October suddenly feels very cold after a warm September. Porridge is back on the menu for
breakfast. We rode out for a cycle ride
earlier in the week; I wore my leggings and long sleeved top but it still felt
very cold and not a lot of fun. So it
looks like riding on the bike in the attic gym will be on the agenda now. It’s a good substitute but I shall miss the
crazy stuff you see outside sometimes in the real world.
We were cycling through the village of Normanby; we had to pull out to go round a parked van ahead of us and could see the workman was carefully pouring a big tin of white paint into a tray in the back of the vehicle. Walking towards the van on the pavement was a man and his large dog, the guy was holding a Costa coffee in one hand and didn’t seem to be in complete control of the animal. As we cycled past we saw the dog suddenly leap up into the back of the van to say a friendly hello to the workman and from the yells and shouts I can only guess that he might have landed in the middle of the paint tray!
Paul has already moved on to his next project. Ever since we moved here we have been umming and ahhing about the large evergreen hedge that bordered one end of the terrace. Once upon a time it would have been just three tidy shrubs - two types of dwarf conifer and a Cotoneaster, but over the years they had been left to grow into a monster hedge. Unfortunately you cannot hard prune the conifers, they just go black and die off. Yesterday he decided to cut it all down and have a big bonfire.
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| Rick was keeping a wary eye on proceedings |
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| the fire was lit at dusk |
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| interesting reflection through the glass |
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| looking very bare this damp and dismal morning |
Just the tough job of removing the roots now, although we will keep the Cotoneaster and see if it grows back. It looks very bare now but I have a few ideas to transform it into an attractive area of the garden. Maybe some ferns and grasses to start off with and then see what evolves.
(Paul says the dog was small, not large. I think it would be safe to say it was a medium sized dog.)
We had huge conifers as hedge in our last house - but the previous owners had let them grow too much. Only solution was to dig them out and I was so pleased we did in the long run. At our cottage our neighbours have to conifers that I recall being two feet high - they are now about twenty - and they drive me mad!
ReplyDeleteConifers are thugs if they are not kept under control.
DeleteThat is the trouble with conifers, they invariably get too big. I think this will be a great improvement once you have a few new plants in.
ReplyDeleteIt was a real monster of a hedge, although the blackbirds loved it.
DeleteAutumn coolness and wind has taken hold here too. Removing the overgrown hedge was a huge job. The glow of night time bonfire is beautiful. The new space looks great. I buy dwarf conifers and they stay compact. 6 to 12 inches in height by 1-2 feet in diameter is perfect. Japanese conifer gardens are serine.
ReplyDeleteJapanese gardens are beautiful.
DeleteYes that seems to be the fate of so many hedges and shrubs. We plant them in good faith and then somehow pruning goes out of the window, they join up and before you know it they have become a hedge - then they are such a trouble to get rid of. Good luck with those roots.
ReplyDeletePaul might tackle them today, armed with his trusty saw.
DeleteI took out a small hedge (just a couple of feet high but it was dying) several years ago. Some of the stumps eluded me but I got the last of them up last week Triumph!
ReplyDeleteIt's the stumps and the roots that are so difficult to remove.
DeleteGRAHAM (Sniffing the air) Oh Christ! Somebody's having a bonfire! Get the washing in Margaret!
ReplyDeleteMARGARET (Fuming) It'll be that new fellow. What's he called?
GRAHAM Paul.
MARGARET Aye that's it Paul! Him wi' the dolly bird wife. Have you seen her in her bloody lycra jumpsuit?
GRAHAM (wistfully) I certainly have Margaret. Yes I have...Now get the washing in lass!
We checked beforehand, Margaret didn't have any washing out.
DeleteI apologise for any offence my comment may have caused - how ever unintentionally.
DeleteRest assured, no offence taken Mr Pudding.
Delete😂😂😂😂 in my head I read this in Matt Lucas' Mr Mann voice
DeleteConifers really are a nuisance if left unchecked. The people who originally lived in the house below me, planted several, randomly - not as a hedge, and they are now blocking my view, growing ever skywards. They are too far away for me to lean over to cut the tops off.
ReplyDeleteYou could have waited until 5th November to burn the cuttings, and had baked potatoes and fireworks - or are they not allowed now?
I think they are still allowed but Rick's not too keen on fireworks.
Delete