Ash trees gone, more light and some logs

On Thursday some men came and got rid of the ash trees in my next door neighbours' garden. Although they were only just starting to come into leaf and they were to the north west of my garden, it is amazing how much lighter the garden feels. The ash tree and the sycamore in the next garden along have only been trimmed so will not get as much evening sun as I was hoping for.

I plan to get a parasol, or an umbrella I can use as one, so I can use my hammock in the afternoon in summer.

Most of the wood went through a chipper but I did get given about 20 lengths of branches 4 foot-6 foot long and 3 inches or so in diameter. Sunday evening I was sawing them up to fit in the wood store to protect them from the forecast rain (which actually came).

Glad of the rain Sunday night and the heavy showers on Bank Holiday Morning (I was at a craft fair with friends and was luckily I was on the train/in a tent/in the tea room for everyone) as we have hardly any rain in April.

Bindweed too dangerous to use as compost

It took me 5 years after I moved her, but I cleared my garden of bindweed, only having the problem the bindweed coming from my elderly neighbour's garden.

She is now in a home and her garden has been cleared and a six foot fence put up. I have been pulling up the bindweed coming through my side of the fence and putting it in a bucket with some water to make liquid fertiliser when I had a dreadful thought.....

Though I can see the foot of the fence on the side that was Dorothy's I haven't notice any weeds, including bindweed, coming through the brown turfs in her old garden. (The turfs are brown as instead of laying them within two days of them being delivered they didn't get round to it until at least a fortnight had passed).

The builder was there one morning before I left for work so I asked him if he had put poison on his side - he had. 

Most of the bindweed is growing so presumably OK but some of the bits of root I've pulled could have been dead so I daren't risk using my bucket of liquid as fertiliser. And for safety's sake will bin all of the bindweed for the rest of this year.

Easter cycling a disappointment

Last weekend it was warm and sunny.

On Saturday I was out on my bike for an hour and a half - practising on the hills in Springfield Park, then down the canal to Wick Wood. This is the best time for cycling through the wood when the canopy is not too dense and sun shinning through makes dappled shade. Then along the track between the football pitches to the path by the old river (where I met too people I know from kayaking choosing a log for wood carving from the remains of a tree cut down).

No kayaking on Sunday so out on my bike again. Springfield Park then all the way to Victoria Park, both East and West sections, back home, taking in Wick Wood on the way.

Lots of people, particularly joggers.

This weekend I had plans for a long cycle ride everyday. Yesterday morning I left the house but popped back in within seconds for my cycling jacket, and I stopped after 5 minutes to put gloves on. Chilly today also. So both days only to Springfield Park then home again.

So I doubt I will be doing the Limehouse loop tomorrow.

Sparrows using the pampas plumes

When they cleared my next door neighbour's garden they left a clump of pampas that had encroached into my garden.

I chopped down as much of the leaves as possible - oh so much space it's given me! But I left the plumes as last year the sparrows used them to line their nests.

The weeks passed but no sparrows. I wondered whether it was because of the loss of the bushes in Dorothy's garden. Then on Sunday afternoon just before I finished my session reading in my hammock I saw two sparrows collecting the fluff from the plumes. I saw them again when I opened the curtains on Monday morning.

Not as much activity as last year, but at least they have taken some.

A colleague at work spins, and those birds in her garden who line their nests get bits of alpaca wool!

Pretty salad

Yesterday I made a salad from leaves from my garden:

chives
celery leaf
flat-leaved parsley
3-cornered leek (stalk and flowers)
small swiss chard leaves

Looked very pretty but didn't taste of much

Over-run by violets

I have large patches of violets on the flower beds, in the cracks in the concrete near the house, around the fruit bushes and in between the deep-beds of the vegetable patch.

I regret the need to get rid of them, as they start flowering over the winter and then are in full bloom for the insects in early spring, but I want the space, and some soil for other plants to free-seed. I've had 3 sessions so far pulling up the violets. Some come up easily, some need tugging.

The problem is they take up so much room! I've barely half way through and I have filled up half of last year's dangerous-weed bin*, all of this year's, and the large compost bin my neighbours didn't want.

*I have 3 dustbins with some drainage holes drilled near the bottom. I put in dangerous weeds not fit for the compost (eg couch grass) plus ordinary stuff when the ordinary compost bins are full. Each spring I empty the oldest and use that for that year. Anything dodgy can go into one of the other bins to rot down for another year.

Relaxing earth hour

Yesterday evening I was home AND  I remembered, so I turned off my lights for earth hour. I lit some candles in the sitting room, did some meditation, stoked a cat's tummy, did some yoga.

Then, as the clocks were going forward so it was 10.30 new time, I went to bed.

There would need to be an awful lot of people participating to make earth hour show up as less demand at the power stations, but it would at least show a lot of people cared.

Though more important than this is to be careful with energy use, direct and indirect (so buy less stuff!) every day! Me, I have a way to go but I am getting better at not buying stuff, including being more discerning at what I buy in charity shops.

Tonight I have no heating, but Friday night I had the wood burning stove lit, and yesterday evening I had the stove lit and the central heating on. I have enough off-cuts remaining for an evening's burning.