Rain on me, little on the garden

There was some very light rain this morning, so I didn't water the pots (or pick any red currants, black currants, loganberries, raspberries and "wild" strawberries to have with my breakfast cereal).

There is a youth centre that was one of the old Essex County Cricket grounds near the bus stop and this morning there were 6 wood pigeons on the grass. Two of them were laying on their sides, every now and then opening the upper wing to get some of the rain on the on the underneath of the wing and the bit of the body usually protected by it.

The weather forecast I heard on the radio this morning had predicted rain this afternoon. And we had this at work (Euston). It had eased off by the time I stepped out of the building at 5 pm but had started up again before I reached the pavement!

I arrived at Walthamstow Central to find sunshine and dry pavements. It doesn't look as if we had any rain in the afternoon. It doesn't look like we will get any this evening either.

Scratched but happy!

Yesterday I was picking gooseberries from the only surviving bush in my neighbour's garden. I cleared back vegetation at the beginning of the year, but the bindweed was encroaching. However, the gooseberries were large due to all the rain, and I picked 1 1/4 kilograms from the bush.

My arms are scratched so I am using my comfrey cream on them.

I took half the gooseberries into the kayak club this morning to give to a friend, and made the rest into a crumble for me.

I still have my 4 bushes to pick but don't expect to get as much combined from them as I did from one bush yesterday.

When cycling along the Lea Navigation yesterday, and again to and from the kayak club today I passed people with binoculars and telescopes interested in the roofs of the houses by the pub between the club and Leabridge Road. On the way home today I asked what bird they were interested in. It was the rose finch, normally found in Easter Europe and Russia.

Scratched but happy!

Yesterday I was picking gooseberries from the only surviving bush in my neighbour's garden. I cleared back vegetation at the beginning of the year, but the bindweed was encroaching. However, the gooseberries were large due to all the rain, and I picked 1 1/4 kilograms from the bush.

My arms are scratched so I am using my comfrey cream on them.

I took half the gooseberries into the kayak club this morning to give to a friend, and made the rest into a crumble for me.

I still have my 4 bushes to pick but don't expect to get as much combined from them as I did from one bush yesterday.

When cycling along the Lea Navigation yesterday, and again to and from the kayak club today I passed people with binoculars and telescopes interested in the roofs of the houses by the pub between the club and Leabridge Road. On the way home today I asked what bird they were interested in. It was the rose finch, normally found in Easter Europe and Russia.

Scratched but happy!

Yesterday I was picking gooseberries from the only surviving bush in my neighbour's garden. I cleared back vegetation at the beginning of the year, but the bindweed was encroaching. However, the gooseberries were large due to all the rain, and I picked 1 1/4 kilograms from the bush.

My arms are scratched so I am using my comfrey cream on them.

I took half the gooseberries into the kayak club this morning to give to a friend, and made the rest into a crumble for me.

I still have my 4 bushes to pick but don't expect to get as much combined from them as I did from one bush yesterday.

When cycling along the Lea Navigation yesterday, and again to and from the kayak club today I passed people with binoculars and telescopes interested in the roofs of the houses by the pub between the club and Leabridge Road. On the way home today I asked what bird they were interested in. It was the rose finch, normally found in Easter Europe and Russia.

Fox and magpies - beginnings of an Aesop's fable

Yesterday morning I looked out of my bedroom window to see 3 of the family of 4 magpies on the cross struts of my bean poles pecking at the string holding the poles together. On the path, watching them intently, was a fox.

It immediately brought Aesop's fables to my mind!

Fox cubs 3 sunflower seedlings nil

On Monday evening I put some sunflower seedlings out in the garden putting some cut-off plastic bottles round them to protect from slugs.

Later that evening I looked out of the bedroom window to see a fox with 3 cubs. For the last fortnight I've only seen it with one.

The cubs were chasing each other round the garden, including along the back of the flower bed where I'd put most of the sunflowers. "Oh, dear," I thought.

Next morning I found all the sunflower seedlings in the flower bed had gone, but the 3 in the edges of the veg beds had survived both fox cubs and slugs. One seedling has gone since, but fingers crossed for 2.

Mysterious plants arrive

A bx of plants arrived from Thompson and Morgan. I could remember that I was due another delivery from them, but not what I had ordered.

They were plug plants, and I didn't recognise them. Were they vegetable or flowers, for the beds or for pots? There was nothing inside the box to say, and I couldn't find the catalogue to check all I had marked off to order.

I went to look to see if there was any reference number on the box label so I could phone Thompson & Morgan to ask, to find the label said what they were sweet potato plugs.

I tried these last year without success, and looking on a Thompson & Morgan website I didn't see anything in the description to enlighten me as to why I decided to try again.

I've put them 2 each to a large pot, which I will keep indoors for a week or two.

I did put out the courgettes in cut-off 5 litre water bottles to protect from slugs and, hopefully, the fox cubs, and the tomatoes in these bottomless pots with a well round the outside for watering - hopefully also protected from the cubs. However, if the foxes do decide to play in that vegetable bed, then the protection won't be enough!