Progress report

Well, a lot has happened and we're edging towards ship-shape!  The pile of hedge clippings isn't burnt yet but it's tidy (there's tidy!), even despite the addition of an equal volume from my son's house. And it's all out of the manure bin, which is therefore ready to receive manure.  

The shed roofing material (corrugated bitumastic sheets) has however been at the bottom of the manure bin for so long that it's started disintegrating and is NBG for the shed roof.  So that has to be scrapped and Plan C started.  Plan C will actually be much easier, involving manageable sheets of plywood (not heavy chipboard) well screwed down & covered in roofing felt.  I hate using roofing felt; it's horrible stuff, but needs must.  So I can see light at the end of the tunnel, which will be a blessed relief because for the last few months I've been seeing light through what remained of the shed roof.

And I actually did some productive work today, fitting some more vine eyes and tieing in the grape vines.  So far they're looking good.  

 

This year is just about letting them establish.  Next year should see them going in the right direction, literally, with some pruning & training.  Now there's a scary thought!

It's been a while (again)....

....what with being in Crete for two weeks.  I love Crete.  Sun, heat, souvlaki, raki.  Bring it on.  And you just have to close your mind to the allotment fending for itself.  In truth, it's been such a poor season that it didn't make much difference.  Even Operation Deluge didn't make that much difference, although it did add another week's absence.  I was expecting it to have come over all jungloid but it's not too bad.

Needs a concerted effort of course but then, isn't that the case everywhere in autumn.  Priorities (and, as ever, these are just the priorities) include:

• more wires and more tieing in for the grape vines
• moving the mega hedge clippings pile out of the manure bin and burning them (Problem - need to clear some space before I've actually got room to burn them)
• order manure (Problem - need to move the mega hedge clippings pile out of the manure bin....)
• cut the hedge (again.  Yet a-chuffing-gain).  To add to the mega hedge clippings pile
• clear the shed out and tidy it up some
• put new roof on shed (Problem - new roofing material is at the bottom of the manure bin - don't ask - under the mega hedge clippings pile.....).  

Beginning to see a theme here? And once the mega hedge clippings pile is moved into a burning space we're going to add my son's mega hedge clipping pile to it, thus clearing two huge piles (so to speak) at a stroke.  We'll have to be slightly careful in setting fire to this lot because when my neighbour Ivan burnt his mega etc it was so huge the police helicopter came to have a look.  Hmm.

Anyway, problems aside, I'm still cutting the hedge!  Just in case I run short of hedge clippings to burn.

 

The raspberries, feeling very sorry for themselves and distinctly mildewed "apres le deluge", have recovered rather well and are still giving a decent picking.  This today, and there'll be more.  And one day I'll learn to get them in focus.  That's what comes of not wearing your glasses while using the camera.

And you just have to cheer this brave effort from my one remaining courgette plant doing it's utmost to defy autumn. 

 

Better get a move on, matey.  I need the space to burn a mega.... !!