Conclusions

Oh boy, it's been hot again today. I started work in the garden a bit earlier than usual, to do some hedge trimming along the back hedge. It has gotten a bit out of control and I need to keep the height down. Two step ladders, shears, secateurs, and loppers were needed to attack it. The sun comes up behind it, so if I start early I can do it in the shade. 

After several breaks of sitting down indoors for ten minutes, I eventually had to stop. It became too hot as the sun came round overhead and to the side. Time to retreat indoors at 3pm. Then I had plan 'B'. Go to The Range and get the cat food. On the way there I came across this fly tip. Now I've got to put a report on the Council web site. 

I knocked up this video this morning. 

Not everything you see or hear on the internet is truthful and honest. There is a lot of fearmongering going on. It's up to you to sort out what you believe and what you don't. Some of it will be true, but there is a lot of theatre going on. A lot of drama. A lot of trickery. Calm down, take your time to digest everything and come to your own conclusions.

Now I am tired. I will continue in the garden tomorrow. For now I am going to get a mug of Horlicks. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Dead end road

Litter picking is easy when you know where to look. This is one of my regular spots. A short piece of dead end road to nowhere. Youngsters come here at night, sit on that concrete beam, swig their beer, and drop their cans behind it. I come along with my stick and pull them out. It's quiet, no traffic, just a few pedestrians, cyclists and scooters. 

One very full bag, one carrier bag of glass bottles, a nearly new wheel trim and half a broken one. And an empty plastic container that used to have ad blue in it. All left at my usual litter bin awaiting collection. I am pleased to say that all my previous bags have been collected. 

I did a Billy dog walk tonight. It's difficult to get him to pose for the camera. I bribed him with a treat for this one. 

Then he had a pee. 

It's been windy and muggy hot today. This weather is baffling me. The heat is wearing me out. We desperately need some rain. 

A nice surprise on the garden tonight. I counted seven hedgehogs. I saw two babies eating together from the same pile of food. I think word has got around and they are bringing their mates. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.  ilona

Digging and green soup

Good morning. 

A mini garden makeover yesterday. I have four raised beds at the bottom of the garden. Built by me, with second hand bricks. I used to grow veg, but with the slug problem I decided to plant them out with a variety of non edible greenery. 

They need a bit of re arranging, due to some of the plants looking scruffy. So I attacked this bed to dig out the dead leaves and twigs and pull up the roots. The plan was to move some of the plants from pots and transplant them here. Can't leave it like this, the cats will think it is a new litter box. By this time my back was getting a bit sore so I needed a quicker solution to fill the space. 

 Cue fanfare. 👸👩💁😻🙋 The crew that put a new roof on the house left me with six tiles. Perfect, I can use them to cover up the soil for now, and arrange a few pots on top. I might transplant the plants at a later date, or then I might not. It looks pretty much ok to me. A quick solution. 

Then I made a pan of soup. Chop up some broccoli, some leek, top with spinach. Add garlic granules, and some chutney. Stir in a spoonful of yogurt. 

On the gas hob for a few minutes, smash to smithereens with the stick blender. Eat straight out of the pan, with a slice of bread. Very tasty it was too. 

Did you see that mass invasion which is going on somewhere between Morocco and Spain I think. Good grief, that looks scary. I have to say that I think they won't stop at Spain. Destination UK, land of milk and honey and lots of freebies. 

Sunny today. Maybe I will go out. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

Result !

 Good evening. 

Some good news. After putting in a second report to the Council about the horrendous dead animal fly tipping, and then ringing them up this morning to verbally report it, I'm pleased to say that it has now been cleared away. 

I went to town this afternoon to visit the Arts Centre, then pick up some supplies from Aldi, and when passing the said layby, I stopped to check. Yep, all gone. The stink was still there though. It needs a good dose of disinfectant. I think I spooked the woman at the Council a bit when I said it could be human remains in the bags, and would need a police investigation. She left me hanging on the phone for a few minutes, no doubt to speak to her superiors. When she came back she said she had reported it as an emergency, and a crew would be dispatched immediately.  RESULT. 😆😁😂 Just tell it like it is. 

A bit of a drama in Aldi this afternoon. I had gone through the checkouts and was packing my shopping into my bags, when there was a scuffle at the self scan checkouts. I looked up to see a young man dash towards the door. He had long black dreadlocks down his back. Am I allowed to say he looked like a Rastafarian. Know what I mean. 😜 He had tried to grab something from a shelf and leg it without paying. A quick thinking member of staff manage to scupper his plan, and he ran for the door. Once outside he disappeared through the car park. Nobody chased him because he hadn't managed to steal anything. 

Be alert at all times when you are out and about. 

I wanted to do an hours litter picking but it was too hot. As I passed my drop off point I was pleased to see that my two bags from yesterday had been collected. 

A baby hedgehog has appeared in the garden. I saw it yesterday and it has been again tonight. It didn't move for a while but when I dropped a handful of food right in front of it's nose it began to eat. It has had a drink of water, but I need to put a shallow bowl out because it's little legs can't reach into the bigger bowls. 

Thanks for popping in. Thanks for your comments. Toodle pip.   ilona

Hedgie watching

Good evening. A late post tonight. I've been on hedgehog watch. 

I almost tripped over a hog tonight. I was in and out of the backdoor with my watering can. One of them came right up to the door and was half hidden under a small bush. I saw it just in time. 

I put the food down in set places so they know where to find it. They usually freeze if they are aware that someone is close by. I sneak up on it and put a handful of food just in front of it. Then it starts eating it. Tonight a second one arrived and joined in. 

I won a set of four solar light flowers in the raffle this morning. Added them to the metal flowers. It looks lovely. See little hedgie having a drink. 

Mayze on her mat over on the seating area. One hog went up close to her, she never bothered. It's starting to get dark now so the pictures aren't so good. No flash used, the camera adjusts itself as the light begins to fade. 

Two more underneath the table. 

I tried to get a group shot but they keep moving about. 

I'm so pleased they keep coming back. If they stay in my back garden and only wander into the gardens either side and at the back, they might have a good chance of surviving. 

See ya tomorrow. Goodnight.   ilona

The Army have arrived

 Another hot day today. Got my shorts out for the first time this year. I had a walk to the Park and took my picking stick and a carrier bag with me. It was full by the time I got there. Emptied it in the big bin. 

I timed it so that I arrived later in the afternoon. There was an Armed Forces Show on which I am not interested in. I stayed an hour or so to tidy up. There wasn't a lot of litter as there are a lot of bins to cope with it when it's busy. 

Two early hedgies turned up together last night, and shared a pile of food. I sat outside until late and watched several more coming and going.  

Now I must go outside and water up all the pots. It hasn't rained for two days so they will be ready for a drink. 

Thanks for popping in. Enjoy your Sunday. Toodle pip.   ilona

Garden - Litter pick - food.

It's been a dodge the rain day today. We have had some heavy showers. 

This is my wild flower meadow. You've heard of No Mow May, well this is No Mow May June July August September and October. No need to mow it, just let it do it's thing. 

These flowers keep appearing every year, in all kinds of inconvenient places. This is supposed to be a concrete driveway, but it has lots of cracks in it, which is where these plants push through. I kind of like them so I'll wait until they die off before I pull them up. 

I needed to do some shopping at Aldi this afternoon, so I stopped by the Industrial Estate on the way there, and picked a bag of litter. Might as well. I was disappointed to see that the Council have not collected my other bags. My three bags are now four. I checked the other litter bins around the pond and see that they have not been emptied. If they haven't been done by Friday I will go and tidy the mess up.  

Luckily I managed to dodge the rain while picking, but I got stranded inside Aldi. Oh wow, did it hammer it down. 

Dinner tonight was an omelette. No it's not burnt. I put left over chips in it, and chopped beetroot. Added garlic and onion chutney for flavour. I start it off in a pan, and finish it off under the grill. It was chuffin lovely. 

That's all for now. Catch ya tomorrow. Toodle pip.   ilona

Hall Farm - The Gardens

I think this has been the hottest day so far this weekend. I have been out to the Lincolnshire Showground for the Disabled Dog Walk, led by Tammie and Pumpkin the Wheelie Westie. It was chuffing brilliant. Lots of pictures to come here on the blog for that in the next day or two. 

Back to yesterday at Hall Farm Gardens. at Harpswell. Not the village, but across the fields at the farm. 

You can have a game of chess if you like. All set up and ready to go. 

Rustic features are left in situ. 

There are gravelly paths to meander through. Lots of varieties of plants and trees for the avid gardener to discover. 

This is a wrought iron gate which is weathered and blends in with the surrounding foliage. 

See if you can spot the sculptures. You can't miss this giant dragon. 

Plants of every description skillfully positioned to compliment those around it. 

Follow me around the garden.

I will split the Hall Farm into three posts, so come back for the Lake and the Workshops. 

Here is a link to their web site if you want to check out their opening times. 

Enjoy your Bank Holiday Monday. Toodle pip.   ilona

Are the hedgehogs coming tonight?

I have been sitting outside waiting for the hedgehogs to appear. Mickey decided to join me. 

It was starting to get dark and one arrived and went straight to a water bowl. 

Mayze is up at the summer house. I put a carpet down for her. 

This is the solar ornament which my crafty club pals gave me for my birthday. 

More hedgehogs came but it was getting too dark to take any more photo's. When I came in to write this post there were four on the lawn. I can walk around them and they don't seem to bother. Now I will get Mayze in. Oscar might stay out all night, but Mayze and Mickey like to be in. 

Catch ya tomorrow. Toodle pip.   ilona

At the Gardeners Market

The sun was shining yesterday at the Gardeners Market. It brought the shoppers out. I went to look at the metal flowers. I have three of them and wanted to add some more to the collection. I was only going to buy one, but decided to splash out and get two. My birthday present from me to me. 

Now which colours shall I get? 

It was lovely to browse the stalls and chat with people. I haven't seen Michael and Helen, my arty friends, for ages. There was such a lot of news to catch up on. Helen was selling her home made preserves. Here they are in their studio. Blimey, this photo is from 10 years ago. 

My collection of metal flowers. I love them. 

This morning I went to Crafty Club. As is the tradition when someone has a birthday, presents and cards are given. They gave me a solar garden ornament, which is now lit up on the table in the back garden. It looks very pretty.   

This afternoon I did a couple of hours litter picking. I carried on where I left off on Friday. Still plenty to go at. I don't think I can manage to move that mattress. 

I wont be going down there. Looks a bit too isolated for me. 

Another double deck load. Two red bags and some glass bottles. 

Two from today added to two from Friday. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona 

Working in the garden today.

On my craft table. Oh dear it looks like I might not get very much done today. The sun is shining through the window. There is a thick soft cat bed for Mayze to lie on but she much prefers to sprawl out just where I want to make a button arrangement. 

Oh well, I'll go outside, I have plenty to do in the garden. I'll get the electric hedge trimmer out. Up and down the ladder. Then get the lawn mower out and cut the grass. I'm getting too old for this. Have to keep taking a break every 20 minutes or so. The brown bin is now full, ready for collection tomorrow. 

A few pics of flowers. Real flowers, metal, plastic, and artificial flowers. I don't mind. Adds a bit of colour. 

I bought some flat mushrooms for a change. I usually get the small white button type. I cut them up and made a stir fry. It was like chewing rubber. I gave up, and turned them into soup. Zap it with the stick blender. Looks awful but it was amazingly tasty. 

Hedgehog count tonight 5. They all came at the same time. Must be a family because they are getting on together so well. 

Now I am tired. Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona