Bluebells, buttercups,plantain and cow parsley.We seem to be having a quick blast of summer time. Hot again today but temperatures are set to drop rapidly by the end of the week. I didn't get to spend the day at home where I'm sure I could have found something to do in the garden, but I spent the day teaching. I decided that my class could do with some fresh air (why be indoors when we have our lovely Secret Garden), so the children finished their day sitting in dappled shade or in the willow story- tunnel, reading their books to each other. We even ended up having our staff meeting sitting at the big round table under the trees. So much nicer than in the hot and stuffy staff-room.
Looking down the Lewis' Hill at 5.00 this afternoon.
At lunchtime I drove over to B&Q to take advantage of their 15% off week - end and bought myself an electric mower. The old hover mower is such hard work and not terribly efficient so I decided that to save my back I would splash out on a new model. I went for a fairly cheap and lightweight model and boy does it whizz through the grass. I have set it on the lowest cut and there were some terrible rattling sounds when it went over the flattened moles hills. That bit of ground is very stony and the dear little mole had brought quite a few stones up to the surface. As I didn't want to smash up the mower blade on its first outing I had to spend time carefully picking up all those surface stones. When I cut the lower lawn the amount of moss and longer grass being cut was unbelievable. I haven't put the grass box on the mower as I prefer to have the cuttings rot back into the ground but the bottom lawn does look as if I've been haymaking. I did have to keep stopping and clearing out all the cuttings that were clogging up the back of the mower. Now that these initial problems are sorted out I can see myself cutting the lawns in half the time and with much less strain on my back.
These last few days of sunshine have brought out all the wildflowers and the sides of the country roads are one gorgeous natural garden.
Hooray, another 2lbs gone. Today's treats were; chocolate and chestnut cake, boiled potatoes with dill pickled herrings and soft nougat. I think I may have overdone things a bit. Back on the straight and narrow tomorrow.
Looking down the Lewis' Hill at 5.00 this afternoon.At lunchtime I drove over to B&Q to take advantage of their 15% off week - end and bought myself an electric mower. The old hover mower is such hard work and not terribly efficient so I decided that to save my back I would splash out on a new model. I went for a fairly cheap and lightweight model and boy does it whizz through the grass. I have set it on the lowest cut and there were some terrible rattling sounds when it went over the flattened moles hills. That bit of ground is very stony and the dear little mole had brought quite a few stones up to the surface. As I didn't want to smash up the mower blade on its first outing I had to spend time carefully picking up all those surface stones. When I cut the lower lawn the amount of moss and longer grass being cut was unbelievable. I haven't put the grass box on the mower as I prefer to have the cuttings rot back into the ground but the bottom lawn does look as if I've been haymaking. I did have to keep stopping and clearing out all the cuttings that were clogging up the back of the mower. Now that these initial problems are sorted out I can see myself cutting the lawns in half the time and with much less strain on my back.
These last few days of sunshine have brought out all the wildflowers and the sides of the country roads are one gorgeous natural garden.
Hooray, another 2lbs gone. Today's treats were; chocolate and chestnut cake, boiled potatoes with dill pickled herrings and soft nougat. I think I may have overdone things a bit. Back on the straight and narrow tomorrow.
