So I decide there is no panic today. I can have some fun baking & as I had a bunch of bought plums it’s Two Fat Ladies’ Plum Kuchen (out of season, I know & sorry all Germans, not the original, but best I’ve ever tasted)
Ready for 1st time in the oven …
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Done and cooling off. Perfect dessert.
The rest is pure idleness - reading perhaps.
Dinner is done, straight from the freezer - “Lapskojs”.
Non Swedes can look that up, I’m too lazy to explain, but if you have eaten in a Swedish school canteen you’ll know…
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Saturday & another dry, cloudy morning
It is 67 days until the summer solistice & all rain has been canceled for the next 10 days in weather forecasts. It’s very dry.
I will have to tend to some of the rhododendrons today. They look very sad & need water…
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I start with the sad red bush at the back of the garden & find that all pieces to connect my water hoses are somehow missing & I can only use one at the time=shorter length
After trying alternatives I give up- I’ll go hunt in the basement, but first more ☕️…
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#Watering ##dryweather #chillyweather
It’s really chilly. I need to warm up & get both gloves & woolen socks in rubber boots.
Inside cat Alice is sound asleep on the sofa. She has apparently realized that company today will be space…
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It’s slow going. So far the 2 huge rhododendrons have been watered + the small new cherry. Next up are the larger ones along the fence, the blueberries & the larger new trees
And so much for my efforts yesterday oiling that pole, clearly not enough oil …
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Another grey morning to be followed by a warm & sunny afternoon. I’m curating my website, drinking ☕️, considering options…
In the end I turned off the water, so more off the same today!
It’s now 66 days until the summer solstice & only April so why hurry?
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6 am … not really time to get up yet. Even the deer are still resting (can you see them?)
Today it’s 64 days until the summer solstice & -2° this early
I ordered a food delivery, arriving in a few hrs, more or less only herbs in pots for outside
One pot of basil goes straight inside to a lager pot, but the Q is which of these others do not have to be moved inside next week
Or covered during nights:
2 kinds of parsley
Salad
Salvia
Rosemary
Spring onions
I have a list of more, but I think I’ll wait
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I’d better get going, repotting.
Still windy & cold. Too windy for spray paint. But some carpentry perhaps. Now more coffee, inside to warm up…
Cannot wait for tomorrow
The garden plants know nothing about a cold future (look, 1st magnolia flowers @MrEFinch)
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April 20 & 62 days until the summer solstice, 2 months…
Today we expect pre summer temperatures. At 10.30 it’s already +10° in the shade
Before I go out I try to deal with a strange enough thing these days- too much food
The new expandable red hose is fantastic. It reaches all the way down to the hammock.
Next on the list is 2 areas along the fence, behind the currant bushes, that needs weeding & more covered cardboard before the rain on Monday
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Moving inside to consider dinner while it cools off- obviously some of all that excessive amount of veggies
More experiments among them too - turmeric & sun-chokes
(dug down bucket for the latter not to spread?)
I’ll plant the remaining herbs later
Tomorrow…
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I more or less did what I set out to do
1 window cleaned, cuttings also from the Thai basil✔️
Space cleared in the garage för tomorrow’s delivery & the car moved to the side to get in✔️
(Poor tarragon moved inside, we’ll se if it recovers)
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At least some of the tulips I dug up & stored in the garage until autumn seem to have made it.
Time to call it a day.
Tomorrow I’ll mulch some branches & unpack that delivery
Maybe clean another window…
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It sure is a grey rainy morning as I wake to the disappointing message that the delivery is rescheduled to Tuesday
I give upon the tarragon, cut it down + put it outside to fend for itself & make ☕️
It’s is now 58 days & 4,5 hrs until the summer solstice
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And as I planned my day the 1st of several packages arrived after all - the 4 benches, for some strange reason registered as 4 individual items & including a useful pallet
This will be a fun assignment for my son & daughter in law visiting 2 days next week. I do need new oil laze though …
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There was a 35% change of rain today & sure enough it’s raining & windy as well.
The garden & the meadow in front of the house is now turning green with grass.
It is now 57 days, 4,5 hours until the summer solstice June 21
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It sure is chilly outdoors, only 7° & feels worse Electric tools or machines are out of the Q in the rain
Tonight we might get frost…
I’m waiting for next delivery of my order. There was a long list of things. I had better print it out to have some control
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I’d need someone like @GunnarValinder or @ACErnehall , more knowledgeable & able to document their progress, they are very quick out & in of the ivy
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I now have 4 different crow birds visiting: Pair of hooded crows from across the road, parts of the jackdaw gang, the pair of magpies & recently 2 jays that have decided to settle down near by
Squirrels chase them all away even if double their own size
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It’s 56 days, 5 hrs until the summer solstice, a cold morning, some 8° & raining on and off. At 6 in the morning there sure was frost & more to come Friday night
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It is now 54 19 hrs until the summer solstice
A sunny day, but cold until 5pm
I spent time sewing a “new” sweater for my cat, offering an old tunic that was beyond repair
When the wind died down the patio warmed up & I oiled the remaining 6 plastic chairs
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Tomorrow we are promised less wind, I’ll probably water those newly planted trees again, but tonight will be really cold.
Stupidly I bought 2 Campanulas for some color outside the door
I have to carry them in & out as they cannot take less than +5°
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Wow…
That sure was a misty morning. At 7, only a couple of degrees above freezing.
Having my morning coffee it disappears in no time
And gratefully no wind so more time outside today
That ginger is doing fine & the chairs look amazing compared to before
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Cat Alice’s dress/jumper is near finished, lacks holes for front legs
Double cloth & padded polo as main feature to protect the neck from scratches while her fur grows back.
The medicine for her itching skin condition is now in full effect. She’s much calmer
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Her convalescence after that infected, deep heal wound took ages & the plastic collar, that she kept turning around, left the neck bare
I now have measures & material to make a change if needed
I’m glad now I did not give up on her…
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Sara Hjelm
