Making hay whilst ..............

The sunny weather is not all bad news.  Our hay dried perfectly and is now all gathered in and stored.  I tidied up our mini meadow with my new (baby) John Deere and am very pleased with it.  I don't think I confessed the world's most expensive mistake on this blog.  Last year I bought a Stiga ride-on with a front cutting deck.  Yes!  Of course I tested it.  I cut a whole orchard using a friend's machine in Sweden.  The 2 machines were identical in every way.  How on earth was I to know that it couldn't travel uphill on our gradient??? A 4 wheel drive version would have been another £1000.00 - gulp! Anyway to cut a long (and expensive) story short; Jake at Power Equipment Services in Kidderminster (http://www.powerequip-ltd.co.uk/) came up trumps again and sold it (eventually) and JD is it's replacement.  This is the (very tidy) result:

'All is safely gathered in'

Meanwhile..................

Another scorching day and the grass is getting browner and browner and............well, look! 

One very brown lawn!

 Is this what a brown field site looks like?  I have wondered.  Luckily, we set up water collection points from various rooves.  It's collected from the greenhouse roof and fills the galvanised tank inside and a (nasty looking) plastic one outside.  We also collect it off the barn roof and store it in a (nice looking!) old oak barrel.  When it comes to a quick dip with a watering can, these systems are pretty handy.  A strategically placed oscillating sprinkler on the veg patch means that excess water lands on the greenhouse roof and is recycled immediately!  Water from the well is used for topping up the pond as the evaporation rate speeds up in this weather.  The grass has to fend for itself and, as grass always does, will recover in time.  Watering is reserved for vegetables, pots and deserving plants and shrubs.

Life is a bowl of...............

CHERRIES!!  Slurp!

PTC cherries - variety unknown

This year we decided that the blackbirds have had more than their fair share of cherries and so decided to net our little tree of dessert cherries. The blackbirds beat us to it last year and scoffed the lot. They have had to content themselves feasting on the wild cherries in Mrs Carwood's tree which was absolutely laden this year.  Notice I said 'was'.  They have stripped it bare and wolfed every single one and there were thousands!  They are now eating the berries on the Daphne Mezereum.  Amazing how their systems can cope with something that toxic!  Anyway, it was our turn to have our very own fruit feast.  They were deliciously sweet and juicy with the tangiest cherry flavour.  Why can't I remember what variety they are? It was a tree Al brought home home from Costco and was planted 3 years ago.  

Turn down the heat!

Another day of relentless hot sun is followed by another pretty sunset

Scorchio

Phew! It ain't 'arf 'ot 'ere!!!

The soaring temperatures for the past few days mean that it's not exactly conducive to gardening and keeping all the containers watered is taking ages!  It's 97F in the greenhouse and that's with every window and door wide open!  The grass is looking quite brown and growth has slowed right down.  Less mowing but more watering!

We have been enjoying some interesting cloud formations and fab sunsets but the photos give no impressions of the very high temperatures. All in all, this weather is better suited to a few beers or, better still: Pimms (hic!)

Big cloud but no rain!

Sun setting over Martley Hillside

Birthday Surprise

Chris with his birthday cake and firework!

This Saturday little garden work was done owing to the fact that a certain 'Chief Gardener' had a surprise birthday lunch.  Conspirators got their heads together and, despite the odd crisis, a number of Chris's other garden clients appeared for Pimms and a cold salmon lunch on the terrace.  A certain builder nearly missed lunch altogether as one of his own clients had managed to drive his car into his own newly built garage wall causing major structural damage.  He not only missed pudding(s) but also birthday cake!  Super delicious cakes and deserts were kindly made by Judith and Yvonne so it was indeed, a BIG miss! 

We were a little short on garden furniture owing to the fact that Chris had taken his own (matching!) table and chairs home and I could hardly ask to hang on to it an extra week!  They had been sitting in our garden for a month during which time poor Chris called round to find us dining at his table! How very embarrassing!! Luckily, Judith came to the rescue with another set and a much needed big umbrella.  I made the usual oversight. This time it was the soda bread AND I was up at 6:30am to ensure there was enough time  to make it!  GRR!  Serving lunch couldn't have been easier. With 2 expert waiters on hand in the form of Frankie and Alwyn; it was a breeze! Hopefully, home grown new potatoes - this year's are Lady Christl (I know it looks like a spelling mistake but it isn't!) compensated for the absence of home baking.

More photos can be seen at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/ChrisSBirthdaySurprise

(I also omitted to appoint an official photographer for the occasion. Sadly, not all guests appear in the album.)  After the guests departed, the hay was gathered in and then it was time to sit down and watch another beautiful sunset with a few more beers (see next post!)  Quite an easy Saturday by PTC standards!  

Making hay in the sunshine

A spell of hot sunny weather could only mean one thing: time to cut the meadow grass and make hay.  This means hiring a power scythe to cut it into swathes and the massive expense of £92.00 for  a day's hire which took all of 15 minutes - GULP!  I'm still grumbling about the lack of equipment available to the average gardener when growing meadows in gardens has never been more popular!  Ordinary mowers can't cope and strimmers chew up the grass and throw it everywhere rendering it unusable.  Anyway, it's now cut and the scent is quite delicious as it's drys in the sun.  I still use the hay for the hens' nest boxes and also for making garden kneelers.  I stuff old compost bags with it and just tie the end.