7°C, no wind, clear.
Spring is just starting, ontime for the first of March. The garden is coming alive, and I have over 100 bulbs for a more colourful summer.
After a decade, I cleared the lockup (where I keep the bikes) in three corners was evidence of mouse nest building, they must have collected seeds from the bird feeder. To make themselves comfey, they made beds of dry moss.
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Posted from a mobile.
16ºC, sunny with wind.
Big storm coming: Sunday night, gales, Monday heavy rain.
Film: Sightseers. Serial killer goes on holiday in a caravan. This is like Mike Leigh with casual murder. Beautifully shot and rendered on Bluray. And funny too. There is plenty written about this film, I don’t need to repeat here but I am still impressed by the quality of hidef on Bluray. Colour depth and shadow detail are dramatically clearer. The extra resolution is secondary in my opinion.
My holiday to-do list is far too long for a one-week holiday. The marking bag is heavy this year, but I will try.
Posted from a mobile.
22C, sunny.
Today, I made a table. It’s made from a fork-lift pallet and a bed-headboard. So far it has cost nothing. All the wood and fixings I had hoarded already. There is four hours’ work in it so it so far. I had to stop at 7pm because, once hungry, I started making mistakes.
Now, it stands outside unvarnished and unprotected, but the forecast is good for tomorrow.
The idea is to use it for gardening tasks. It needs to be substantial and weather resistant. To finalise it, I need to add bracing to make it more rigid.
I will have to search out something to brace corners, there should be something in the shed I can use.
Posted by mobile phone.
19°C, mostly cloudy, windy.
First job of the holiday is done. I used a palette out of the skip at work to make a new garden table.
Before:
After-
After about 3 hours of wood working
The wood preservative is drying now so I can’t use the table until tomorrow.
How satisfying, I keep going out to look it over. Almost inevitably, I mind turns to other similar projects- I have another garden table that is slowly collapsing with rot.
22°C, foggy yet morning, now blazing.
Last year I was delighted to find a swarm of honey bees in the eaves. This year, we have bumble-bees living in the house. They are orange-tails, nesting in nearly the same place. It prompts a question- how do I go about repairing that part of the roof. The insects have not caused any damage, its just wear and tear to the facia and soffits. The standard way to repair them is to fit uPVC boards. What I want is a repair that does not prevent interesting wildlife getting on with their lives.
8°C, sunny, still, CA:30
Tracked ride with MapMyRide! Distance: 29.80mi, time: 01:54:51, pace: 3:51min/mi, speed: 15.57mi/h. http://mapmyride.com/view_route?r=544671779495346177
Passed a strange sight- two buzzards feeding on a dead swan near Elford. It was like a Breugal painting, one of those with a haunting, ominous medieval moral.
The ride was good, as has this whole day been altogether.
13.5°C, grey,mild, dry.
What is this bumble-bee doing up and about today, mid-winter? My guess, the dog disturbed it on wandering about the shrubs in the garden. They hibernate through to spring so maybe the mild weather woke him.
He raised a leg as though in fear- as if to rush me away. He knew I was there and was alert enough to sense threat.
I can’t see him surviving now he’s woken. I gave him some sugar and wished him good luck.I was gentle.
9°C, still & foggy start.
Drove in today. Fog has descended.
Drove home in clear air but my view was obscured by a boot full of leaves. Our caretaker let me take 6 big bags of swept leaves, mainly from London Plane (?) trees. There are loads of those in the borough- they cope with pollution well.
10°C, sunny.
It’s Saturday so it’s headache day. The sun does shine, a week’s holiday lies ahead. No camping though, not much point when daylight is gone so early.
Spent the day planting bulbs. I will have forgotten where I put them by spring, let’s be surprised.
Some over-grown plants had to get cut back. I saw no Ivy, but there are itchy patches on my hands now. Do other plants contain the same chemical that makes ivy poisonous?
19°C, endless blue
I have a bucket of Frog Spawn from a colleague who brought it into work. You have to admire my ability to drive home with a bucket of water+ this spawn jelly stuff without spilling any. My pond will have fulfilled its destiny if they thrive into adulthood. There has been no algal bloom this year, good for the tadpoles. Perhaps a sign of good health in that little body of water.
This is a time of year that your aesthetic sensibility breaks out as if to desperately demand time in your mind. There is much work overload to block it out. I drove home listening to an Aria by Handel. The shapes made by that pure voice were delicious. Traffic was bad enough for some time watching a magpie hopping along a roofline in a manner like a weightless astronaut.
I need a holiday from work. the last one was demolished by the influenza. I felt cheated. Continue reading
Micycle 