So only photos taken from my garden or in my garden today. This is the pasture the wild hogs like to walk around in.
We’ve had a warm, sunny and wind free day today, so warm that I could turn off the radiators and have the kitchen door open until the sun decided to leave the southern wall it hit all day. Today is the start of the annual moose hunting season so we haven’t been able to walk in the forest and will most likely not have any morning walks there until Monday.
On the other side they usually leave quite early in the day after a few days so we can have walks there anyway. I would have loved to walk in the village but Alma is like she is and the last time we tried, must be a year ago now, she was so impossible that I’ve given up the thought of ever go there again. I love that dog but she has her ideas about the world being dangerous, so I’m happy we at least have the forest we can walk in.
Tomorrow will be a fun day I think, First I’ll pick up my “new” phone and then I’ll drive to a friend I used to work with. His son has caught a new cold and my friend has to stay at home with him. As You probably know parents get paid if staying at home with a sick child here in Sweden. Better to stay at home than going to work spreading what ever disease children have. Since I already have a cold as well I’ll have a day out 🙂 Also I’ll buy some fish for my aquarium because he’s a neighbour to a pet shop 🙂 Now days it’s difficult to find someone selling aquarium fish here because they need to have a license that gives them the right to do so and it costs a small fortune.
The hunters always put up a sign when ever they are out hunting. You can see it here in front of the dark caravan.
Well they need a license to sell any other animal as well like rodents or reptiles or what ever it is they want to sell. Pet stores here have never been allowed to sell dogs and cats though. So now I have to decide what kind of fish I want and it can only be a few since I now days only have the aquarium filled up to a third and plants soon will grow in the upper third, I think I might find the right kind of plants for that too because this pet store also sale terrariums.
It is time for that last cup of tea and I bought a rice chocolate bar when I was at the supermarket this morning, it’ll go perfect with some tea 🙂
It is raining, sort of a nice spring rain. Ok I know it’s autumn but that’s the feeling I get when being outside and not even the dogs seems to dislike it. We walked down to the creek this morning unlike yesterday when we walked out to the bog. It is strange but those moose flies survives lots of night with frost and they love it out by the bog so I didn’t want that to do that mistake again 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’ve noticed that there are lots fewer moose flies if we walk on the wider gravel roads even though they do sometimes even turn up here in my garden. Also it is seldom that any of them stays close to the creek, I have no idea to why though and it could just be coincidence but it’s like that every year. I think the moose passed just outside the garden yesterday evening because Alma was in guarding mood the entire time we were outside when it started to go dark. I could see some big tracks in the grass just outside my fence. If it had been a wolf she wouldn’t go outside at all 🙂 and the wild hogs walks closer to the forest on the other side of my home.
Our squirrels are quite shy so it’s always a joy when one can see them.
I always go out on seed sites this time of year and to be honest I already have many more seeds than I can sow next year 🙂 🙂 Then however, a couple of days ago I found seeds to something called Litchie tomato. It isn’t a tomato but a relative in the Nightshade family and even though I could see in photos that it must have been made in hell because it has zillions with really sharp small thorns I thought I have to test it 🙂 🙂 I’ve now been out on Youtube and watched a few videos and it is clear that it can’t grow in a place I have to pass at all because those spikes will hit me 🙂 🙂
Also I’ve learned that it is quite hardy, not that it will survive a winter here but night frost isn’t a problem at all. So it is either growing in the back of the greenhouse or it’ll just grow up there and later planted outside. Anyway it will be fun to try it 🙂 An odd thing happened when I tried to order it via my phone, for some reason I couldn’t get the seeds I bought by mail? Really strange since those packages I ordered hardly would even be noticed in an ordinary envelope. I could however go and pick it up at the seed firm not too far from where I live. That annoyed me so much that I cancelled the order 🙂 🙂 However I regretted it and did the order via my computer and then I didn’t even get a choice to pick it it, I could only get the seeds by mail 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thos are the problems we have in the village at the outskirts of the world 🙂 🙂 🙂
Well it is a long time until spring so I’ll place these seeds together with all the other seeds I already have in a plastic lunch box until it is time to start thinking about it again. It is time to feed the dogs and the monster and I already have a cup of tea by my side. I have caught a small cold, nothing serious just stuffed nose, freezing a little and sneezing a lot 🙂 🙂 I still have honey that my old neighbours gave me so I’ll have some of that and hope this will pass quickly even though it isn’t that bad 🙂
Sunny and nice morning again today but after that a chilly wind has arrived and I guess it’s the same we’ll have tomorrow but then with storm strength in the gusts. I’ve now done what I can to secure it with 12 new tent pegs for green houses and a few other things. I’ve blocked the door with an old broken golf club 🙂 No I’ve never played golf but I once bought a golf bag on an auction just in case I ever would be insane enough to start playing golf 🙂 🙂 🙂
There was some morning mist when we went out on our morning walk but we walked out to the bog and this time no fog had hidden in there 🙂 We might have had a wolf nearby because both dogs seemed to be uncomfortable being out there. Could also have been moose since the dogs don’t like them either. Animals were moving around in the forest but by the sound of it I think that mostly were deer or wild hogs.
I also drove to the grocery store today, normally I would have waited until tomorrow but driving around in a storm on top of a mountain is never a good idea 🙂 🙂 It was unusually calm in the town, Falköping on Fridays are usually chaotic when it comes to traffic. It’s just a tiny town but the traffic is just as bad as it is in a big city 🙂 🙂 Also very few seems to know any of the traffic rules we have in this country so no matter how well one drives there’s always a lot of honking from other car drivers 🙂 🙂 🙂 Today there wasn’t any traffic at all so I could just as well have backed the car all the way in the village and no one would have noticed 🙂 🙂 🙂
It is time to make a pot of tea and I’ll have some ice cream at the same time. The strong winds will arrive some time in the early morning and will be as worst at around 9 am till 2 pm so I’ll be glued to the windows until it starts to calm down. We might also have up to 50 mm (two inches) of rain falling so cross Your fingers and hold Your thumbs for good luck and that the green house doesn’t fly away 🙂 🙂
Have a great day!
This is one of the storm anchors on the outside.Twelve new pegs on the inside all pointing att different directions. I should have bought 24 because there are a lots of holes on the side that won’t be hit by the wind.I also put some support on the outside but doubt that will help much.And the golf club outside the door 🙂 🙂
Today is slightly less painful so we went out on our morning walk out to the bog this time. A bit chilly but the sun shone and no winds blowing so it was quite pleasant and even Alma stayed really calm for once. We could hear animals walking away from us and as always some Jays screaming in the trees 🙂 It’s not for nothing that their Swedish name is nut screamer 🙂 🙂
We even saw some morning mist in the distance but today there was none in the forest. As soon as we came back home I went to the supermarket to get what I written down on my note plus a few things I realised I would need sooner or later, like a ring spanner set. Since I can’t find what I actually have when it comes to tools I thought I better start all over again 🙂 🙂
So the first thing I did after coming home was to tighten all the nuts with the right ring spanner and it was really needed. I had used a wrench trying to tighten them but it really was too big so some of those nuts were way too loose and would most likely have vibrated enough to fall off if the wind would become strong 🙂 🙂 After that I’ve done very little, had lots of coffee, eaten a Småländsk cheesecake (a bit different than the American cheesecake) with strawberry jam 🙂 and we’ve also had a long nap because the weather isn’t that nice any longer.
The wind is cold and the sunshine is gone, it’s actually cold enough for me to have to start a couple of radiators now. Thankfully they’re guessing that we’ll have sunshine all day tomorrow and even if the temperature won’t rise especially much the sun will warm up the cottage and it will be nice to stay outdoors as well. Sunshine can really make a big difference, especially here since I sort of live in a pit where the air warms up much. It also makes it colder at night since all the cold air sort of flows down to my garden and stays there during winter 🙂 🙂 🙂
It is time for a pot of tea and after that it’s time to feed the animals.
My entire body hurts 🙂 and I know it will be even worse tomorrow 🙂 🙂 So I started another project yesterday, to finally start building that greenhouse I bought three? years ago. I must admit that the instructions were pretty good but the markings on the parts was so so to be honest. I also noticed that the closer to the end the descriptions became less good, like the one who did them sort of felt bored and that gave me some problems at the end.
So the only thing I had to do today was the roof with the ventilation window. The only parts that actually were missing was the parts to the handle of the ventilation window 🙂 🙂 Well I can solve that later and it will work well anyway. I really can’t call the company to complain and to get those parts since it has gone three years and I can’t even remember who I bought it from, it’s a long time since they gave up sending me ads on things they sell 🙂 🙂 🙂 Anyhow everything went well until I was going to put the door together and then hang it up. This is when the bored designer of this green house really messed it up because it is amazing in how many ways one can attach hinges and not make it work 🙂 🙂 🙂 That door took several hours to put together, mostly because the one had forgotten to show how many screws one had to pre assemble before it was time to put the door together 🙂 🙂 🙂
Also there’s magnet to keep the door closed and no matter how I put it one it couldn’t reach any metal but that’s why one always have a just enough big beak pliers close nearby 🙂 Also, and here’s the second thing that drove me nuts, the pre assembled screws. Turns out they had shown the wrong numbers of how many and on what side of the door they should be, so at the moment the door has no handle. I refuse to take the door apart again so I need to figure out another way that makes it possible to move those screws around to the right side again. All in all it worked pretty good despite missing parts and screws on the wrong side of the door and now it stands there. All I have left, besides the screws, is to put up plastic protections on the corners because those are sharp and then figure out how to secure the greenhouse to the ground. I do have storm wires as well just in case the wind blows from the wrong direction.
WE had morning mist here today and I rushed outside as soon as I could to get some nice photos and of course let the dogs have a walk 🙂 It’s amazing how fast it can vanish when the sun rise in the morning. I had brought my old Hasselblad camera because it’s really good on capturing morning mist and we even walked up to the mailbox just to get some nice photos. Just as I had I turned around and all mist was gone! So when we passed the cottage again I left the camera and we continued in to the forest. Turns out the mist was hiding in there instead 🙂 🙂 Well I can always hope for more mist but it looks like we’ll have cloudy days ahead of us with minimal chance to get it any time soon.
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and today I’m having Lady Grey. A really nice tea and a change from the Earl Grey I usually have. I have no ice cream or cookies and I’m not hungry enough for a sandwich so I guess I’ll just have the tea. It is time to move down the stairs and it hurts just to think about it 🙂 🙂 🙂
Have a great day!
I forgot to eat while building the greenhouse yesterday but realised I had to stop when my entire body started to shake 🙂 🙂 🙂Today the dogs made sure to go indoors to have something to eat 🙂
It has been a rather wonderful day, frost again this morning but without morning mist. I was a bit disappointed about that but we did have sunshine all day long and once again it went from cold to almost Scandinavian summer temperatures 🙂
So sweater in the morning but after I had been to the grocery store in Falköping I switched to t-shirt. I have around one gazillion of flies in the grass now, I think it might be that they need water, because the grass stays wet for quite some time plus the fact the ground is fairly warm all day. These flies aren’t annoying in any way, they really don’t want to be close to neither me or my dogs but as soon as we get too close they fly up in the air and the sound from them is amazing 🙂 🙂 This is so to speak their final show so I don’t care about them.
So I started this project yesterday. I was walking around in the garden and saw an old plastic pot I’ve dug down in to the ground. I had done that because I wanted black berries in the garden but in just one place. So the pot was there to keep the roots in one place. The thing is that the blackberry bushes slowly and steadily became smaller for each year until they were no more and for some reason I just didn’t remove the pot. So I looked at the pot, rather big to be honest and wondered what to do with it. I must have brought it with me when I closed my garden center. It’s around 120 litres (31,7 gallon US) and then I looked at some rubber sheet I still had after the voles destroyed my pond. So why not make a little pond from that instead of the readymade little pond I was wondering if I could repair?
There are sharp edges at the bottom so those must be covered with something. I found some old towels I never use and placed them around the sharp edges.
So I dug out all the soil that filled the pot witch made my morning a bit hellish because I apparently have muscles I don’t know of 🙂 🙂 I actually tried to lift the pot up from the ground but it was just impossible. So I brought the rubber sheet and started to preparing the surface around the pot. It isn’t easy to try and force down a rubber sheet in a rather small space and one has to forget a big rule when making a pot, the rubber shouldn’t be folded but absolutely smooth around the edges. That works well if one actually is making a big pond but not when forcing it down in to a fairly small space 🙂 🙂 🙂 Before that though I had dug a sort of moat around the pot, that will be the future swamp zone. That’s where plants that loves to grow in swampy areas but not below the water surface can live.
Malkolm kept an eye once so I wouldn’t mess it up too much 🙂
Here You can see the moat properly. I’ll have to adjust it next spring because winter tends to make the ground settle in new ways 🙂So this is what it looks like now. There is some water in it so I’ll have to check it for frogs and toads every morning plus the eventual other animal that might be in it.
When I had done my best to adjust the rubber sheet to it all (the easiest way to get the sheet down to the bottom of the little pond is to just start filling it with water) with lots of folds everywhere 🙂 🙂 🙂 I started to cut off the unnecessary parts of the sheet. That is of course best to do with a carpenter knife, preferable the ones with a razor blade in it. Or if You like me can’t find it one can use that bl…y expensive bread knife that is completely useless except for it is so sharp it’s possible to cut down a tree with it. After that just start to cover the rubber sheet that is outside of what it is supposed to be with soil. This one will be empty until next spring so I just poured out those wood chips I had after the compost grinder. It is a good thing to use a water measure so that it’s even, otherwise there will be problems if it rains too much.
So that’s what I’ve been doing today and the problem is that it really made me start to think about making a big pond again, too pricy to do that at the moment so this little one will have to do. This one will be big enough for three or four gold fish, they will eat any mosquito larvae or other fly larvae who will try and grow up there 🙂 This one is not deep enough to keep them alive during winter so I’ll see what I need to do before then. Well it is time for that last cup of tea and since there’s absolutely nothing I want to watch on tv it might be an early night, I’ll just have to check for badgers in the garden before I let the dogs out 🙂
It smell a bit of burning dust at the moment, I had to start two radiators today because we had frost and -2C (28,4F) when we woke up this morning and it never became warmer than 13C (5534F) during the day. We’ve had lots of sunshine though so during the day it almost was too warm indoors. The kitchen door has been open until the sun moved over to the other side of the cottage.
So a bit chilly when we went out on our morning walk, not as much frost as I thought we would have but fly free so I forgave nature 🙂 🙂 🙂 Alma walked really well today but instead she want back to that high pitched whining she’s so good at and after four years that sound cuts in to the brain like a dull knife creating a pain I just can’t stand. I doubt that she’s a fan of nature at all. She is getting better though but I really can’t stand that sound any more.
We went out to the bog and since it was as chilly as it was not a fly moved so I could pick the mushrooms without constantly make sure any of those nasty moose flies were crawling around on my head or elsewhere as well of course. I only picked the mushrooms I could find on the forest road so I’m pretty sure that if we had taken one step in between the trees I would have found plenty more. I think we might walk there again tomorrow if it is chilly enough and take that extra step and no moose flies can fly around and find us 🙂 🙂
I mowed the lawn when we had come home, the grass was still a bit wet but it didn’t clog inside the mower. Can one hope that this was the last time I had to do it for this season? After that I brought out the compost grinder or wood chipper as I like to call it. I had all these thorny branches from the wild plum to take care of plus a lot from the other plum tree and the apple tree. I actually also have lots of grape vines. The grape vine almost never gave any grapes and to be honest, grapes are really just weeds to be honest and grows like crazy 🙂 🙂 So I tried to entangle all the vines but that’s an impossible job so I’ll do them another time.
I wasn’t done until rather late, around 3 pm, so after that I haven’t been doing anything to be honest 🙂 I have had coffee and also tea but can say I’m just as tired as if the caffeine had run out of what ever it is that livens one up 🙂 🙂 🙂 The cows in the pasture on the other side of the gravel road outside my cottage has been rather loud from yesterday afternoon and still is, I think they removed their calfs and it’s heartbreaking to hear them call for their babies.
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and I’ll have a bowl with ice cream at the same time. Elsbeth is on tonight so I’ll need to go outside to check for badgers in the garden before letting the dogs outside so I can watch tv without having to do that during the program 🙂 🙂
The pawpaws grow in the most protected place I have in the garden and the frost had not reached them at all, not even the smaller ones were touched by it.The tomato plants were protected and only the tops were slightly hit but the unripe fruits are still fine 🙂
I have been a little bit stressed today, suddenly the entire internet connection died. I called my phone and internet company and the AI voice said I needed to identify myself with my bank Id, well can’t do that when the internet is gone 🙂 🙂 🙂 Anyway I was told someone would call me when it was my turn and there were a lot of people before me. Well everything suddenly started to work again so I guess that all those before me in line had the same problem. The Russians? have targeted our telephone/internet companies quite often lately so I guess it was the same again.
It was rather chilly last night, 4C (39,2F) when we woke up. But it might have been even colder in the garden because some plants looked rather sad today. Good thing though is that not even the moose flies fly around in those temperatures 🙂 As soon as we had come home again I drove to the grocery store in the village I used to work. After all I’ve been shopping there since the day I moved to this region and only because I moved elsewhere and don’t work there any more doesn’t mean I never would go there again 🙂 They are like old friends at that place and that’s more important than going somewhere closer or cheaper 🙂
I came back so early that we managed to squeeze in a second morning walk 🙂 This time out to the bog and I kept my eyes open for mushrooms and found plenty so we’ll head out there tomorrow morning again 🙂 It was still chilly enough to keep the moose flies calm 🙂 I’m not sure if there are especially many of them out there to be honest but one moose fly is way too many anyway. The wild hogs had dug up big parts of the path to the bog, it seems it doesn’t matter how many they hunt because it just takes a few days and then they’re back again. Well as long as they stay calm I’m happy.
I had planned to wait to bring in the last potted plants to the cool cellar, they can usually manage the first frost night really well and even more after being outside all summer (totally different in spring when they are brought out again, then they can’t take any frost, that’s why mu citrus trees are rather small this year 🙂 🙂 🙂 ) but I noticed that some have new shoots and they looked a bit sad after tonight so I brought in almost everything I still have out there. I can’t however not bring in my tomato plants. So I’ve just been outside covering them. I want at least one ripe tomato before frost can take the rest 🙂 🙂 🙂
I made rice porridge yesterday and today I think it is time for rose-hip soup, perfect a chilly day or evening when it is a bit too chilly outside. So I think I’ll skip that last cup of tea and have rose-hip soup and some ice cream instead 🙂
I found this and the next one for sale at the grocery store, less than US 3$ each, so I bought them 🙂
Two nice days in a row, yesterday started out sunny and it wasn’t until pretty late in the afternoon the rain arrived, today started with deep dark clouds and rain but later in the afternoon the sun showed itself. From no on they’re guessing that we’ll have sunshine all day long for a couple of days but the temperature will drop rather a lot.
So today I started to bring down the smaller citrus trees and the hardy hibiscus I have outside plus one little tree called Date-plum (Diospyrus lotus, a Persimmon relative). I bought it late in the season since it was for sale and affordable so I felt it was too late to try and plant it since this is on the border to what it can take climate-wise. I do hope that if any mouse would go down there that it doesn’t like to eat the little tree 🙂 🙂 🙂 I know they don’t like any kind of citrus so those will be safe. Then again the monsterkitten is a great mouse hunter and so far I haven’t heard any mice running inside the walls 🙂
The dogs and I went out to the bog yesterday morning so I could pick the mushrooms I found. It looks like I now days am the only one picking mushrooms so I don’t have to worry about anyone else taking them before me 🙂 I fried them with butter until all water had evaporated from the frying pan and then I tossed them in the freezer. I think we’ll be taking that road again tomorrow 🙂 After we had come home I got the idea that I should preserve apples in sugar syrup. It is easy to be honest if one has the right kind of apple, I didn’t 🙂 🙂 🙂 I can however tell You that I might have made the best applesauce I’ve ever tasted 🙂 🙂
After I had drained off most of the sugar syrup I poured it down in to jars, so do anyone know what one could do with lots of rather good tasting sugar syrup 🙂 🙂 🙂 I also baked a big loaf of bread with lots of cheese in it (at the same time I did the laundry) and I must say it is really tasty 🙂 Since I did so so much yesterday I’ve done almost nothing today (except for bringing down those trees to the cellar) , not even napped. I did however since the morning was so dull make some rice porridge,. It’s really a winter porridge but it sort of fitted to the mood both I and the dogs had.
Still getting strawberries but they don’t taste especially much now.I need to clean the table for some cacti I have but otherwise it looks pretty good. I also have a new led-light ramp beside the old plant light ramp.Soon I’ll also place five bigger citrus trees here (not so big nowadays since that frost we had early in spring) and a tea tree.
The only thing I still need to do today is to go out to the garden before letting the dogs out for the last time today to make sure there’s no badger out there 🙂 🙂 I have to do that until it gets so cold at night so the badgers decides to just sleep until it’s nice outside again 🙂 I’m just about to have my last cup of tea for the day and perhaps I’ll have a sandwich or two as well. I don’t have much in the fridge but I’ll always have cheese and milk, so tomorrow I’ll have a trip to the grocery store again, So many colds going around at the moment so I’ll drive away as early as possible.
I really like my birthday present I got from my eldest brother 🙂
A sort of meh weather today, mostly cloudy with the sun peeking through the clouds every now and again. It has been warm though so I really shouldn’t complain. Our morning walk was rather late today just because I hoped the sun would show itself more later in the day.
Instead I drove to the big grocery store in Falköping to get what I need for the weekend, nothing much really but cat food was a must 🙂 It’s not that I don’t have any at home but more because she demands the cheapest brand there is, for some reason she loves that wet food and who am I to complain that it is cheap 🙂 🙂 🙂 I had to stop at the grocery store in Gudhem on my way home because I had two parcels waiting to be picked up. The small one was a camera I’ve bought myself as a birthday present (Nikon D5200), nothing special with that camera more that I can turn the little screen at the back in almost any direction I want. So much easier to photograph something on the ground when I don’t have to lie down to get a nice photograph. I just turn have the camera close to the ground, turn the screen so that I can see what I’m photographing and take the photo 🙂
The blueberries are getting autumn colours.
The other parcel was more interesting, it was actually another camera that my eldest brother gave me as a birthday gift 🙂 It is the camera shown in the first photo 🙂 It is a TLR camera (for film) As You can see there are two lenses on the camera. The upper one is the one you look through and the lower one is the one taking the photo. A bit expensive as a gift but I would be an idiot if I didn’t accept it :-):-) 🙂 As You can see there’s also a second lens pair beside it and that’s a telephoto lens. not too common for these old cameras to have that. It weighs a ton so It is perhaps nothing one just hang over the shoulder when going out for a walk, the shoulder would be needed to be adjusted after that 🙂 🙂 🙂
This is a really nice mushroom to fry and perhaps make a stew. Or just fry them and put them on a sandwich with cheese and other things 🙂This and the next ones are even better 🙂 I’ll think I’ll bring a bag so I can pick them all tomorrow on our morning walk 🙂By the way, almost all photos today are taken with the “new” camera (I always buy second hand and when it is cheap 🙂 ). It takes a few days until we know each other well enough so I can get photos to look like I want them to look 🙂
It hasn’t rained today and the grass was surprisingly dry so after the walk I cut down those trunks from the plum trees, they really don’t look that big but they were so heavy that I almost wasn’t able to move them away 🙂 🙂 If I’ve been handy and known how to carve I would have had plenty to work with when they have dried up 🙂
I had to take this and the next photo through the kitchen door window so they look a bit off I’m afraid.
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and I’ll also have an ice cream at the same time.There’s absolutely nothing to watch on tv tonight. I remember when I was a kid, You know back in the Stone Age, that Friday and Saturday night were family tv nights. When everyone in the family gathered in front of the tv, perhaps having sodas/coffee and something nice to eat. Not so any more and I sort of miss it even if it only be me and my dogs sitting there. The monster would perhaps join us but she would only sleep in the sofa anyway 🙂 🙂
I really hope we don’t get frost next week because this is the only squash (I think it is squash, have actually no idea because I used seeds I had saved from something I harvested years ago and can’t remember what it was, could be a pumpkin as well 🙂 🙂 ). The plants only gave male flowers until now.
I have no idea why but today I slept until six thirty am. Just in time to see the sun rising. So the dogs had their breakfast and I a cup of coffee and out we went. Lots of birds tweeting, a few song swans flew by and we even saw a Roe deer. Alma behaved so good today that I was really surprised, we passed the new neighbours but soon to be moved away neighbours she actually didn’t scream or whine at all. Isn’t that nice, just as they will move she has become calm about them being here 🙂 🙂 🙂
Despite all the rain we’ve had lately I still continue to water the more dry sensitive and newly planted plants in the garden. One can see that the water has started to sink down in to the ground but only perhaps 30 cm (12 inches) ad that’s not enough. The sun kept on shining so I placed my garden shoes, meaning old shoes that no longer can be used while being out walking, to dry in the sunshine. They are full with soil and sand and now days constantly wet so my feet are packed in with that mud as soon as I have worn them 🙂 🙂 Suddenly we had two rather heavy showers passing by so now they’re more wet than before 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’ve been looking at my aquarium for a while now, I emptied it to one third oaf how much water it can hold because I worked evenings one week a month and had to have the dogs in the cottage because they bark at anything moving when it is dark outside. So after some thinking I said to my self why not making it to a sort of aquaterrarium? A third of water and two thirds of open air where one can plant small plants and so on. No I won’t have any replies or frogs in it just a sort of land part. So I checked the water quality and most parts were ok but not the nitrate levels, that means there’s too much waist after the fish I had and decaying plants.
So I think I have around 35 litres of water in it at the moment. So I thought I have plenty of rainwater now so why not use that? The water I have to drink has a lot of lime and most fish and plants don’t like that. I think I’ve changed over 60 litres (15.9 gallons US) and finally I can see the water getting a bit better 🙂 🙂 I really cleaned the sand while getting the water out but it is clear I have to do more 🙂 So now I know what I’ll do tomorrow 🙂 🙂 🙂
It is time for that last cup of tea for the day and today I’ll have an ice cream as well. the ice cream lorry drove down on our road for the first time this season, turns out the driver had been hit by a brick wall hitting one of his legs and had been on sick leave until now. The one replacing him never cared to come to us on my little gravel road. We are very pleased to see him again 🙂
Most of the plum tree is gone now. All I need now is a day or two with weather that dries up the ground so I can cut the rest with my chainsaw. After that I need to start thinking about what else can grow there instead 🙂
Lots of rain has been falling here today, from before I woke up until now at almost seven pm. I don’t mind the rain but it has stayed on the chilly side all the time.
One of four piles with twigs and branches from my two plum trees. I’ve started to cut them in smaller pieces so the wood chipper (compost grinder) will have an easier job.
I dug up the hardy hibiscus and thought the buds would fall off but here’s the flower. It was filled with petals before but now it looks like this to my great joy 🙂
So we haven’t done anything really, napped a short while and watched tv. All of us is a bit bored now because rain makes the dogs stay indoors 🙂 They only run out for a few minutes to do what they must and then indoors again. Yesterday evening, around eight pm it was anything but boring here. I let the dogs outside and then Malkolm came running back to the front door and Alma started to bark.
One of the five pawpaw seedlings. If winter doesn’t kill it I’m afraid the dogs will 🙂 🙂 They run fast and wild when they play and don’t even see trees in their way 🙂 🙂
I walked around the cottage to see if I could find out what it was she barked at. She stared towards a bush and growled so I told her to go back indoors and I pointed my headlight towards the bush and there it was, a rather big badger hiding behind it. Poor thing, it must have been so scared. European badgers has a reputation of being aggressive and dangerous but that’s just nonsense. If they can they rather run away than have to meet dogs and humans. The reason they are believed to be dangerous is because hunters. I think I also would become pretty aggressive if someone tossed down aggressive dogs in to my home and I too would attack the one doing it.
So tonight I’ll take a walk in the garden before I let out the dogs so it can be alone when it visits us. Badgers eat all those snails and slugs we hate plus a lot of other bugs and larvae we don’t want close to us. I think they also might eat apples from the ground and to me that’s positive since I have so many 🙂 It’s time for that last cup of tea and later tonight they show Elsbeth again 🙂
The Cottage by the crane lake. 