Thursday, January 14, 2016

Moving on.

Christmas is at last over, it seems to go on for ever here, maybe because it starts so early
. Last Sunday was the Xmas meal for all us old folk, there were quite a few faces missing this year, I guess that's what happens as you get older.
This is something arranged by the local church and all the old folk are invited, you don't have to be a member of  the church. It is always well organised.
Last of the cake.
We have now finished the last of the Christmas cake, it just lasted into New years day, I wont bother with icing again , although I enjoy doing it neither of us likes it so it's a bit of a waste to just feed it to dogs, not that they complain .
The seed catalogues have started to arrive, it's that time again to start planning and to order the seed potatoes. Unfortunately here we don't get a very good selection of potatoes, they are mostly very dull and floury varieties which the Irish like. You will often see potatoes in the shops described as balls of flour, to me a ball of flour is a dumpling.
The flooding here has been quite bad although we have not been affected even though we live very close to the river,
but some people still have feet of water in their homes.
We went to visit friends last week who live less than a half hours drive,
the drive took over and hour and a half, all the roads that would be our normal route were impassable, even the main N road was flooded.
It will take quite a while for these areas to return to normal.
Very little is getting done in the garden, it's just too wet. but the apple trees have now been pruned and when I can get out there I will do the currant bushes. Simon has also built a fruit cage to cover all the fruit bushes, we lost most of last years gooseberries to the birds last year, hopefully this will stop them. It's around thirty feet long by twelve feet wide. The basket willow has also been cut, now I will have to come up with a use for it.
There are plenty of wild birds around this time of year, we have a bird feeder at the back of the house, it sometimes feels as though we are feeding half of the wild birds in the area,

Blue tit.
A sweet little robin
A pair of Chaffinch.
Dunnock.
they eat a lot, they are so entertaining, both to us and to the cats who spend hours watching them trough the window, yet when they are out they take little notice of them which is good. I have even spotted a wren but unfortunately was unable to get a photo of it.
Our lemon tree is growing well, we have had five fruits from it this year
and there is still one on the tree, I have spotted two good sized green lemons hiding away
as well as several very small ones. there is also quite a lot of blossom, hopefully we will be eating our own lemons this coming year.
The winter rood veg are still doing well, we have left the carrots in the ground, likewise the parsnips swede and turnips, even the celery is still doing well, our biggest failure has been the leeks, very skinny, still we will aim to do better this year.

14 comments:

  1. I would love to cover my entire veggie patch in an enclosed wire fenced yard. Those bloody birds are eating my tomatoes at the moment. Here you are encouraging them with bird seed - make up your mind! That is one big parsnip. Thank goodness Christmas is over.

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    1. It's only the little birds that we are feeding Lynda and they aren't the ones that eat our crops. How big is your garden Lynda could you not cover your crops with netting?

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  2. I'm always glad when the Christmas holiday is over too. If it lasted a week I'd be happy, but three months is too long! I agree with Lynda D - the wild birds must be confused about what they are allowed to eat! In these circumstances, the fruit cage seems like the only reasonable option. I always net my Blueberries because birds absolutely love them.

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    1. A week is plenty long enough Mark, as I said to Lynda it's not the small birds that attack our fruit and veg, it's mainly blackbirds with some help from jackdaws.

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  3. What a nice get together.
    We have also finished the Christmas Cake.
    Lovely bird pictures x

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    1. It the only time we get to meet the neighbours, which is the main reason we go.

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  4. You seem to have had more flooding than us. I love robins, my favourite birds. In our garden at the moment all we seem to have is one aconite and the winter heather.

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    1. The flooding has been very bad over here B.G especially around the rivers.

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  5. Ireland needs to plant more trees because they drink up lots of water every day and provide drainage via their roots and the other benefit is that they clean the air.

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    1. I agree H.V, apparently has the least number of trees in the whole of the EU. Since we moved in we have planted around four hundred trees and bushes, mostly native trees.

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  6. The flooding has been terrible, hasn't it? My heart goes out to those who have lost everything, it's absolutely heart wrenching. I've been watching the birds in the garden this morning, we get a good variety and they've been busy visiting the feeders as we had snow last night, very unexpected as it hadn't been forecast. Thank goodness it's thawing though now. I was in Wilkinsons yesterday and noticed that they've got their seed potatoes in, not long now until another growing season starts.

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    1. I bet Wilkinsons have a better selection that we can get here Jo.
      We had a light covering of snow Thursday night but now we are back to dismal drizzle.

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  7. I liked the snaps of the birds. Are the roads all clear now? Meal with the neighbours sounds nice xx

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  8. No, there are still some roads still flooded. The meal was OK but nothing to write home about.

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