~o~
Monday 10th 40F. It could be brighter, but isn't. The sun is a white disk but veiled by thin cloud. Overnight temperatures indoors have remained high. 20C/68F. No doubt the sun's free warmth has been absorbed by the fabric of the building.
I had better stretch the first layer of shade netting over the greenhouse. It can easily be withdrawn up to the ridge of the greenhouse if needed. To leave the greenhouse fully exposed to the sun. Or to let in the light through the lounge windows when the sky is overcast. I have thin rope threaded through the upper and lower edges of the net.
The promised rain [needed to fill my newly installed pond] is reducing. Les than half of yesterday's forecast is now expected. Every little helps. Provided the water it is free. I will temporarily lay unused PVC gutters from the down pipe shoes across to the pond. Which is slightly downhill from the house.
It may be that the pond will sink into the soft soil when full. If it needs further support I will pump it out. I can dump the water in the old pond in the corner. Which never gets enough rain. The liner is probably punctured after all these years.
7.30, The golden light is falling on the towering, garden willows. The sky looks more transparent now. Time for a walk!
Just to the lanes and back. Cold SE wind! Lots of birdsong including skylarks. Quite a feat to do a vertical take-off while singing at the top of your voice!
Spent hours on the PC researching different topics. Then spent some time sorting potential kindling from rubbish wood and coarse sawdust in the trailer. A wheelbarrow full of the better stuff produced a solid stack near the back door. I shall never want for kindling if my usual source dries up.
There was a large hole right beside the mole trap I put out. Perhaps a rat looking for shelter from the frost? A ferret looking for a tasty snack? Perhaps the mole came up to see what the rest of the trap looked like? After studiously ignoring the underground section for weeks. Paranoia or fantasy? I can manage both simultaneously. With one hand behind my back.
The shrubs to the SW of the house to provide shelter from the wind.
13.30 58F/14½ C. Thin cloud is making it duller. Breezy too. Lunch over. The supermarkets in the village, which I rode to yesterday, are all open. An excuse for a ride on the trike? It will be much harder work coming home straight into the wind. 9m/s steady = 20mph.😟 16m/s gusts = 36mph! 😨 The roads aren't wide enough for tacking! Nah.
I had a nap instead of going for a ride. Only because I kept nodding off at the computer. The garden trees are rocking at intervals. I know I would not have enjoyed the struggle against a headwind. My penance, for my laziness, is to watch my new pond filling up with hazel catkins. From the huge tree alongside. I have a kid's seaside pool net somewhere.
There are tall shrubs planted by my wife just to the SW of the house too. I needlessly worried about pruning her red stemmed, golden leafed Cornus. The branches are just as red now at twice their former size. I have no idea as to the names of the other shrubs. Which I would be required to trim on an annual basis. To my wife's specifications and no more.
I was warned that the juice was toxic to the skin but still survived to tell the tale. She, however, did not. So now it's me against nature. Without a clue on how best to proceed. I think it's probably safest to go for the "abandoned garden" look. I doubt I'll have much say in the matter. More likely to do harm than good by interfering.
Note my wife's towering willows in the background. The one in the corner of the garden is actually taller than the conifers! Like all the rest they started off pencil-sized and innocent.
Her oaks had similar gigantism qualities from humble acorns. Which she would spend hours collecting from public car parks "before they were run over." Poor little things!
Despite everything, Her Leylandii conifers are now HUGE. They would hit the house if they fell in a storm. Our neighbour tried to unintentionally do us a favour many year ago. By leaving his tractor spray bar running over our tiny trees for several minutes. The poor little saplings twisted and contorted for years before finally getting away.
I didn't mention that I moved the rotary clothes drier to the expanded parking space. It was used yesterday to dry some laundry. Which, upon being brought indoors, stank of pig's diarrhea! It had to go into the greenhouse to be aired for hours in the heat of the day. It may yet have to go back into the washing machine! The air outside is stinking again.
10.30 12C/53F. And I have just returned indoors. After laying my guttering to carry the rain from the house roof to the pond. Only just in time. It started spitting as I worked in the dark and the wind. I used logs to support and fix the guttering down. It has a habit of twisting given half a chance.
I am not even sure there is a fall from A to B. Most of the rain is forecast for after midnight into the early hours. So I can't monitor nor adjust my hasty arrangements. Little more than 10mm is promised. At a 1:20 theoretical gain in area I will have to keep my fingers crossed. Success probably rewards those who work steadily and precisely in daylight. Not the hasty plumber. Armed only with a tiny hand torch and feeble excuses.
~o~
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