Progress, of a sort.

34 comments

I doubt many of you have noticed, but I haven’t been as active recently on Goy as in the past. The end of last year was a stinker as far as health was concerned, and the beginning of this one not a lot better, but the summer weather has at last arrived, and getting out into the garden has cheered me and my aches and pains don’t seem as bad – certainly not enough to stop me writing a blog, even if the digging and bending or doing anything very much of an energetic nature has to take a back seat for a while.
I hesitated to tell of our winter sunshine (not that there was a lot of it) and glorious plantlife while so many of you in the UK had been suffering with yet another stretch of horrid weather, but a while ago I predicted a heatwave for you, and have been doing my best to shove a bit of warmth in your direction. I believe it may at last have arrived. Hooray!
Our winter was snowy (of course) and very, very long, but nowhere near as severe as previous years, just WET. This area has been subject to a record number of landslips and road collapses, and, indeed, for four months, it has been very difficult and quite dangerous getting in and out of our village. The main road disappeared one morning, minutes after we had navigated it, and a shortcut 100m down the face of the hillside opened up rather alarmingly. That was at the end of March, and it has only just been mended again. With the passage of heavy traffic (tractors, milk lorries, gas tankers), the tiny subsidiary roads (Goat tracks, almost) have been badly damaged, too, and life has been rather tricky.
Spring took a long time coming, but we had some nice days on the way, then we were back to winter weather a week ago (winter woollies and the stove lit again) for a few days. Things seem to be settling down now, and the countryside and garden are looking good and remarkably green. Quite often by this time of year we have fire hazard alerts in place.
We have begun our summer harvests and in a short space of time have picked record crops of cherries

redcurrants,

and raspberries

The vegetables, while not so pretty to look at, have begun to go mad. The carrots, for the first time ever, have done well, if not particularly beautifully (stony soil) and the taste is incredible! These look more like seafood, I think.

Moongrower’s special garlic insect repellent seems to have worked wonders, and for the first time we have neither sprayed weedkiller nor insecticides on our plants. Her planting by the moon, (although I harboured secret doubts for a while – sh! Don’t tell her!) has certainly demonstrated its validity – in the photograph below the brussels sprout plants to the left went in when they were supposed to, and those to the right went in about a week beforehand, and the difference is plain to see. Well I can see it.

We have tomatoes and peppers ripening, chillis nearly ready to pick for drying, onions developing nicely, lettuces already bolted (18"tall, and these are Little Gem) with the sudden warmth, courgettes producing huge amounts of fruits (we only planted four plants and we still pick half a dozen a day) French beans providing enough for a double serving every day, cabbages, cauliflowers growing almost as you watch them, a record crop of parsnips coming, and great heads of broccoli all ready for picking, which is a nuisance – we normally rely on those for winter greens and don’t start picking them until about October. Friends and neighbours are doing well with our glut of produce, but many of them have their own. The apple trees aren’t going to do so well this year, but still there should be enough for our needs. We lost our hive, and, of course, the bees went with it. They’d survived the winter well, and our friends decided their need was greater than ours and took them away. Not one of their 20 hives had made it through the cold weather. We planted loads of sweet peas, morning glories and Vipers’ bugloss, and those have succeeded in bringing bees to us, but, alas, too late to do much orchard pollinating.
For the first time I have planted fennel and celeriac, and they seem to like the conditions, so we’ll be trying those again. The one big failure was growing aubergines – not one has produced so much as a single fruit.

It isn’t just the vegetable plot that is doing well – I started planting tubs and troughs back in April, without much hope that they would fill out and look good, but now they have vindicated themselves;-

and the borders look quite good, too, although there are a few gaps.

OH, bless him, became mother to a duckling a couple of weeks ago. Our neighbours’ ducks wander in and out of our garden from time to time, and one of them must have laid an egg in passing, which, given the very hot weather, hadn’t needed to be incubated. It appeared, damp from the shell and cheeping very loudly, and made a beeline for OH’s gardening boots, which he happened to be wearing at the time, and followed him around, running like a tiny, desperate fluffy automaton, little webbed feet paddling wildly. This performance was watched closely by a row of silent, lip-licking cats, just waiting for an opportune moment and an early breakfast. We gathered it up and put it with other ducklings, outside the gate, but it always came back and sat contentedly in the shadow of OH’s size 45 trainers. This was his Mamma! I took the tiny scrap up to our neighbour’s house, and she grinned and grabbed it and stuffed it firmly down her enormous cleavage. If the poor little thing wasn’t squashed or suffocated, the darkness will have calmed it, and it will have made it back to it’s proper family by now. I hope.

And now to the grand finale! After a wait of more than 3 years, I can report a start has been made on the base for the gazebo, which has been in it’s packaging for 2 of those years.

We’re nearly there: just a bit of grouting and a wait while everything hardens so we can put the gazebo up, then I think we should have a party to celebrate. Can you all come?

This is Snowball, shortly before the brick hit him behind the ear, testing the strength of the tile adhesive. These darned cats – always checking up on us……
(For those of you of a tender disposition, there was no brick)

Enjoy your summer, everyone – long may it last!

6 Jul, 2013
10 likes

Comments

Franl155

Great blog, Gattina, and so glad things are starting to come together. Do you eat all the fruit and veg as it becomes available, or preserve it, or freeze it, or what?

Don't worry about telling us what the weather is doing there if it isn't doing it here as well!:) Helps me to remember that the sun is shining somewhere, even if not here at the moment

6 Jul, 2013

Gattina

Thank you, Fran - Gosh! I didn't recognise you for a moment. It would be good to preserve and freeze stuff, but two things stop me doing much of that - lack of freezer space, and the fact that fruit and vegetables NEVER taste the same as fresh, however well you do it. So for now we are virtually vegetarians and eating as healthily as we ever do, browsing and grazing on fruit, mostly.

6 Jul, 2013

Franl155

I have freezer space problems, too: bought so much stuff to make pies and pastries with, all in the freezer, got no room to put the stuff I make! Basic ingredients can be crammed in, or crowbarred in, but made food should be stored a little less tightly.

And thawing is a problem, especially with fruit; at least for me it is. Maybe I should mash it and store it that way, then it couldn't get much mushier.

lol had my hair done few days ago - thought, what the hell, i'm 61 now, about time I went a bit mad.

6 Jul, 2013

Gattina

You look a bit like Anne Bancroft!

6 Jul, 2013

Dianebulley

You are wrong Gattina, because last week I was remarking few of our overseas members had been in touch
for a long time.
Everybody report in - pronto !

6 Jul, 2013

Franl155

lol thanks, Gattina - wouldn't mind my bank balance looking like hers! I'm still wary of having pics of my face online, but wanted to show of fmy new hair, so I compromised, don't think this pic shows enough of me for anyone to pick me out of an identity parade (apart from the hair)

6 Jul, 2013

Kidsgran

That was a lovely blog all that fruit & veg as got to make you feel better along with the beautiful flowers .

6 Jul, 2013

Franl155

look forwrad to the gazebo going up - will extra muscle power be needed to erect it? are you going to plant round it, or train climbers up it? can't wait to see pics of the end result - well, the gazebo up as an end result, the planting will take a bit loger

6 Jul, 2013

Steragram

Gattina are you sure you aren't living in heaven? It sounds - and looks- wonderful What a fantastic spray of tomatoes! Thanks for the invitation to the new gazebo - wish I could be there!

6 Jul, 2013

Bloomer

Hi Gattina..a lovely blog and great photo's..glad to see you on here again..I haven't been on as much as usual this year either....so glad to hear you are feeling better than earlier in the year...I hope you continue to do so..
i did laugh about Snowball..I'm sure the brick was only a pebble Lol...loved the bit about the duckling too..:o)
That Gazebo will be great,and how lovely it will be,to sit under it,scoffing all that lovely produce..those raspberries look so lovely..my favourite fruit..:o)..your garden is looking really lovely..enjoy:o) xx

6 Jul, 2013

Gardengadgit

wow wot a blog that was well the summer is ere at last and me garden is lookin good this year still got me vertigo but avin to live wiv it now i think lol i try not to fall over things in garden those darn pots keep jumpin out in front of me ha ha keep up the brilliant work gattina ta ra for now

7 Jul, 2013

Waddy

Hello, Gattina, How nice to see you here again, what a lovely long blog. I am sooo envious of all your super fruit and veggies. The planters are also looking beautiful, ditto the rest of the garden.
I accept your invitation to the Gazebo party..when?
Like yourself, I too haven't been on here as much this year, perhaps this shows how busy we have been in our gardens? Your pictures certainly seem to prove that is the case with you!
The heat wave you predicted has arrived, and now everything needs constant watering or it wilts. Lol, We're never happy are we? Take care xx

7 Jul, 2013

Gattina

Thank you everybody - I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Erm, haven't dared send out proper invitations yet, Waddy - just as I think "Hooray - at LAST everything's ready to use, we can ask people to tea under the gazebo and get out the pretty pink china and dish out raspberries and ice cream and chilled fizz!" OH decides that he's not happy and the tiles aren't properly stuck, and all I've heard for the last few days is (when it's not gone quiet 'cos he's inside watching Wimbledon) "Chink, chink, chink" as he sets to with a hammer and chisel, chipping them all off again. I give up. We've just heard rolling thunder coming across the hills, so this dreadful, sweaty heat should break very soon, thank goodness. I'd better go and get all the duvets and laundry off the line. At least I shan't have to water tonight.

7 Jul, 2013

Waddy

Oh no! and it all looked so lovely too. As for Wimbledon..I'm so fed up of them chopping and changing the channel it's on, first BBC1 then BCC2 then both! Grrr, I appreciate there are lots of tennis fans, but not ALL of us. Why couldn't they broadcast it on just one channel and leave the rest alone for we mere mortals, after all we've got BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, and BBC 4 how many channels do they needs? Sorry rant over...No sign of rain here yet..thankfully.

7 Jul, 2013

Franl155

you're probably getting the rain that we had last week! there'll be lots of sunshine to follow soon, promise.

7 Jul, 2013

Sheilabub

Fantastic blog and fantastic harvest. Thanks for the invite Gattina . . . OK, I'll be there, but not until next May, when you'll probably be off to Lake Garda, lol :)

7 Jul, 2013

Gattina

If you want to come in May, you come in May, Sheila. Lake Garda is only a couple of hours away and we decided last year, it isn't worth staying for several days. Or we can go together for the day. Anyone else?
Fran, the storm was a washout. A lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Lots of crashing and flashing, and only a couple of drops of rain, so as soon as OH stops jumping around about Andy Murray's win, and I've got the joint in the oven, and peeled the potatoes, I shall be unrolling the hose pipe again. Darn it! The forecast is for 5 more days of the same, and 5 more days of ordinary rain. Phfft! bring on the torrential stuff! It has cleared the air a bit, though. Thank goodness no more Wimbledon, but now we've got the friggin' rugby and Formula one. Can you tell I'm not a sports fan? I'd rather watch paint dry. At least OH has taught me how to use our incredibly ancient, re-built-about-5-times, very, very heavy lawnmower, so I can do something "useful" while he's glued to the box.

7 Jul, 2013

Dianebulley

I am exhausted watching Andy's wonderful fight. Thank
goodness its over for this year.
Bring on Le Tour de France !

7 Jul, 2013

Sheilabub

Hmmm, yes, that's the snag with this hot weather. We're not only watering all our pots and containers, but next door's too, while they're away!

Cheers Gattina. We'll actually be staying in Florence, so maybe you could descend your mountain and join us for lunch???!!! Unless of course the gazebo is finished by then . . . x

7 Jul, 2013

Franl155

lol book the whole hotel, we'll have a convention!

7 Jul, 2013

Gattina

We don't have hotels round here - we could put the tent up on the lawn, maybe, Fran! Sheila, I wouldn't hold your breath!

7 Jul, 2013

Franl155

:-)

8 Jul, 2013

Dianebulley

It was Dwyllis I was thinking of, and the members in
Australia, South Africa, and United States of Barack
Obama Land.

8 Jul, 2013

Liasciubba

wondwrful blog Gattina sei MITICA!

8 Jul, 2013

Waddy

Errm Sunbeam, does that mean I can't come next May? As for Wimbo, thank goodness it's over and a Knighthood for Murry? Please! whatever next? I'm like you my dear, not a sports fan one little bit

9 Jul, 2013

Gattina

Waddy, my pet, you can come whenever you like - there are 4 whole weeks in May! And we don't have to watch any sport at all!

9 Jul, 2013

Bloomer

Waddy told me yesterday,she was coming for March and April as well..is this true? are you prepared for such an event,Gattina? ..and did you know I told little white lies? Lol.

9 Jul, 2013

Gattina

Not sure March is a good idea, Bloomer - I shall still be here! April might be OK - are you coming with her? And yes, she told me all about your porkie pie inclinations. I have those, too.

10 Jul, 2013

Waddy

Lol, hey you two cut it out, Gattina I promise not April AND May...just one month or the other..now who's telling porkies? :):)

10 Jul, 2013

Gattina

I think I might just go on a cruise while you two come to Italy and fight it out on our front lawn.........

10 Jul, 2013

Waddy

Lol, Nah, we'll need a referee!

10 Jul, 2013

Bloomer

I think three girls on a boat would be even better :o)