Garden Girl Blog

The other day a very nice machine from the bank rang me, it wanted to know if I had been using my bank card for this, that and the other.  Seeing as me and my bank card had spent the last two days working in the garden, I knew it was not me who was busy off buying things with my card.

The nice machine put me through to a person.  It seemed someone had got my card details and were busy trying to spend, but not in places I normally go.  The bank worked that out, which resulted in most of the transactions being declined, big brother is watching looking after you.  It seems it pays to be predictable in one's shopping habits.

I am quite happy the bank picked it up and they have cancelled my card, hubs now has to sub me for money. I would like to know where they got my details but have no way of finding out, I always thought I was really careful but it seems it can happen to any of us.

The clocks go forward tonight and it really does look like tomorrow our summer starts and will probably end within a week, but let's hope not.  It has started off foggy today and is set to stay cool all day but we will be out pottering in the garden for a while, the grass needs a cut and I still have a few jobs to do.

Yesterday I noticed that the tops had been taken off lots of my plants that should have be been busy growing.  The slugs cannot resist the soft green shoots and have eaten whole plants as they push up into the world.  So I was out last night collected slugs, I got loads but I am sure there are still many more.  Where are all the frogs when I need them, I guess they are busy in the pond at the moment. I might have to resort to some organic slug pellets to return some sort of balance.

The garden is dry already but the plants seem to be coping okay.  The flowers are still coming out and there were lots of bees around.  We have not had rain for about a week; I cannot imagine what it must be like down south where you have not had rain for ages.

A few photos from the garden:

... a daff in my garden, comes back every year.

It looks very cold outside today and we are going to work on the motorbike soon.  Must be mad!

The garden is full of little birds busy collecting food and a deer is browsing at the back of the fence.  I bet they are pleased to have a bit of food out this morning.

Sping has very much arrived in Scotland, daffs everywere are looking fab, I love daffs and feel they are a sign of what is to come.

Anyway I should get the cat off my lap and go and get ready for work.

Our grass is not happy, all brown and dead looking.  It looks like it has not been watered in months, which is sooo not the case.  I got the electric rake out today and gave it a wizz over; it seemed to have helped a little.  We also have a 'man who can' coming to sort it out, I just hope he comes soon.

I did the housework this morning and then pottered in the garden while doing washing at the same time, well the machine did the washing really.  I got four loads of washing done and all out on the line and dry, much better than having it hung all over the house. My list of garden jobs to do is getting smaller but the ones that are left are ones I do not want to do, I guess that is why I have been leaving them. Oh well, I will have to get on with them some time.

Today I also sorted out a hotel for a wedding we are going to later in the year; it is my half-sister's wedding.  I do not see much of her, maybe just a few times over the last 10 years.  She has her life and we have ours and she is down south.  She is much younger than us as my father had another family after he split up with my mum, so even when she was young we did not see much of her. Anyway, we have been invited to her wedding and needed a hotel as it is down South.

I think my brothers are going, so there will be some people we know.  Her mother, my step-mother will be there but I never got on with her and we have not seen her since my father passed away.  I hope it is traditional seating so we do not have to sit with her, I think that would be hard work, probably for her as well as us!

My half-sister has sent a note with the invite saying they do not want presents; they already have a house so guess they do not need the 'normal' wedding gift type thing.  However, they have said they want money towards their honeymoon.  I am not keen on the giving money thing and was thinking of trying to get a nice photo of the day and giving them that afterwards, which I hope will be okay.

Right off to bed for a bit of OU reading.

I had a busy day, I was at the shops early and got a skirt and a pair of trousers, both black so should go with tops and shoes that I have. Laura Ashley has 25% off every thing this weekend so a good place to go and shop at the moment.

I was back home by the early afternoon and it was such a lovely day I thought it best to go and potter in the garden.  I sorted out a few pots that still had dead plants in, I just have a few more to do and they should be ready to plant for the summer.  In the greenhouse some of the seeds I planted have come up already, I might put a few more in tomorrow.

It is now really cold so a ground frost could be on the way.  They say tomorrow it is going to be nice again so might get a bit more done in the garden.

Here are a few photos of the flowers today.

Click to make big.

I was busy pottering about when hubs came out to help me.... well he helped me stop because he came with a glass of wine.

We sat and enjoyed the sunshine for a while, it has turned much colder tonight.

Where did the week go?

I am still being kept busy at work but found it a bit more stressful this week.  One of the project managers has left the project and the one that is left cannot really do everything so I have had to end up helping him, I never claimed to be a PM, but I did okay but it was very busy.

We put a batch of fixes in this week and have had a few problems since, it has to be related but it is not obvious how.  It is a bit of a worry as putting changes that cause problems is very frowned upon and can cause a contractor, such as myself, to end up being sacked.  However it does not seem to be having an impact on the live service and the supplier is on the case with a fix, so I think I am okay.

I was told last week that my contract would not be extended as the project is almost finished.  This week they have decided to keep me for another month; I had started to make plans for April so it is a bit of a pain really but the money is good so I will do as they wish.

I heard today that I have an interview for one of the jobs I applied for; I think a shopping trip for interview clothes is in order.  I have a few weeks but might go tomorrow while it is fresh in my mind.

I got a marketing email today about a new collection of handbags at John Lewis, the bags are by Orchre Blue and look very nice.  The starting price is about £169.00 which is lots, but is it too much..???

They had loads of other nice clothes and stuff, if I was not feeling quite so fat at the moment I might have gone on a shopping trip this weekend.  First I think I need to start eating less and give it a few weeks.

I have spent a few hours out in the garden again today, it was overcast, a little windy but dry.   I had some Sweet William that I wanted to put in the beds and to have a quick weed.  I was bent down weeding when I heard a sound I had not heard since last year, the buzz of a big bumble bee.  I followed my ears and saw the bee just as it went over the fence, it is the first one this year.

Below is a photo from last year but it looks just like the one I saw today, they could have been related!

I have mentioned before that we have a general lack of worms in our garden.  I never see any when I am digging and the only ones I have found are New Zealand flatworm which are not good and can kill earth worms.  I found these when we first moved here and have never seen them again.

I think the earth worms all went away from this area when the houses were built and have never come back.  I find the odd earth worm in my pots after I empty them out and have never been sure where they come from.  I was considering buying some but they are about £15.00 for 100!   A man down the road has a farm and puts out rotted manure, it is full of worms, I got a bag a few years ago.  I was thinking I would go and get a bag off him.

Today I went to put some bits into my compost bin and gave it a turn; I had not turned it all winter.  I was pleasantly surprised to find it had loads of worms in it; some must have go in with some old compost and have been busy all winter.  Last year my compost bin froze solid, this year it has not been so cold and they look like they are doing very well.  I took some worms and compost out and dug a hole in the veg bed for them.  I hope they will be happy there and I will soon have lots of worms.

I was out in the garden for most of the day, I did come in at one point when it was a bit wet and made some cookies.  I got the greenhouse cleared out and the mouse has been evicted.  The greenhouse is looking much better and ready for some seeds, now I just have to decide what I want to grow.

There are lots of flowers to be found in the garden although a few of them look a little nibbled, I will have to start slug hunting.  Some of the birds were not put off by me being in the garden, at one point I was about a foot away from a long-tailed tit and he really did not seem to care.

Here are a few photos from the garden today and the cookies.

Click to make big.

The sky looks like it could rain but the weatherman seems to suggest it will stay dry.  I am going to spend the day sorting out a few bits in the garden and try and get my greenhouse sorted out so that I can start off some seeds.  The last two days have been really windy but it does seem to have eased for now.

Right time to get up and out!

It felt like I had a busy day today but really I did not do much at all.  I guess I am getting in some practice for when I leave work.  I have three weeks to go and am looking forward to finishing now, it will be nice to get a week off, I have had no holiday for the last six months since I took the first contract.  Most of the team have already left the project , I am there to do the last few bits and need to get people to help me finish up.  I have heard anything about the jobs I applied for and I am not that sure that I want them.  All of them are full time and I am not that keen to work full time. but I did feel I should make an effort while I was inside the company.

So far I have not made any plans for what I will do when my contract ends but I have my final OU assignment to do and the CAB are expecting me back.  I also want to go and visit some friends down South, of course, I also have the garden to do!

We have finished the migration for our project and all is looking good.  We still have a few bits to tidy up and I will be at work for another three weeks to try and get all the bits done.

One of the project managers was in Edinburgh for a visit yesterday, he normally works in London.  He was up for meetings but also wanted to say thank you to the members of the project team for all their hard work.  He came back from lunch with a box of wine and set about the task of giving them out and saying thank you to people for their hard work.  He never gave me a bottle and never said thank you, I thought maybe it was because I was a contractor.  I checked with the other contractor on the project... no, he got wine and a thank you. So it was just me, seems I did not do anything that was worth thanking me for.

One of the chaps who sits near me said that I looked like his wife does when there is nothing under the Christmas tree for her.  I was not bothered at not getting wine, it was more that he felt I did not contribute enough to warrant a thank you.  Oh well, I think I did help or they would not have kept asking me to stay.

yum yum...

I have a slight addiction to buying cookbooks, the local Tesco book shelf is a killer for me, they always have new books and they are often cost much less than the cover price.  Today I went in and came out with Lisa Faulkner - Recipes from my Mother for my Daughter.  I had a look through when I got home and decided to make some biscuits; this plan was put on hold because I did not have everything I need.  Oh well, I went back to plan A which was to make a sponge cake; it is currently cooling in the kitchen.

So what about the grass, well ours has not been doing well for the last few years so I have admitted defeat and got in a man who can.  He came today and said that thatch is the problem; he is drawing up a plan of action and will be in touch.  We stood in the garden discussing the lawn for about 20 minutes being rained on the whole time, when I came in the sun decides to come out.  Typical!

Right off to see what my cake looks like.

Yesterday a chap at work said 'happy birthday 21 again', I sat and thought and it occurred to me that I really was 21 again.  It came as a slightly depressing feeling. The only good news was that I replied back to the chap that I really was 21 again and he did not believe that I was over 40.

Today started with presents and cards in bed; the cat was trying to be very helpful by sitting on everything.  It was a nice start to the day.  I was thing thinking I would potter in the garden but it has been raining so that plan is currently on hold and I have just been having a lazy morning.

Tonight we are off out for dinner to a local restaurant, which I am sure will be very nice.

Hubs made me a pro for my birthday, now I need to go and find out what looks different.