Flighty’s plot

Today is even worse than yesterday as it’s been raining heavily all morning!

I went to the plot for a quick, and rather sodden, walk round as I’ve not been there since Friday. Everything is certainly growing especially the grass and weeds! When it does get dryer and warmer it’ll all be well away.

Anyway I thought that as I needed a smile then perhaps you’d like to share these make-me-smile images.

Here’s one for cat lovers, I think that Daffy will smile at this one and I’m thinking of changing from FlightBuff to FlightRuff!

A combination of continuing unsettled, wet weather and working extra days/hours in the bookshop has meant that I’ve not managed to spend as much time on the plot as I would have liked.

This updates happenings since my last Plot 124 entry Rain stopped play two weeks ago!

On the vegetable areas I’ve planted my well chitted maincrop potatoes and as you can see put the canes up for the runner beans

I’ve got the varietyPainted Lady which has white faced flowers with bright red lips. I won’t be sowing the seeds until around this time next month.

The comfrey which died right back over the winter is now growing well again

The strawberries that John gave me last autumn not only died back but rotted away in the wet ground. Joe noticed that they’d gone so kindly said to help myself to a few of his. This I did and have planted these in a different place where he thought that they should grow okay. You can see them at the front of this photo The light coloured area is where the raspberry canes are, most of which are now showing good signs of growth. The blackberries, top right, are also growing well.

Because I’m going to to grow more vegetables than I originally intended I’ve sown the packet of mixed herbs in an area that I was going to have flowers.

My single Iceberg rose has woken up at last but has a long way to go before it looks like this!

Dotted around the flower patches are this aquilegia

, several clumps of this , some daisies which are growing at the left hand end of the log Note the self-seeded poppies growing along the edges of the wood chip path.

Ladybirds appear to have colonised my original log as I’ve seen several sunning themselves on it recently. As you can see the mild, wet weather has certainly made the grass grow. I clipped it where it’s growing down the plot edges but left it long the pond, wild flower and log pile area. I also left any of these for the bees but will pick them before they get the chance to do this!

I had a good look under the shed on Friday and there’s no robin’s nest there. I’m glad to see that there are still a few tadpoles taddling in the pond. It was also good to see some of these fluttering around.

It was a really nice day and there were quite a few fellow allotmenteers there who all wanted to chat, which I was happy to do. Today it’s wet yet again, and the forecast is the same for most of the coming week. I don’t mind too much as I’m working extra in the bookshop again so won’t have time to do more than take a stroll there for a quick look round. However I do hope that it improves for the Bank Holiday weekend.

After lunch I shall be settling down to sofafly with a cup of tea, some biscuits and a copy of Sally Hinchcliffe’s first novel Out of a Clear Sky. You all know her better as Disgruntled Commuter/City Exile.

I must apologise to Frog for getting his name wrong!

Please note that it’s Frog Newton, which I should have realised as the plot, with his pond, is on the Newton Park East Allotments Site.

Glo (Porcelain Rose) has been kind enough to revise the incorrect images and I’ve corrected the previous Frog Pondering entries, and comments, where necessary.

Rest assured that Frog decided on a much better, and safer, idea as you’ll see next week.

That’s right there are no wildlife programmes at all on terrestrial TV next week!

Since I guess that I can’t get away with Plan C again I’ll have to go to Plan D!

My last Plot 124 entry Rain stopped play! was almost two weeks ago since when I’ve done very little as I’ve either been working or the weather has continued to be unsettled. I had hoped to do something today but the combination of the ground still being too sticky and the weather has put paid to that idea. I hope to do something tomorrow and Sunday, and will then do an entry.

Here’s a poem about a bird that I nearly always see when I go to the plot. On Sunday I saw it go under the patio by the shed, which I’ve seen it do before, and I wonder if there’s a nest there. If there is it’ll be difficult to see probably tucked away in the corner but I’ll have a look and let you know.

My Little Friend by Brian H.Gent

When I take out my rake and hoe,

My little friend just seems to know,

Some tasty morsals I’ll provide

As soon as I start work outside.

He watches me without a sound,

Perched on my spade stuck in the ground,

Small wonder that our spirits soar,

Such is our simple sweet rapport.

With red bib shining in the sun,

A special magic spell is spun,

We work together side by side,

From morning till the eventide.

No truer friendship could be stirred,

Than this between a man and bird.

The next Frog Ponderings entry should be on Saturday morning as usual.

Have a good weekend !

Last Saturday Veg Plotting did an entry Here’s the Second Awards Bus where as you’ll see she was kind enough to award me this

It’s always pleasing to be given such awards so thanks VP it’s much appreciated.

As soon as I saw it I knew that I’d award it to Daffy who loves a good chat, and who I’ve long called a charming chatterbox.

My very oldest blog favourite Disgruntled Commuter did an entry yesterday The Last Commute ending three years of one of my favourite favourites! As you can see she’s not giving up blogging but since she’s moving from London to Scotland she felt that a new blog City Exile was needed.

Nikki in her entry the accidental blogger yesterday mentions that her ‘Roomie’ has started a blog beginninghere. If you like photos of flowers then you’ll love her blog so do stop by and say hello!

by MidwifeMuse a couple of weeks ago and have finally got round to doing it.

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 or more pages.

It’s the non-fiction paperback Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940-1945 by Patrick Bishop that I’m currently reading.

2. Open the book to page 123 and find the 5th sentence.

A further 3,515 suffered heavy damage.

3. Post the next 3 sentences.

Two hospitals, seventeen churches, twenty-four schools, two theatres, eight cinemas, seven post and telegraph offices, one railway station, six banks and ten hotels were also swept away. The list also includes twenty unspecified ‘official buildings’, four ‘military installations’ and forty-three ‘industrial installations’. Given the great breadth of the violence done to Cologne it is hard to see them as anything other than incidental targets.

4. Tag 5 people.

This I’m not going to do. However if anyone wants to do this this tag then please feel free to do so.

I looked back at some of the tag links to see what books people picked up. I also wonder just how many people did this tag, which seems slightly pointless to me. Some bloggers think that being tagged is like receiving a chain letter ! Although I don’t usually like doing them I think that generally it’s just a bit of fun if you’ve been tagged and want to do it. If you don’t then I think you should politely inform the person who tagged you that you’re not doing it.

After last week’s encounter Frog Newton is now feeling slightly lonely !

As usual my grateful thanks to Glo (Porcelain Rose) for these.

was to do my usual entry about wildlife programmes on terrestrial TV next week. However on buying the Radio Times and looking through it I found that there is nothing worth mentioning !

So on to Plan B. Yesterday whilst at the bookshop I drafted out some ideas for an alternative entry. All well and good until at home last night I realised that I’d left it behind and couldn’t remember enough detail to be able to redo it !

Moving swiftly on to Plan C. A good idea only there isn’t one! I’ve lots that I could write about but I’m sitting here drinking a cup of tea faffing around thinking about what I’m going to do on the plot later today.

My apologies to everyone who has stopped by here expecting to read a proper entry only to find me waffling on instead. Can I suggest that you have a look at one of my favourites entries. There’s lots to chose from and I would be very surprised if you can’t find one that’s interesting and informative.

One event that I’m sure you all want to know about is Welly Week! Mine are a very old pair of brown Derriboots which I don’t often need to wear but certainly did on Snowy Sunday!

Normal service should be resumed here at the weekend with Frog Ponderings(3) on Saturday followed by a Plot124 entry, probably on Sunday.

Have a good weekend !

The hopeful gardener (author unknown)

Sow the seeds with hopefulness and lay them in a row.

Cover them and label them for they will surely grow.

Watch the row with hopefulness but wait at least a day.

Actually, the seeds won’t grow until you go away.

Leave the row forgetfully and moan about the rain.

Go and play on sunny days - it’s time to look again.

All the tall plants that you see most probably are weeds.

Those part-eaten spindly things have grown from seeds.

Hoe most conscientiously and lift weeds by the root.

Make space for your little plants so they can really shoot.

They’ll grow to maturity if you get the weather.

Then you’ll have to harvest them - all of them together:

radishes in millions and green beans by the score;

half a ton of lettuces you don’t want any more.

Thursday was sunny and warm so as I wasn’t working I spent all morning on the plot. I planted my early potatoes and the onions in the far corner of the plot beyond the log pile. I also planted the gladioli bulbs in three places around the flower areas. The rest of the morning was spent pondering and pottering.

Today it started out bright and sunny, but I was slow to get going when I got up lingering as I did over breakfast before heading off to the plot.

I found another lychnis, which is bigger than the one I mentioned the other day, which I’ve planted in the stone feature. If I get something else for there then I’ll take it out and plant it elsewhere. I also planted a small aquilegia in the front of Nikki’s corner, and some variagated leaved vinca by the smaller log.

I then planted a row of each Leek ‘Musselburgh’, Beetroot ‘Boltardy‘ and Lettuce ‘Little Gem’.

I mulched round the raspberries with the last of the wood chippings, which will keep the weeds down and help retain moisture. The strawberries I was given and planted in the autumn clearly haven’t survived so I’ve dug that area over and will think about what to do there instead. I’m not so concerned about losing those as I’m not that keen on them, much preferring blackberries and raspberries.

I chatted with Trevor who was going to do his stint at the hut and he said that it looked like I wouldn’t be doing much more. He was right as I’d just about cleared up when it got very cloudy indeed and rain stopped play ! It was forecast but at least I had been there a couple of hours.

It feels good to have got a few vegetables planted and sown, and I’ll now consider which flowers I shall sow first and where.

Earlier in the week at home I transplanted the sweet peas so that they’re now two to a square pot, and thankfully they all seem to have survived that okay.