End of an Era

Moving Wol

Cause of death

In healthier days

We had done everything humanly possible to save an old pear tree at the end of the drive but it was just determined to die.  In the years we have lived here it had declined and declined.  The fruit yields became less and less and then no fruit at all.  Branches kept dying back and we cut them off - knowing in our heart of hearts that the entire tree was actually dying.  It had become home to Wol (an owl made out of an old oil tank) and a wooden owl box.  Eventually, there were no leaves or branches left to shade the owl box and both were totally exposed.  Today was the day to fell it so...we did.  We were of course proved right and you can see from the photos that it could never have survived.  We have kept a small plank and logged the rest.  The work kept us warm and the logs will also keep us warm!  Luckily, Pear tree Cottage has 3 other pear trees to its name.

A sad end

The return of PTC's Under Gardener

  

Al back at work...

...& Chris at work!!

It was really lovely to see the return of our Under Gardener who has been on light duties for a very long time following a knee replacement.  He stoked up a really smokey bonfire a few feet from where we were emptying the compost heap and it felt just like old times again!  With eyes streaming Chris and I toiled through dense smoke loading barrows with compost.  It's quite difficult to rush away with a heaped up barrow but that's what we were doing in order to breathe!  Saturday's are now back to normal - they just haven't been the same without Al's bonfires!!!  I wonder if you can buy breathing apparatus on EBay.............?

Win Win with Homemade Compost

At long last - back to some border work!  The recent gales and high winds have at least had a much needed drying effect on the soil and conditions were really quite reasonable.  We cut back all the dead Sedums, Peonies, Lychnis and Geraniums and eradicated what few weeds there were before top dressing with a super high quality home made compost!  Its texture was light crumbly and sweet smelling - perfect!  I know Monty Don makes heavy weather of compost making but I can promise you that ours is the result of composting grass clippings, vegetable and soft garden waste along with newspapers and chicken droppings.  It is certainly NOT turned every 5 minutes as Monty recommends - we have far better things to do!  It is turned once from one bay to another and then left for a year.  It makes a really good quality mulch and potting medium which not only feeds the plants and improves soil quality but suppresses weed growth ...
                                                                                          .............................what's not to like??        

Frosty Weather means Log Fires!

This is just the sort of weather which is perfect for those log fires.  Crisp and frosty!!  Even chopping and lugging logs has kept us warm. Nothing beats the sweet smell of wood smoke and a frost encrusted landscape!

Axemen of PTC!

Before....

...during...

After gallivanting around Switzerland, it was back down to earth!!  Chris had kindly dropped about 3 tons of wood on the drive.  We did make a good start splitting, lugging and stacking before our trip but there was more than half left to do on our return.  Before starting this major task, we transferred the seasoned logs out of the seasoner to the log store by the house  We removed the  pallets and gave it a good old spring clean before replacing them.  I do find that storing logs on pallets aids air circulation and speeds up the seasoning process.  It is of course a perfect use for redundant pallets! Yesterday, we were very spoilt  as we had extra help from Chris the elder and so both Chris's were busy swinging axes!  Of course, they kept much warmer then I did just lugging and stacking!  It was dark well before we finished but, the larger log seasoner is now completely full and the smaller one very nearly full.  All in all a most satisfying squirrel like job.  All these logs, most of which are Cedar will have at least a year to season and dry out before they are burnt. Of course, I should mention another bonus and that is, the scent of the Cedar which now hangs in the air! 

..and afterwards!

Christmas Break for Hens & Gardeners!

Sarah's Hen Hotel

Head gardener, Chief Blogger and Mistress of the Flock has been away in Switzerland spending Christmas with family. The girls packed their bags and went off to stay at Newland Grange Hen Hotel - a 5* Hen Hotel if ever there was one!! In our absence they laid 25 eggs so I figure they enjoyed their week's holiday as much as we did.  Of course they didn't have the snow that we encountered.  I did wonder given their confusion over Bamboo moves, whether they'd have any navigational hiccups on their return home!  Not a bit of it!  After a few handfuls of corn in the dusky evening light, it was straight up their ladder to roost!!  

This was one of the few trips we've made which was without any horticultural input although we did admire the snow covered conifers! All very Christmassy.  Oh well - it's back to the wind and rain now!

Chicken Confusion

           

The cause of all the confusion was moving this bamboo from in front of the House for Hens to alongside and to its right!  A distance of less than 2 metres. Who could have predicted that such a minor move would mean that for 3 nights 4 out of 5 chickens couldn't find their way in to roost?  I did of course place them inside myself for those nights.  All is now well again and they have been enjoying scratching around in their new woodchip.  They also had a day of added freedom as they had the run of the entire garden and went out on slug patrol.  I don't think it's such a bad idea to do that once a month.  After all, it only takes a few minutes to whiz round with the blower and tidy up after them.

Before the Bamboo move...

.. and afterwards.