Poorly focused, but whilst I was watering today I noticed these on the leaf of a lettuce.
I don’t know what variety they are. I’d normally associate them with Harlequin ladybirds, but I’ve seen so few of them this year (and far more native ladybirds than ever).
To build a high-speed railway that we quite possibly don’t actually need. Any now they’re talking about not having the trains running as fast as planned.
In what world does this make sense, exactly?
I should try cooking a casserole in it 😀
Why do people complain about this stuff? They’re not a necessity. No-one’s life was ruined because they didn’t have a replica kit, though granted some people can get quite upset if they’re unable to express their individuality by dressing the same as everyone else they know.
Companies charge this much because people will pay it. If you think the cost is excessive then don’t buy it, and eventually the people getting filthy rich out of selling them will realise that if they want to continue making money, they need to charge a more reasonable price.
I went out to water the polytunnel this afternoon. Seemed like a reasonable plan given that it really isn’t that warm at all and the water should have plenty of time to sink into the soil.
To give it a really good dousing, I ended up using seventeen watering cans full over all the beds (and did a bit of weeding at the same time), by which time I was shaking uncontrollably. That’s a problem I’ve had for many years that I’ve always associated with needing to eat. Certainly the issue goes away shortly after I do eat. This time however, I’d only eaten an hour previously. I therefore have to put it down to the effects of the blood pressure meds.
This really is starting to get me down now. I just want to stop taking them and I’ll accept the risk of a heart attack. I can’t spend the rest of my life taking the meds (which I can’t be sure are even working adequately well) and being unable to do most of the things I want or need to do. I’d rather be able to do those things and drop dead face-first into the compost heap one day.
I’ve now made up the two units that the chopsaw will sit on and put them roughly in place.
There’s still more to do here though. I need to get the placement right so the back of the slide on the chopsaw doesn’t foul the wall.
I think that probably means making up an extension for the back of the units that a) allows the units to be fixed to the wall and b) stops sawdust dropping down the back of the units (sawdust being a useful commodity in the veggie plot, I want to save as much of it as possible). Right now I’m not entirely sure how that’s going to work. I need to give it some thought. As it happens, I have uncovered a couple of heavy old metalworking vices as I’ve been tidying up, so if I put them in the bottom of the units they should keep things sufficiently stable to use the chopsaw for small jobs in the meantime.
One of the last few jobs after digging up our leaking supply pipe was to restore the entrance to the vegetable plot. I decided not to replace the previous steps however, but re-lay this matting that will stabilise the slope whilst allowing grass to grow through it and hopefully mean it is safe to walk on in Winter when it’s wet.
It should also be possible to drive the mower (and in fact the tractor, should I wish to) up and down it. There’s a small amount of tidying up to be done once the rain stops, but then I think the only thing left is sorting out the access for the stop cocks that are in the veggie plot itself. That should be much simpler now the workshop is in a usable state.
The mower, that is.
The steering rod bracket arrived today. Spot the difference 😀
Fitting the new one was a doddle as long as you remember to get the bracket the right way up and make sure the steering wheel is centred on the rack. Probably took all of fifteen minutes including pumping the tyres up afterwards and putting the mower away so it wouldn’t be out in the rain (hardly any of which actually arrived).
I’ve made up some more drawers for the last unit I’ll have on this side of the workshop.
Not really happy with the fit of the lower two (they don’t slide easily enough), so I’ll adjust those as soon as I can.
Meantime I’ve decided that I need to get on with whatever is going to go here so I can put the chopsaw on top.
Another couple of units, probably with shelves, I think.
Once that’s done I might spend a bit of time actually sorting through some of the “stuff” that has accumulated over the last twenty years. Perhaps even (ssshhh!) throw some of it out.
Just prior to the mower suffering catastrophic failure a couple of days back, we’d run out of space in the current compost bin. Fortunately it has now settled a little and has space for more. It was literally full to the brim when we left it. We’d carefully built material up to support a large mound in the middle.
It’s getting a bit toasty in there, too.
I must get on with spreading the compost in the next bin to be filled as I’m sure it won’t be possible to get much more in soon.
And if I were the cat, I’d not be too keen to snooze in the unused “storage” bay (the one that I will turn compost into first towards the end of Autumn). Could far too easily end up being added to the compost 😀
