Fluffy Glass Blanket

It's been a little while, but I've finished putting new/additional loft insulation in the lofts. I started in February, but needed more insulation than would fit in the car (or be stored), so stopped after doing most of the loft above the master bedroom. I've now done the loft above the guest bedrooms, and the smaller loft above the bathrooms, which has taken about nine rolls. I've still got several rolls left, as the offer (a British Gas subsidised offer of £5 per roll (about 5m²)) was too good to miss. The spares will wind up either in the porch/utility, above the downstairs loo/cloakroom/porch, or as increased depth in the main lofts.

We've also ordered a new cooker. Building work to open the kitchen out into the hall is planned for the end of July, and we'll be putting in a new kitchen shortly after. The cooker's going to be sitting waiting for a little while, therefore, but it was an ex-display with 30% off. We'd admired it once or twice while browsing, so we leapt at the opportunity of getting it cheaply! Well, relatively cheaply.

It's been a bit damp and grey, but the weather's meant to improve over the week, so I'll probably be out mowing the lawn on Wednesday or Thursday. Next weekend, we'll need to get everything in order for the double-glazing installation on the 7th (clearing the windowsills, for one thing), and I hope to install one or both of the irrigation system and the tap/hose for the vegetable garden.

Will either happen? I just don't know.

Racking Wine

We made two batches of wine last autumn: a blackberry (2nd Sept '10) and a blackberry and elderberry (20th Sept '10). They've been quietly sitting in the airing cupboard, and were mentioned last November. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that they were clearing well, and would need racking, and here we are.

I was excited to discover that our new supermarket ('new' being a relative term, as it's on the route to Liz's new workplace -- I think it's been there some time) has a selection of wine/beer/cider making equipment, so I replaced the siphoning tube/tap/filter a couple of weeks back. I've now racked the two wines into clean demi-johns...and, of course, reserved a bit to try. The blackberry's still, possibly, a little sweet, and the black & elderberry hasn't fully cleared, so they're probably not quite done, but both are tasting very good. The demi-johns are back in the airing cupboard: when I feel like it, I might measure the specific gravity of them, to see if they warrant further fermenting; that might require a restart yeast, though.

Over the long weekend, in addition to a session of bicycle maintenance that needs doing but which fails to fill me with joy, I'm hoping to install the irrigation system. We'll see if that happens...

Wall Plants

We've planted some new plants in the stone wall at the front of the house:

• Calamintha nepeta (lesser calamint): loads of small pink flowers through the summer.
• Artemesia 'Powys Castle': finely divided silver foliage.
• Sedum 'Autumn Joy': typical sedum leaves, slightly glaucous, with pink flowers in mid summer/mid autumn, which should turn salmon-pink then copper-red.
• Lamium roseum: low-growing, green leaves with silver stripe, and pink flowers in summer.

We also moved a white phlox, that was in a pot, into the wall. The wall's a nice feature, but relied too much on what I think is a spurge, and had quite a few primulas too. (There's also a very pretty violet.) The new plants should extend the flowering season, and add some needed height.

Himalayan Garden

We spent the morning at the Himalayan Garden in Grewelthorpe, near Ripon. It's only open for a short period (late April-mid June), and has a fairly specialized theme of planting. It's got the soil (ericaceous) and aspect (protected and northerly) to concentrate on azaleas, camellias, bamboo, magnolias, and rhododendrons. And wonderful they are, too. Some really striking rhododendrons, and magnificent ground covering azaleas. We also found a couple of bamboos we liked (Chusquea culeou and Arundinaria nitida). I have some photos, which I might put up once I've downloaded the memory card...

Bakingly hot, too, so it was fortunate that the caravan had many windows to create a breeze! Everything seemed in order, with just a few repairs (second-hand caravan) needed, and a short list of supplies that need adding.

My irrigation components arrived on Friday, incidentally: I'm really impressed that they got to me so quickly, having ordered them on Thursday! I hope to get it installed over the Bank Holiday weekend, with a little luck.

Hanging Baskets

We've just planted up the four hanging baskets for the front of the house. We previously had them as 'all-season' baskets, with a grass, heather, ivy, and cyclamen, and added a bit of colour from annuals. However, they needed an over-haul, as the grass had got a little carried away, some of the heathers and ivy weren't looking too great, and the cyclamen were no more.

Thus: we picked up some fuchsia (Annabelle and Cascade) and some bedding (petunias, impatiens, and lobelia). They're now planted up and adorning the front of the house. I'd like to put up some window boxes, when I find some that look nice.

We're now off on a 24-hour jaunt in the in-laws' new caravan. They're new to the touring world, and are off for a week in Scotland next weekend, but wanted a short and close-to-home try-out, to see what they've forgotten to pack, but without it being a problem. We've booked a plot at a site near Ripon, and hope to spend the afternoon/evening getting to grips with the caravan, before going to a Himalayan garden in the area on Sunday. Looks like we'll have glorious weather, at least!

Chocolate and Fudge (take 2)

I've made another batch of fudge (a birthday present), and what promises to be a very tasty 'Egyptian chocolate cake' (a birthday cake). I'll let you know whether it lives up to its promise.

It's been very warm and bright, so I've been round with the hose, too. The raspberries are (finally) showing some sign of life: several of them appear to have new canes coming up alongside last year's bare-rooted cane. One of the gooseberries is looking unhappy (that is, no leaves), and one's a bit lack-lustre, but the others all seem to be doing well. Quite a few strawberries now have flowers, and I think the total body-count is only seven, which means some 68 or so survived the delivery and very cold winter.

I'm enjoying the evolution of the acer in the front: it's gone from red, through orange, and is now a greeny-yellow, as the leaves near their summer hue. The blackthorn (sloe) blossoms on the hillside have gone over, but they've been replaced by apple flowers. Our apple is also flowering: striking pink, which are fading to white. Oh; I've found a useful identification tool which may help me work out what the putative cherry near the daffodils is.

Having ruminated on it for a bit, I've ordered the necessary parts to irrigate the fruit & veg beds. I did go with Hozelock components, and found a good price for them. Don't know when I'll get round to installing it, yet, mind!

Pruning the Dandelion Bed

Or, put another way, I've been mowing the lawn. Which I didn't really get a lot out of: I get more pleasure, frankly, out of the lawn awash with yellow. Admittedly, close-up, it looks a lot neater, but still. As I've said, over time the amount of lawn will decrease, but at the moment, cutting it is a two-hour job I don't enjoy. If I could bring myself to do it more often, it'd probably be quicker, but--ultimately--there's still the same area of grass to push the mower over, so it'd still take a while.

I'm thinking about constructing an irrigation/automatic watering system for the kitchen garden. As it warms up, it's going to need watering rather frequently, so something automated would be nice. I've used the Hozelock system before, so might use that. We shall see...

Knitting Nets

We've spent quite a long time today and yesterday, trying to stitch together the nets over the fruit cages. As they're quite large, the 6m x 4m nets aren't individually big enough, so we're having to join them. We tried using soft steel split rings (think crude keyrings), but they haven't worked very well, and there are significant gapes between rings.

Instead, we're now weaving jute between the nets, going in and out every hole, which leads to a tight join, if a visible one. However, jute's inoffensive, and actually blends in with the wooden posts, so they're looking fine. We've almost finished the bigger beds: the raspberry beds are going to be harder, as they're so much taller, and the nets will have to come off to be stitched. Never mind.

While we've been working on them, bees have been coming and going unhindered, which is reassuring. Speaking of bees: there are what look like two fruit trees that we were unaware of last autumn. One's near the daffodils on the south edge (reasonably large), and the other's in the corner copse. My identification skills aren't fabulous, but I think they may be cherries or plums...and with a little luck they might bear fruit.

If the weather holds, I'll mow the lawns tomorrow (oh, the joy), as they're looking badly in need of it. If I'm quick, I'll catch the dandelions before the go to seed. No; I'm not a very good groundsman, since you ask.

Repotting

We've re-potted the Christmas Tree, into a big half-barrel: it's not been looking happy, and I'm not sure if it's the soil exhausting, or a lack of water. Anyway; we donated some of our huge pile of topsoil, and with any luck it'll pick up.

To do so, we had to pot the previous occupants of the barrel: two conifers (doing well), a buddleia (leggy), and two skimmia (not so happy). There were, once, three heathers, but they gave up the ghost, it appears. No plan, yet, for where these pots will end up...

We also filled the gaps (given the small stature of the bushes at the moment) in the fruit beds with the gladioli. They'll probably be cut for bringing inside, rather than left there, which is always good.

Netting the Cages

We've spent most of the weekend putting netting up over the fruit cages. The posts supporting the raised beds are 5-6' taller than the sides, and are the supports too for the cages. I've run 1mm galvanized steel wire from their tops, and we're hanging 2cm netting to protect against birds (and rabbits, deer, and playful cats). It's quite slow work--we're about half done--but seems to work, and allows bees in and out uninterrupted.

We also popped out to the garden centre, and picked up some bedding (Busy Lizzies/impatiens), and some 'cottage garden' perennials. The latter are mostly to go in the planted wall at the front of the house: the bedding is to scatter in the front, and revitalize the hanging baskets (four of them on the front of the house).

The daffodils are still doing tolerably: they're pretty from a distance, but getting a bit dog-eared up close. The juneberry has almost finished flowering, although the foliage is still a pretty shade. The front's acer is leafing up rapidly--it's gone from quite red, to yellow-gold, and is looking lovely.

The apple, plum, and cherry are all in bloom, and I'm hoping that the frosts predicted for the week aren't too deep: they're all in protected corners, so I think they'll be fine.

I've checked over the wine that's been sitting quietly in the airing cupboard: it's settled and cleared, so I'm going to put it somewhere a little warmer, and we should rack it in the next couple of weeks.

Last Fruit Bed Completed

Finally, we've finished the fruit beds. I part-built the last bed on Wednesday evening, and another 6m³ of topsoil arrived on Thursday. Today I finished the bed (it was only a quarter done; just enough to move the last of the last batch of topsoil), and we've filled it.

The gooseberries, blueberries and currants are now all planted, including the two blueberries (Grover, and something unknown) and redcurrant that we already had.

They look really good, and I'm delighted. They've been hard work, though! Next weekend we need to put the wires up to support the netting. Shouldn't be too hard... Famous last words?

We've planted potatoes and onions in the spare space (obviously, the plants are all quite small), so hopefully we'll have some vegetables out of the beds, even though the 'proper' vegetable beds are some time off now.

Lastly; we visited my parents Saturday-Sunday, and have come home with a tray of goodies. I shall list them when they're planted, but they include a blue geranium I'm fond of, some geum, Sweet William, and a primrose.