Last year we had both black and pink Hollyhock in our garden. This year we have neither but we do have the red one pictured above. I can only assume that it is a hybrid of the two former colours.
Second Blog Post For Regatta
My second gardening / allotment blog for Regatta is now live on their website. You can read it here.
One of Those Days…
Being woken at 2am to the sound of a dog vomiting, is never likely to signal a good start to the day, and things didn’t improve from there. By 4pm I found myself fighting the traffic on the way to the vets with Ruby; ultimate diagnosis, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, treatment; 3 x jabs, plus antibiotic tablets and kaolin paste.
The good news is she seems to be perking up, but not back to normal yet, although she did bring a chew toy up on to our bed this evening. We need to see what tomorrow brings, but hopefully a return to food for her and not more sickness and diarrhoea.
It’s also one year to the day that we bought Ruby home for the first time as a puppy.
Thoughts On Summers Past
In just under four weeks, I’ll have had my last day in my current job, two weeks after that is my last contractual day. I’ve obviously been thinking a lot about what happens next. My plan (barring a job offer) is to take a few weeks off, while starting job hunting.
In some ways this reminds me of summers of my childhood, with 6 week holiday breaks. I have memories of spending time on boating lakes, at the beach, in the woods; in the garden. Playing by myself, with friends and with the dog(s). When I was older I would head off for long morning walks with the dog, trying to get out and back before it got too hot and the insects started biting. I remember one summer, I would have been 9 or 10, when each morning before I got up, I would read a chapter of “The Hobbitt”.
These are good memories, although I suspect a little enhanced by the passage of time. I don’t expect this summer will be much in comparison. There will undoubtedly be dog walks and books to read, but an element of my focus needs to be on finding my next job. I appreciate that the job market is quieter over the summer, but I’ll still be looking. Maybe I’ll find something different or something the same to what I do now, really now my options are open.
Away & Home
I’ve been in Brussels most of last week. In all likelihood it will probably be the last trip away before my redundancy kicks in. My last day in the office is now only four weeks away, and then the job hunting will begin in earnest!
With the long summer evenings, and the time difference, I had plenty of time to explore the area where I was staying. There was a park nearby, which made for a pleasant evening stroll after dinner. Leopold Park is associated with the educational institutes that are located nearby.
I got back home late on Friday afternoon and I have to say it’s good to be home and to be back to walking the dogs, the allotment, and just to be home.
Robin Update
The Robin in our garden is still faithfully sitting on her eggs. Having done a bit of online research I now know that it is the female that sits on the eggs alone, and it takes 13 days for them to hatch. So assuming that when we first noticed her was last Saturday, 6th June, we are likely to have baby birds sometime this week.
As she is so exposed, we’re keeping watch but from a distance, so as not to disturb her. Her preference for this nest is completely different to the blue tits who we had nesting earlier in the season. They managed to find a gap in the side of the garage, and chose to nest there. It means we have no idea how many young they had, as other than the chirps of the young, and the parents tooting and froeing you wouldn’t have known they were there, unlike the blue tits from last year, who used the sparrow box, and you could see the young, sticking their heads out, now and again.
Robins
And now we seem to have one nesting in the garden or rather brooding eggs.
Allotment Video Update for May 30th 2015 (And Journal Notes)
(Journal Notes for 30th May 2015)
Watched by an adult fox this morning as I walked the dogs. He was on the rugby pitch as I entered the field, and stayed there until we were about 50m away. Then he moved back to the edge of the scrub, in the long grass, always keeping about 50m away and seemingly curious of us rather than afraid. One of the other dog walkers feeds them each morning so they seemingly become quite tolerant of the early morning dog walkers! No pics, because I left my phone in the car overnight and the battery was flat.
Off to the plot afterwards Temp +2 – +22 °C, since last Saturday. Recorded a video for upload later and then began digging over last years Kalle and Purple S.B. This is to make way for leeks and poss more radish and lettuce. Lovely morning and plot is looking great if a little weed covered in places. Thistles and other perennials seem to be a particular problem this year.
Have been well supported by a Robin this morning while I’ve been weeding. He’s very tolerant of me or focussed on what grubs and bugs I’m exposing and at one stage I was having to be careful that I didn’t tread on him he was so close.
Went back home for lunch and then after walking the dogs came back down to the plot to plant the 40 leeks that were delivered this morning. There were actually 48. I think the plot is now probably full, assuming that the courgettes come through, but there’s no sign of them yet! Took a moment to enjoy the plot before heading for home.
Blogging For Regatta
The allotment blog that I’ve written for Regatta is now online. You can read it here, all views are my own.
Electronic Scrapbook 