A nice warm little spot

Posted on June 17, 2026 by james

On top of one of the compost heaps, in the sunshine 😀

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Not mushroom for more…

Posted on June 17, 2026 by james

Found whilst I was weeding out some creeping thistle this afternoon. No sign of mushrooms in my logs as yet, but at least I know I can grow them somewhere 😀

No idea what variety they might be.

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No dig diary, 17th June 2026

Posted on June 17, 2026 by james

Surprise, surprise, more weeding today. I finished uncovering the beetroot and sugar snap peas and weeded around them as well as doing a bit of path. The yellow beetroot aren’t doing quite as well as the red, but I think I may have planted them out slightly later.

The sugar snaps appear to be recovering well after they were heavily pruned by visiting deer. It won’t be too long until we have enough for a meal.

One “weed” I didn’t remove was a purple poppy. I’ll wait for these seeds to ripen and sow them elsewhere in the garden for next year.

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First step of lawnmower cutting deck repair

Posted on June 17, 2026 by james

I managed to remove the broken bracket this morning. There wasn’t an awful lot of room to play with and I added a few more scrapes to my forearms. This is it.

Now I need to work out how to hold the two pieces in the correct orientation, have a bit of a practice with the welder as it’s been a while, and then get it joined back together.

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A step forward, perhaps?

Posted on June 17, 2026 by james

I hate going on about blood pressure stuff, but honestly it is rather dominating my life right now. I think however that I am getting to the point of understanding what is going on better, unless I’m completely wrong 😀

This is my (pre-meds) reading from yesterday morning:

And early afternoon:

And evening (fairly late this one, because I was at a meeting):

This suggests to me that what I’m taking at the moment (2mg Lacidipine) isn’t having much of an effect beyond ten to twelve hours, leaving my BP at its “normal” level overnight. I’m also coming to believe that a drop of 50mmHg or more between morning and afternoon is something my body just can’t cope with. I have a further suspicion that what I’m eating for lunch has some sort of effect too, to the point where the drop can be 60mmHg or more.

I’m going to keep track of this for a week or so, but I think it might well be time to ask for a medication review.

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Culling Dartmoor hill ponies

Posted on June 16, 2026 by james

I see this issue has blown up in the last day or so. Some of them air fryer owners are so militant. They won’t stand for them being grilled or baked.

And Kemi Badenough has got the dog whistle out again to rouse all the dumplings who can’t actually be bothered to think for themselves. Can’t imagine what she might know about ponies, except for the one whose teeth she pinched.

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No dig diary, 16th June 2026

Posted on June 16, 2026 by james

Seems like I’ve not done much in the veg plot for days 😀

Well, yesterday was bee inspector day. Then Sunday was doing some prep for that and organising what needed organising for my daughter to mow the grass. Saturday? I have no clue what happened on Saturday. Such is my life these days.

Anyhow… today I planted out quite a few brassicas. Mostly kale and cauliflower, with a few cabbages and Pak Choi thrown in to keep things interesting. Covered with netting that will hopefully dissuade the rabbits from eating them this evening even though it’s not quite wide enough.

That done, I removed some of the mesh cloches that have been protecting the beetroot and sugar snap peas from the deer. There was a bit of weeding to be done around the beetroot, but it looks as though some could be ready for pickling at least. Not sure whether I leave others to get bigger or have a “beetroot tarte tatin frenzy” in the next week or so.

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Once more, DH Hell

Posted on June 16, 2026 by james

Left outdoors again, “drop and run” again. And with rain being forecast. Nice one.

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This is why I’m on blood pressure medication

Posted on June 15, 2026 by james

That’s taken mid-evening, having taken the medication in the morning. Doesn’t really feel to me as though it’s having any long-term effect.

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The lawnmower wants to die

Posted on June 15, 2026 by james

After replacing the steering linkage that snapped just a few weeks back, yesterday the ride-on mower failed again. This time, the lifting bracket for the cutting deck has sheared off. It’s not easy to get a photo of whilst it’s in place, so I’ll get one when it has been removed, likely tomorrow.

Unfortunately finding a replacement part seems to be a bit tricky and one that I think might well fit costs £65, so it looks as though the first attempt to fix the issue will be welding the original back together. Still, I’ve not done any welding for ages so it will be fun reminding myself how to do it.

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