Country Idyll

Monday evening last week I was busying myself in the feed shed mixing Max’s tea, when I heard it. Could it be, I thought? Straining my ears, I stopped what I was doing. There it was again. My heart soared. They’re back, I thought. Then I heard it again… the unmistakable chattering of swallows. My swallows, back from Africa to spend the summer with me. I went out into the yard and there they were, a pair of them swooping and soaring, chattering away. What joy, I was thrilled.

They have staked their claim on the stable next door to Max’s. The more dangerous one, I feel, where marauding cats are concerned, as the nest is on the gable end right in front of the door. Whereas Max’s door is on the left of the stable, the opposite end to the nest up in the pitch of the roof.

How lovely, now my family is complete!

Swallows born summer 2011

Thursday was my last day working for Orchard Toys, after 5 years plus. It was also the last day of my working life. I am now a retired person! Wow, my life is now my own. It still hasn’t really sunk in. Will now have time to ride Max, garden, grow my veggies, take photos and sort everything out. Whether I’ll have the energy is another thing!

At 11 am on the Thursday everybody was ushered into the canteen for my presentation. My boss said some really lovely things about me and I mumbled a thank you, not having prepared anything to say. Silly me.

I was gob smacked when I opened my leaving gift… It’s a Nikon SLR digi camera. I was, and am, absolutely thrilled. How kind of everybody! I will now have the time to leisurely snap away and maybe drive off somewhere to get some shots. Hitherto, because of time constraints, I have had to take photos around the cottage or up at the field. Now, the world is my oyster! Can’t wait.

Another surprise was my card. Especially designed by Nicki one of the company’s illustrators, which shows me in my favourite cardi holding my mug. Apparently she has captured my stance perfectly. I had no idea I stood with one hand in my pocket! What a lovely keepsake to remember my happy days at Orchard Toys!

Another event that made this a very positive week, happened on Friday night. I was sitting eating my dinner. It must have been about 8 pm and it was dusk outside. I heard one of the cats trying to get through the catflap. It kept going ‘click’ but the cat didn’t come through. (It’s one of those that is operated by the cat’s microchip. So every time they get close to it, it goes ‘clunk’ and it opens.) I went to investigate and it was Maisie, with a baby bird, or a small bird, anyway. I managed to scoop it up as it wasn’t flapping around, unlike the bird she brought in the other month.

It looked like a dunnock. I put it on the tray on the bird feeder. Maisie followed me out there so I picked her up and shut her in the bathroom. I kept watching the bird feeder until it got dark. The bird remained there. I really thought that I would find it still there in the morning, dead. The forecast for that night was for frost.

This morning I went to check and it had gone. So I hope that it flew off. I haven’t seen a sparrow hawk in the garden for several years, so I’m confidant that it is still alive. Hurrah!

Then today when I was digging bean and potato trenches on the veggie plot, I saw a peacock butterfly, the first I’ve seen this year! Hurrah again!

Lots of reasons to be cheerful, which is kindly hosted by Michelle at Mummy from the Heart

Reasons to be Cheerful at Mummy from the Heart

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Last weekend was was truly glorious and perfect weather for getting out into the garden. But where to start?

As I had mistakenly started off my tomato seeds indoors a month too early (beginning of February instead of March) I felt that I should finish cleaning and sorting out the greenhouse ready to house the tiny seedlings.

I had removed all my overwintering geraniums and put them in the spare stable the week before and had washed down half of the glass. All that remained was to wash down the rest of the glass and metal work brush and wash down the two stagings, dig out of the worst of the weeds and to lay the weed control fabric. Last year I was in too much of a hurry to lay this, to my cost, as the weeds grew happily in the balmy climate. Maybe one day I will be able to afford to lay paving.

I have to say I am really pleased with the greenhouse purchased three or four years ago. It was to have been a present to myself on retirement, but I thought why wait until then, when I could put it to good use before? When researching what to buy, a colleague gave me some very good advice. She said think of the size you want and then buy the next size up. When you start using it you will inevitably want more space, and once purchased it’s too late. She was absolutely right, I was looking at 6’x8′ ones but bought an 8’x10′ and was very glad I did. It’s just perfect!

Once cleaned and sorted I moved all my little tiny Ailsa Craig and Gardeners’ Delight tomatoes and my marigold seedlings into the greenhouse. They were potted up three weeks ago and have been sitting in my cold porch since then. They’re little toughies as they didn’t perish in the freezing conditions, they just didn’t grow. The remaining seedlings, still in the propagator trays, in the kitchen, have grown really leggy and aleady have their third leaves. I potted these up tonight (Thursday) and they will spend a few days in the porch before they go out into the greenhouse. Tomato seedlings won’t grow below 10 degrees, but under the cloches in the greenhouse during the day the temperature is up to 18 degrees.

On Sunday, because the ground had dried out so much, I cut the grass on a high setting, leaving the cut grass on the ground. Glad I got that done because I didn’t get a late final cut last autumn and it was bordering on 9 inches in places!