Annie's 6th Birthday!

 

So this was Annie, waiting patiently for this birthday biscuit whilst we sang "Happy Birthday" to her whilst on a walk over the fields!

This delicious looking biccie (they smelt like hooman food!) was from a pack from Julia & James and she took home some biscuits and a birthday cake from Daisy's Dog Empawium in Bluewater.

Hard to believe we've had this girl back in the family for the last four years, especially when there were plenty of traumatic times in 2019 when we thought we'd never see her again 😭

But sense finally prevailed, she came back to Chez Bailey and has been living like the Doggie Diva she is ever since 🐶

Her intelligence and Alpha Female traits never cease to amaze me, I've never come across a dog like her before. No wonder she failed the GD training, Annie is not a dog to be expected to toe the line, she is independent, wilful, deeply loyal and only willing to live her life on her own terms. Everything we came to love about her when she was with us during her training.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE!!!

Bespoke Furniture Cover

 

So my bespoke furniture cover arrived earlier than anticipated and here it is, in situ, covering the new stackable decking furniture.

Left the cheap kettle BBQ one underneath but this cover is uber thick, like an oilskin tarp kind of material and has a handle on each side. You can request different bottoms to them, drawstring, zipper, metal eyelets etc. I went for just a simple hem as I've no need for anything else. Whilst the furniture will be stored inside the garage and so the cover won't be outside, it would easily cope with all sorts of inclement weather.

Really impressed with the quality and sizing, it can be real hard to find covers to pop over your outside furniture and this company can help take the guesswork out by creating bespoke items.

Halloween & Harvest Festival Exhibition

 

On another day of my weeks leave I popped down into Rochester to Eastgate House for their Halloween and Harvest Festival Exhibition.

I love Halloween and it was a good mix of the two subjects with plenty of informative cards at each display.

This display was explaining the origins of Trick and Treat.

One of the favs was a piece explaining what was expected of a housewife back in the day...

Apparently there were even a few books on the subject, written by men naturally!

St Mary's Island

 

So spent one of my days on my week off visiting St Mary's Island. This was a favourite image shot using the trees as a frame for the houses looking over the far basin.

Tedster and I had a lovely warm day in the sunshine and enjoyed the mooch with the M50 camera.

New Decking Furniture!

 

So this is the new decking furniture for next year - a compact, bottle shaped stacking set for two which quite frankly, considering it's just me, myself & I most of the time, is plenty big enough.

The existing set will have a new home next Spring at Chez Bailey.

This is much easier to manoeuvre on and off the decking, I can easily do it on my own, no need to call in the cavalry to help plus it will take up far less space in the garage during the winter months.

For now it's allowing me to also enjoy this last minute.com Autumn sunshine:

Table is still wrapped in it's protective cellophane but it looks good on the decking, is easily moved around with the sun and seems low enough to the ground to prevent a build up of leaves underneath. Also I quite enjoy the decking being less crowded, I'll still pop the bistro table and chair up there no doubt next Summer but for now I can pop one of these chairs up there whenever there's enough sun and time to sit up there for a while.

Which is where I spent most of this afternoon :-)

Ordered a bespoke cylindrical cover to pop over it when stored away for the winter, gonna get a folding crate to hold all the knicknacks and lights for next year and then I should be able to store it all in a much smaller space next year. Maybe two crates given all the stuff I have!

And this time around I went for the grey rather than the black (which is in fact a charcoal grey) as I think it stands out a bit more than the darker colour plus you can more easily see the striped effect. Whilst the little cushions are handy for aesthetics in reality there isn't really the room for a back cushion - more useful to create a good photo and ambiance than practical.

Anyways, uber pleased with the latest purchase and I look forward to using it in earnest next year. 

First Dahlia Flower 😍

 

So this is the first dahlia flower I've had from my five tuber varieties I planted way back in the early part of the year. This is Lucca Johanna and is only the second plant to have grown and survived being eaten by whatever.

Considering how much I love dahlias and how expensive the tubers were to buy I am considerably disappointed in what has actually managed to grow and more importantly flower.

The front garden tuber has been dug up and I may offload the others, at least two more, to my Dad who seems to have a better time in growing them. If I'm going to have a pot plant I'd rather it be a hydrangea than a dahlia at this rate.

I'd such high hopes for these plants, imagining them flowering all over the summer and filling my garden with bursts of colour. Sadly that's not been the case. Some never grew at all (I admit to planting a couple upside-down) and the rest were methodically picked off by the local wildlife. Definitely buying the pukka slug pellets next year, no more of this watered down "kind to everything" variety. I'm sick of the buggers eating my plants like they are some sort of private salad bar 😭

Lets hope I have better luck with the Spring Bulbs!

40yr Service at Work

 

So this Wednesday, 13th September, marked my 40yr service at work - wow!

25yr spent in Software and the last 15yr in Planning.

Here's a closeup of moi as a fresh faced 18yr old, part of the 1983 HND in Computer Studies intake along with a group of apprentices and YTS peeps. How times flies eh?

My team pushed the boat out quite spectacularly with flowers, a card and two gifts both personalised by our talented Jane and both wonderful keepsakes of what is quite an achievement. The company will pay me £500 for the privilege in next month's pay "packet".

Having come close I think to potential redundancy on a couple of occasions I feel proud to have stayed the distance, in years to come service such as mine will be less likely as people change jobs more often and start working later in life.

Time to start counting down to retirement me thinks ;-)

Halloween Wreath

 

Chuffed with my Halloween Wreath from The Works which Julia persuaded me to buy on our latest shopping trip. I'm not a one for arty crafty stuff, I leave that to her, but I thought why not and for £3 it wasn't going to break the bank!

Set up my gardening table in the shade of the garage doorway on a stupidly hot Saturday and sat painting all the requisite pieces, having to dig back into the memory banks to remember how to mix various colours from the base paints they gave you.

After lunch I glued everything onto the ring, note that sadly they didn't supply glue which seems like an oversight, but I had some wood glue in the kitchen cupboard so no problemo for me.

And here's the final result - pretty chuffed with it, not least because everything stayed glued on after I picked it up! Gave it a couple of coats of clear acrylic and it's ready for the Halloween porch dressing.

Revamped Fuchsia Area

 

Having decided to bin off the fuchsia in the yard area due to what I believe to be fuchsia gall mite attacking it, Dad helped me to get rid of the remainder of the root, and gave me some spare chippings to put down along with the triangle of slab and pebbles.

Over Elm Court I bought a T-Rex skull and a couple of ladybugs and here it is, a much nicer space to look at than some manky plant which is being eaten by bugs too bloody small to see and not much in the way of bug killer available yet to see them off.

Also replanted this years pinks in the front garden having binned off one of the old fuchsias round there for the same reason.

Salvaged a small section which will hopefully be OK along with the new fuchsia but only time will tell. Sadly this disease seems somewhat prolific once it gets hold and many of the bug killers on the market right now simply don't touch it.

Also had a second wind on the double petunias and my Godetias are flowering :-)

Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary!

 

So today marks Julia and James's 7th wedding anniversary and this image is one from their official photographer.

The month of May marked 17yr of them being together as a couple too, so they've beaten her Dad and me, not that it would have been difficult. 

Hoping they have spent an enjoyable day together although James alluded to them having had a rough night so might have been lots of sleep and an evening meal out.

However you guys spent it - here's to many more happy years together.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MR & MRS BAILEY !!!

More Gardening @ Chez Bailey

 

Another Sunday spent doing the garden makeover, we have finally got the soil raked, sifted and moved around ready for the turf to go down. We moved the cherry tree to a better, more balanced part of the garden leaving more space around it and the roses it was originally bunched up with.

Steps have been concreted in position, the gaps filled with stones from the soil and most of the wall block holes have also been filled with stones sifted from the soil. Meaning that filling them with cement is almost certainly no longer necessary unless James has any left over from any other jobs before the tops go on. Slabs needed for the steps but already they provide a much easier route down to the bottom area of the garden than we'd been used to using. 

The bottom area will be a project for another year, turning it into an outdoor dining area. In the interim the dross will be moved into a skip which will accompany the bathroom makeover and all the weeds sprayed with some strong weedkiller to send them packing over the winter months at least.

All in all we've worked hard to get it to the position it's in now but wow, when you look at what we've achieved I think we can all pat ourselves collectively on the back and say it's a job well done!

Hazel's Anniversary

 So today (13th August) marks the first year without Hazel. Hard to believe she has been gone all this time after such an inspiring battle with the Big C spanning several years.

Her regular Facebook updates on her ongoing treatment were so courageous and helped to put all our miniscule "troubles" into perspective. How she stayed so unbelievably positive still staggers me even now.

We all miss you lovely lady, none more so than of course your family and my heart goes out to them all today and every day that they have to carry on without you in their lives.

You really were a one in a million woman, stronger in spirit than anyone I know. The hole left behind by your passing can never be filled.

Busy Weekend

 

So whilst having a 5min break from the gardening I spotted this view from my perch in the garage doorway...

The crocosmia sitting behind the gate, fuchsia in the background (looking more healthy than it really is) and my garden Welcome sign.

So Julia dropped these lovely Halloween bits off when she swing by for a visit on Friday evening. I'd been after the Halloween equivalent of a "snow globe" after Jack posted a photo of his on Instagram. But I'd lucked out in finding anything remotely similar in the TK Maxx at either Chatham or Hempstead Valley. Julia and James however found these at the Maidstone store 😍 The iridescent pumpkin has some sort of spice bag inside it giving it a lovely aroma.

Sunday saw Dad and me head up to Chez Bailey for some more hands on garden makeover, sorting out the steps and raking/rotavating the soil ready for turfing at some point. We were one block short on the steps so Dad said he pick one up in the week and we used the stones found in the soil to backfill the gaps thus helping to shore up the blocks. The garden is definitely coming along rather nicely now.

Fort Luton Classic Cars 2023

 

Saturday saw me and Dad stay local and visit Fort Luton again for this years Classic Car show. Quite a small event but it stayed dry for our visit and we partook of the burger stall for lunch along with a cuppa to keep us from running on empty.

They have a museum as well housed in the tunnels, it's quite an interesting place to visit and is literally on the doorstep. Only open for certain events but worth a visit.

Big Cat Sanctuary Open Day

 

So this off Friday saw me, Julia and James pop along to the Big Cat Sanctuary Open Day - roarsome!

These are a few from the M50 and Sigma 18-250mm lens but kinda wishing I'd sucked it up and taken the big gun 70-300mm along on the 77D. Think Julia managed to get loads of really good stuff whereas I struggled to get the bars to disappear.

Once of the best images was this little Bumblebee on one of the local flowers ;-)

We had the afternoon there and it's an interesting place, only open for a couple of weeks I think in July and then closed to the public the rest of the year whilst they concentrate on conservation.

Mostly big cats as the name implies, they had a birds of prey demo but unsure if those birds reside at the park or not.

Julia has a keeper for the day experience coming up hence the reason for trying to squeeze in a visit. Tempted by the photography experiences but they are expensive and unsure what access you gain on them and whether my glass is really up to the job...

Galileo Says Cooler Weather!

 

So for the first time since buying my Galileo Thermometer in the local Yard Sale, it's shown a different temperature - 23C was the bottom floating bubble rather than the 25C!

Now this isn't too accurate by any stretch of the imagination and I'm still trying to really grasp what it's telling me, but suffice to say that as the temperature cools down the bottom bubbles start to float up and then once it heats up again they sink.

Gonna be interesting to see what happens to it as the Autumn and then Winter temperatures start to creep in...

Hollibobs 2nd Week

 

So had a few outings in my holiday second week, Tuesday as it was supposed to be so nice and sunny we headed to Mount Ephraim Gardens only to find when we arrived that they don't open on Mondays or Tuesdays :-(

Struggled to find anywhere else around that area that was open so ended up at Riverside Country Park. Dad realised he'd left his sandwiches in the fridge so had to get the Café chap to know him up a cheese sandwich!

We spent the afternoon wandering along some of the pathways snapping on the cameras as we went. Back to the Café afterwards to tea and biscuits before heading home.

Wednesday, because we weren't too sure about the weather we headed to Tenterden for the K&ESR and a trip around Bodium Castle. We had a diesel train out and a steam train back. The stations look interesting and I think you could spend quite a bit of time checking out each station along the route and never visit the Castle. It turned out hotter than expected and no rain!

Thursday finally found us at Mount Ephraim Gardens, had the odd shower but we stood under the trees and we had gone prepared with macs and I wore wellies for the wet grass. Unlike many of the other visitors huddled under small umbrellas whilst it tipped it down!

It's a lovely garden and it would be good to actually visit it for once without rain. We struggled to understand why, during the summer months, that they wouldn't be open every weekday. Especially as the other local garden in the area, Doddington, was also shut the same two days - ridiculous.

Anyway it was a good but somewhat tiring three days - sometimes wonder how my Dad does it!

RE Museum

 

So Friday saw Dad, Tedster and myself head along to the RE Museum as rain was forecast and we still have time on our annual ticket left over from the Wartime Christmas event last year.

Had a really good day wandering around, there's lots to see covering various facets of the Royal Engineers throughout history. We grabbed lunch and a snack there and it was relatively still quiet as the kids were still at school.

Still on hollibobs for another week but it is fading fast...

Wallflower - Bunny Mouth - Antirrhinum

 

So this little one is my rescued wallflower from the driveway last summer - sooo pleased that it has survived and even started to produce flowers. I'm not the world's best when it comes to gardening, I try my best but don't always succeed in getting things to grow but this is just perfect.

My neighbour whose plant this almost certainly seeded from gave me it's proper name, Antirrhinum and I think she's right that Bunny Mouth is a common name because when you press the sides of the bloom together it's like a mouth opening. Snapdragon is another common name. Love the colour of this and when it's bigger I'll look to transfer it into the garden.

Notcutt Purchases

 

So this off Friday saw me and Dad pop over to Notcutts for some purple (plum) slate to finish off the area behind the garage. The had a reasonable deal on so off we went and as per usual I also got distracted by other garden pieces!

Bought the little Robin to sit on Mum's sewing machine to remind me that when Robin's are around it means a loved one is near. There's the slate in situ and now it's had some rain on it, its looking more like the rest of the plum slate over the other side of the garden. Handy as I still have a bag left to top up that area at some point.

Also got a couple of the Flutterby items, solar powered butterflies which twitch and hover around when there's enough sun on them. And my final purchase was a lovely pink and white fuchsia to go in the front garden - something that always reminds me of my Nan Alice who loved fuchsias and was always on the lookout for a colour combination she didn't already have!

All in all a good trip and I bought lunch for us whilst we were there to save cooking later.

Father's Day

 So the 18th June was Father's Day, a time to celebrate what a great Dad my 'bro and I have 💓

Darren et al came down to visit as usual and we had a meal out at The Oak in Walderslade Village. Lush food and good company.

Back to mine to sit briefly on the decking until rain stopped play - which didn't take long. Annoying after weeks of really good sunny days.

We retreated to indoors and spent the afternoon catching up and then more food. James & Julia headed off to his parents for a catch up, after a cooked breakfast with her Dad at Toby Carvery and then a shared dinner with us I'm surprised they had room for more food! Talk about everything coming at once!

Was good to see the boys, George towers over me, which lets face it isn't difficult but even so, where did those two little rascals go? They spend most of the time staring intently at phone screens, no idea what they watch although I suspect William was gaming. Definitely a different generation to some of us olds.

💓💓💓 HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD - WE LOVE YOU 💓💓💓

A Hot Weekend

 So the weather this weekend has turned uber warm, that constant ENE breeze has all but disappeared and left in it's wake a stifling warmth that we are ill prepared for - as usual.

So got this interesting little plant growing between the concrete slabs in the yard, pretty little flowers if a little hairy on the leaves. Google Lens'd it and it's a Vipers Bugloss, unsure if it's a seed grown from last year's summer flowers or not but it's pretty even if it might well be a weed?

In my efforts to have a go at this months camera club challenge - Guess What, I setup the DSLR kit lens on the M50 using the adapter but sadly found that for whatever reason the lens ceases to focus - just makes a weird buzzing sound. Tried it on the 77D too for comparison, the lens was fine the last time it was used (June 2020) and so even though I don't use it that often I'd rather not be without one. So looked on Amazon, where else, and bought a refurbished one with a year's warranty for £149. As this new lens was an STM version I needed to buy a new lens hood, they are never the same - that would be too easy!

These are some test images from the lens taken in the garden, really pleased with the lens, as an STM it focuses internally which is neater plus if I use it for video it should be silent, or as near to silent as it gets.

Sunday saw me, Julia and James wander around the Estate checking out the Yard Sale that was taking place in various houses in and around the Estate roads.

These are my purchases, a Galileo thermometer, a lovely ornate elephant and a Union Jack tealight bowl which will come in handy next time we have a Royal celebration. Always fancied a Galileo thermometer and a lady told us how they work as we were standing there looking at it and I also Googled the instructions too. It cleaned up really nice, just needed a good wipe over with some glass cleaner. My final purchase was a tube of little gold coloured bells for the metal tree that stands in the landing window at Christmas - definitely got red bells for it and think I bought silver too, but although I've looked in The Works for the gold bells I'm assuming they won't be back in store until nearer Christmas time again so these should be OK - just need to add some thread to hang them on the "branches".

All in all another good weekend although as usual the working week is just around the corner again. Oh how wonderful it will be to not be confined by the working week when I can finally retire...

Hurstwood Woods

 

So this Off Friday I took the TG-6 and Tedster along for a mooch around Hurstwood Woods for an hour or two.

Not a bad wander around and sat in the sun for a while with a squash and a milky-way. Lost my way up to the higher tier through the woods, thought it was the main steps up where there's a fork in the pathway but that leads up to the road so had to backtrack and it's the first set of steps. You can't easily get down onto the lower level along the far end, well for me anyway, without a trekking pole, or two, to help steady my footing so walked back the way I came and then back through the usual route.

This is one where I've utilised the soft focus setting on the TG-6 - quite like the somewhat ethereal effect although they usually need darkening down as it tends to set the exposure too high. Or maybe it's because I usually have the ISO set to 800? Might have to experiment next time!

The rest of the weekend was spent pottering about in the garden, trying to salvage the dahlias from being eaten by something. Cut up an old Vimto bottle and used it to pop over the top of the plant until I could get some slug pellets. Bloody snails or whatever keep nibbling at them. So far the one in the front garden and one from the back garden are MIA so gonna be a bit miffed if they don't grow. And got the first blooms out on the geraniums, the white ones have flowered. The "red?" is growing well but no buds as yet but hopefully soon?

Bank Holiday Weekend!

 

Friday saw me potting up the new geraniums to replace the rather ratty aubretia which doesn't seem to be doing very well. Got two plants up at Home Bargains for £1.79 each, one white and possibly the other red.

Also snipped off the old bulb leaves and stalks and planted some seeds, candytuft and phlox I believe. Hopefully these will give me some summer colour in the yard with the bulbs still there for next spring.

Saturday we were back at Chez Bailey with James completing the wall with Dad, minus the steps, and the rest of us trying to manoeuvre the dirt around the garden and fill the gap between the wall and the garden with some hardcore. It was the usual crew, Julia and James, obviously, me, Dad and Dima. Not sure what happened to Julia's Dad's "promise" to come help in the garden, reckon it's fallen flat like every other promise he's ever made.

Sunday afternoon saw me open up part of the decking in the form of the new bistro set which I bought towards the end of last season. "Safina" is a folding table and chairs, much easier to move around from the decking to the garage for winter storage and much more comfortable seats.

And this morning, Julia and James popped down to help move the main furniture back up onto the decking ready for summer - which has promptly resulted in it being too cold and windy to sit outside although I did risk it for a short while before lunch!

All in all a busy weekend, at least the weather has stayed dry and mostly sunny but there's been a very annoying and cold breeze which has made it rather unpleasant at times.

Almost back to the dining room table for work tomorrow.

Building a Wall and Block Laying

 

So this weekend has seen Dad and me up at Julia and James's, along with their friend Dima, laying blocks for the garden wall and in Julia and my case, gardening and laying blocks out front to produce a larger parking area and less garden.

It's been hard work, especially for the boys, but so worthwhile. Happy to help them achieve their aims in the garden. Just as well though that I have a sedentary job ;-)

This is part of the block laying out front, a semi before and after although there are some triangular areas to get bricks cut for - that'll be a job for James.

And this is the back garden with the wall coming together nicely. Steps still to be done and then the soil to be rotavated before being moved around to bring it in line with the top of the wall, almost, and then turfed. More grass for Annie and places to plant their rose collection amongst other new plants such as lavender and some other evergreens.

Can't quite believe how much we have collectively achieved over the weekend.

Nigel's 60th Birthday Party!

 

So Saturday evening saw me and Dad pop along to James's Dad's surprise 60th birthday party. The culmination of weeks of preparation, mainly by James and Julia, to ensure that the evening went off without a hitch. Well almost, Julia sadly missed the grand entrance by the birthday boy because the HH Production people who were supposed to be hosting the collection of photos and a video had some antiquated old Win8 laptop which refused to acknowledge the video. Cue Julia having to return home to try and find a more suitable media for the file. Cannot believe that a "professional" group would be using such old kit, and Win8 for goodness sake, c'mon it was crap when it came out, it's certainly not improved with age.

Anyway we saw the video and listened to an eclectic collection of music and it was reminiscent of a Texas Moon Club Night.

All hands (mostly) to the pump to clear up afterwards and it was like we'd never been there.

WELL DONE JULIA AND JAMES - YOU GUYS ACED IT!!!

Coronation Weekend

 So Saturday 6th May saw the Coronation of our King, Charles III and what a ceremony it was. No one does pomp and pageantry like the British and there was plenty of it in spite of the wet weather. Crowds lined the streets of London, some arriving as early as the Monday before, camping out all week for their treasured spot to see the procession pass.

I sat and watched it from the comfort of my sofa, you miss the atmosphere or course but you get to see so much more than you would simply by being there. After all, you can't be everywhere at once and you still don't get to see the actual service. And many of those in the Abbey only saw what they could from large TV screens, only the inner sanctum ever gets to really see what's going on.

I'd like to post the images I snaffled from the Sky News pages but they aren't mine to share, simply downloaded for a private album. I tried taking some off the TV but they didn't pan out too well. Reflections from the screen for a start and then movement. I even managed to get a couple from the concert at Windsor Castle on Sunday night, again from Sky News. Both them and the BBC News had some wonderful images and now, post the event, the Royal Family FB pages are displaying some official photos of the King, Queen, attendants and family - wonderful.

Whatever you think about the Monarchy I think they bring into the UK more money in terms of tourism than we might spend. The Yanks especially love the Royal Family and visit whenever they can, there were people in the crowds on Saturday who said they had flown in from America. And there aren't many countries left who have such a visible monarchy as ours. And lets face it, who wants a President? They don't last more than a few years, which for some of them is a blessing, and we already have a useless government that we're in the throes of trying to vote out at the next opportunity! No, give me a King or Queen anytime. And talking of our Late Queen, she reigned for 70 years - all that time a steadfast continuity for us all, through good times and bad times. She was always there with her pearls of wisdom and geez she must have seen some changes within those 70 years. King Charles won't reign for that long given his current age, bless him, both him and the Queen are in their 70's - but I think Prince William has an excellent head on his shoulders and he will certainly get a longer stab at it when his time comes, and of course Prince George will also follow in his Father's footsteps. I think we will see more modernisation of the Royals in William's reign but any change needs to be slow moving to allow the rest of us to catch up and get acquainted with the changes.

There was a lovely photo posted on the Royals FB page this morning, The King, Prince of Wales (William) and his son and heir George. Three lines of succession right there. Long may it continue 🥰

Bank Holiday Weekend

 

So this Off Friday I finally made it out for a very local walk around the Horsted Park and fields area. Took the TG-6 along and enjoyed a couple of hours outside without any rain!

Saturday and Sunday have been spent around Chez Ware, Dad put up some solar lights on the porch guttering, I'd aimed to do it myself but am too short to reach :-(

Here are the lights, lit up at night and a day time shot. Bought as a pack of four I've used three because the porch isn't too long and now I've seen them lit I think three is plenty. They also illuminate the inside of the porch after dark, which is quite handy once I've headed off to bed, they also partially light up the garden.

Uncovered the old mosaic table and storage box on the decking, the furniture will come later and put up the new lavender topiary balls. Also rust sprayed the nodding dog and spider and used a lanolin based rust protector on Mum's sewing machine.

Sunday, amongst other jobs, I have replaced the old metal spinners (that never spun) with the frame above and hung eighteen twisted spinners on it along with a couple of windmills - I love windmills 😍 This is to try and keep Annie from venturing onto the garage roof although she is rarely here and not normally left on her own up the garden. I also quite like watching them swinging about in the wind.

Not too sure what I'll get up to tomorrow, think it's still supposed to be dry 🤞🏻

Garden Renovations and B'day Flight!

 So this Saturday, following an uber wet Friday, why is it always wet on my day off, Dad and I joined Julia and James and their friend Dima for more garden works @ Chez Bailey. Dima spent the day moving the breeze blocks from the front of the house to the back and as we had James's 30th birthday flight in the afternoon Julia and I set to painting their neighbours garage wall that backs onto their garden ready for some batons and Dad and James tidied up the appalling brickwork on the garage extension done by the previous owners.

Then before 2pm we headed up to Rochester Airport armed with the cameras for James's 30th birthday flight from last year!

So here is a quick collage of some images off the 77D which I took along with the Sigma 18-250mm lens having lent my Dad the Big Gun 70-300mm Tamron lens. James thoroughly enjoyed the experience and got to fly the plane himself for the majority of the trip which he was pleased with and it had been something I particularly looked out for in the flight experience descriptions rather than it just being a flight trip.

And Sunday morning saw a nice chap from a local removal firm come and take away the old bricks in the garage, so it's all "bang tidy" now.

So pleased to have gotten them taken away after failing to find anyone interested in collecting them as free hardcore on the local Facebook page and then messaging a local chap only to be ignored. You snooze you lose mate!

Garage Works

 

So Dad popped round this morning to take a look at the metal beam in the garage just behind the door. Because I've not been shutting the door properly I've ended up banging it shut and bits of rust keep falling off the beam :-( Turns out all I need to do is twist the handle et voila the door shuts perfectly - doh!

Anyway, he sanded it off and painted it to help prevent it rusting further although to be fair it wasn't as bad as it seemed. We used some tarpaulin to keep the spray paint off the door.

Then after lunch I replaced some of the long screws used to hang my bits and bobs on with some tool hooks and then for those screws I kept I used some plumbing washers to provide a stop at the end of the screw to help keep the items on. I could do with some more of the hooks (which I think are meant for ceiling mounting) and the U shaped ones, but the additional pack I bought, the screw threads are bigger than the existing screw holes/raw plugs, so have put them to one side for now. Some are also for ladders which I don't really need as the ladder is already on the wall supported by a couple of old metal brackets.

Also tidied up the old fuchsia to remove much of the dead wood thus allowing the new growth to come through. Earlier in the year Dad wasn't sure if it was still alive but it's sprouting out now :-) It definitely looks better for the trim!

It's been nice to have a whole day of dry weather, it feels like we've had rain most days, sometimes all day. It's allowed the newbie next door to get some of the crap into the newly delivered skip although to be fair they didn't rock up until late afternoon today. And then they tackle all sorts of random jobs. Including pulling down the second old shed,,, It's now left yet another pile of old wood which will need to be cut into smaller sections if they want to maximise the skip space. Maybe dismantling the shed properly would have been a better option 🤔 This will be the 2nd year that she's had the house but has yet to move in - again focusing on getting a bathroom and kitchen up and running would allow her to move in and do the rest more easily in her spare time. I guess the bonus of living with one's parents is that there's no pressure to move out, even at her age, which I confess is hard to guess.

Right, almost another weekend over, think we'll be helping Julia and James again next weekend although not sure how much help I can be laying breeze blocks! And James has his birthday flight next Saturday afternoon so Dad and I will be there with the cameras trying to capture the memories.

More Yard Pots!

 

Called into Homebase on my way home yesterday to take a look at the pots which hang over a balcony or in my case, a wall. I'd realised that the double pot holder would fit on the slab by the steps when I'd temporarily hung the single pot on it whilst I cleared space to erect the platform so I could climb up to trim the plants where our old pond used to be.

So bought a blue double and single to match, freeing up the beige pot for maybe somewhere else, if it will hang elsewhere? Unsure if the hooks would fit over the new fencing or indeed whether I would want to hang a pot there?

Also bought two white aubretia plants to put in the double pot, I have a plant already in the single pot as it hangs besides Mum's sewing machine. So spent today, Friday, potting up the new plants, rescuing some forget-me-not plants which were growing in perilous places and as I'm desperate to get more in the garden I've potted one and put another three pieces in the front garden. I LOVE these little plants.

Added a couple of metal rings which came with the wind spinner to the shaft, between the nuts and the blades in the hopes that I won't lose the nuts again. On Bank Holiday Monday I noticed that the wind spinner looked weird and that was because the back blades had fallen off! Had to resort to using a magnetic stick to locate the locking nut in amongst the bluebells. Also sprayed some WD40 onto the Home Bargains wind spinners in the vain hope that they might loosen up enough to, you know, actually SPIN. I suspect not, plus the grey coating is flaking off so might need to look for a plan B to keep Annie off the garage... Not that she is here much and not normally up the garden on her own.

The yard is looking very colourful now and I've not even got the knickknacks out yet - looking forward to the riot of blue that will be descending soon on the back garden as the bluebells and love in the mist come into bloom. It's probably the best time for the garden :-)