What with a kitchen rebuild and Chris exploring ancient ruins of the the Yucatan Peninsular, there hasn't been much time for blogging. I did find time to pot up some Geranium cuttings and, having killed the aphid infestation on my Pinks, these cuttings are also demanding bigger pots. The veg. patch needs a good tidy up and digging over and I need to li`ft the rest of the beetroot and artichokes.
Is anyone else totally fed up with Gardeners' World presenters taking something out of a pot and showing the viewers how to put it in the ground every Friday without fail??? I don't know anyone else who even bothers to watch and only do so myself because it's so laughable. Do Toby and Alice think they're back at kindergarten? Why don't they call it Gardening for Dummy's and be done with?
Most of the trees are now bare and only the Acers and Silver Birches are hanging on to their fading colours. The chickens are thoroughly enjoying all the extra leaf litter to scratch around in and the wood ash in which to dust bathe. The evenings are ever shorter and cosier at PTC and the scent of roasting chestnuts is wafting upwards so, no guesses as to what Al's up to!
Our explorer has just returned (see his photo above) and as the kitchen is all but finished, it only leaves the painting in the back hall to finish and then we can return to a much needed tidy up in the garden. Chris made a good start by blowing all the leaves to the backs of the borders where, chickens allowing, they will rot down naturally in our mostly woodland approach. The roof of the greenhouse needs another coat of preservative as does the skirting around the base of the newly levelled summerhouse. Am beginning to tire of all this painting! First the kitchen, then the utility, followed by the back hall now; the woodwork outside needs doing! A woman's work...............!
Meanwhile this is what's happening in the orchards that surround PTC. The cider apple harvest is in full swing.
However, right now; I'd better check out these chestnuts..............
