no sign of the  cucumbers and the slugs have had all the Chinese cabbage. And the rhubarb- well, that's looking so good, I don't want to pick it.
  It's going to be a bit of an experiment for a couple of years, this kitchen garden, but I don't half feel the pressure's off, now I've given up the allotment. Apparently it's been converted, along with the site next to  it, to plots for the disabled. Which is nice.

 To keep my neighbour's perennially encroaching  garden at bay, we have invested in a hedge trimmer. I've never had one before, mainly because I've never owned a hedge- but it's ideal for cutting back thickly growing foliage of an indeterminate nature. The yew has now (mostly) been cut free from the clutches of Clive's garden, and so probably has the apple tree, but we'll have to hope for a decent gale to blow the unwanted bits out before we'll know for sure. I can't see any other safe way to remove it at the moment. Tomorrow, I think, will be a feet-up day, to catch up on a bit of reading, or maybe some writing...she laughed hysterically. By the way, did I tell you
  Barry and the Dinosaur King is out on the 6th of April? And that it will also available as a paperback from Amazon. And that Growned,the FREE eBOOK, is also available as a paperback from Amazon? Just thought I'd mention it.