By Slanted Light

Easter Monday - spring continues!

Yes, this is yesterday's pics... Why the crows? Because there are always crows... *g* Well, and because that first one had designs on my cat-proofed dug-over veggie beds (the cats don't like using them as a bathroom if they have to pick through sticks to find a spot - well, you wouldn't, would you?!), and although you can't see it in the pic was actually carrying one of those cat-protecting twigs away with it. The second one, like all the other crows that hang around in the big pine tree next door, had designs on the only bird food they'd left in the feeders - the one that's a bit harder for them to balance on! Actually I don't mind the crows snacking from my birdfeeders sometimes, I rather like crows, just not eating it all, every day - I can't afford them!

This morning's sky... ...and this evening's sky... (my house is the wee light at the very bottom of the pic!)

I got to the end of work on Friday and seem to have almost switched off my laptop for the weekend - well not quite, since I ended up doing foodsaving for both Saturday and Sunday, which requires sorting and checking and printing and things like that before actually doing it, but close enough that I didn't end up posting photos. So here's a catch-up. *g*

Friday 8th April
Friday was work, punctuated by a quick trip to a local nursery that's not usually open to visitors but was having an open day. I... might have bought a cherry tree (patio-sized), and an orange-scented geranium (okay, pelargoinium), and a strawberry plant, even though I already have some. And a wild garlic plant, even though I've already planted some seeds to see if they'll grow. This one is for my shady trough-planter, though. The one I ordered the Generous Gardener shade-tolerant scented climbing rose for... *g* So a work day and a gardening day. (This is a pear blossom I think, a random pic from the nursery. *g*)

Saturday 9th April
Saturday was more trough-planter gardening. I sorted out all the earth-and-stones-and-turf that had been dumped in them for a basis, and then hied myself to another local nursery and bought many bags of compost to mix in... and I may have succumbed to some shade-loving plants/flowers for my rose trough too - some astilbes and a bleeding heart - and some columbines for my regular garden, because they were pretty, and some blue lithodora because it was my favourite blue...

Sunday 10th April
Today was a bit more interesting! I was bored with being at home by now, so I decided to fall for a local estate's locals discount for membership, and went over to see how it was all looking...

Post copied from lj

April - a month of clouds but also colour... *g*



Most of today revolved around collecting a bed. It was free, but crucially it was made of metal - the kind of metal that I hope climbing roses can entwine around, and will support higher supports for said climbing roses as they reach towards the roof. *g* That's the bedhead in the photo. The foot is similar but slightly shorter, and I'm thinking courgettes. *g* And the base is wire mesh that I thought might work well against the fence at the end of my garden to keep the moos off my gooseberry bush - but actually it doesn't seem to quite fit. I'm now thinking that it might go along the long side of the oil tank, and offer additional garden tool-hanging space, and/or hanging planter space... *g* Once it's painted a nice dark green with any paint left over from when I do my garden table and chairs. When it stops raining.

And that was the 6th of April... How has yours been?

April - a month of clouds but also colour... *g*



Most of today revolved around collecting a bed. It was free, but crucially it was made of metal - the kind of metal that I hope climbing roses can entwine around, and will support higher supports for said climbing roses as they reach towards the roof. *g* That's the bedhead in the photo. The foot is similar but slightly shorter, and I'm thinking courgettes. *g* And the base is wire mesh that I thought might work well against the fence at the end of my garden to keep the moos off my gooseberry bush - but actually it doesn't seem to quite fit. I'm now thinking that it might go along the long side of the oil tank, and offer additional garden tool-hanging space, and/or hanging planter space... *g* Once it's painted a nice dark green with any paint left over from when I do my garden table and chairs. When it stops raining.

And that was the 6th of April... How has yours been?

Post copied from lj

Monday, Monday... I have been easily distractable by things like this noisy helicopter suddenly descending over the cows to play about in the nearby field...


... Some of the cows decided they didn't like it, and headed back to the milking parlour they'd just come from. And there was me thinking that the military would know not to come and play silly buggers when dairy cows were out in the fields. Look at me giving them too much credit - and I really don't give the military much credit... :(

Pheasant was alarmed enough to stop scratching around for seed under my birdfeeders and perch up on the wall to try and work out what was going on... Otherwise it was back to rain and winter-grey skies and baby crows in bare branches today.

And a closer pic of my coloured lights! *g*

How's your Monday been? *g*

All the blackthorn blossom...

Well, it's been an unexpected weekend. I didn't go detecting, and I didn't go off anywhere (even local) to explore, and today ended up looking like this.

There was a bit of this... not me, I ended up busy rebuilding the second picture - my recycling shelves. I'd started the morning deciding to take the pump-box bit off my new planter-trough, and was having trouble with the bolts when Young Landlord spotted me...

Next thing I knew, Young Landlord had worked out the easy way to take it off, said that he'd found a couple more troughs in various hedges, and would we like them - and voila, my farm-neighbour E and I both have two long planter troughs to play with. Each. With drainage holes drilled in, lifted up onto cut sleepers, and filled with your basic dirt all ready to be enriched. *g* So I went and mowed my grass, and then cleaned up my mower, and thought about what to plant where... *g*

Today was supposed to be cold, and I fully expected to want to hunker up inside, which I did for a bit. Then I went out, and it turned out that the sun hitting my thermometer had taken it to 20C! Of course tonight is scheduled for -4C.... we'll see!

Here's a few of the things happening in my garden at the moment...



And here were two happy surprises from today! So yesterday Young Farmer (my landlord) asked if I'd like one of the little troughs that my neighbours opposite had, for a planter at the front of my house - yes please! I said, because I've been desperate for something like that to perk up the space between my two windows. And I pictured a nice neat little half-drum trough like the one by my neighbour's door.
Only it turned out that wasn't the kind of trough they meant at all, and now I have lots more space to play with (shade-loving) plants! *vbg* I'm thinking some kind of trellis-type thing in the middle, and I'd love to find some shade-loving climbing roses It was my night for foodsaving tonight too, and oh the bliss of sorting the food while it was still (mostly) light! So much quicker, and then even though I was delivering to all four corners of the village, it was a nice straightforward run - with bonus crescent moon. *g*

And that was Saturday... *g*