Photo update from last weekend

'Things' have not been good inside the head of your exhausted writer, my dear friends. The debilitation of Depression, Anxiety and BPD is real, really real and I have been in my own personal Hades for quite some times now. I rarely talk to anyone or go outside and life without Maggie is still almost unbearable. So forgive me for the lack of blog posts or comments in fact, if you have a blog yourself, I just haven't been able to think properly - I am experiencing a moment of clarity and am devoting it to this space. Little dialogue but lots of photos....these were the plots last Sunday.

24a is the real producer and it was time for some constructive deconstruction (you know I love that), as the courgettes, sweetcorn and climbing french beans are all finished now and needed composting. Sadly all our leeks had bolted too so 'goodbye' (the plot smelt like soup all afternoon!)

14b is the embarrassing little sister, going through her grunge teenage years and so unkempt but beautiful underneath it all. It gifted us some lovely squashes that we are eating now and loving. Here's Andrew's gorgeous photo of them.

https://www.instagram.com/andrewgault_/

Anyway we focused, as I said on the finished veggie beds on 24a and got as much done as we could before I just couldn't take anymore....

I tackled the bean wigwam and weeded the whole bed .I was so happy to find this little fellow/lady? ladybird which I put in a cosy spot on it's leaf. I LOVE ladybirds!

By that stage we stopped for tea and listened to the crazy lady pheasants running and squawking about. Andrew had by this time cleared the last courgette plants (one last wee harvest first!) and all those sweetcorn stalks. The sweetcorn this year was amazing - Swift F1 as always but a great year!

Back to it and the leeks were lifted (sadly) and composted whilst I did some really quite pointless weeding of the paths which had gotten grassy and slippy up by the arch.  I also noted that the broccoli and even the purple sprouting broccoli  had bolted! What the heck!! The carrots had carrot fly *sad face*, but the companion plants were very happy...


















Andrew prepared the #1 bed for mulching with our glorious well rotted horse manure, look dear friend, I know you, as a true plotter will appreciate the wonder of our manure bin....

How lovely to watch such hard work, hahaa.

Sadly we didn't get to finish the #2 bed as I needed home but! it was fabulous to be there once again (bar seeing Maggie everywhere and her bowl sitting out for her). I am thankful for the good times and my amazing hubby who never gives up on me. Let's hope we have another nice wee time to treasure this weekend.

Best wishes to you all,
Hugs
Carrie xx

P.S. Apologises for the poor photos at times, these are all unedited and from my phone (apart from Andrew's one - it's perfect) x

A loveliness of Ladybirds

It's Tuesday and I'm still feeling a bit anxious with leftover panic from Sunday's visit to the Allotment. Don't get me wrong, nothing horrendous happened...there were no clowns nor a plague of locusts, a twister did not lift up my shed and deposit me in Oz etc. No, I simply took the worst panic attack and it didn't go away until, sort of, this morning.

As an advocate for Ecotherapy and in my own made up word of Allotmentherapy, I find this quite the let down. But as I remind others, so I must remind myself.... Ecotherapy is not a panacea for mental health problems.

I believe my panic began with me getting just what I wanted....new allotment members in a big friends and family gathering getting an over run plot back into order. I mean, really, it was a joy to see. However it also put me on high alert...I had to talk and be friendly and it was all too much. I went into overdrive to make these (somewhat glorious warriors) feel a community spirit existed, and it was just too much.

Reminder this bed? I worked really hard to get it finished and cleared then realised I hadn't been breathing and nearly fainted.

Andrew managed quite a bit with clearing our soon to be squash/asparagus area and got pooped too. Our trip home for coffee ended me shaking and terrified to go back.

The vast population of ladybirds couldn't even draw me back. There are so many this year, this is just 2 out of approx 8 I saw without searching for them! Pure joy :)

****

Today is beautiful so I'm going to take photos of how gloriously well the seedlings are doing, all over the place and share that joy with you. Plus I have designs on making a sweet rhubarb compote later.

* For now it's all about remembering to breathe and ordering my hay fever medication- why??!, cruel, merciless, sadistic pollen, why do you torture me so!???

Love and hugs
Your Carrie x

Three day weekend - thanks St Patrick (pt1)

Saturday 15th March -

We visited Mamma G and Maggie got a cuddle and kisses. Those are her daffs too and look at that sky = gardening weather!

Then we went and got a few bits and bobs, such as these new flowers for 14b (and much more than this photo shows) and a new kettle for the shed - hurrah!! Hot drinks are back :) Now we can warm ourselves up after facing the N. Irish winds - bbbrrr.

* I strongly believe in buying flowers and even some vegetable seeds in these discount shops. Not everything has to come from a great nursery or a named supplier. We regularly get things for next to nothing and they turn out to be just as good. If you aren't looking for a certain type - I say go cheap and you may be very surprised. For example our spuds last year came from a nursery and some from a pound shop, different types but both extremely abundant when harvest time came.

Look how happy Maggie is and how shiny our new wee kettle is :) The sky was blue but there's usually a nip in the air, hence the jumper and need for tea. Earl Gray for Andrew and Three Mint tea for me...you are always welcome by the way and sometimes we even do coffee, plus you'll always find a biscuit or two :)

Okay, ready to go. These are the weekend's 'Before' photos. The 24a one will not shock anyone but I have until now, resisted showing you the unbearable shame of 14b. Maybe I should explain? Blush! Last year we decided were going to give up this plot and just sort of forgot about it, thinking we shouldn't waste anymore time there. The plots around it are so terribly neglected that the weeds from them had invaded ours and simply - we were miserable. But, during the winter we had ideas flowing and not enough room in one half plot to accommodate them, so.... It's an ugly duckling ready to bloom :)

Andrew kept going on 24a, getting rid of the last of the chard and mooli which had gone over and mulching everywhere liberally with horse manure. There were a great deal of times that I could have sworn that he was just standing there, doing nought, but I am assured in my heart that he was planning, always planning ;) Haha. 

Though it is true.... Had there been anyone else down there they may have thought he was a slave driver, but there wasn't, not a one in our field and the others looked empty too, to be frank. Kind of makes you mad...

Yes! I tackled and sort of conquered/ made a dent in 14b; got rid of the dead raspberry canes and I honestly don't know how many massive thistles and dandelion plants, not to mention the grass that had conquered the beds. Is there much better than getting the whole root of a weed out in one swift movement? :)

I did enough work to get really excited about and even lament home time; though I was exhausted and sleeping standing up. It's been a long time since I felt that strongly about the place and how we (Nature and I) were nurturing one another. I felt such love for my plots, my wee pieces (literally) of Eden.

The Allotment Gardens as a whole are a damnable shame and to my eyes, a failure. Poor infrastructure, lack of commitment, still poor access and a real need for strong leadership and rule reinforcement! I could rant for days but I shan't, instead here are the 'After' photos for Day 1 - I believe Maggie was quite happy with our progress :)

Hugs and love
LOADS more to come :)
Your

Carrie x

Love bug housing

You may remember a while back that I received a gift from Prezzybox.com to review and it wasn't to my taste - flower grenades, that looked a little too much like grenades for me.. Well the lovely people at Prezzy box read my review and were slightly horrified to learn I had been offended. Dear love them, after sincere apologies they offered me anything else from their gardening range to review and I choose this insect house :)

Now this is more my thing and it was utterly delightful to receive, to make and soon I will have the pleasure of putting it up in the lottie. Plus I get a cute little tin to keep essentials in like plasters and antiseptic wipes or maybe all  the labels and pencils etc... It's a great wee gift and this, my friends I would recommend. :)

Look how cute the tin alone is and the contents are laid out so prettily too. I got stuck into building my Bug House right away and it was delightfully easy and I'm super pleased with the results and the 2 ladybirds that came with it = adorable!!

Ok, I am quite sure bugs aren't that fussed on how beautiful their homes are but darn it I'll try anything to welcome on board and help us fight the enemies...

I'm in a love bug mood these past few weeks since I started to clear up the embarrassing messy parts for the plots. We are seriously lacking in helpful bugs and though I made a makeshift bug house years ago and purposely put lots of grass and stones under our shed for bugs - we seem to have counted 4 ladybirds between us, 2 frogs (yay!!), lots of bees but not much more than that :( I want more good bugs! (Who ever thought I'd say that!!) The leatherbacks and those damned New Zealand flatworms of the past 2 years have destroyed the lovely balance.

So here is my Bangor Blue slate hotel which also has lots of dead and decaying leaves in and around it since I took this photo. On the other side of the wee fence is this pile of rotting wood and an old pipe where a frog has been living.

Plus we have a ready rotten log over on 14b where our other frog lives and lots of woodlice etc and I have been leaving the artichokes to flower to try and encourage butterflies and bees etc. Next year there shall be sunflowers too (I forgot them this year) and more echinacea and black eyed susans etc. Yes 2 frogs *happy dance* and you know why I'm so happy -  they eat loads of insects and nasty creatures and the ultimate enemy, Slugs and Snails!!!!!! Hurrah

Is it just me or are the slugs much bigger this year??

The RHS answers the question about who might check into your bug hotel.....

"A surprisingly wide variety of invertebrates including nesting mason bees and leafcutter bees, woodlice hiding from the sun – and woodlice spiders hunting woodlice, earwigs hiding their babies from predators, ladybirds and lacewings hibernating over winter, beetle larvae feeding on the dead wood, funnel web spiders spinning their traps and centipedes hunting down their prey."

Good stuff I say :)

Thank you Prezzy box for increasing our chances of more friendly, useful bugs on the plots and as for the flower grenades - well I have taken the seed out of the clay containers and shall be scattering them this weekend over by the field boundary.

Hugs and best wishes to all
Namaste

Petite Brunette seeks free (organic) weedkiller, bug killer and blow torches!!!

I didn't order this weather!! What the heck is going on? It's raining, grey, blowy and darn right miserable out there, plus I have a blanket wrapped round me to help me feel cosy, it's JUNE! I have been trying to figure out what the word is that I have been looking for and I have it now....I am irked, blasted well irked.

So in the vain of this irk-y feeling I am going to moan, oh yes my friend, it is time to get something off my chest.

As I shared (with fanfare), we are now into our 5th season on the Lottie and all is going quiet well for the Gaults. But there is something that has been annoying me for quite some time now, something that has been getting up my nose, under my skin and rubbing me up the wrong way... THIS! >> There are so many people that have seemingly become bored with their soil 'toy' after so long and have let their plots go to gardening Hell!! To be honest I am fuming, really rather red in the face and though a non-violent person I could happily smack some butts!

Look at these examples, only the ones that surround our own plot! There is a waiting list for crying out loud and people have these in this state! ARRRGHHHHH. I know that any reader of my blog will be angry too and I thank you for your collective empathy for my present state.

We are naturally getting all the weeds of the day on our plots because of these plots and my hayfever (which up til now has been in check) is going mad with all this grass that has just been left to go to seed. I feel like getting tape from the Police and cordoning off these plots as crime scenes!

If that wasn't bad enough the green fly and aphids have returned in force. Yes I could squish them betwixt my fingers but seriously, with this many on one rose, it would be a green goo bath and I am just not strong enough in the tummy for that. Plus, there are no worms, none and only a smattering of ladybirds - they have abandoned us, left us to fight for ourselves and oh, woe is me!!

the Honeysuckle was sprayed with something - look how pretty it is now though!

There I feel much lighter for getting all that off my chest. I have so much to tell you about or wonderful plants that I could burst but patience my darlings, patience....For now let me show you the baby potatoes I dug up on Monday. These came from a couple of left over plants we had plonked in the ground whilst we waited for the Strawberries to come; now they're here was Goodbye spud plants and Hello tummy :)

Boiled and crushed with added homegrown garlic and peas - yummy!

Some pretty photos, just because it's lovely today

These have been taken over the weekend and I think one of two were supposed to be blogged last week after the St Paddy's post but I forgot - oops. Please do enjoy......

one of the outbuildings up at Gleno (farmers shop/hardware shop/ grocery shop)

Purple Sprouting Broccoli - yay (this was gobbled up)

 Sunday and Sunday

happiness!

Plum Blossom (fingers crossed for a  harvest this year)

happy two tone daff

rhubarb forcing it's way out of the forcer (so to speak)

more happiness, in purple :)

I'm in love with this guy

My bouquet of double daffs and purple tulips - patio doors open, chairs out = bliss

 Today

part of our back garden in the sunshine :)

A seedless gripe

Boo hiss! Damn it all to heck! And other such stronger rants - you get the idea, I'm sure ;) Andy and I are STILL sitting here with this blasted flu, I was even delirious earlier singing songs - what was all that about?

Not a seed packet to be seen, the catalogues aren't even in the house, no broad beans sown as is usual, we haven't even thought about it all. Oh this isn't good. What do we want to grow this year? I don't know! What new varieties are we thinking of trying? You tell me. Is our plot a haven of freshly prepared soil, manure and the usual seaweed all ridged up and tidy? Blushing I must quietly say 'no'.

The old is still to be removed, the soil loved and fed, the gardening implements oiled, sharpened and the shed tidied. Dare I even confess....I don't know where the lottie stuff is and though Andrew DID work out the new rotation, I haven't a clue. These few photos were taken as 'before snaps' of parts of the plots a few weeks ago. I think we are both blessed that the camera battery died (of shame??) and I only got these.

A 24a

 A 14b

Blasted Pigeons have eaten our Purple Sprouting Broccoli - I'm too upset to talk about it

 We do have purple Kale

Well, it's still like that, umm, it's probably worse. *hangs head*

But Andy has started in the back garden of this, our brand new house. Lucky we have a plan - it has been there for about a year now, slowly evolving and then going back to the original :) But it has been started - hoorah! As it is a brand new house, the garden area is mainly stones, hardcore, a very light frosting of muck (I wouldn't even call it soil) and quite a lot of wood, plastic and weeds. Lovely. But as we are going for raised beds we have seen this as somewhat of a silver lining - Andrew didn't have to dig much before he was at a good solid floor for some concrete and here are the photos to prove it.

I shan't tell you too much about the plans as I really would love you to share in the journey with us but I will say this - I have a super clever hubby who is building me a retreat, a veritable extra bit of Eden to call my own.

Leaving you with love in the form of this..our freckled ally

And this....allotmenteers' porn :)

But still....not a seed in sight - oh dear!