Living in the UK again

My Penzance adventure started from our local train station, for a short hop to Reading to pick up one of the new Hitachi bi mode trains to Penzance. Bi mode, is a train that can get electric power from an overhead wire and where the track doesn’t have that, it turns on its diesel generator to power the train. This is of course the route of the Brunel line. I must admit as we got closer to Penzance our average speed appeared to drop, but I was in no rush. Five hours in a train is better than a lot more, as sole driver, in a very old car… As I got out there was a gaggle of ladies who were clearly having a holiday without their respective partners. One of them was trying to do a selfie of them all in front of the train, I offered to do it. I then told them, please don’t trash the town, they all laughed.  After checking in to my place to stay, I had a wander around and had a coffee and two scoops of Cornish vanilla ice cream. Which was divine. I walked down Chapel St which has some nic...

The recent heatwave has meant a lot more work to keep things going until cooler periods or even better rainfall appears. It got a little colder for a few days, we were promised thunderstorms, but they skipped us by.  I now have two dustbins, and two water butts up there now. I don’t normally use them, but as we only have one tap by the church tower, if I go up there to do watering and someone is already using the tap, I will use them then. So far I have crossed off Broccoli and Peas off my next years list. The Broccoli florets were very small, there weren’t that many Peas. The Raspberries are still coming, and the fruit trees are still swelling up their fruit, although the Pears haven’t done as much as the Apples. The good news is the weeds are not coming up as much as they did, including the Bindweed. The Cabbages are doing well, below is what is called a Pointy Cabbage, as can be seen. The other Cabbages are not far advanced. There is a lot of slug damage on some, I need to think...

It is the last day of looking after the Cocker Spaniel who lives in the house where  one called Neville used to live. As time goes on the two Spaniels are converging, there are some subtle differences, the  youngster is becoming less black on his back. The youngster is very vocal, he talks non stop. Ignoring him increases the volume of the chatter until you involve him in some way. He loves doing things, non stop, action all day is the name of the game. He loves water, but he won’t swim. It’s been hot, so the walks I have done I have tried to ensure he had the opportunity to cool down. A walk from Aston to Henley, along the river Thames. Pub visit at the Angel on the Bridge. He loved that of course. Another day, another walk. This time around the pub at Waltham St Lawrence, another favourite pub, but we did the walk too early for opening time. Another dip in the lake by Shottesbrook. He found a dead mouse early in the walk, decided to carry it about, but thankfully dropped it!...

It’s the  TRHA  seventeenth year in existence and that is why we were keen to have the BBC’s Gardeners Question Time visit us this year. We have also enlisted the services of a handyman, to build us a display. To help keep the plants viable, there are pots screwed onto the board, and we have two sets of plants in the same size pots, these fit inside the pots screwed onto the board. The ones not on display sit in a tray with water in, to allow them to recover, as it’s hard to water them when on display. I hope it works.  Meanwhile I am dog sitting the St Bernard again, I know him well. He really doesn’t like to walk, well with me that is. I did go for a walk with him and one of his owners to get some tips. Sadly despite this, he still isn’t keen. He comes to see me during the night and often sleeps by my side. He absolutely loves cuddles any time of the day. There is a small field behind his house and he enjoys going in there.  The garden at home is looking nice, we h...

 At last a bit of produce worth shouting about. Pak Choi. I have given a couple away, but we have eaten a couple, in stir frys . It’s not a particularly tasty vegetable, but nice and crunchy. I have bought a few more small plants and planted them. We have loads of flowers on the broad beans, I pinched the tips out, in order to mitigate the black fly. I washed the plants with soapy water to try and eliminate any black fly on the plants. They are not too badly affected by the black fly so far. The bindweed not surprisingly is still coming back, in open ground I can get rid of it, but in the raised beds and underneath the beds, it’s not possible to do. The Sweet Potato plants aren’t looking very good, flowers on the peas, the brassicas are mostly doing well especially the Kohl Rabi. On my old plot, the tenant’s husband has built this amazing bug house, for all sorts of insects. You can’t quite clearly see the lady birds on the roof. It’s neatly time for the next TRHA show, one of the ...

Like many tourists of yesteryear I have just got back from a holiday in North Wales, based in Colwyn Bay where my brother in law now lives. I have stayed there before but many years ago. He was down in our neck of the woods, so I hitched a lift in his MX-5 car to save me using the train or driving. The weather was still nice up there, just a little cooler, with a sea breeze thrown in for good measure. In the evening after we got up there, as  Monday is a quiet night, we had a few drinks in a local bar, where they have a reciprocal arrangement with a local pizza place, you order at the bar, they get delivered to you and you eat them with your beer. Result. All are priced the same. I had Peking Duck ( amazing ), he had Smoked Haddock ( also amazing ). The bar does all sorts of things like film nights, to tempt to punters in. We also had another drink in the local Wetherspoons, which I think was an old cinema, still featuring lots of its old fittings. On the next day we walked to near...

The recent hot weather has been really nice but no rain, that’s creating problems for the garden and allotment. The back border, around the pond, had loads of forget me knots, and although they are pretty after a while, they have to be lifted as they swamp the perennial plants in there. They have had a good chance to reseed, later on we will see those seedlings, ready to flower next year. I learnt that the flower, has a yellow circle on its petals, when there is no nectar it goes white. Bees know this, so save time by not wasting effort going in those flowers. After clearing them, I put a mulch of well rotted farmyard manure that we sell at the store. I bought a few plants to fill some gaps and move dahlias that I have been growing on to try and avoid the slugs. We have some nice iris, and self seeded Welsh poppies too. At the allotment, things are growing, I have been watering well every few days. Bindweed is still showing its hand. But I am keeping it down as best as I can. I have de...