Newby Hall Visit.

Today we are going to visit Newby Hall in North Yorkshire http://www.newbyhall.com/ I will take plenty of pictures for you which I will post on here next week. If you can't wait until then or want live up to the minute updates of our visit click [HERE].

Some More Pictures From The Weekend

Here are some more pictures from the weekend. There are a few more on my mobile blog for those who are interested.

This picture was taken from Keswick when me Vicki and Tommy took a walk.

This is the main street of Appleby, if you would like to see more of Appleby visit this site for some nice pictures: http://www.visitcumbria.com/pen/appleby.htm

One of the many stone barns that feature greatly in this part of the country.
Tommy enjoying another paddle. I was very pleased with him this weekend. He has been away with us in the past but never to a guest house and we've never walked him around town before but he behaved very well which means he can look forward to more trips out.

An old train at Hawes.

Take A Break.

This weekend me and Tommy are taking a break. We are going to Keswick in the morning to pick up Vicki who has been away at the Christian convention for the past week. We then intend to spend the weekend sight seeing. We will spend tomorrow night at Appleby and then take a long road home on Sunday. I will try and keep you up to date on my mobile blog at Coconuts From A Palm Treo

A Wet Morning.

I've just had to endure my first wet morning in a long time. I managed to get some soft fruit picked before the worst of the weather set in.

Better news from the dowager house, although still in hospital the gentleman is said to be feeling improved from what is though to be some kind of an infection.

Sent from my Palm Treo Smartphone

Taken To Hospital.

It seems that while I was away at the weekend the dowager gentleman has been taken to hospital. I don't know if they kept him there or for what reason he went but I sure hope he's okay. It just goes to prove the health is better than wealth.

Sent from my Palm Treo Smartphone.

From Yesterday's Walk.

Sent from my Palm Treo Smartphone.

Dogs Come Out To Play.

Tommy refusing to look at the camera.

Because he wants to play ball instead!

Scampi spotted something over there.

Tippy has sniffed out something down here.

GRRR!

Well I am SO angry at this intrusion in to MY life that it's best I if I don't say another word until I feel better. If the boss wasn't around I wouldn't even bother to stay until clocking off time because I just can't be bothered anymore.

Sent from my Palm Treo Smartphone.

Oh Lord Please Give Me Patience.

This is one of the questions I just got asked, 'have you had any training on how to lift weights'. I could see Dick Dastardly grinning and I couldn't keep a straight face. I mean for goodness sake I've done manual labour from even before I left school if I don't know how to lift things by now I should just give up. She then asked what weights do I lift, I was dumb struck by this point and all I could think of was the weight of the shopping that Vicki brought home last night so I said, 'about 5 or 6 Asda carrier bags full of shopping'. Everyone laughted, even Danger Nanny. She then went on to explain the 25kg is the recomemded weight for one person to lift.

Sent from my Palm Treo Smartphone.

Rat Lungworm.

An Australian man has been left in a critical condition after eating a slug for a dare. If you would like to know more please click [HERE]

News Of A Visit.

I've just been informed that on Friday we are to get a visit from Danger Nanny so no doubt that will be my weekend in ruins. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against health and safety just against people who waste my time for no good reason. I mean after surviving forty years on various farms and gardens what do they thing is going to befall me in the next ten? Im hardly like to suffer death by hoe.

Sent from my Palm Treo Smartphone.

Work Book 11th May (Week 19).

See to the sheep
08:00-08:15
Misc
(Field)
Checked and counted the sheep.

See to the greenhouses
08:15-08:45
Glasshouses
1) Water round.
2) Put out the trolley

Taking cuttings
08:45-09:15
Indoors
(Potting Shed)
Took cuttings of Border Princess Dahlia.

Potting on
09:15-10:00
Indoors
(Potting Shed)
Potted on
1) Begonia's grown from seed.
2) A couple of strawberry plants.
Also sowed some sunflower seed and Actaea Alba own seed.


Top dress plants
10:00-10:10
Walled Garden
(East Wall)
Top dressed the roses with Growmore and the fruit with blood fish and bone.

Top dress raspberries
10:10-10:20
Walled Garden
(Veg Garden)
Top dressed with blood fish and bone.

Top dress the gooseberries
10:20-10:30
Walled Garden
(Veg Garden)
Top dressed with blood fish and bone.

Break for tea
10:30-10:50
(Home)

Dig out the artichoke.
10:50-12:45
Walled Garden
(Veg Garden)
Dug out two Artichoke plants as there were to many and erected the supporting wires.

Break for lunch
12:45-13:30
(Home)

Hoe the rose beds
13:30-15:00
Walled Garden
(Memorial Gardens)
Also top dress with bone meal.

Tiding up.
15:00-17:00
Walled Garden
(Lily Pond)
Weeded and forked over the rose borders and generally tidied round.

Cleaned and put away the tools
17:00-17:20
Indoors
(Potting Shed)

See to the greenhouses
17:20-17:30
Glasshouses
Moved some plants from the greenhouse to the conservatory.

Notes
1) fireweedmeadow asked me if I ever found out what was the cause of all the smoke yesterday. Apparently it was some tyres that were burning which would explain the black smoke. That’s all I know really but I think one can assume that they weren't meant to be as such things are not allowed so either someone must have done it deliberately or they caught on fire accidentally somehow.

2) Carol asked me who I originally intended to feature as my Sunday song, well I think the best thing to do is tune back in on Sunday and I will feature that version for you this week.

3) Pam asked how hardy are Wallflowers? Well they are regarded as being very hardy, if you want to know more about them click HERE

Another Late Frost

This morning I've woken to a quite a keen frost. Over the past few years we seem to have avoided such late frosts but I think this year we are back to the times before global warming when the golden rule was not to plant out tender plants before the last week of May.

Work Book 10th May (Week 19).

08:00 - 08:20
See to the sheep
( Field )
( Misc )
Checked and counted the sheep.

08:20 - 08:30
See to the greenhouses
( Glasshouses )
Had a check round.

08:30 - 10:00
Tidying up
( Potting Shed )
( Indoors )
Did some tidying up in the potting shed.

10:00 - 10:30
Burnt some rubbish
{Burn Pile}
( Misc )
Got all the boxes and rubbish from the potting shed burnt.

10:30 - 10:50
Break for tea
( Home )
( Misc )

10:50 - 11:40
Go to the garden centre
( Misc )
Bought a bucket of growmore.

11:40 - 12:45
Fork rose beds
( Iron Gates )
( Main Garden )
Fed and hoed the two rose beds

12:45 - 13:30
Break for lunch
( Home )
( Misc )

13:30 - 14:30
Feed wallflowers
( South Front )
( Main Garden )
Applied Growmore and worked in with the hoe.


14:30 - 16:00
Tidy window borders
( South Front )
( Main Garden )
Fed and hoed the borders and tied up the Clematis.

16:00 - 17:00
Weed gravel
( Summer House )
( Main Garden )
Hoed and raked the gravel outside the summer house.

17:00 - 17:10
Clean and put away the tools
( Potting Shed )
( Indoors )

17:10 - 17:20
See to the greenhouses
( Glasshouses )
Closed the vents and put in the trolley.

17:20 - 17:30
Make a todo list
( Main Garden )
Made a todo list for next weeks work in the main garden.

A Big Black Cloud Hangs Over The Big House.

I'm not sure if I should be working outdoors today as there is this emormous cloud of black smoke covering the big house. I've heard no warnings so assume its nothing too toxic. I've no idea what is the cause, maybe its a volcanic eruption in Wakefield. I even turned on the news this lunch time to see if anything was mentioned but as usual that was a total waste of time.
>>

Sing For Sunday (Week 18).

During my time at work, particularly during the more tedious jobs (and when I feel like being anti-social) I will listen to music on my Sony Clie PDA or phone so I thought that on a Sunday as there is no gardening to be done I would share with you one of the songs I’ve enjoyed during the past week. I know you aren’t supposed to broadcast music and stuff but the video’s are from Youtube so are already there for people to see so I don’t think my little weekly addition will bankrupt any pop stars, also a lot of what I listen too is by has beens or never beens so who knows, maybe someday someone who reads this might like something and by it for themselves.

So this weeks song is called ‘Vigilante Man’ and is taken from an album called ‘Sweet Nothings’ and in this case is performed by Chihana Ohnishi. I was originally listening to it being sung by someone else and came across but I quite like this version and also the album that it’s from so I chose to put this link on here and not the one I originally intended.

What Do Your Eyes Say?

If I looked in to your eyes today would I see them full of sunshine or clouds of grey?

Sent from my Palm Treo Smartphone.

Todo List For Week 19.

These are some of the jobs I hope to get done next week, as you will notice there are no jobs for Friday as yet, I don't have the day off, I just haven't got round to adding any jobs yet.

10 th
Feed wallflowers

Fork rose beds

Tidy the rock garden

Tidy up the Japanese garden

Tidy window borders

Trim the ivy

Weed gravel by the summer house

11 th
Dig out the artichoke.

Dig over the west shrub border

Finish off the west wall border

Hoe the memorial garden rose beds

Tidy up round the lily pond

Top dress plants on east wall

Top dress raspberries

Top dress the gooseberries

Weed bottom of big conifer hedge

12 th
Apply Fertiliser to Courtyard beds

Apply fertiliser to North Front roses

Cut down rubbish

Edge the borders

Edge the grass

Strim round

Tidy back borders

13 th
Mow all the lawns

Mow rough grass

Mow the Courtyard grass

Mow the main lawn

Mow the North Front

See to the bins

Gardeners Lunch.

Today the gardner to the big house enjoyed fresh radishes for lunch. The radish you see are called Ilka and can be bought from Marshalls Seeds. Unlike a lot of radish these keep for a good amount of time without going woody. As you can see from the picture these are quite a size yet they were still crisp and tender. For more info on this variety click [HERE].

Work Book 7th May (Week 18).

08:00 - 08:15
See to the sheep
{Field}
( Misc )
Checked and counted the sheep.

08:15 - 08:30
See to the greenhouses
( Glasshouses )
Checked round and put out the hardening off trolley

08:30 - 10:00
Potting up
{Potting Shed}
( Indoors )
Potting on some Petunia’s, I didn’t finish though as the former lady was worrying in case her yards didn’t get cleaned so I went and saw to them.

10:00 - 11:00
Tidying up
{Pumpend}
( Hall & Pumpend )
1) Weeded the wall border.
2) Swept the yards.

11:00 - 11:30
Break for tea
( Misc )

11:30 - 12:00
Sweep the drive
{Main Drive}
( Public Gardens )
Swept the main drive and church yard steps.

12:00 - 12:30
Sweep all hard surfaces
( Main Garden )
Swept off the hard area’s in the main garden.

12:30 - 12:45
Apply fertiliser to Pumpend pots
{Pumpend}
( Hall & Pumpend )
Pumpend wall borders and Fuchsia troughs.

12:45 - 13:30
Break for lunch
{Home}
( Misc )

13:30 - 16:30
Plant the greens
{Veg Garden}
( Walled Garden )
Planted out Brussels, Cauliflower and Cabbage.

16:30 - 17:00
Planting
{Potting Shed}
( Indoors )
Finished potting in the Petunia’s in to the six packs.

17:00 - 17:20
Moving plants
{Greenhouse}
( Glasshouses )
Had to make some room in the greenhouse for the Petunia’s I potted on earlier.

17:20 - 17:30
Clean and put away the tools
( Indoors )

19:00 - 19:10
See to the greenhouses
( Glasshouses )
Closed the greenhouses and put in the trolley.

Lawn Mowing Day.

Today is lawn mowing day at the big house.

Sent from my Palm Treo Smartphone.

Work Book 6th May (Week 18).

See to the sheep
08:00-08:15 (Field)
Checked and counted the sheep.

See to the greenhouses
08:15-08:45
Checked round and put out the trolley.

Mowing
08:45-09:45 (Courtyard)

Mowing
09:45-10:15 (North Front)

Break for tea
10:15-10:35 (Home)

Mowing
10:35-12:30 (Main Lawn)

Break for lunch
12:30-13:15 (Home)

Mowing
13:15-16:15 (All Lawns)

Mow rough grass
16:15-18:05
Cut all rough grass.

Clean and put away the tools
18:05-18:15 (Potting Shed)

See to the bins
18:15-18:25 (Hall)
Put out the green bins. (Note 1)

See to the greenhouses
20:50-21:00
Took in the trolley and put on the heaters as it was quite cool although I don’t expect frost.

Notes:
1) Had to do overtime today in order to get all the cutting done in the day.

Work Book 5th May (Week 18).

See to the sheep
08:00-08:15 (Field)
checked and counted the sheep.

See to the greenhouses
08:15-09:00
1) Watered round.
2) Tied in the grape vine.
3) Thinned out the Apricots.

Pricking out
09:00-09:30 (Potting Shed)
Pricked out some Petunia's for Pumpend walls.

Prune Hydrangeas
09:30-10:30 (Potting Shed)
Pruned the two Hydrangea’s by the gardeners cottage (Which the keeper lives in).

Break for tea
10:30-11:00 (Home)

Fetch petrol
10:50-11:30
Fetched £24s worth in my can.

Strim round
11:30-12:30
Cut off any long grass etc. where I can’t get with the mower like around wall sides as I prefer to do that every three weeks than see a brown spray strip.

Break for lunch
12:30-13:30

Forking
13:30-14:45 (Herb garden)
Tidied up the herb garden.

Edge the boundary
14:45-16:30
(See note below)

Servicing
16:30-17:00 (The barn)
Serviced the Allett mower ready for tomorrow.

Clean and put away the tools
17:00-17:15 (Potting Shed)

See to the greenhouses
17:15-17:30
Close the vents and take in the trolley.

Note: Because I don't have the time to eadge all the garden every week I split it in to three so it all gets done over a three week period. The punblic gardens get done one week and the second week I do all the main garden plus the inner beds in the walled garden and the third week I edge what I call the boundary edge although it doesn't actually stick to the boundary of the garden as it deviates around shrub borders and paths but it is one long cut starting and ending at the greenhouse.

Work Book 3rd & 4th May (Week 18).

See to the sheep
09:00-09:15 (Field)


See to the greenhouses
09:15-09:30

See to the greenhouses
20:00-20:30


----- 04 May 2010 -----
See to the sheep
08:00-08:20 (Field)
1) Checked and counted the sheep.
2) Cleaned out the hay rack.

See to the greenhouses
08:20-09:30
1) watered round.
2) Put out the trolley's.
3) Potted on some plants.

Forking
09:30-10:30 (Barn Wall Border)
Forked over and edged the barn wall border.

Break for tea
10:30-11:00 (Home)

Unpacking and taking away boxes
10:50-11:20 (Pumpend)
Helped Jane unpack two bedside cabinates and took boxes away for burning.

Servicing tractor
11:20-11:35
The keeper wanted to borrow the tractor so greased and oiled it.

Forking
11:35-12:45 (Barn Wall Border)
Finished the barn wall border.

Break for lunch
12:45-13:30 (Home)

Forking
13:30-17:00
Forked over the soil and took out any weeds.

Clean and put away the tools
17:00-17:10 (Potting Shed)

See to the greenhouses
17:10-17:20

Made a todo list for next week
17:20-17:30
Had a walk round and made a list for work to be done in the main garden next week.

Note: This week I start my summer hours which are from 8 am to 5:30 pm.

Favourite Spring Job.

Hello Red Clover its nice to hear from you again. You asked what is my favorite spring job? I really like most of the jobs I do with the exception of spraying and having bonefires. I do enjoy the greenhouse work though with all the seedlings coming on and the indoor plants putting on growth.

Sent from my Palm Treo Smartphone.

Work Book (Week 17).

----- 26 April 2010 -----
See to the sheep
08:30-08:50 (Field)
Checked and counted the sheep.
Put out some minerals.

See to the greenhouse work
08:50-10:30
Watered round.
Put out the hardening off trolleys.
Trained the sweet peas and geraniums.
Repotted a standard pelargonium.

Break for tea
10:30-10:50 (Home)

Planting
10:50-12:00 (Veg Garden)
Planted maincrop potatoes.

Planting
12:00-12:45 (Veg Garden)
Planted lettuce, rocket and spicy greens mix.

Break for lunch
12:45-13:30 (Home)

Forking
13:30-16:00 (Rose Garden)
Finished forking over the rose garden.

Repairing the earn
16:00-16:50 (Main Garden)
Glued the top of the repaired earn to it’s base on the wall.

Clean and put away the tools
16:50-17:00 (Potting Shed)

See to the greenhouses
20:45-21:15
Shut the vents and took in the trolley’s.

----- 27 April 2010 -----
See to the sheep
08:30-08:50 (Field)
Checked and counted the sheep.
See to the greenhouses

09:50-10:50
1) Checked and watered round.
2) Removed the insulation from the hot house.
3) Potted up the Melons into their permanent positions on the hothouse staging.

Break for tea
10:30-10:50 (Home)

Seeing to the strawberry bed
11:10-12:45 (Veg Garden)

Break for lunch
12:45-13:30 (Home)

Seeing to the Strawberries
13:30-17:00 (Veg Garden)

----- 28 April 2010 -----
See to the sheep
08:30-08:50 (Field)
Ckecked and counted the sheep and lambs.

See to the greenhouses
08:50-09:50
Water round.

Clear boxes away
09:50-10:00 (Pumpend)
Took away some boxes and a couple of old brushes.

Cleaned filter
10:00-10:30 (Potting Shed)
Cleaned the diesel filter on the tractor.

Break for tea
10:30-10:50 (Home)

Clearing up
10:50-11:00 (Veg Garden)
Picked up the rubbish from yesterdays work on the strawberries.

Mowing
11:00-13:00 (Lawns)
Mowed all the lawns in the walled garden with the tractor.

Break for lunch
12:45-13:30 (Home)

Mowing the rough grass
13:45-15:30 (The Green)

Mowing
15:30-16:30 (Courtyard)

Clearing up
16:30-17:00 (Lawns)
Raked and picked up some of the grass from the cutting this morning. The tractor blows the grass in to rows so its not a big job to pick it up and the job looks better for it.

Clean and put away the tools
17:00-17:15 (Potting Shed)

----- 29 April 2010 -----
See to the sheep
08:30-08:50 (Field)

Water the Monteray pine
08:50-09:00 (Cemetry)
I was told there was water in the cemetry so I went with an empty watering can but could find no water anywhere so it was a wasted journey.

See to the greenhouses
09:00-10:00

Water the troughs
10:00-10:30

Break for tea
10:30-10:50 (Home)

Mowing
10:50-12:00 (Lawn)

Mowing
12:00-12:45 (North Front)

Break for lunch
12:45-13:30 (Home)

Plant out Gladioli
13:30-14:00

Removed blanket weed
14:00-14:30
Remove blanket weed from lily pond.

Weed the gravel
14:30-16:30 (Herb Garden)

Clean and put away the tools
16:30-17:00 (Potting Shed)
Put out the black bins

----- 30 April 2010 -----
See to the sheep
08:30-08:50 (Field)
Checked and counted the sheep and lambs.

See to the greenhouses
08:50-09:30
Watered round, put out the trolleys and added more compost to the potatoes in pots.

Cut down the Laburnums
09:30-10:30 (Main Drive)
There two self set Laburnums growing from the base of the house wall so I cut them down before they got any bigger.

Break for tea
10:30-10:50 (Home)

Planting
10:50-13:00 (Veg Garden)
Planted
Red Onions
Leeks
Two types of Lettuce
Peas
Beetroot

Break for lunch
13:00-13:45 (Home)

Hoe gravel
13:45-16:40
Hoe the gravel on the South Front

Clean and put away the tools
16:40-16:50 (Potting Shed)

See to the greenhouses
16:50-17:00
Close the vents and take in the trolleys.

See to the bins
17:00-17:10 (Hall)
Put back all the bins and tubs.

What Planet Are They From?

Hello everyone,

As some of you know we in the UK are enduring the build up to a general election at the moment. As I've said before I refuse to watch news broadcasts on the grounds that they are nothing more than media propaganda shows that are broadcast to manipulate people in certain directions, a bit like a sheep dog. Anyway the thing is that from time to time I can’t help but notice an item of news however much I try to avoid it, which just goes to prove how bombarded we are by it. I logged out of my Yahoo account just now and there in front of me was this statement by our present prime minister,

'Asked whether the transport budget would be among the areas targeted for cuts if Labour won on May 6, Mr Brown responded: "We are going to be moving from road to rail so you will not see the same levels of expenditure on roads.'

Well on reading that I involuntary burst out laughing because he’s obviously not been driving along South Yorkshire roads of late, or at least not the country lanes because if they reduce spending on these roads any further they will be just dirt tracks! The thing that gets me is that the roads are full of pot holes so where do they put all the tarmac? In great heaps in and around housing estates (So called sleeping policeman) and such places so that one minute you’re driving over big holes the next over big heaps of tarmac, maybe one day someone will have the brains to realise that if they put the mounds in the holes things might run much more smoothly for the same expenditure. Maybe if they weren’t using our money to buy their second homes and packets of Polo’s etc they would be able to finance both road and rail at the same time. As for rail travel I would like to see Gordon Brown, or anyone else for that matter try and get from here to Askern and back five days a week by train, you've got a 3 mile walk before you even see a train, not sure how far a walk it would be at the other end. To me that shows how out of touch these idiots are and what a waste of time voting for any of them is.

Anyway thats enough of this rubbish, I promise not to blight this blog again with election crap.

Pics Of Last Weeks Walk

Hello everyone, Bob has just posted some pictures of his last walk over at the Hiking Gardener blog. Just click [HERE] if you want to take a look.

Bring back any memories? (Part One).

Hello everyone, here is something my brother in law John sent me, some of you may enjoy the memories, others may enjoy the laugh.

Someone asked the other day, 'What was your favourite 'fast food' when you were growing up?' 'We didn't have fast food when I was growing up,' I informed him. 'All the food was slow.' 'C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?' 'It was a place called 'home,'' I explained. ! 'Mum cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate, I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.' By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table. But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I'd figured his system could have handled it: Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore Levis, set foot on a golf course, travelled out of the country or had a credit card. My parents never drove me to school. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow). We didn't have a television in our house until I was 10.It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at 10 pm, after playing the national anthem and epilogue; it came back on the air at about 6 a.m. and there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people... I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line. Pizzas were not delivered to our home... But milk was. All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers --My brother delivered a newspaper, seven days a week. He had to get up at 6AM every morning. Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or most anything offensive. If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing. Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?

The Joke's On Us.

Today I finished off forking over the rose garden borders, I also got the last of the potatoes planted plus some more lettuce and the first of the rocket and spicy greens mix salad leaves. I have a few more things to get in as soon as possible.

I opened a new bucket of blood fish and bone this morning and was quite amazed at how much wasted space there was in the bucket. I thought when I bought it the bucket looked way bigger than normal now it seems its just another of lifes scams.

I don't feel cheated about the lack of fertiliser as it says 10kg on the bucket but what really gets me is that the hippys of this world are forever going on about saving the planet yet never seem to bother about scams like this, there is twice as much plastic involved as there needs to be, all of which needs getting rid of, when the truck that was hauling the stuff half way round the world was full it was still half empty yet I'm the one made to pay for running my car on a weekend. This bucket is only one example, every darn thing you open is half empty, and whats it all for? Its just to con us in to thinking we're getting more than we are. Talking of bonemeal or any fertiliser there was a time when you could get 25kg bags of the stuff, how come now you can only get it in these stupid buckets which no doubt adds another couple of pound on to the price of the product as well as halving the amount you get. Anyway if you want me to take global warming seriously you're going to have to set a better example than this, then I might follow, until then its just a joke.

Thank you for your comments on the last walk I did. I have added some pictures in to the posts now if you want to go back for a second look.

New Lease Of Life.

I seem to have developed a new lease of life. My legs are no longer sulking and my foot doesn't hurt so much any more. I probably gone and lost all feeling in them or something. Anyway we're on the home stretch now just two miles of level walking. Oh I just got a smile from a nice young girl! What more can an old bugger ask for? I will point out that she was on a bike so I guess she felt pretty safe being all rash with her smiles and my legs the way thwy are.

A Palm mobile post.

Back Tor

My Poor Legs.

After the decent of constant sorrow and climb of endless breaks my legs or on the verge of conking out. My foot is getting more painful due I think to the slightest of creases in the insole but there is nothing I can do about any of this except keep pressing on. I could murder a beer.

A Palm mobile post.

The Path From Win Hil.

View From Win Hill.

What More?

I'm sitting here in the sunshine on a stool provided by God

looking out over a view

also provided by him and I can't help but wonder what more do we need to make us happy.

A Palm mobile post.

Of Walking.

Today Bob is off on another walk. It looks like being a nice day with some sun and a gentle breeze.

A Palm mobile post

Mountain Bothies Association.

Hello everyone,

I spent most of today tidying up the path in to the walled garden, I forgot to take a picture before I started so you will just have to make do with the end result. It had basically go so there was a path about foot wide so I put an edge to the lawn and skimmed off the grass and weeds to return the path to its proper width, it just needs a bit of fresh gravel on it now but I doubt that will happen any time soon but it looks better anyway.

In a previous post about my last walk Woody Wilbury left this comment 'I knew I recognised those photos!! You've done the circuit I occasionally do, but in the opposite direction. I usuallly have a fry-up brunch in the shooting cabin in Lower Small Clough.'. As it happens I took a few pictures of the shooting cabins that he talks about so I will show you them tonight.

There are two, this being one.

This is the other.

Inside the second one there is a table and some chairs and benches, these buildings are very welcome on cold wet days and can be life savers on occasion even though the accomodation is very basic. There is even a visitors book.

There is an organisation that maintain shelters such as this, most of which are in Scotland but there are a few in England and Wales. As far as I know though this particualr shelter is not one that is maintained by them. If you would like to read more about their work click HERE .

Forking The Long Border.

Today I'm going to be forking over the long Dahlia border. I left some tubers to over winter in the ground but I doubt there will be many come up after last winter, or let's put it this way, if they do come up why have we been digging them up to store all these years. Thankfully I took most of them out so any losses can be easily replaced by cuttings or division.

A Palm mobile post.

Extracts From The Day.

I just can't tell you what its like where I am now. I'm on a piece of land in a fork between two streams the sun is shining and all I can here is water. I wish I could bring all my friends here one at a time because I know they would remember it for always and when they remember it would be sure to fill their hearts with joy.




I just reached the first big peak in the walk, everything is good. Got a little hot but I tend to be a hot person so it doesn't take much. Now I have the downhill before the last big up. Just having a break now though, the only sound is the grass whishpering in the warm breeze. I love these places.



Stretching out before me is the last big hill, one mile of steep climb. I could of course say begger it and take the short cut along a level tarmac road but where would the challenge be in that?

There are no real problems other than my legs ache a little as does my back and eyes. I forgot my sunglasses but its ok no big deal. I'm cool now under these pine trees so that's good.

Can't send this right now as I don't have a signal, will try later when a little way up the hill.


Well that wasn't to bad. Its amazing when you get to Alport Castles, there is this brill view down the valley to the Snake Pass road. I have a very tame sheep for company at the moment, no funny business though I promise.

There now follows a steady walk along the ridge overlooking Snake Pass before dropping down to the car. I then need to find some dinner and go visit my sister at Bakewell. I don't know how many of these posts have been published but I will take a look tomorrow and also add some pictures I've taken. Take care everyone.

A Palm mobile post.

Forking.

Today has mostly been spent weeding and forking, at the moment I'm
trying to get some more of the rose garden forked over, I must try and
get it done sooner than this next year if the weather will allow. I
also need to get the cutting deck on the tractor before I finish
tonight as I will hopefully need it tomorrow.

--
Sent from my mobile device

Party Time!

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a good day. I'm on my own this week as Vicki is away at a Christian convention at Skegness so it's party time for me and the dogs.


Today I have been cutting the conifer hedges around our cottages. The house nextdoor is empty at the moment so they wanted the hedge cutting before the new people move in so while I was at it I did the hedge around our garden too. Before you all go saying how Bob is taking advantage of his poor boss I will point out I had to use our electric to power the cutters so I think it's only fair that I got to cut our hedge in work time. I don't think the boss would really complain anyway.

There isn't a lot more to report today, I will post the pictures from my lastest walk shortly.

Fairholmes-Deer Holes-Alport Castles.

Hello everyone, how are you today? I’m good and just been busy getting my stuff together ready for another walk tomorrow. The route card for which is below. This walk will be a few miles shorter than the last one but if you were to compare profiles you will see that where as the last one was mostly down hill this one has more up hill, I’ve even planned a sting in the tail as well so that should be fun. I see it says I will be walking fourteen miles but it could be up to a mile more than that after all the dodging about. Anyway it doesn’t really matter about that as the main thing is to keep on pushing the toughness of the walks, I need to do more hills.

[Click Pic To Enlarge]

Jim asked me the other day how often I walk, well I walk just over two miles most nights with Tom and I’m trying to do a day’s walk every other weekend because if you leave it to long between walks you don’t develop the distance. By the end of May I want to be doing twenty miles with hills.
I will think of you all and take some pictures for you although it won’t be as interesting for you as the last walk in that respect but this walk is not a sight seeing trip.

Some More Pics.

Today Bob is over at his hiking blog showing the last pictures from his previous walk. Click [HERE] if you want to take a look.

Do You Like My New Wheels?

Today has been the first mowing day of the year, I didn’t get it all done because for the first you’re forever having to stop to pick things up or empty the grass box. Before you start you don’t think there is much grass to cut but you soon find there is more than you think. It should be easier after this though.

What do you think to my new wheels?

I know, most guys would only be this excited if it were a Ferrari not a hardening off trolley but I love it. I reckon its twice the size of my old trolley because what you see on there now filled the old one and I still have another three shelves I can add if I need too. Vicki asked her boss if he could spare one and he said yes so we went over yesterday to pick it up, I only set it up this morning though. So that was very kind of him and I am going to making sure I buy my compost from him from now on.

There is a new post on the Hiking Gardener for those interested, click [HERE]

What's This Then?

If you want to see what this is click HERE

Moscar - Rowsley Walk.

Click [HERE] if you wish to see some pictures from my latest walk.

Earthing Up The Potatoes.

Thank you chzly for becoming a follower of my blog.

Today has been seed sowing day which normally would be Friday but given I have to take another holiday starting tonight I had to bring it forward by a day. I already missed last weeks seed sowing day so I couldn't afford to miss this one as well. All the seeds sown were indoors as the ground is not fit to walk on let alone work down and sow seeds in.

I also noticed the potatoes in pots are starting to put up good sized shoots so I put more compost in the pots to just leave the tips of the new growth showing.

Pricking Out Day.

Today I've spent most of my time pricking out and planting, thankfully the weather has not been so good again so I haven't minded spending all my time indoors.

Below are some Begonia's that I'm growing from seed, these are so small and difficult to transplant but I wanted to do it so as to avoid damping off if possible.

Here are some of the other things that I've been pricking out, there are Lobelia, Nicotiana, Chilli Peppers and some Petunia's here.

These are Petunia's and trailing Lobelia for the South Front wall.

I also planted the Tomatoes in the greenhouse border this afternoon as they were getting too big for their pots.

Tenax Mastic.

Thank you The Gaudy Garden for your comment. The stuff I'm using to try and repair the earn is a mastic that is intended for sticking stone and marble. You have to mix a hardener to the resin at a rate of 3 parts hardener to 100 parts resin. It goes off pretty quickly even on a cool damp day such as today. I also bound the whole lot together with some wired so that it didn't try and seperate before it was set. I slid the earn around on the board tonight and it seemed solid but I will leave it as it is for a couple of days to be on the safe side. I don't know how long it will last as only time can tell us that.

Earn Repairing.

Good morning everyone, I hope you’re having a good day. This morning Bob has been trying to repair the earn that got broken by the frost last January. I’m not sure if I will be successful but at least I tried. It doesn't want to fit together very well in some places but its not too bad and will weather over as long as it doesn't fall to bits again before hand.