Mild weather has messed up fig prunning

According to a cutting I've carefully saved to remind me when to do it, you should prune figs in December when they're dormant. Unfortunately my figs are in bud!

I couldn't get a decent picture in the gloom before I left for work, but did get this one of one of the plum trees, also with leaf buds.

Fingers crossed the fig tree and the plum trees survive any cold snap we get between now and the end of winter!

Trousers become cat draught excluder

I have turned a pair of brown cord trousers with a dodgy zip and wearing thin at the crotch into a cat draught excluder for the bottom of a door.

The photograph is taken at my front door (I have a floor length curtain with a thermal curtain lining).

This will be a birthday present for my elderly next door neighbour. I don't want to get her more clutter. I used to get her gardening stuff but this past year she hasn't been in the garden.

There is a big gap under her front door and her draught excluder is made from carrier bags stuffed hard with other carrier bags so doesn't do much for keeping our the draughts as far as I can see.

I hope she likes it!

Grocer's fruit box transformed into bathroom storage

I rescued a fruit box thrown out by a local grocer. Screwed two offcuts of wood underneath it, and then screwed four casters on to the offcuts. I now have storage for loo cleaner, bath cleaner, toilet rolls, etc.

The main advantage will be that when I clear the bathroom to clean the floor I just have the box to pick up not lots of little bits.

Hoping hellebores will survive cold weather forecast for this weekend

My hellebores are in bud.

I am hoping they will survive cold weather forecast for this weekend.

I like hellbores. They flower for such a long time. I buy plants and plant seeds where the label says "flowers July to September". I think, "Great, 3 months of flowering". What they really mean is that sometime in that 3 month period I will get a few days of flowers.

Hellebores, however, are in flower for about 2 months. As they flower in winter I don't see them very often!

They are good for Queen Bumblebees out and about early in the year.

Country Living have expanded "Country in the city"

Very pleased the Country Living have expanded their "Country in the city" section from one page to 3.

We can't all live in the country, even if we could get the work, there's not enough room! So we need to make cities work better.

So thumbs up Country Living!

Although this section of the magazine has an environmentally friendly green tinge, the rest of the magazine can be very ungreen - this month a travel section, "Islands of Dreams", covering islands off Norway and Greece, and Madeira. And how are people from the UK going to get to them?!

Ash keys attracting birds

The two ash trees in my neighbours' garden are full of ash keys (the third tree in the row, in the garden the other side has no keys at all). Today spent a while looking out of my bedroom window watching the blue tits, coal tits and starling feeding on the ash keys.

Not only nice to see the birds having easy access to food, but the more the birds eat, the less seeds to fall and germinate in my garden!

Hope there are as many birds on 25 & 26 January when it is the RSPB bird watching weekend.