I feel the touches of Autumn in the air today. This could be because it is damp and overcast, or it could be that nature is in advance of itself this year.
As part of the walk pattern for Rosie, one route takes us down Church lane which peters out in farmland and a bridleway which leads over to the next community.
Along the first part of the pathway is a mixed hedgerow that contains all sorts of fruits, flowers and trees.
Elder, which yields two bounties, the elderflower in late spring and just now, the elderberries.
There are stone fruits such as wild plum and most years a few hop vines have worked their way in amongst the trees and bushes but I have not seen any this year.
Blackberries/bramble berries are just ripening now and sloe berries are turning a purplish blush colour. These last two and maybe the elderberries will be used to make bramble jelly, sloe gin or sloe vodka and the elderberries may end up as juice, a flavouring for gin or vodka or fermented in to wine.
If we proceed a bit further up the path, there is an opening in the hedgerow that leads along a short path to the edge of the river Lark. (Rosie likes to splash in the shallows, but does not like to swim!)
Here, on a bend in the river, schoolchildren used to bathe in times past as part of the school day, and grain was transported upriver to be offloaded here to take to the Malting along the same dog walk path, which although over grown now, still shows traces of its former track width.
There are all sorts of wild creatures about this area, swans, ducks, moorhens on the river, lapwings, skylarks, swifts swallows and house martins and the usual more common birds flying about. A Red Kite was spotted a few months back, and Rosie and I bumped in to a Monkjac deer one day- they are small deer , usually timid, and have an unfortunate habit of dashing across the road without looking, which causes a few near accidents with cars- this one ran off at a rate of knots.
A few weeks ago I was visiting Cambridge and used the Newmarket road Park and Ride site to catch a bus in to the centre. Around the perimeter of the car park is what looks like an ancient hedgerow as it contains a mixture of trees, shrubs and bushes, but this was planted when the car park was constructed not that long ago, and here there are sloes aplenty (blackthorn bushes) so I might foray there at some time for sloes as well.
Friday 26 August 2011
Thursday 25 August 2011
A hedge to far?
It was time to tackle the second hedge in the garden- if anything more overgrown than the first one, and bounding the neighbours garden.
Duly bought a large board as per earlier post to mimic the professional technique of working forward on top of the hedge using the board as a support. It worked for about three feet, then came the gap with just a few spindly branches, before the next thick trunk. Not a safe system- so the board the professionals used must have been very big indeed to span the gaps.
Went back to old system, ladders braced against one side, a bit of praying to ensure no slips, and the occasional lean over the void with chainsaw in hand to get at branches beyond normal reach. In the end managed to get everything cut down to the old height and only dropped two pieces of cutting over my neighbours boundary.
Well I said all of it, except for the bit that had what looked like an old abandoned pigeons nest in it (hard to tell when they are haphazardly built in the first place). Having done a visual check for absence of any baby pigeon I proceeded to hack the branches away to be surprised by a pigeon flying in and landing on the nest and settling down.
I proceeded to cut further along, she flew off and I checked from a higher perch (pun intended) and spotted a single egg. At this point there was little remaining of the top growth so I thought it might be abandoned, but not a bit of it, once I had done with the last of the hedge, the pigeon was back, settled down and has been there since, so the hedge top is flat except for two long upright branches with a contented mother sitting in it. Hopefully in about three weeks I can finish the job on both hedges ( 10 day old baby in the other hedge awaiting its fledging also)
Then came the fun bit- transporting the debris to the recycling center. As most of the cuttings were 6 to 10ft long, they had to be reduced in size to fit the trailer- a case of tendonitus later and I was ready to take it to the center, however the weather had other ideas- after the second load it rained very heavily so I decided as I was already wet I might as well carry on, so after the 4th load I was wet to my skin and needed a good warming bath to recover.
I am mightily relieved it is done and aim to keep it well trimmed in the future- looking to get an extendable hedge trimmer to do the job in future.
Duly bought a large board as per earlier post to mimic the professional technique of working forward on top of the hedge using the board as a support. It worked for about three feet, then came the gap with just a few spindly branches, before the next thick trunk. Not a safe system- so the board the professionals used must have been very big indeed to span the gaps.
Went back to old system, ladders braced against one side, a bit of praying to ensure no slips, and the occasional lean over the void with chainsaw in hand to get at branches beyond normal reach. In the end managed to get everything cut down to the old height and only dropped two pieces of cutting over my neighbours boundary.
Well I said all of it, except for the bit that had what looked like an old abandoned pigeons nest in it (hard to tell when they are haphazardly built in the first place). Having done a visual check for absence of any baby pigeon I proceeded to hack the branches away to be surprised by a pigeon flying in and landing on the nest and settling down.
I proceeded to cut further along, she flew off and I checked from a higher perch (pun intended) and spotted a single egg. At this point there was little remaining of the top growth so I thought it might be abandoned, but not a bit of it, once I had done with the last of the hedge, the pigeon was back, settled down and has been there since, so the hedge top is flat except for two long upright branches with a contented mother sitting in it. Hopefully in about three weeks I can finish the job on both hedges ( 10 day old baby in the other hedge awaiting its fledging also)
Then came the fun bit- transporting the debris to the recycling center. As most of the cuttings were 6 to 10ft long, they had to be reduced in size to fit the trailer- a case of tendonitus later and I was ready to take it to the center, however the weather had other ideas- after the second load it rained very heavily so I decided as I was already wet I might as well carry on, so after the 4th load I was wet to my skin and needed a good warming bath to recover.
I am mightily relieved it is done and aim to keep it well trimmed in the future- looking to get an extendable hedge trimmer to do the job in future.
Sunday 21 August 2011
Fan club of Rosie
As a break from hedge cutting E and I decided this morning to go to the Heavy Horse and Country Show on Rede Farm near Bury St Edmunds raising money on behalf of the Millennium Farm Trust.
This was after waiting for a Bosch engineer to call (we were told anytime between 7am and 3pm) to look again at our dishwasher- it was part of a recall notice a few weeks ago, when it had a new control board fitted. Since then it got progressively worse at cleaning.
It turns out that some of the internal pipework was clogging up and the fault was probably unrelated to the original recall. However as a goodwill gesture Bosch did not charge us for the call ( and we got the blockages cleared as well).
The Millennium Farm trust was founded in the Autumn 1996. With the aim of providing adults with learning disabilities work and training opportunities in farming, conservation and rural skills within Suffolk. Initially the work was on farms in Suffolk, but since 2004 has been based on a section of Rede farm and also at Old Hall near East Bergholt from 2003 to 2008.
Wherever we go we come across members of the Fan Club of Rosie, and this was no exception. As she is a staffy/springer spaniel cross she has an attractive chestnut coloured coat which is short haired and gleams in the sun. She has a friendly face and attracts everybody's attention. Of course with the cross of staffy and springer, she is full of bounce and likes to jump up and lick everyone if allowed.
At the show were heavy horses (as per the title) who were mostly in their fields or in stables. One was pulling a cart to offer rides, and one was waiting patiently to have new shoes put on. He had one new shoe on, and when I asked the farrier, he said he would do the others as well, but a job that takes under an hour to do, had to last all through the show so that everybody had a chance to see it.
There were craft stalls and food stalls and guess the weight of the horse (several tonnes I would imaging) .
We spotted a candy floss and popcorn stall , and E cannot resist freshly made floss. Sadly it was pre-made in tubs, but they had a machine to make it - Hurrah. However both the teenage stall holders were unsure how to operate the machine, so a quick call to mother and an online tuition course materialised.
After some experimentation with the sugar amount, and then finding out the machine was not plugged in, some floss was duly made.
The teenage girl said it was her brothers stall really, but he wanted to go to the "V" festival near Chelmsford, so had pre-made the candy floss in the morning.
We had a good walk around the surrounding fields and met an ancient tractor also pulling a cart, wending its way around the boundaries.
Rosie found a snakes skin which had been shed at sometime, so a good time was had by all.
This was after waiting for a Bosch engineer to call (we were told anytime between 7am and 3pm) to look again at our dishwasher- it was part of a recall notice a few weeks ago, when it had a new control board fitted. Since then it got progressively worse at cleaning.
It turns out that some of the internal pipework was clogging up and the fault was probably unrelated to the original recall. However as a goodwill gesture Bosch did not charge us for the call ( and we got the blockages cleared as well).
The Millennium Farm trust was founded in the Autumn 1996. With the aim of providing adults with learning disabilities work and training opportunities in farming, conservation and rural skills within Suffolk. Initially the work was on farms in Suffolk, but since 2004 has been based on a section of Rede farm and also at Old Hall near East Bergholt from 2003 to 2008.
Wherever we go we come across members of the Fan Club of Rosie, and this was no exception. As she is a staffy/springer spaniel cross she has an attractive chestnut coloured coat which is short haired and gleams in the sun. She has a friendly face and attracts everybody's attention. Of course with the cross of staffy and springer, she is full of bounce and likes to jump up and lick everyone if allowed.
At the show were heavy horses (as per the title) who were mostly in their fields or in stables. One was pulling a cart to offer rides, and one was waiting patiently to have new shoes put on. He had one new shoe on, and when I asked the farrier, he said he would do the others as well, but a job that takes under an hour to do, had to last all through the show so that everybody had a chance to see it.
There were craft stalls and food stalls and guess the weight of the horse (several tonnes I would imaging) .
We spotted a candy floss and popcorn stall , and E cannot resist freshly made floss. Sadly it was pre-made in tubs, but they had a machine to make it - Hurrah. However both the teenage stall holders were unsure how to operate the machine, so a quick call to mother and an online tuition course materialised.
After some experimentation with the sugar amount, and then finding out the machine was not plugged in, some floss was duly made.
The teenage girl said it was her brothers stall really, but he wanted to go to the "V" festival near Chelmsford, so had pre-made the candy floss in the morning.
We had a good walk around the surrounding fields and met an ancient tractor also pulling a cart, wending its way around the boundaries.
Rosie found a snakes skin which had been shed at sometime, so a good time was had by all.
Tuesday 16 August 2011
One down, one to go!
One cupressus hedge is scalped and the branches cut up and transported to the recycling center. One of the bits of growth cut down was nearly 10 feet long, which meant in total the top was about 19ft from the ground before lopping off.
The green manure is now of a size that it can be dug in. Tried several techniques to dig in after first cutting the growth down with garden shears. We have four raised beds to dig. Firstly tried digging over with a small fork. That was OK, but took a lot of effort. The second experiment was with a small spade, and this was more successful as a "lump" of soil could be lifted and turned, burying most of the greenery.
I gave up after two raised beds, will return to that tomorrow- arms and back a bit weary from all the cutting and ferrying of the hedge remains to the recycling center. Took three runs and our poor trailer was complaining about the weight of stuff it had to carry!
Rosie has found a treasure. On her walk with E, she discovered a chew bone that another dog must have dropped. She proudly carried it home without once letting it go, and is now roaming the house, not sure what to do with it.
Not looking forward to dealing with the second hedge as it is in and around a shed, a greenhouse and a lean to off the garage.
Will probably have to adopt the technique that a professional tree surgeon did when it was last cut, which is to cut a flat ledge on top of the hedge, place a large flat board on this and use it as a platform to move forward. Apparently with an old hedge this is quite a stable way to operate as the trunks are at least four or five inches thick, it should support the weight.
Time will tell!
The green manure is now of a size that it can be dug in. Tried several techniques to dig in after first cutting the growth down with garden shears. We have four raised beds to dig. Firstly tried digging over with a small fork. That was OK, but took a lot of effort. The second experiment was with a small spade, and this was more successful as a "lump" of soil could be lifted and turned, burying most of the greenery.
I gave up after two raised beds, will return to that tomorrow- arms and back a bit weary from all the cutting and ferrying of the hedge remains to the recycling center. Took three runs and our poor trailer was complaining about the weight of stuff it had to carry!
Rosie has found a treasure. On her walk with E, she discovered a chew bone that another dog must have dropped. She proudly carried it home without once letting it go, and is now roaming the house, not sure what to do with it.
Not looking forward to dealing with the second hedge as it is in and around a shed, a greenhouse and a lean to off the garage.
Will probably have to adopt the technique that a professional tree surgeon did when it was last cut, which is to cut a flat ledge on top of the hedge, place a large flat board on this and use it as a platform to move forward. Apparently with an old hedge this is quite a stable way to operate as the trunks are at least four or five inches thick, it should support the weight.
Time will tell!
Monday 15 August 2011
House invasion- or how to entertain the grandchildren
Since the last post we have had a houseful - both my son and daughter have been visiting bringing two grand kids each, which is very nice, and is a diversion from the garden activities and other stuff.
In the middle of this the dishwasher also started to play up. It has just been subjected to a recall and has had the control board replaced as their was a risk of a fire starting. Initially all was well, but progressively it cleaned less and less well, and now works sporadically. Have checked for simple things like blockages etc. but nothing seems to help. So- looks like a call out is needed- not sure if it is coincidence or a fault with the new control board!
We have two age ranges in the grandchildren- 9 and 11 years in one (boy and girl) , and 2 years and a 6 month old in the other (boy and girl), so one pair need exciting things, the other pair need toys and lots of input.
We have variously been to Newmarket horse museum, Go-karting, Horse riding, Cambridge museums, many games of Wii on the tv and games on the carpet for the younger ones- wooden train sets etc. Both older children are in to cross-stitch in a big way, so shopping in John Lewis haberdashery was also a must!
Resumed the great cupressus reduction task. Starting to lop the tops off the hedges to get to a reasonable height without looking like a butchered mess. E and I agreed to a 9 foot maximum height- this will allow me to keep it under control, still give some wind protection and give us time to gradually cut down the hedge(s) whilst replacing with a less vigorous hedging/shrub areas.
Spent yesterday with tree and shrub books to find ones that grow to 6 ft or so, were evergreen and needed minimal attention- there aren't many that fit this description! Any suggestions here would be appreciated.
In the middle of this the dishwasher also started to play up. It has just been subjected to a recall and has had the control board replaced as their was a risk of a fire starting. Initially all was well, but progressively it cleaned less and less well, and now works sporadically. Have checked for simple things like blockages etc. but nothing seems to help. So- looks like a call out is needed- not sure if it is coincidence or a fault with the new control board!
We have two age ranges in the grandchildren- 9 and 11 years in one (boy and girl) , and 2 years and a 6 month old in the other (boy and girl), so one pair need exciting things, the other pair need toys and lots of input.
We have variously been to Newmarket horse museum, Go-karting, Horse riding, Cambridge museums, many games of Wii on the tv and games on the carpet for the younger ones- wooden train sets etc. Both older children are in to cross-stitch in a big way, so shopping in John Lewis haberdashery was also a must!
Resumed the great cupressus reduction task. Starting to lop the tops off the hedges to get to a reasonable height without looking like a butchered mess. E and I agreed to a 9 foot maximum height- this will allow me to keep it under control, still give some wind protection and give us time to gradually cut down the hedge(s) whilst replacing with a less vigorous hedging/shrub areas.
Spent yesterday with tree and shrub books to find ones that grow to 6 ft or so, were evergreen and needed minimal attention- there aren't many that fit this description! Any suggestions here would be appreciated.
Thursday 4 August 2011
Wet day blues
Left a job for today expecting it to be dry this morning, but forecasters were wrong, and it was raining about 4 hours earlier than predicted. Yesterday new chainsaw chain arrived, fitted it and it was like chalk and cheese.
In the instructions it said, to tell if your chain needs sharpening or replacing you will notice the following:-
1) The chainsaw produces sawdust when being used (Check)
2) It needs a lot of effort on your part (Check)
3) You will have to force the blade through the wood (Check)
A new or sharp chainsaw should:-
1) Produce shavings
2) Take little effort on your part
3) Will draw itself through the wood.
Had a trial cut with the new chain fitted-it did all the things a sharp chain was supposed to do!
Zipped through cutting the branches off the next cupressus tree and then cut down the trunk.
This is where I went wrong- I left the branches and two chunks of trunk to be further cut up for transport to the recycling centre today.
Yesterday the sky darkened and looked about to pour down with rain. My chainsaw is electric, therefore not good in the wet! So packed up early before cutting pieces down to size.
Naturally although we had thunder and lightning, almost no rain fell.
Neither E or I felt inspired today as it was dreary outside, so late starting jobs.
I eventually worked on a new loft hatch cover as the old one is a bit battered and does not fit well. I need a turn latch to complete it- the sort of thing you have on a caravan door- just a simple handle on one side, that turns a bar in to a slot in the frame on the other side. I know, I thought, go to M&M Leisure in Mildenhall ( www.m-mleisure.co.uk/ ) they will have one- no such luck- they had bits of one as repair items, but not the fully working kit.
So fitted the hinges to the cover board, took the old one off and marked and drilled holes for the new hinges, checked it fitted OK in the space, removed it and put the old one back until I can figure out a replacement catch (the old one is a jury rigged device which looks like it is as well!) Put a first coat of paint on the hatch cover and left it to dry.
Spent a frustrating afternoon trying via Google to find the turn catch I have envisaged in my head- lots of alternatives, but a little pricey, so will keep looking!
Rosie hates the rain- her coat is very short so rain quickly soaks her to the skin- she has spent the day looking for the door in to summer - i.e. a door that when opened gives way to brilliant sunshine, but so far no luck.
Tomorrow looks to be a better day so fingers crossed.
In the instructions it said, to tell if your chain needs sharpening or replacing you will notice the following:-
1) The chainsaw produces sawdust when being used (Check)
2) It needs a lot of effort on your part (Check)
3) You will have to force the blade through the wood (Check)
A new or sharp chainsaw should:-
1) Produce shavings
2) Take little effort on your part
3) Will draw itself through the wood.
Had a trial cut with the new chain fitted-it did all the things a sharp chain was supposed to do!
Zipped through cutting the branches off the next cupressus tree and then cut down the trunk.
This is where I went wrong- I left the branches and two chunks of trunk to be further cut up for transport to the recycling centre today.
Yesterday the sky darkened and looked about to pour down with rain. My chainsaw is electric, therefore not good in the wet! So packed up early before cutting pieces down to size.
Naturally although we had thunder and lightning, almost no rain fell.
Neither E or I felt inspired today as it was dreary outside, so late starting jobs.
I eventually worked on a new loft hatch cover as the old one is a bit battered and does not fit well. I need a turn latch to complete it- the sort of thing you have on a caravan door- just a simple handle on one side, that turns a bar in to a slot in the frame on the other side. I know, I thought, go to M&M Leisure in Mildenhall ( www.m-mleisure.co.uk/ ) they will have one- no such luck- they had bits of one as repair items, but not the fully working kit.
So fitted the hinges to the cover board, took the old one off and marked and drilled holes for the new hinges, checked it fitted OK in the space, removed it and put the old one back until I can figure out a replacement catch (the old one is a jury rigged device which looks like it is as well!) Put a first coat of paint on the hatch cover and left it to dry.
Spent a frustrating afternoon trying via Google to find the turn catch I have envisaged in my head- lots of alternatives, but a little pricey, so will keep looking!
Rosie hates the rain- her coat is very short so rain quickly soaks her to the skin- she has spent the day looking for the door in to summer - i.e. a door that when opened gives way to brilliant sunshine, but so far no luck.
Tomorrow looks to be a better day so fingers crossed.
Tuesday 2 August 2011
Find the root
Waiting for a new chainsaw chain, as I have worn the current one out. I could sharpen it myself but need the right files etc. to do it, and end result might be debatable.
To pass the time after the rain had stopped, I was digging around the remaining trunk of one of the cupressus trees that was cut down (see to cupress or not to cupress) with the aim of trying to remove the stump and all associated roots - in the course of doing this I found the end of the flower bed that had disappeared under the hedge and three buried breezeblocks as well. That makes five that I have dug up from this area - I'm not sure what they were there for, but they were deliberatly buried in a row.
This pm, E and I started to replant some of the perennial flowers that had to be moved during the extension build last year in to the newly dug flower beds in the back garden.
We are hoping that Rosie does not do her usual flying leap through the beds when she thinks it is time to chase away the pidgeons or other birds, or have a bark at next doors Alsations. We had to fence off parts of the front garden until quite recently as she wanted to use the new fledgling hedge as hurdle training in preparation for the doggie Olympics.
Rain again stopped us finishing this job, but 80% of the plants are now in- we managed to split some of the clumps in the hope of increasing the number of plants, and after nearly a year in temporary containers, the root systems of some of the them were quite extensive.
Once the chain for the chainsaw arrives, two more trees are coming down to open up the part buried flower bed and allow us an area where the trees were, to use as a cold frame space for hardening off plants and also overwintering any that might need it. We will have surplus paving slabs when we reshape the path- currently there are hexagonal "stepping stone" slabs, so once dug up, they will probably form a base for the cold frame area.
To pass the time after the rain had stopped, I was digging around the remaining trunk of one of the cupressus trees that was cut down (see to cupress or not to cupress) with the aim of trying to remove the stump and all associated roots - in the course of doing this I found the end of the flower bed that had disappeared under the hedge and three buried breezeblocks as well. That makes five that I have dug up from this area - I'm not sure what they were there for, but they were deliberatly buried in a row.
This pm, E and I started to replant some of the perennial flowers that had to be moved during the extension build last year in to the newly dug flower beds in the back garden.
We are hoping that Rosie does not do her usual flying leap through the beds when she thinks it is time to chase away the pidgeons or other birds, or have a bark at next doors Alsations. We had to fence off parts of the front garden until quite recently as she wanted to use the new fledgling hedge as hurdle training in preparation for the doggie Olympics.
Rain again stopped us finishing this job, but 80% of the plants are now in- we managed to split some of the clumps in the hope of increasing the number of plants, and after nearly a year in temporary containers, the root systems of some of the them were quite extensive.
Once the chain for the chainsaw arrives, two more trees are coming down to open up the part buried flower bed and allow us an area where the trees were, to use as a cold frame space for hardening off plants and also overwintering any that might need it. We will have surplus paving slabs when we reshape the path- currently there are hexagonal "stepping stone" slabs, so once dug up, they will probably form a base for the cold frame area.
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