Flighty’s Plot

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.

The first image shown in last week’s entry has been changed !

This week Frog Newton chats with some blue tits, probably the ones that frequent the bird feeders.

Glo (Porcelain Rose), the originator of these, has done this wonderful frog related entry A Call to Green, and have a look at Uphilldowndale’s superb frog photo entries Pond life, nocturnal and Surface Tension.

I’m doing a somewhat lazy entry as once again there are no new wildlife programmes on terrestrial TV next week. However have a look at the superb photos on this site.

I didn’t realise that it’s and I work in a bookshop! Anyway the website is a lot of fun as you’ll see.

If you’re looking for something to read then Fantastic Fiction and Lovereading are two good book sites that I often browse through.

I’ve seen similar sites to Goodreads but it does appear to be one of the better ones of its kind. It certainly has a good name and is well laid out.

Happy reading, and have a good weekend !

Two days on from snowy Sunday with a lovely sunny springlike day today Last Thursday and Friday were just as nice so as I wasn’t working either day I spent some time here plotting along! I didn’t do much Thursday as I started the day with a headache which was slow to clear so I pondered and pottered.

Friday was a much better day. I started by taking my new feature to the site in the car then using a borrowed wheelbarrow to get it to the right place, which is just about the centre of the plot. I wasn’t sure that I’d even be able to move it let alone lift it but the third Weetabix that I had for breakfast made all the difference! It’s about 12″high, 15″square outside and 9″ inside. Now all I’ve got to do is decide what to grow in it. Any suggestions?

I dug in a few plants that I dug up from the so-called garden outside my flat including this lychnis , and some periwinkle (vinca major) and yellow fumitory (corydalis lutea) both of which I like, but I know do tend to be rather rampant if left alone. Earlier in the week I put some aquatic weed and a plant into the pond along with a few taddlers, which I got from my plot neighbour Lesley’s pond. The unknown flowering bulbs I mentioned recently are some kind of narcissus

Today I was happy to see a handful of ladybirds sunning themselves on the original log, which presumably they’ve made their home. The good weather is forecast to last another couple of days so hopefully on Thursday I shall finally get to plant some onions and potatoes, and do some much needed weeding in one of the planned flower patches.

I thought that it was very quiet when I woke up this morning. It had that silent sound that a covering of snow gives. Sure enough I opened the the curtains to a snowy Sunday!

I had a quick cup of tea and a biscuit before donning my coat, cap, gloves and wellies. This time I wanted to photograph Plot 124 in the snow.

There was perhaps an inch of soft snow underfoot, and big flakes falling as I walked along. I reached the gates and could see that no one else had been here this morning.

I’m glad that I was here during the week doing some work. In fact it was very pleasant in the sunshine on Thursday morning, which was the warmest day of the year so far!

Thankfully the bird feeders are okay and there’s no ice on the pond, so it’s a few more photos then home for a another cup of tea and some toast. Much of the rest of the day will most definitely be spent sofa flying!

Plotting along the entry planned for today is all about what I’d been doing here during the week and which I’ll now post in the next day or two.