Ravendale House

Having a big garden means that as well as producing fruit, veg and flowers, we also produce a lot of rubbish. By this I mean weeds, prunings, hedge trimmings and the like, most of which we compost, but some we have to burn. On average we have a bonfire twice a year.

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There isn’t much gardening getting done here at the moment, it’s far too hot, so here is a little conundrum for you to ponder.

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If you ever have a few hours to spare and several hundred pounds to fritter away, why not take a trip to your local garden centre. If it’s anything like ours in Brigg, then you will be able to lose yourself in a wonderland of ‘stuff’.

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Much has been written in recent times about the sad demise of that much loved British institution, the public house. A combination of economic woes, the smoking ban and drink drive legislation, have all contributed to it’s decline. Recent figures show that each week 25 pubs are closing down for good.

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A few weeks ago I took the fleece barrier from around the strawberries. It had been a 100% success, and we’ve had the best strawberry crop ever.

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As a teenager in the late 1960’s I can remember many happy holidays spent with my family on the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales. It was on one of those holidays that I first read the book ‘I Bought a Mountain’ by Thomas Firbank.

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First of all I should warn you that this post has nothing, whatsoever to do with gardening. Intrigued? Then read on.

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On Sunday we made our annual trip to the famous Waddington Air Show. I say “annual trip” it’s only the second time we’ve been in the 13 years we’ve lived here, and we’re really cross with ourselves for not discovering it sooner. Hey-ho better late than never.

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I’ve written previously about my old Xmas cactus and how it nearly fell foul of the hard winter. Well it’s still doing quite well, but needless to say I’m giving more attention than normal. Basically that means regular feeds of Baby-Bio.

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A  few weeks have now passed and things are improving slowly. A trip to the doctor has thrown more light on my situation. She feels I over-stretched my already frozen shoulder and tore a muscle. Hence the terrible pain. The muscle has now healed, and the pain is much reduced, though lack of movement is still an issue. The good news is, I can use my computer and potter about.

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