Plans for Tackling the Garden

I am sorry I have been missing for a few days I have been taking time out and looking after myself as a result of me being unwell last week.  Although I am feeling a lot better, I have been taking things a lot easier. My new medication routine seems to be fitting in a lot better than I had anticipated it would. The new medication which I was recently prescribed I had been taking in a morning.  It should however be taken at night, i.e. the statin Atorvastatin according to the Pharmacist, should be taken of an evening when the Cholesterol levels are higher and when the medication has a better chance of dealing with any increase.  Taking it in the morning is not apparently harnessing the drugs full potential.  I have therefore adjusted this medication to take in the evening. It is also helping G remember to take his medication  However, just because I am, resting up does not mean that I am not plotting and planning and trying to get projects achieved and resolved.  It is getting more "back-endish" and colder than it was and I am mindful that I must take advantage of the daylight hours on offer and getting decorating achieved whilst it is still warm enough to do things.

These are the plans for the coming week:

The Front Garden

It is that time again where the front hedge needs cutting, the Cotoneaster needs trimming back and the gravel needs any leaves, weeds etc. or rubbish removing.  I may suggest to G that we get this sorted tomorrow (i.e. Saturday) and get the front of the house tidied up for the autumn months.  It has definitely felt a little colder this week and I have reverted to pulling on the quilt again at night.  If we can get this done and dusted tomorrow and then get the cuttings down to the Tip that will be a good job done and out of the way with.  If we deal with it like this, it will not be as onerous to get rid of the rubbish.  However this is not set in stone, I am just trying to make things easier in execution and then getting rid of the rubbish instead of having it lurking in the front garden until G can get there.

The Stone Shed

Needs tackling before I start on the back garden.

It is full of rubbish and a lot of that rubbish needs  sorting, and then ultimately to go down to the Tip.  The sorting needs to happen first though as I have many things within the boundaries of the garden that really need to be in the shed.  We also need a new padlock for the Shed door.  Once the Shed is done and a lot of the items chucked out, sorted and kept and other items are relocated to it, I can then start tackling the Old Herb Border.  

The Old Herb Border

There are some boxes down here with glass jars etc. and they also need sorting out and then need re-locating and the boxes used for storing items in the back bedroom.  I am however slowly working  through and reclaiming a load of Le Parfait jars a few at a time and cleaning them up with the view to re-using them with new seals. Some of the cages had gone rusty (they have been outside for sometime) and I am having to clean them up the old fashioned way with a Brillo/Scourer and also believe it or not have been using Limescale remover on the cages and bails (the metal framework that holds the glass lids on the jar).  I am also oiling the cages with baby oil after they have been cleaned.  They are discoloured but the cages always do this and this will hopefully stop them going rusty again.

For many months I did have a problem with these jars as I could not get the lids off. I had popped the Tab on the orange rings into the square part of the front clamp which you should not do.  This tab should be to the side of the jar to allow easier breakage of the orange seal with the use of a key.  At the start of this I did not have a key and had to send for one.  

In desperation I  had sent for a Le Parfait key for helping to remove them and it worked.  It cost me £10, but the price of vintage Le Parfait jars these days is astronomical and so I was keen where I could to reclaim the jars.  I am pleased to say that it has worked.  The cost of the key has worked out to two thirds of what it would cost to buy a new jar.  I also believe that I will be able to use this on any brand of these type of orange seal jars never mind that they are not Le Parfait as it is quite a simple design.

You use the key by rolling the orange seal tab into the slit in the key and then rolling and pulling to break the seal.   

It has been another one of the jobs that has been going on in the background of my life, basically because I am being tight and trying to use what I do actually have to hand.  The box I am tackling is a large one and I hope to get that box completely cleared by the end of this week.  After all we are coming into preserving season and I have plans for making lots of preserves as well.

There is then a second tranche of jars to deal with and these are located all in the Fireside cupboard of the Dining room.  Yet again these need sorting but they are not as in as bad a state as the ones I am currently dealing with.  They will be dealt with when the Fireside cupboard is tackled. There is only so much stripping of jars I can contend with in a few days due to getting sore digits.

The Back Garden

Tackling the Patio Area and the Side Borders

This should have been sorted out a while back and it was not.  It now needs doing so that I can actually get the internal doors outside, get them clean, stripped, and sanded, stained and then finished with Yacht varnish to give them a little more protection than they have had to date.  They were initially waxed, but that was quite sometime ago and they need a different kind of finish.  They are nice doors, some of them have etched/engraved vintage panels in them, and as I am decorating in the longer term as well it seems as good an opportunity as any at getting these tackled as I go along.  In any event I digress as usual.

The whole of the back patio needs weeding, the borders need weeding.  Some plants need to go into the earth, and I would like to get one or two more planters with autumn planting in them just to carry through a little bit longer.  Then the table and chairs can be re-sited on the patio after the doors have been tackled.  Then the rest of the garden can be tackled and re-claimed, items put away in the shed, and the greenhouses closed down and tidied up in readiness for next year.  I do have some apples to harvest behind one of the greenhouses.  If I can get behind them to do so I will and I would also like to try tackling behind the greenhouses a little bit.

I tend to be more effective when I can get my teeth into a project and work in several tranches or whilst I have the energy, and therefore feel if the weather is fine enough over the next few days or so I need to be making the most of this.

G is planning on fishing on Tuesday and Wednesday next week so he is going to be missing then.  If I can get Missy to settle then it may be a good opportunity for me to start on the patio area.  Will see what happens.

In any event I am now going to put my feet up.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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